More Holding Down the Fort

How any single parent survives is beyond my comprehension. Since Cecilie has left I have watch half of a basketball game and all other TV viewing has gone out the window. I am too tired at night to do anything but go to bed.

Today the dishwasher arrived and I did manage to get it installed. It was a bit of a challenge since the previous owners of the house installed hardwood overtop of the linoleum that was orginally in the kitchen. Unfortuntely they didn't install it underneath the cabinets and where the appliances are. This meant that I had to disconnect the countertop from the cabinets and lift it up in order to get the old dishwasher out and to install the new one. It was lots of fun getting everything connected back together. The previous dishwasher had been connected with 1/2 inch flexible copper pipe and the new dishwashers are connected with 3/8 inch compression fittings. Finally after a few trips to The Home Depot I was able to get the right connecters to get water flowing to the dishwasher. I ran a test rinse cycle and everything was dry. I hope it stays that way.

I'm looking forward to Cecilie getting home. Tonight, due to the complications involved with getting the dishwasher installed, I fed the kids Krispy Kreme Doughnuts for dinner. I was a champion dad tonight. I'm pretty sure I will survive the next few days and so will the kids.

One more thing. I sometimes wonder what the point of cleaning is. I feel like I have been doing a great deal of cleaning since Cecilie left and in no time the place is torn to pieces. This morning I was cleaning like crazy. I moved all the furniture in the family room and took up the area rug and vacumed under it and flipped it over to vacum the bottom side of it and mopped the whole floor and had the family room in addition to the rest of the main floor totally clean. When I ran out to The Home Depot and, which took some time, I left Rohan in charge. When I came home the place all messed up. Toys were scatter all over the place and all kinds of other stuff was lying all over the place. It seems that all you can do is put your hands up and surrender.

I need Nanny 911.

Holding Down the Fort

Cecilie and Casey are in Norway for a ten day trip. The trip is going well for them and things on the home front aren't too bad. The only major hitch is that the dishwasher decided to break down the day before they left. It is so fun to be hand washing all of the dishes after every meal. There seems to be an endless supply of them. I've ordered a new dishwasher that is scheduled for delivery on Thursday. Since I'm taking time off this week I am going to be adventurous and install the replacement on my own. Wish me luck.

This morning I managed to get all of the kids ready for church. It is always interesting to see what the kids will put on. Torben put on some preppy stripped shorts with dark navy sock that covered his entire calf with a rustic flannel shirt. I made him change the shirt out for a navy sweater so he seemed to have a fairly cohesive look. The rest of the kids looked pretty good. Once we were at church I realized Pyper and Abigail could have used a brush through their hair to smooth out all the snarls. Oh well, you can't do it all with Cecilie out of town.

Food has been good so far. I have relied on prepackaged soup and cereal for the most part supplemented by cookies and cake. Hot dogs make for a quick and easy meal. Solveig is not a big eater and loves to drink lots of milk via her bottle. I did fix her and Torben scrambled eggs this morning, which they gobbled up.

Andrea, our babysitter, is taking the kids tomorrow since I am working out of the house. That will make it easy to get my work done. Otherwise I would have to rely on PBS Kids to make it through the day. PBS Kids works for Abigail and Torben as they would watch it all day if I let them, but Solveig would hound me otherwise.

Not sure if this will make it into a Sacrament talk

This week I was playing Yahtzee with the kids for the first time. Pyper was absolutely smoking, and had already rolled two yahtzee's. Rohan, who when it comes to games is a true Sugden, was positively crazed with competitive fury. He rolled and got two 2's, along with some random numbers. He already had his 2's, so I suggested he try for something else. He adamantly announced he was going for Yahtzee. I tried to explain some of the strategy of the game, and that it wasn't a good idea to "try" for Yahtzee unless he could use his 2's elsewhere. He was not to be swayed. He rolled and got one more 2. Again, I urged him to try and roll for something else, telling him that the odds of actually getting Yahtzee were pretty slim. With a look of steely determination in his eye he said, "just a second" and then scurried over to the corner of the room, and dropped to his knees. I jumped into action, "Rohan! You cannot pray for Yahtzee!!! Heavenly Father DOES NOT answer Yahtzee prayers!!" But he ignored me and quickly mumbled his fervent supplication. He came back, rolled his remaining 3 dice, which came up all 2's. Yahtzee. He was absolutely jubilant and spent the next few minutes exulting. I'm not sure how an answered prayer can be blasphemous, but this one seems perilously close.

Maraca Moma

Look at mom shake the maracas. Mom was really into this part of the drumming. She was second to none with the maracas.

Dinner Time

Where is the other half of the family?

Torben Poolside

What a handsome young man. It is amazing what a little sun and some rest and relaxation can do.

Primary Class Sharing Time Video

Saturday, I had my class over to make a video for Sharing Time at church. It went well and the kids had a good time. It is available for viewing on the web site. I was a little stressed at times since the house was fully of exuberant kids. Cecilie was at the dentist and the appointment went longer than I expected it to go. Boy was I glad when she got home! Let me know what you think.

