Hello Friends and Family.
Happy March to you all!
Spring is in the air! That glorious warm wet smell of mud, and the
hope of flowers soon to be adorning it.
We are doing well. So far we have avoided major sickness this winter!
Jaden will be 7 months old on the 11th! He's got two little teeth
popping through on his bottom gums. He is confidently sitting up,
and becoming more and more aware of his surroundings. His latest
favorite noise is... get this... "GA-GA!" My youngest son is a
bouncing baby cliche. I suppose "GOO-GOO" will be next.
I love the 6 month age! Moving from helpless baby to exploratory
infant; it's an exciting time to witness. One of my favorite things
to think about as I do the work of my day-job, is the wonderful
parallel/analogy that the Lord gave us in the process of being
parents. We can learn so much about the Lord, by being aware of
ourselves as parents (and His children); and we can learn so much
about being parents (and about our own children) by being aware of
the Lord as our Parent.
The latest thought to come to my mind on this subject has to do with
holding a baby. I spend much of my day just holding Jaden.
Especially in times of pain (such as teething) he doesn't like to be
anywhere else other than in my arms or Tirah's arms. And when he is
in my arms and happy, it's almost like he's only somewhat aware of me
at all. He just knows that he's safe. Sometimes he will glance up
and look into my face as if to say, "Oh, right! You're holding me
Papa!" Other times when I'm holding him, he will reach out with his
whole body in an effort to go somewhere or get to something, and I
will happily oblige him (provided it's safe). I sometimes wonder how
much he thinks that he is in control of where I walk. He makes a
choice to reach out... but I'm the one who does the walking to get
him there. What an amazing analogy for our own relationship with
the Lord. How often do we think that we are the ones making progress
in our spiritual path? How often do we not even notice the happiness
we take for granted because of the Lord holding us in His arms?
There is so much to learn from parenting.
Just a few days ago, we moved Cirdan out of his crib and into a Big
Boy Bed. We then moved Cirdan's crib into our bedroom for Jaden to
sleep in. He was out-growing his bed-buddy. We're hoping that this
will help his sleeping pattern too, because he still wakes up several
times during the night.
Cirdan took a half-an-hour nap today. It used to be a two-hour nap.
He's starting to phase out of the nap era. Naps used to be my free-
time to work on music, so I always mourn their passing. But at the
same time, Thea and Cirdan are growing up and becoming more
independent, so sometimes I can work on music while they're awake and
playing happily.
We been finding that the hope of going to school has been a great
incentive for Thea to "work on her problems." Being a Strong-Willed-
Child, she lives by this motto: "You can't make me, but I can be
persuaded." The goal of "being a good girl" just hasn't been
attractive enough for her to learn to stop screaming, hitting, and in
general being mean to people when they aren't doing what she wants
them to. But... the thought that she might not be allowed to go to
school if she doesn't change those patterns, well that's something
she can work with. She's been much more motivated to "behave" lately
because there's something in it for her. This childish selfishness
isn't a bad thing. In fact that's how the Lord works with us adults
too. He gives us incentives to be good people; incentives such as
getting to go to heaven. He doesn't expect us to be selfless right
off the bat. Once again, looking to see how the Lord does things is
an invaluable tool for learning parenting techniques.
We very much enjoyed attending the Parenting Conference in Bryn Athyn
last month. We weren't sure what to expect, but our kids did really
well in the group child-care room. The whole thing was very
inspirational, and we had fun performing as a family on Saturday
night. Thea sang a Veggie Tales song called "My Day" all by herself
up on stage. Cirdan was going to sing with her, but a disagreement
over the microphone put him in a bad mood at the last minute. He may
also have been feeling a little shy.
I'm happy to announce that my wife Tirah (with the help of friends)
gathered enough signatures (around 300!) to be placed on the ballot
in our congressional district as an alternate delegate! An alternate
delegate is basically a back-up delegate. If she gets elected, and
if there's a vacancy in the delegates, she could have a chance at
getting to go to St. Paul Minnesota in September to vote in the
Republican National Convention! Pretty exciting!
With Jaden getting older, and the energy of Spring in the air, we're
hoping to get back into leading our Marriage Support Group soon.
Tirah celebrated her 28th birthday on the 19th. Thanks to generous
help from our families, I was able to buy her a digital camera for
her birthday! And it was great to have a digital camera as Tirah
took a small vacation and we drove out to Ohio for a few days to
visit with Tirah's parents and her youngest sister. It's a long
drive (8-10 hours), but our kids did pretty well. We drove partially
through the night on the way out, and entirely through the night on
the way back, which was very nice. We had a fun time in Ohio, and
Tirah's mom got to meet Jaden for the first time!
While in Ohio, I learned that my Granny Keal had passed away. It's
very nice to know that she is with Grandpa again, and that they are
in their young bodies again! In one of my favorite movies, "The
Five People You Meet In Heaven" there's a great scene where the main
character who died wakes up in Heaven and just spends some time
running around and jumping up and down, just because he can again!
It's really fun to think of my grandparents doing that right now. I
just wish they could have met our children before they left.
On the 1st of March, I went down to Bryn Athyn for the third and last
part of a discussion group about the Secret and the Writings of
Swedenborg. It was, once again, a lot of fun.
We're still hunting for a house to rent, but trusting that the Lord
will provide when the time is right. With the economy being what it
is right now, it is very mutually beneficial to be sharing a
household. Perhaps that is Providentially why we're having trouble
finding a place to move to.
Tirah and I finished constructing a vocal booth for my studio. This
will allow us to record good quality vocals for our album of love
songs. Now we just have to make the time to do it.
