Pretty much every afternoon pans out like this:  playing, screaming, running, imagining, jumping, falling, wrestling, epic laser sword and/or gun battles, someone cries for some reason, someone scrapes a knee, someone gets their feelings hurt, someone decides not to be friends (which is always forgotten when one of them has to go in), constantly running back and forth asking for permission from someone (be it moms, siblings, aunts, grandmas, or someone’s “cousin”), bike races up and down our pebbled sidewalk, etc, etc.

Well, the newest trend has become as follows.  After a few minutes of the aforementioned agenda, Josiah or a delegated member of the body juvenile comes once again knocking at our door.  This time it starts in a fury.  There is no time to mess around with raps that might fall short and onto the tile floors just out of reach of our ever-vigilant ears.  This is serious.  Even though they are visible from our large front windows, there is no taking chances.  They NEED to play in the sprinkler ball!

“Make sure it’s okay with your mom!” is always the safest bet to place on a tricky situation such as the one we currently have on our hands.

Phineas absolutely loves it as well, and when he has had his fill, he splashes around in a large plastic tub, filled up for just such an occasion!  Now, I’m not gonna lie to you, sometimes it is just Phineas and Josiah out there, and then the others begin to congregate.  But more times than not, one of the others propose the idea.  And this sets the whole thing into motion.

Today was one of those very same days.  Lots of things going on in the courtyard; someone pulled out a red metal wagon, from where I don’t even know!  Digging in the dirt, and sword fights with tree branches were the order of the day.  Even Phineas got in on the action walking after the “biggers” with two small (very blunt) sticks in his hands, ready to attack!  And his battle cry is the cutest most terrifying you’ve ever heard!  ”The baby’s gonna eat you!” Mama contributes to the fray, as all of the other kids scurry away in utter terror!

And then the inevitable happens.  ”Can we get wet?” a small voice calls out as a finger attached to the voice points in the direction of the  Little Tykes sprinkler ball.  And then it was on (after parental permissions were granted of course)!  Running, splashing, manguera water drinking, and the whole bit!  So then the question arises, “can we go to the pool?”  And of course the answer is the ever-present, “go ask your mom.”  Twice today!

Now, among the small group of kids in question, I have become a sort of unofficial life guard.  ”Hey Chris, are you going to be here for a while longer?” a neighbor will ask.  ”Could you please keep an eye on my son for a little while?”  Someone needs to go check on dinner, or get towels, or check on the game, and I’ll watch them for a short while.  It’s not like it’s every day!  And I just happen to be the best swimmer in the complex and an all-around nice guy, so naturally I am a good candidate!  And when I get out (along with Josiah and maybe Mama and little Phin) and start heading back to our place, they know that it is time to get out as well.  Now that I think about it, I kind of want to go back out for another dip…I love it!

So there you have it, this place is humming and I am so glad to finally be in a place (condo) where the kids have plenty of other kids to play with, plenty to do, and plenty of “safe” space in which to operate.

So until next time, see ya in the pool!

Millions of peaches, peaches for me,

Critino

I tell you what, it’s been a pleasant week!  The good Lord decided to bless us with a little cool(er) weather and we have been loving it.  It reminds me of the days when I first met my wife.  It was a time of sweaters and bonfires and long conversations that lasted ’til dawn.  It really was the greatest time–getting to know Marie, and seeing all of it start to fall into place.  She was elegant and beautiful, and I was charming and witty.  The first time I met her I remember I asked her if she minded telling me how old she was so that I could gauge how well she looked for her age…”How cute!” she always says.  It was a time of tumult as well, of personal inventory being taken and wild oats being sown.  It didn’t take me long to start to see what a beautiful gift God was hand-wrapping for me right before my eyes.  I’ve always been a one-woman man, and not to long into getting to know her, I swore off all others and decided to wait and see if she was indeed God’s gift for me.   And from then ’til now, I love where we find ourselves–this journey filled with unlimited possibilities.  Sure we’ve had to sacrifice some things for the benefit of our young children, but we are not missing out on anything; this is our life and a beautiful on it is!