I also managed to grill up some burgers and hot dogs and fed the whole lot (before Cecilie made it back. Pretty impressive, eh!

Oodles of Babies

You know things are getting crazy when the 2 year old is the big kid.

David Enjoys the Spa

David Reaches Back to Pull One In

As the picture shows, David had to really reach back to grab this errant pass out of the air. What incredible hands and concentration are shown here by David. Maybe he has a chance of being invited to the Argonauts training camp next spring. If he wants to keep his green card though, he'll have to hope for an invitation from the Buccaneers.

Lance - What a Finish

Lance, after making a great catch, enters the water with a big splash.

Lance - What a Catch

Hundreds of shots were taken of pool football. This may be the best. Check out the elevation and the way Lance concentrates intensely as he reaches down to bring the ball in.

Starved Rock Eagle Watching

Saturday we went to visit Starved Rock to do some eagle watching. It was cold and windy, but fortunately there is a vistor center provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Apparently the Bald Eagles migrate south from Wisconsin and Minnisota once the weather gets cold enought to freeze the water over up there. Apparently they haven't learned to ice fish yet. There is a lock and dam at Starved Rock adjacent to an island in the middle of the Illinios River that provides a good spot to fish from. There are some really good pictures at the Illinios Raptor Center website. We look forward to visiting the Starved Rock State Park on the other side of the river once the weather warms up to do some hiking and site seeing.

Coldstone

As the temperature has dipped over the past week or so we have been asked how we are enjoying Chicago now! We are doing just fine and tonight for Family Home Evening we took advantage of the frigid temperatures to enjoy ice cream treats from Coldstone. On our way over the temperature read -18° C (0° F). Everybody seemed to be enjoying the ice cream.

First day of school - 8/06

First school day in Illinois. Abby was so sad that she could not go.

Fun in Chicago with Lance

Room with a View - The Chicago apartment

NC Vacation with the Lundrigans

11-06-2006

Much is happening in our home these days, especially with the birth of Solveig. There are now six children blessing our home and this is good. Having six children is a great experience - at times it can be challenging, but it is mostly rewarding.

Saturday morning, like most, the boys were up early to play GameCube. According to Rohan they didn't get up until 6:30, implying that they slept in. They started out, as usual, with Rohan's favorite, which happens to be football, and they then migrated to basketball, Casey's choice and grudgingly wrapped things up (with some coaxing) many hours later at 10:00. Within a half hour we were out raking leaves. We did this until around noon - it would be a stretch to call it two hours. The boys informed me that all they had done was work all day and they hadn't had any fun. The yard looks great, but unfortunately there are still a good number of leaves still waiting to come down.

Home Sweet Home - Naperville

After swearing to never buy another old house, here is our new home-to-be: A 1969 Dutch Colonial, guaranteed to keep Mike busy for the rest of his days. Every square inch (except the wood paneled family room) is wall papered, even the ceilings. The basement is very, very unfinished. The bathrooms are tiled in standard 1960's colors, and the half-acre yard is full of potential work. We have high hopes of putting our kids to work and turning them into productive adults. Or at least keeping Lance busy. Despite the potential work-load, we are very excited about our house. It is exactly one mile from the church (only 4 years until early morning seminary), close to schools and there is tons of shopping nearby, which we are hoping will lure Grandma here more often. Mike is researching outlet malls in the area for the same reason. We are super close to a large "forest" preserve, which is actually a big patch of prairie, and we are planning to make good use of the bike paths running through it to get us all in shape. As always, we welcome visitors, but be prepared to scrape some wall paper or do a bit of weeding...



Here is a picture of the front of the house.

The Back!

The Sunroom!

The Deck!

Looking from the deck towards the sunroom...

The Koi Pond.

Shriek Fest 2006

It is a good thing we are moving into a home that has half an acre of land. Living in an apartment has highlighted just how much noise our children are capable of making. I've been trying to determine which of our children would win "the closest to being peaceful award" and I'm not sure that any of them would come close to qualifying at this point. Each child has there unique way of disturbing the peace...

Rohan is a great source of energy (unless he is transfixed in front of the computer playing a game) and would have to win the great instigator award. He is able to get the winds of wildness blowing throughout the family.

Casey is the great shrieker. Casey wins the award for the highest decibel level. He is often very peaceful, however if is he going to let loose, he gives it his all.

Pyper is the quiet agitator. Pyper inconspicuously presses her siblings until they reach their breaking point, and they boil over in frustration and lash back. At this point Pyper becomes the great victim and her unrelenting cries begins.

Abigail is the consistent crier. Anything for Abbie is worth crying over and she tends to cry in deep loud roar, full of passion. Abbie is very pleasant when she is not bellowing in her deep voice and can talk endlessly of her doings and observations.