Last night we took the kids to a Circus! A Circus came to Hamburg,
which is the town just 5 minutes west of us. We were only able to
stay for the first hour, but it was fun anyway. Thea especially
loved it. She kept asking me when we were going to see the "magical,
sparkley, flying ladies again!" Cirdan was a bit overwhelmed by it
all, but speaks of it fondly in hind-sight. Jaden handled it
surprisingly well. Over-all, it was a fun adventure!
I'll be turning 31 on Monday! I'm looking forward to cake!
I hope you all have a wonderful day!
Love from,
Solomon (31), Tirah (28), Thea (5), Cirdan (3 and 3/4), and Jaden (7
months)
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Keal Family Letter, February 2008
Hello Friends and Family!
Happy February to you all!
Jaden will be 6 months old on Monday the 11th! Already half a year
old! Time flies when you're having fun (and kids, apparently)!
He just started teething recently, so his usually cheerful nature is
somewhat dampened lately. He has also started eating a little bit of
solid food. He's had banana, rice cereal, and we tried giving him
some sweet potato, but he screwed up his face and spat it out.
Due to the teething, we haven't made any progress in getting him to
sleep through the night, so Tirah and I are still zombies most of the
time.
Cirdan continues to be a citizen of the Imagine Nation. He has a
fascination with "bad guys." Yesterday he drew a picture of "bad
guys fighting." It consisted of a page full of brown squiggles. You
could see the action... it was pretty exciting.
Thea turned 5 on the 2nd! We have a 5 year-old!! We had a fun
time going out to Cracker Barrel for a birthday dinner. Then we came
home for cake and ice cream.
We find ourselves starting to think about Kindergarten! Currently
the options we are looking at are either the Kempton New Church
Kindergarten, or the PA Virtual Charter School, which is an online
home-schooling program run by the State. The upsides of the Kempton
Kindergarten are:
1. Thea would get a chance to learn how to interact with other kids
her age.
2. I would get several hours a week with one less kid to take care of.
3. It's a New Church school.
The upsides of the PA Virtual Charter School are:
1. It's free.
2. It's home-schooling (which Tirah and I both like).
3. We wouldn't have to worry about Thea "exploding" outside of the home.
At this point we're sort of leaning towards the Kempton Kindergarten,
despite the fact that we don't really know how we'll pay for it.
Thea continues to get better every day with her drawing skills. She
is starting to learn how to draw profiles of faces! It's very cool.
Tirah has been doing a little better lately with her Seasonal
Depression. She started taking as much Body Balance as I've been
taking, and it's really been helping. She has also been having a lot
of fun being politically active this winter. Nothing like a fun
project to get you through the winter doldrums!
Tirah is running as an alternate delegate for Pennsylvania. She has
to get at least 250 signatures from our Congressional District to be
placed on the ballot. She only has until February 12 (I think) to
get those signatures. If she gets enough she will be listed as an
alternate delegate on the PA Ballot in our district. If she gets
elected, she will then be a back-up delegate if one of the other
delegates drops out. And if that happens there's a chance she could
be going to St. Paul Minnesota in early September for the Republican
National Convention. If she does, then she will be very actively
voting for her favorite candidate. The Pennsylvania primary (along
with several other states) is really just a "beauty pageant" or a
popularity contest. When you vote in the Primary in Pennsylvania,
your vote does not actually go towards electing anybody. The
delegates are the people who do the real voting and electing.
It's pretty interesting! We'll let you know how it turns out.
I'm still struggling to find the time to work on music. Taking care
of an infant and two toddlers is definitely a full time job. But I
did manage to start constructing a sound booth for my studio this
past month. I bought some 1X2s from Lowes, and some hardware, and I
put together 8 basic panels which will form a small octagonal booth.
Tirah is helping me with velcro and fabric to line the booth. The
idea is to have an enclosed area in which a person can stand with a
microphone and sing. The fabric-lined booth will cut down on
bouncing sound waves and create a cleaner, more usable signal to use
in a recording. All of this is working towards the release of an
album of love songs by Tirah and I. My goal is to release it this
year. We'll see how it goes.
On the 2nd, I went down to Bryn Athyn for a second time to lead a
discussion group on The Secret and the Writings of Emanuel
Swedenborg. Once again, it was a fun group, and they've asked me to
come back a third time on the first of March. If you're interested,
you can read my notes here: http://thesecretofheaven.blogspot.com
Tirah has had several "snow days" in the past couple weeks. Although
they were odd snow days. The weather was such that Hawk Mountain
was iced over, but down here in the valley there was only rain. It
was very strange for Tirah to be home on a "snow day" with no snow in
site, and no reason to be stuck in our house. On one of the days we
were glad to be able to get to church, which we aren't able to do
very often since Tirah works on Sundays.
Tirah and I were given a bread machine for Christmas, and so this
past month we never bought one loaf of bread... it was all home-
made! The smell of home-made bread filling the house every couple
of days is yet another thing to put a smile on our faces in this
dreary time of year.
This weekend we head down to Bryn Athyn for the Parenting Conference
(http://www.caringformarriage.org). We'll be taking all the kids
with us (unlike the previous year's Marriage Conference), and we'll
also be performing as an entire family on Saturday night! (If all
goes well....)
That's all for now folks!
I hope you have a wonderful February!
Love from,
Solomon (30), Tirah (almost 28), Thea (5), Cirdan (3 and 1/2), and
Jaden (almost 6 months)
Happy February to you all!
Jaden will be 6 months old on Monday the 11th! Already half a year
old! Time flies when you're having fun (and kids, apparently)!