And as far as resistance, or attacks, or even the opinions of others go…while they are just part of life, and opinions are like arse holes, I still maintain:

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.“
Isaiah 54:13

and

“Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.“
Psalm 91:9-16

It won’t touch us!  That’s the beauty of it, I have never in my life experienced such a great peace and joy.  It’s like no matter what happens around us or to us, we will come through it…life’s “colorful” parts are no longer oppressively heavy.  It’s amazing!

My family is my life and the one right thing in my existence (aside from Jesus Christ, that is).  That time not so long ago is when I finally discovered my calling and that precious gift worth my fighting for–these three that share my roof!  God gave me a promise back then, and even in the midst of the ebb and flow of life, it still rings true.  That is the beauty of His working in our lives: that even when life gets hard and we start to doubt ourselves, and even if it seems as though the whole world is against you; there is always the hope and the peace that He supplies when we simply stop trying to be in control of a situation that is beyond us, and lean on what He has said.

Jesus also painted a beautiful word-picture of this for us in Matthew:

“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.“
Matthew 7:24-27

That sounds kind of scary if you find yourself on the wrong side of this parable, but it is a great comfort when you know you are where you are supposed to be.  I’ll be the first to tell you that we can walk a long piece in our lives holding onto a melting mound of sand, and all the time looking with disbelief at what is really happening–trying to convince ourselves, those around us, and maybe even God that what we are attempting to do is God-breathed.  But the sad/awesome reality of it is that no matter how well we can forge God’s signature in the things of this life, there is nothing hidden that will not be brought to light–be it in this life or that to come.  And we can’t fake out or outrun God…He’s not going to fall for our subtlety or attempted sleight of hand.  He’s got the best and He is just waiting for us to turn and ask Him for it.

Getting back to what I was saying, this minor weather change has been for me another reminder that He is in control and this life is a gift and should be a joy regardless of what comes or who or what “rageth” in our lives.  It is so awe-inspiring to finally see things full circle…every plan of mine falling away and being where and with and who in the right place.  And next year I know that I will be saying the same thing, having a little more insight into all that He has been doing from as far back as I can remember.  We don’t claim to know what tomorrow holds, but will continue on one day at a time, as we always have, with the attitude that even if this is the last day of our lives, we lived it with purpose and while being true to ourselves, each other, and most importantly, God.

Peach out,

Critino

And now for the part of the show where, in plain zebra print, we get to the bulletted list:

• Fuck You FORD!
• S.O.L.
• Again FORD?
• Really Chevy?
• Credit score? Yeah, I’ve got one…oh, you need to know what it is…
• You too Josiah?
• ARE YOU SERIOUS MIL?
• La Pastilla! Aja!
• San Antonio is just alright with me!
• Curse you Perry the platypus…I mean Enterprise Rent-A-Car…I mean, I choose to forgive…grrrr…
• Noah was right!
• Aye Josiah!

Fuck FORD!!!  I will make no attempt to appear apologetic for the previous statement!  Granted I came into the car a little late, but my 2001 Ford Focus died with only 80,000 miles on it.  Now I know you all probably think that I am to blame, well think again! Ford let these cars sell with a faulty cylinder head which, at any unforeseen time, will dump the valve springs and ruin your engine.  Bolas!  At least I wasn’t on the road when this happened and the children were safely at their respective day-time places.  So good old Mr. Kleinschmit swooped in to save me with his newly inherited truck and trailer. Thanks Dad!!!

S.O.L…I’m sorry, were you expecting elaboration?