Torben revels in being frustrated when he is not busy being happy. Torben spends his days trying to stagger around in shoes that do not fit him endlessly aggravated that he has trouble getting around in them. If this is not frustrating enough, he attempts to outdo himself by pushing the vacuum cleaner and cooler around the apartment. When he is really up for self-inflicted aggravation, he attempts to plug the vacuum cleaner in the socket, or any other electric cord for that matter.

After consulting with Cecilie on the matter, she has informed me that imitation is the greatest form of flattery and that I only need look in the mirror to see the source from which Shriek Fest 2006 springs.

With that said I am looking for suggestions on how this great festival can be brought to an end. Please and thank-you.

Cheap Almost-thrill

I put my name in here and I found a David Sugden from Spokane, WA. The weird thing is they had a Susan M Sugden as a possible relative.

Merry Christmas

Christmas 2005

It is so enjoyable to receive Christmas letters, and so unenjoyable to write them, but here goes...

This has been an uneventful year in terms of births/deaths/moves/jobs, of which there are no changes, but a surprisingly busy year for the simple and time consuming things like lessons, sports, schools, homework, house repairs, church, scouts, commuting, cooking cleaning and getting everyone to bed each night. All of this leaves us sufficiently exhausted to feel that we are busy, busy people, but there is not much to show for it . We have a sneaking suspicion this might be the story of our lives for the next 15 years or so. But for those of you who we don't see or hear from much, here is the general scoop:

Five children: Rohan (9), Casey (7), Pyper (4), Abigail (3), Torben (1)

They are all attractive, wonderful, smart, and fabulously talented (this is a Christmas letter after all). Three of them have had chicken pox in the last two weeks, but we're not holding that against them. Two of them have had stomach viruses (the vomiting kind) in the last week, and we are sort of holding that against them, because we're just too tired to be magnanimous.

Mike finished the bathroom, installed a hardwood floor, put in a new boiler, and painted the family room. He spent approximately 528 hours on the commuter train and earned 12 college credits. Cecilie was less productive, because she became thoroughly and utterly addicted to Su Doku, just like the book promised she would. She spent her free time driving back and forth to a Mennonite farm in Pennsylvania for raw milk and eggs (3 hours roundtrip, but who's counting) and cooking lots and lots of meat. Both have gained statistically significant amounts of weight, but Mike does not attribute this to either the meat or the milk, but rather to our new found addiction to realty TV, after getting a television last Christmas. We hadn't had one for a few years, but on a whim decided to rejoin the mainstream and got a TV, a DVD player and a GameCube. Although a bit late on the realty TV bandwagon, we are making up for it by watching The Biggest Loser, both Apprentices and American Idol. As we spent years looking down our noses at all those Survivor sycophants, we can't bring ourselves to watch that one, but there's always next year.

For the true fans, here is a link to our family website, where you will find more pictures and information than you ever wanted.

www.sugden.ca

password and usernames are both: brent (in lower case)

Merry Christmas to all, and we really like having guests, so feel free to come and see us. We have meat and heat, both of which are new since last year.

We would love for you to click on comments so we can hear from you!

Snow in New Jersey

Recently we have had a decent drop of snow. Here are the children enjoying it! Luke (the one in the middle) loves to be outdoors and is a good influence on Rohan and Casey, both of whom would gladly spend all of their time indoors watching television or playing Game Cube. 

Cheap Flights

I was just playing around on the website where I book my flights. I'm booked to fly home on Saturday Dec 17th and return on Sunday Jan 8th for a cost of $400. Prices have been dropping lately and that flight is now only $300. However, if I flew home on the 16th and returned on Friday the 6th the trip would only cost $216. The only drawback is that the flights are with Delta which is now in official “we really don’t care about customer service now that we are in bankruptcy” mode. Jen Kempf was flying from SLC to Van over thanksgiving break on Delta and during their flight the passengers were informed that due to bad weather in Vancouver they might have to land in Pasco, WA where the passengers would be dropped off and left on their own to find their way to their destination. Jen said EVERYBODY on the flight was going nuts on the flight attendants and luckily for them, they were able to land in Vancouver. Get the oil changed on the half-ton Dave, I may need you to come and pick my up in Paso next week!

Video Games

 

Real Man!!

My Dad is a real man that Uncle Lance wishes he could be like. Just look at him working with his tools to install a new hardwood floor. 

Girlieman

Uncle Lance thinks he is a real tough guy. 

Birthdays

Uhhhhhhhhh. Hey Chin (brother outcasted to Utah), Dad wasn't born in March. I remember when he was born and I'm pretty sure it was in Febuary. You might want to update your calendar you chinburger.

Sincerely,

Rupert

Not Real??

Although I am inciriminating myself with this, here it goes.

I watched Jerry Springer the other day and the topic was affairs with midgets. Wow, it was amazing to me these midgets' ability to schmooze these high class babes. I guess it is all in the confidence.

At the end of the show (yes I even watched the final thought), they had this website posted as a sponsor. It made me skeptical about the reality of the show. This glitch may have given them away. I wonder if people will still think it's real. Uh oh...

Hey Sean, I wonder if they do catering.

Dave