He just started teething recently, so his usually cheerful nature is
somewhat dampened lately. He has also started eating a little bit of
solid food. He's had banana, rice cereal, and we tried giving him
some sweet potato, but he screwed up his face and spat it out.
Due to the teething, we haven't made any progress in getting him to
sleep through the night, so Tirah and I are still zombies most of the
time.
Cirdan continues to be a citizen of the Imagine Nation. He has a
fascination with "bad guys." Yesterday he drew a picture of "bad
guys fighting." It consisted of a page full of brown squiggles. You
could see the action... it was pretty exciting.
Thea turned 5 on the 2nd! We have a 5 year-old!! We had a fun
time going out to Cracker Barrel for a birthday dinner. Then we came
home for cake and ice cream.
We find ourselves starting to think about Kindergarten! Currently
the options we are looking at are either the Kempton New Church
Kindergarten, or the PA Virtual Charter School, which is an online
home-schooling program run by the State. The upsides of the Kempton
Kindergarten are:
1. Thea would get a chance to learn how to interact with other kids
her age.
2. I would get several hours a week with one less kid to take care of.
3. It's a New Church school.
The upsides of the PA Virtual Charter School are:
1. It's free.
2. It's home-schooling (which Tirah and I both like).
3. We wouldn't have to worry about Thea "exploding" outside of the home.
At this point we're sort of leaning towards the Kempton Kindergarten,
despite the fact that we don't really know how we'll pay for it.
Thea continues to get better every day with her drawing skills. She
is starting to learn how to draw profiles of faces! It's very cool.
Tirah has been doing a little better lately with her Seasonal
Depression. She started taking as much Body Balance as I've been
taking, and it's really been helping. She has also been having a lot
of fun being politically active this winter. Nothing like a fun
project to get you through the winter doldrums!
Tirah is running as an alternate delegate for Pennsylvania. She has
to get at least 250 signatures from our Congressional District to be
placed on the ballot. She only has until February 12 (I think) to
get those signatures. If she gets enough she will be listed as an
alternate delegate on the PA Ballot in our district. If she gets
elected, she will then be a back-up delegate if one of the other
delegates drops out. And if that happens there's a chance she could
be going to St. Paul Minnesota in early September for the Republican
National Convention. If she does, then she will be very actively
voting for her favorite candidate. The Pennsylvania primary (along
with several other states) is really just a "beauty pageant" or a
popularity contest. When you vote in the Primary in Pennsylvania,
your vote does not actually go towards electing anybody. The
delegates are the people who do the real voting and electing.
It's pretty interesting! We'll let you know how it turns out.
I'm still struggling to find the time to work on music. Taking care
of an infant and two toddlers is definitely a full time job. But I
did manage to start constructing a sound booth for my studio this
past month. I bought some 1X2s from Lowes, and some hardware, and I
put together 8 basic panels which will form a small octagonal booth.
Tirah is helping me with velcro and fabric to line the booth. The
idea is to have an enclosed area in which a person can stand with a
microphone and sing. The fabric-lined booth will cut down on
bouncing sound waves and create a cleaner, more usable signal to use
in a recording. All of this is working towards the release of an
album of love songs by Tirah and I. My goal is to release it this
year. We'll see how it goes.
On the 2nd, I went down to Bryn Athyn for a second time to lead a
discussion group on The Secret and the Writings of Emanuel
Swedenborg. Once again, it was a fun group, and they've asked me to
come back a third time on the first of March. If you're interested,
you can read my notes here: http://thesecretofheaven.blogspot.com
Tirah has had several "snow days" in the past couple weeks. Although
they were odd snow days. The weather was such that Hawk Mountain
was iced over, but down here in the valley there was only rain. It
was very strange for Tirah to be home on a "snow day" with no snow in
site, and no reason to be stuck in our house. On one of the days we
were glad to be able to get to church, which we aren't able to do
very often since Tirah works on Sundays.
Tirah and I were given a bread machine for Christmas, and so this
past month we never bought one loaf of bread... it was all home-
made! The smell of home-made bread filling the house every couple
of days is yet another thing to put a smile on our faces in this
dreary time of year.
This weekend we head down to Bryn Athyn for the Parenting Conference
(http://www.caringformarriage.org). We'll be taking all the kids
with us (unlike the previous year's Marriage Conference), and we'll
also be performing as an entire family on Saturday night! (If all
goes well....)
That's all for now folks!
I hope you have a wonderful February!
Love from,
Solomon (30), Tirah (almost 28), Thea (5), Cirdan (3 and 1/2), and
Jaden (almost 6 months)
Keal Family Letter, January 2008
Hello Friends and Family!
Happy 2008 to all of you!
We hope that you all had an enjoyable time during the Holidays.
Jaden turned 5 months old today! He's as cute and smiley and happy as ever. He's got the greatest little laugh. He's getting better at intentionally picking up toys. He's very good at rolling over from his back to his front, but he hasn't done it in reverse yet.
He loves to suck his thumb, and he sometimes makes a really cute sound while sucking his thumb that sounds something like this: "Leeko-leeko-leeko-leeko" Tirah thinks it sounds more like: "Galeek-galeek-galeek-galeek" Either way, it's hard to describe how cute it is. I'll have to try to capture it on film, and maybe post it to YouTube or something.
He is still not sleeping through the night, which means we are pretty sleep deprived these days. But we're hoping that that will change soon. Jaden has been "eyeing" food a lot lately, so yesterday we tried giving him some rice cereal. At first, of course, he got a look on his face that said: "Something is horribly wrong with this milk!" But after a while, he started to get the hang of it.
This is a glimmer of hope for Tirah, since she has to be on a diet of no dairy and no chocolate for as long as he is breast-feeding.