Really FORD? So, again, my dad was nice enough to let us use the 1990 Ford F-250 that I sold to him years ago.  Same mileage on the thing, but hadn’t been run in a while.  So one day, just after having filled the tank with gas and on my way to pick up Josiah from B&G Club, it decides to die in the middle of the intersection just outside of the courthouse.  And if you’ve ever had to push a 1990 F-250, you would know that it is very hard to do by yourself–even if it is painted white.  Well, I lucked out and some Samaritan type pulled into the nearby parking lot and helped me get it pushed to safety and out of the way of traffic.  And here we go again, towing yet another vehicle into my dad’s now even more redneck looking unpaved front yard…

At this point Marie’s mom says that we can use her car, which has been already parked for more than a week due to some medical things that she had going on.  A vehicle is a vehicle, and I’m not complaining, but the poor kids!  No A/C, and the noxious smell of fumes, not to mention that fact that you never know when the old thing was going to stall on you.  Again, I was grateful to have a motorized conveyance of sorts, but I also didn’t want the timer on this ticking car to expire on my watch and be stranded with the kids in 100+ degree weather, and then to be made to feel altogether responsible and outright blamed for years of neglect and mistreatment.

So at this point we did some reevaluating as to our financial standing and decided to seek out a new car.  For once in my life I am really excited about getting into a “under-warranty” monthly payment.  I mean, we need the room; let’s face it, the kids are only getting bigger and so is our need for lugging around a lot more of their junk! lol End of the bullet, no dice, stuck again.  The sinking feeling getting more ominous.  How am I going to get to work and what are we going to do if the kids need to go to the doctor? What to do?

And on top of all of that, Josiah starts acting up at the Boys and Girl’s Club.  He likes it there, but basically doesn’t want to have to follow the rules…he was more than happy to stay at the front desk and talk to the older girls.  But with all of the car trouble and such, we were forced to keep him out for a week.  His last week there though was by far his best!

Just cause it’s bulletted, don’t mean it needs explaining…all I have to say is that there is God, the flesh, the devil, and anyone who is human and understands these dynamics should have at least some vague inkling of what it all means.  There is bitterness and there is forgiveness and life is too short…I choose forgiveness!  Nuf said! Amen!

Pastilla! That’s all the truck needed! “Pastilla” is what a mechanic friend of mine says they call the main problem in these older FORD trucks. “If that ain’t what it is, then your looking at a lot of work to get it fixed,” he tells me.  So, no new car, but at least the dependable old truck is running at her best!  Thank the Lord, I can at least get to work and make that paper!

So with no foreseeable new(er) vehicle in sight for us, we did the next best thing we could think of: we used some of the monies that we had saved for a down-payment and rented a Mazda 5 and headed up to San Antonio to visit the most awesome of in-laws!  Vegging out and going to the horse races, chasing the kids around the house and a marathon of Phineas and Ferb, mama’s awesome carne guisada, and playing with the kids in the pool…priceless!  We had a great time…especially jamming out with the greatest undiscovered living guitar player of all time…Tony, you rock and are an inspiration to us all!  I can’t wait to finally be polished enough to lay down some tracks with you and cut a CD!  Oh, and Steph, the rice rocked…you are such a hip mother-in-law you have made me feel like part of the family since the first day that I met you; bless you for putting up with all of our idiosyncrasies!

So we got home at 3:00 in the morning and snoozed as long as the chittlens would allow…Josiah needed cereal and Phineas needed to see my smiling face!  I didn’t need to return the rental until 11  am, but arrived there 20 minutes early, and much to my chagrin was told that I was being charged an additional $100 American because the wife and I had tracked in dog hair on the front floor mats.  I immediately called customer service, but have not received a response and do not count on those greedy bastards returning my hundred dollars…weekend special my ass, more like rear-end special…thank you sir, may I have another…

Things are going just super and I need some added drama in my life, so the 18th century drain pipes in our apartment decided it would be a good time to rust shut and fill the majority of the house with drain water…fortunately, our landlord was in tune with his feng shui enough to get right on the ball and get it fixed for us that afternoon…bless him!  His Italian wife, on the other hand, did not sound all to happy when we called to offer our thanks…molto bene grazie!