Cirdan has a very cute imagination. We got him a pirate costume, and a construction worker costume for Christmas. (Two for one at Toys 'R Us!) He has had a lot of fun living in his own three-year-old world. It's fortunate that Cirdan is so independent lately, because the other two kids are pretty needy lately. Hopefully Cirdan isn't simply getting squeezed out.
Thea is a very complex little girl. She is very much a Jekyll and Hyde little being right now. One minute she can be the most helpful, intelligent, creative, bubbly little girl, and the next minute (if something doesn't go quite the way she wanted it to) something snaps inside her cute little head, and she attacks the world around her. Her poor little voice is almost constantly hoarse because she spends half her life screaming. She has also gotten back into suffering from Night Terrors, which adds to our sleep deprivation, and is just one of the most miserable experiences a parent can face. Being a sensitive, quality-time little kid, Tirah and I are constantly trying to figure out how to give more attention to Thea, but with Jaden around, nothing ever seems to be good enough.
On the up-side (the Dr Jekyll side of Thea) she has been flourishing in the arts. She spends a good portion of her day drawing pictures, and each day her abilities grow. The other day she drew a train, complete with smoke and a driver, that was just wonderful. She also has an amazing talent for interpretive dance. The dance moves she comes up with are amazingly mature and beautiful.
Being the middle of winter, Tirah is also suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), or "The Winter-time Blues" in plain English. She is also suffering from a little Postpartum Depression (or "After-the-birth-blues") which she suffered from after Cirdan's birth as well. This combined with Thea's explosive behavior lately, and regular sleep-deprivation from Jaden, has meant that Tirah is struggling right now. But we're doing what we can to stay happy.
For me, life is extremely busy, and overwhelming at times. There are many things that I hope to get accomplished every day, and most of them don't happen. But I try to stay positive, and remember that this state of life (very young, very dependent children) is temporary. My music career has definitely slowed down since the birth of Jaden, but I have high hopes that I will eventually settle into our new life, and once more find the time and energy to devote to my work. I made less money in 2007 than I did in 2006 (due mostly to the fact that I didn't release an album in 2007), but my profit margin was higher due to less expenses.
Speaking of music, on the 22nd of December I celebrated the 10th anniversary of the recording of my first album, "Thoughts and Affections"! I can't believe it's been that long already!
Despite the chaotic description of Christmas Day in my last email, we did have a very enjoyable Christmas season as a whole. Since I did not release a new album this year, the Christmas season seemed much less busy in that regard. We had a very nice Keal family Christmas party on the 14th, and then a very fun Echols family Christmas party on the 21st. We had fun visiting with our friends the Davis' on the 19th. We had a great 4-way video conference with the Echols family on Christmas day. And we very much enjoyed visiting with Abby and Malcolm on the 29th and on New Year's Eve.
Tirah and I had a very enjoyable, and quiet New Year's Eve. It was just the two of us, and we sat on the couch and watched movies and ate yummy food. By the way, we highly recommend the movie "The Nativity Story" !
My wonderful wife, along with several friends and family, pitched in enough money to buy me an iPod this year for Christmas! It's very cool! I've been having a lot of fun with it. Many thanks to all of you who pitched in for that!
My men's a cappella group sang for the Christmas Tableaux on the 23rd. And it was just me and Cirdan going to the Christmas Eve service, due to an untimely temper tantrum from Thea. But it was some nice father and son time.
On the 5th of January, I went down to Bryn Athyn to present my ideas about the comparison between "The Secret" and the truths of the New Christianity to a small discussion group. It was lots of fun, and they asked me to come back again. If you're interested, I've posted my notes from that study on a blog page, which you can read here:
http://thesecretofheaven.blogspot.com
Tirah and I have been having a lot of fun being very politically active this election. We had fun with the "Tea Party" on the 16th of December. And just last Thursday, we "papered the town." We walked around our little town of Lenhartsville and handed out over 130 pamphlets about our favorite candidate. And Tirah is intending to run as a delegate for the Republican Convention! Pretty cool!
We are looking forward to the Parenting Conference coming up in February. And Thea will be turning 5 on Feb 2nd!!! And we're hoping to take a few days at the end of this month to travel out to Ohio to visit with Tirah's parents.
Well, that's about all for now.
We hope you all have a wonderful New Year!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Jaden
Happy 2008 to all of you!
We hope that you all had an enjoyable time during the Holidays.
Jaden turned 5 months old today! He's as cute and smiley and happy as ever. He's got the greatest little laugh. He's getting better at intentionally picking up toys. He's very good at rolling over from his back to his front, but he hasn't done it in reverse yet.
He loves to suck his thumb, and he sometimes makes a really cute sound while sucking his thumb that sounds something like this: "Leeko-leeko-leeko-leeko" Tirah thinks it sounds more like: "Galeek-galeek-galeek-galeek" Either way, it's hard to describe how cute it is. I'll have to try to capture it on film, and maybe post it to YouTube or something.
He is still not sleeping through the night, which means we are pretty sleep deprived these days. But we're hoping that that will change soon. Jaden has been "eyeing" food a lot lately, so yesterday we tried giving him some rice cereal. At first, of course, he got a look on his face that said: "Something is horribly wrong with this milk!" But after a while, he started to get the hang of it.
This is a glimmer of hope for Tirah, since she has to be on a diet of no dairy and no chocolate for as long as he is breast-feeding.
Cirdan has a very cute imagination. We got him a pirate costume, and a construction worker costume for Christmas. (Two for one at Toys 'R Us!) He has had a lot of fun living in his own three-year-old world. It's fortunate that Cirdan is so independent lately, because the other two kids are pretty needy lately. Hopefully Cirdan isn't simply getting squeezed out.
Thea is a very complex little girl. She is very much a Jekyll and Hyde little being right now. One minute she can be the most helpful, intelligent, creative, bubbly little girl, and the next minute (if something doesn't go quite the way she wanted it to) something snaps inside her cute little head, and she attacks the world around her. Her poor little voice is almost constantly hoarse because she spends half her life screaming. She has also gotten back into suffering from Night Terrors, which adds to our sleep deprivation, and is just one of the most miserable experiences a parent can face. Being a sensitive, quality-time little kid, Tirah and I are constantly trying to figure out how to give more attention to Thea, but with Jaden around, nothing ever seems to be good enough.
On the up-side (the Dr Jekyll side of Thea) she has been flourishing in the arts. She spends a good portion of her day drawing pictures, and each day her abilities grow. The other day she drew a train, complete with smoke and a driver, that was just wonderful. She also has an amazing talent for interpretive dance. The dance moves she comes up with are amazingly mature and beautiful.
Being the middle of winter, Tirah is also suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), or "The Winter-time Blues" in plain English. She is also suffering from a little Postpartum Depression (or "After-the-birth-blues") which she suffered from after Cirdan's birth as well. This combined with Thea's explosive behavior lately, and regular sleep-deprivation from Jaden, has meant that Tirah is struggling right now. But we're doing what we can to stay happy.
For me, life is extremely busy, and overwhelming at times. There are many things that I hope to get accomplished every day, and most of them don't happen. But I try to stay positive, and remember that this state of life (very young, very dependent children) is temporary. My music career has definitely slowed down since the birth of Jaden, but I have high hopes that I will eventually settle into our new life, and once more find the time and energy to devote to my work. I made less money in 2007 than I did in 2006 (due mostly to the fact that I didn't release an album in 2007), but my profit margin was higher due to less expenses.
Speaking of music, on the 22nd of December I celebrated the 10th anniversary of the recording of my first album, "Thoughts and Affections"! I can't believe it's been that long already!
Despite the chaotic description of Christmas Day in my last email, we did have a very enjoyable Christmas season as a whole. Since I did not release a new album this year, the Christmas season seemed much less busy in that regard. We had a very nice Keal family Christmas party on the 14th, and then a very fun Echols family Christmas party on the 21st. We had fun visiting with our friends the Davis' on the 19th. We had a great 4-way video conference with the Echols family on Christmas day. And we very much enjoyed visiting with Abby and Malcolm on the 29th and on New Year's Eve.
Tirah and I had a very enjoyable, and quiet New Year's Eve. It was just the two of us, and we sat on the couch and watched movies and ate yummy food. By the way, we highly recommend the movie "The Nativity Story" !
My wonderful wife, along with several friends and family, pitched in enough money to buy me an iPod this year for Christmas! It's very cool! I've been having a lot of fun with it. Many thanks to all of you who pitched in for that!
My men's a cappella group sang for the Christmas Tableaux on the 23rd. And it was just me and Cirdan going to the Christmas Eve service, due to an untimely temper tantrum from Thea. But it was some nice father and son time.
On the 5th of January, I went down to Bryn Athyn to present my ideas about the comparison between "The Secret" and the truths of the New Christianity to a small discussion group. It was lots of fun, and they asked me to come back again. If you're interested, I've posted my notes from that study on a blog page, which you can read here:
http://thesecretofheaven.blogspot.com
Tirah and I have been having a lot of fun being very politically active this election. We had fun with the "Tea Party" on the 16th of December. And just last Thursday, we "papered the town." We walked around our little town of Lenhartsville and handed out over 130 pamphlets about our favorite candidate. And Tirah is intending to run as a delegate for the Republican Convention! Pretty cool!
We are looking forward to the Parenting Conference coming up in February. And Thea will be turning 5 on Feb 2nd!!! And we're hoping to take a few days at the end of this month to travel out to Ohio to visit with Tirah's parents.
Well, that's about all for now.
We hope you all have a wonderful New Year!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Jaden
Merry Christmas! 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, accept the stray mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
Which I had found in the attic with just moments to spare;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of "sleeping-through-the-night" danced in our heads;
And with us in our P.J.s, and the baby in our lap
We all settled down for a long (?) winter's nap.
When from out of the monitor there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the kid's room I flew with a crash.
(As I glanced at the clock to see "5:00 AM" flash)
With a heavy head, I did not feel alive
And it made me wish that it wasn't now 5:00
When, what to my wondering ears should I hear
But a miniature lady, with a voice loud and clear:
"NO PAPA, NO MAMA, DON'T YOU SAY ANYTHING!
"DON'T TELL ME A STORY, DON'T HUG ME, DON'T SING!"
At the top of her lungs, she made quite a row:
"NOW GO AWAY, GO AWAY, COME BACK RIGHT NOW!"
As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly
When they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky,
So out of my head, my ideas they flew;
As I sat in my chair, I knew not what to do.
And then, in a twinkling, the tantrum was gone
And my daughter was asking, what was going on?
As I returned to my bed, in hope of repose,
I looked out the window, and up the sun rose.
It's an odd thing, I thought, as I drooped like a willow.
To wish - on THIS morning - to stay on my pillow.
But we got up and went down, and opened a present
All the while hoping the day would be pleasant.
The 4-year-old exclaimed as her gift did appear:
"It's not quite right... did I not make myself clear?
It has to be perfect! And I want it this instant!"
Enough of this, I thought, let me hold the infant:
His eyes - how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow
And the spit-up on his chin was as white as the snow!