And then bringing it all home this last week, the first week of Josiah’s First Grade year, he decided that he should put one of his classmates to the test and see if punching him in the mouth would make him cry…God know’s why!!! Sounds all too familiar if you ask the other side of his nacimiento…but he is such a precious and has come through so much, and we have no doubt that with time and patience and the right kind of discipline and guidance, he will be a thriving adjusted awesome addition to humanity!

So with that, you are more or less caught up with the month in the time and life of the Kleinschmit’a!  America bless God and all that entails…thank you and have a great night/day, depending on which side of the globe/time you read this.

Peach out,

Chris

P.S. Had a great time with a great lady; thanks for blessing us with your company Tia D!

Things continue on much the same.  The kids are getting accustomed to the flow of the new place.  Prayer, worship, Word, work, shopping, doctors visits, Boys and Girls Club (brand new facility and Josiah loves it!), lots of coffee, smoked meats, assorted chef and meat salads (ala Marie), some good dry vino (Angel’s Landing Cabernet!) and a few brews now and again; and, yes, a few cigarettes (still planning the eventual quitting…I promise!), oh and a few video games and movies here and there!

Josiah is making friends from the complex and at “the Club” and has started to ride his bike again (thanks to daddy for filling the tires with air again!)  He has also started to overcome his unease about the pool.  I actually had him going under the water with his goggles on.  Oh, and he is no longer afraid of the “big swings” at the park!  LOL  His tastes for different foods is also broadening, which has been somewhat of a relief, but the boy still refuses to eat a burger…oh well!  He’s getting huge, sometimes I look at him and swear I can see him growing.  He’s changing and starting to tackle bigger things, and getting more adventurous, I love that he is finally getting over the petty fears that he had and trying new things…a little more practice and we’ll be going to his basket ball games!  He aspires to be a Rock Star/Sports Star/Movie Directing/Entomologist.  A ver!

Phineas is making great strides of his own.  We are daily amazed to see the character of who he is coming out and being made known.  He is walking and running, and his greatest joy (besides Shaun the Sheep!) is just being outside.  In fact that was his first phrase.  ”Let’s go!” he chants enthusiastically as he takes our hand and guides one of us to the door.  He loves being in the pool as well…ah don’t we all!  And not too long ago, I was just arriving home from work and just inside the door he runs up to me and clear as day says, “Hi daddy, I love you.”  That is one feeling you cannot describe: the first time your child says “I love you.”  I could barely contain myself!  He’s been growing big and strong, and shows such intelligence, and interest and aptitude towards all things mechanical.  Our little Sports Star/Engineer/Musician/Poet…that’s what I see and much more, but time will tell!

And those times when the two “harmonize” together are amazing.  Phineas will almost literally pull Josiah off of the couch when he wants to play.  And when they are outside he will run up to Josiah and grab his hand and the two will just walk around the courtyard best of friends.  Phineas loves his focused alone time to play with his cars and toys, but when he wants to play, he lets big brother know!   And Josiah has had to learn what it truly means to share and be patient…we’re still working on that one.  Yes, things can get chaotic at times when Josiah is yelling over Phineas’ crying, or one or both are being defiant, or a hundred other things that could and sometimes do occur, but we are all learning!  We love it!

Sure we have our ups and downs (and any partner/parent that claims otherwise is just lying through their teeth and ought to be ashamed of themselves!), but we daily try to keep things in perspective, positive; and each other and the kids in check.  Let’s face it, while marriage and child rearing have their joys (and they are abundant!), they don’t come without their difficulties, trials, and failures.  We emphatically love the triumphs; but through the rest we fight, and we pray, and we laugh, and we cry; and at the end of the day I couldn’t ask for a better family…this is what I love and have searched for my whole life and what is really worth fighting and even dying  for!  I welcome this life-long boot camp called parenting, and with Marie at my side can see coming out the other side decorated veterans!  AMEN!!!

God bless you, and thank you for your time!

You are all beautiful; and Jesus and James Keller want me to remind you that you are special!

Oh, and one last thing, Phineas was just laughing in his sleep.  That means he’s dreaming about me! ;-P

-Peach (pie…yum!) Out!