A tiny little thumb he held tight in his lips
And the drool it escaped from his mouth in small drips
He had a cute little face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly small elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
But a grunt from his mouth, and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had something to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled up his diaper, then turned with a jerk.
And laying two fingers aside of my nose
I put down the baby, and I changed his clothes.
It's a Parenting Christmas; it's hard work, and taxing.
And I don't know why I expected it to be relaxing.
I had hoped for peacefulness, laughter, and snowflakes,
But what we got was screaming and headaches.
As we finally reached bed-time, to my kids I gave a whistle...
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But with them finally in bed, I told them to go to sleep:
"Merry Christmas my children! ... Now DON'T MAKE A PEEP!"
This is a fairly accurate description of our Christmas this year. It
was full of ups and downs, laughter and screaming, gratitude and un-
gratitude. It was odd to me that after 30 years of living, and
almost 5 years of parenting, I still expected Christmas day to always
be peaceful, relaxing, and just fun.
As I read the Christmas story to my children, it got me thinking
about Expectations. There were probably a lot of things that didn't
turn out as people expected that they would at the time that the Lord
was born. Mary probably didn't expect to be pregnant before she was
married. Joseph probably didn't expect to be told by an angel to
marry his fiance even thought she was already pregnant. The
shepherds, the wise men, and the rest of the Jews probably didn't
expect that the Messiah would be born to a poor family, in a stable.
Hindsight is 20-20. The Christmas story is a beautiful story now,
but at the time is was probably very confusing to those involved.
But the Lord works in mysterious ways. He doesn't always come to us
in the way that we expect Him to. But He does come. He doesn't
always answer our prayers the way we expect Him to. But He does answer.
I felt very much like that this Christmas. I was expecting a "royal
palace," and what I got was a "stable"... complete with little
"animals" running around making a mess. But that is how the Lord
comes to us... in fact that is USUALLY how the Lord comes to us. He
is the Light in our Darkness, the Clean in our Messy, the Joy in our
Grumpiness. The trick of life is to notice Him, and to ACCEPT Him
despite how we EXPECT Him. To notice the Star in the dark sky. To
listen to, and believe the Shepherds. The Lord always comes to
us.... but often not how we expect Him.
We wish you Joy in the Celebration of the Lord's Birthday!
Love from,
Solomon (30), Tirah (27), Thea (almost 5), Cirdan (3 and 1/2), and
Jaden (4 and 1/2 months) Keal.
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, accept the stray mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
Which I had found in the attic with just moments to spare;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of "sleeping-through-the-night" danced in our heads;
And with us in our P.J.s, and the baby in our lap
We all settled down for a long (?) winter's nap.
When from out of the monitor there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the kid's room I flew with a crash.
(As I glanced at the clock to see "5:00 AM" flash)
With a heavy head, I did not feel alive
And it made me wish that it wasn't now 5:00
When, what to my wondering ears should I hear
But a miniature lady, with a voice loud and clear:
"NO PAPA, NO MAMA, DON'T YOU SAY ANYTHING!
"DON'T TELL ME A STORY, DON'T HUG ME, DON'T SING!"
At the top of her lungs, she made quite a row:
"NOW GO AWAY, GO AWAY, COME BACK RIGHT NOW!"
As dry leaves before the wild hurricane fly
When they meet with an obstacle mount to the sky,
So out of my head, my ideas they flew;
As I sat in my chair, I knew not what to do.
And then, in a twinkling, the tantrum was gone
And my daughter was asking, what was going on?
As I returned to my bed, in hope of repose,
I looked out the window, and up the sun rose.
It's an odd thing, I thought, as I drooped like a willow.
To wish - on THIS morning - to stay on my pillow.
But we got up and went down, and opened a present
All the while hoping the day would be pleasant.
The 4-year-old exclaimed as her gift did appear:
"It's not quite right... did I not make myself clear?
It has to be perfect! And I want it this instant!"
Enough of this, I thought, let me hold the infant:
His eyes - how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow
And the spit-up on his chin was as white as the snow!
A tiny little thumb he held tight in his lips
And the drool it escaped from his mouth in small drips
He had a cute little face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly small elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
But a grunt from his mouth, and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had something to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled up his diaper, then turned with a jerk.
And laying two fingers aside of my nose
I put down the baby, and I changed his clothes.
It's a Parenting Christmas; it's hard work, and taxing.
And I don't know why I expected it to be relaxing.
I had hoped for peacefulness, laughter, and snowflakes,
But what we got was screaming and headaches.
As we finally reached bed-time, to my kids I gave a whistle...
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But with them finally in bed, I told them to go to sleep:
"Merry Christmas my children! ... Now DON'T MAKE A PEEP!"
This is a fairly accurate description of our Christmas this year. It
was full of ups and downs, laughter and screaming, gratitude and un-
gratitude. It was odd to me that after 30 years of living, and
almost 5 years of parenting, I still expected Christmas day to always
be peaceful, relaxing, and just fun.
As I read the Christmas story to my children, it got me thinking
about Expectations. There were probably a lot of things that didn't
turn out as people expected that they would at the time that the Lord
was born. Mary probably didn't expect to be pregnant before she was
married. Joseph probably didn't expect to be told by an angel to
marry his fiance even thought she was already pregnant. The
shepherds, the wise men, and the rest of the Jews probably didn't
expect that the Messiah would be born to a poor family, in a stable.
Hindsight is 20-20. The Christmas story is a beautiful story now,
but at the time is was probably very confusing to those involved.
But the Lord works in mysterious ways. He doesn't always come to us
in the way that we expect Him to. But He does come. He doesn't
always answer our prayers the way we expect Him to. But He does answer.
I felt very much like that this Christmas. I was expecting a "royal
palace," and what I got was a "stable"... complete with little
"animals" running around making a mess. But that is how the Lord
comes to us... in fact that is USUALLY how the Lord comes to us. He
is the Light in our Darkness, the Clean in our Messy, the Joy in our
Grumpiness. The trick of life is to notice Him, and to ACCEPT Him
despite how we EXPECT Him. To notice the Star in the dark sky. To
listen to, and believe the Shepherds. The Lord always comes to
us.... but often not how we expect Him.
We wish you Joy in the Celebration of the Lord's Birthday!
Love from,
Solomon (30), Tirah (27), Thea (almost 5), Cirdan (3 and 1/2), and
Jaden (4 and 1/2 months) Keal.
Keal Family Letter, December 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
Happy Christmas Season to you all!
November was busy but good. Tirah and I are still learning to juggle
our priorities and time-management, now that we have three kids to
take care of. It's amazing how three kids will eat up your time. If
I wanted to be a truly good parent, I would drop all of my other
priorities and focus all of my attention and time on my kids.
Unfortunately that's not possible, but it is hard when my little
daughter is begging for attention and I'm way behind on paying bills,
doing laundry, cooking meals, making music, etc. But for the sake
of running a household, and my own sanity, and the sanity of my
marriage to Tirah, I need to take time away from active parenting.
It's all a matter of finding the right balance I guess.
I think the definition of Good Parenting is: The process by which
selfish little minds are turned into unselfish big minds. And
there's always the hope that the children might learn that too.
Jaden will be 4 months old on the 11th. He's a smiley, laughing,
little boy. Check that... he's not so little. We think he's shaping
up to be the largest of our children. He's growing out of clothes
that are for 6 month old babies!
The Lord was very smart when he designed babies. When we are sleep-
deprived, burnt-out, over-worked, sick-and-tired, dead-on-our-feet
parents, one little smile from Jaden fills us with warmth, laughter
and energy. Jaden loves all of us, but he has found a particular
attachment to Thea recently. Thea loves to try to make him laugh,
and naturally Jaden loves that attention. It's very cute.
I forget the date, but Jaden has officially rolled over, which I'm
told is a baby milestone, similar to getting your driver's license
and being able to legally drink. Congratulations Jaden!
I wanted to share this little dialogue that I had with Cirdan:
Cirdan: "Papa! I had a great idea! We don't have any pizza right
now, so why don't we go to Pizza Hut and get some pizza!"
Me: "That sounds like a great idea, but unfortunately we don't have
the money to buy pizza right now!"
Cirdan: "But Papa! Mama is making money right now at work!"
Here's another Cirdan quote from just today (he's talking about the
two tablets of stone that the 10 Commandments were written on):
"Papa, there are two, because Moses has to share with the Lord!"
I love the way little minds try to grasp things!
Thea still loves drawing and coloring and writing letters. She's
also very good about building houses out of Lego. Some of her houses
are quite elaborate; complete with stairs, and second floors.
Tirah and I are craving grown-up time, especially time for our
marriage. Lately we're both so tired after long days of work, that
we often just turn on a movie at the end of the day, and then fall
asleep. But we're trying to remember that quality time and pursuing
our interests actually does give us energy.
Tirah has had a really good year at Hawk Mountain. Even with her
being gone for maternity leave, her little bookstore has already made
it's budget for the fiscal year... which ends on March 31st 2008!
Needless to say, her boss is very happy, and so is she!
We are all just finishing up a round of sickness. Sore throats,
runny noses, coughs, etc. Thea had it first, right after
Thanksgiving, and then one by one, we all got it. I was the last to
get it, and I'm just now starting to feel better as I'm writing this
newsletter. But both Jaden and I are still congested, and I'm still
coughing.
What is it about kids being sick?
They're up all night, so I think: "Well they'll be tired tomorrow so
I can at least take a nap on the couch or something."
But no... they're running up and down the halls all day long. So
then I think: "Well, they must be feeling better, so I'll be able to
sleep tonight."
But no.... then they're feeling sick again.
It's enough to make me go off my rocker.
Well, actually I was sitting in the rocker all night.... so it's
enough to make me loose my marbles.
Actually I found one of them under the couch, and another one mixed
in with the Legos.
Oh well.
I had fun selling my CDs at the Bryn Athyn Craft Sale again this
year. I also sold sheet music. It was a better year for me this
year than last year, despite the fact that I didn't have an album
release this year. I also sold my CDs at the Kempton Craft Sale.
We've had a lot of Pre-Christmas Snow this year... a lot more than
usual. We had about 3 inches of snow on November 18th, and Tirah
actually got a snow-day the following day! The tree outside my
studio window, which is always late to turn colors, had green leaves
with snow on them! And then just a couple days ago we had more snow,
and there is still snow on the ground as I'm writing this
newsletter. Usually we don't get much snow until after Christmas,
but this is a lot of fun!
We had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving this year at our house. We had
our whole family, as well as my mom and dad, Tamar and Dandridge and
family, Nils and Neva, and Carl Smith. Lots of good food, and good
family conversation!
The night before Thanksgiving, as I was putting the kids to bed, I
wanted to tell them a little about what Thanksgiving was all about,
to prepare them for church the following day.
So I began by asking them, "Do you guys know what Thanksgiving is?"
Thea quickly replied: "That's when we eat Pumpkin Pie!!!!"
Oh well, so much for a deep spiritual conversation with my toddlers.
What was I thinking?
No, actually, we DID end up talking about Thanking the Lord for
things, and I think something sunk in for them, so I felt good about it.
Before Thanksgiving, Carl moved the office for his business out of
our living room, so we had a lot of fun rearranging the living room.
It's a lot bigger now, and the space works really well. We're loving
it.
And in Ron Paul news....
Don't worry, I'm not assuming that everyone who reads this newsletter
is a Ron Paul supporter, but it's an exciting, important part of our
lives right now, so I'm including it in my newsletter. Plus, I
originally thought that a discussion of the candidates for the
American Presidency would be irrelevant to people not living in the
USA, but I've found that not to be true. There are actually Ron Paul
fans all over the world!! I think it's because of his foreign and
fiscal policies. They realize that if Ron Paul becomes President of
the United States it will be good for the world, not just the USA.
Tirah and I were very proud to be a part of a massive fund-raising
event for Ron Paul on November 5th, in which we (Ron Paul supporters
everywhere) raised a record-breaking $4.3 million dollars in one 24
hour period! The people are speaking!
Then on November 30th, there was an unofficial fund-raising push (not
organized in any way), in which Ron Paul raised over $300,000.00 in
one day! This pushed him over the top so that he actually beat Rudy
Giuliani in third quarter fund-raising! And Giuliani is considered
a front-runner candidate, while Ron Paul is not.
On December 16th, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, there will
be another massive fund-raising day. Just as the colonists dumped
tea into the Boston Harbor to protest government oppression, we will
be dumping money into the Ron Paul campaign. The catch-phrase is
"Libery is brewing!" Check it out at http://www.teaparty07.com.
And if you like what Ron Paul stands for, you can donate at http://
www.ronpaul2008.com. Very exciting things are happening!
There's a wonderful little biography of Ron Paul's family on his
website, written by his wife of 50 years, Carol Paul (Yay for marriage!)
You can read it here: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/331/the-
american-dream/
Alright, enough political rambling.
We intend to send out a family picture around Christmas time.
We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas season!
May the Lord's love and wisdom be a light in the darkness for you,
and may the Lord bring you Peace and Prosperity in the new year!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Jaden Keal
Happy Christmas Season to you all!
November was busy but good. Tirah and I are still learning to juggle
our priorities and time-management, now that we have three kids to
take care of. It's amazing how three kids will eat up your time. If
I wanted to be a truly good parent, I would drop all of my other
priorities and focus all of my attention and time on my kids.
Unfortunately that's not possible, but it is hard when my little
daughter is begging for attention and I'm way behind on paying bills,
doing laundry, cooking meals, making music, etc. But for the sake
of running a household, and my own sanity, and the sanity of my
marriage to Tirah, I need to take time away from active parenting.
It's all a matter of finding the right balance I guess.
I think the definition of Good Parenting is: The process by which
selfish little minds are turned into unselfish big minds. And
there's always the hope that the children might learn that too.
Jaden will be 4 months old on the 11th. He's a smiley, laughing,
little boy. Check that... he's not so little. We think he's shaping
up to be the largest of our children. He's growing out of clothes
that are for 6 month old babies!
The Lord was very smart when he designed babies. When we are sleep-
deprived, burnt-out, over-worked, sick-and-tired, dead-on-our-feet
parents, one little smile from Jaden fills us with warmth, laughter
and energy. Jaden loves all of us, but he has found a particular
attachment to Thea recently. Thea loves to try to make him laugh,
and naturally Jaden loves that attention. It's very cute.
I forget the date, but Jaden has officially rolled over, which I'm
told is a baby milestone, similar to getting your driver's license
and being able to legally drink. Congratulations Jaden!
I wanted to share this little dialogue that I had with Cirdan:
Cirdan: "Papa! I had a great idea! We don't have any pizza right
now, so why don't we go to Pizza Hut and get some pizza!"
Me: "That sounds like a great idea, but unfortunately we don't have
the money to buy pizza right now!"
Cirdan: "But Papa! Mama is making money right now at work!"
Here's another Cirdan quote from just today (he's talking about the
two tablets of stone that the 10 Commandments were written on):
"Papa, there are two, because Moses has to share with the Lord!"
I love the way little minds try to grasp things!
Thea still loves drawing and coloring and writing letters. She's
also very good about building houses out of Lego. Some of her houses
are quite elaborate; complete with stairs, and second floors.
Tirah and I are craving grown-up time, especially time for our
marriage. Lately we're both so tired after long days of work, that
we often just turn on a movie at the end of the day, and then fall
asleep. But we're trying to remember that quality time and pursuing
our interests actually does give us energy.
Tirah has had a really good year at Hawk Mountain. Even with her
being gone for maternity leave, her little bookstore has already made
it's budget for the fiscal year... which ends on March 31st 2008!
Needless to say, her boss is very happy, and so is she!
We are all just finishing up a round of sickness. Sore throats,
runny noses, coughs, etc. Thea had it first, right after
Thanksgiving, and then one by one, we all got it. I was the last to
get it, and I'm just now starting to feel better as I'm writing this
newsletter. But both Jaden and I are still congested, and I'm still
coughing.
What is it about kids being sick?
They're up all night, so I think: "Well they'll be tired tomorrow so
I can at least take a nap on the couch or something."
But no... they're running up and down the halls all day long. So
then I think: "Well, they must be feeling better, so I'll be able to
sleep tonight."
But no.... then they're feeling sick again.
It's enough to make me go off my rocker.
Well, actually I was sitting in the rocker all night.... so it's
enough to make me loose my marbles.
Actually I found one of them under the couch, and another one mixed
in with the Legos.
Oh well.
I had fun selling my CDs at the Bryn Athyn Craft Sale again this
year. I also sold sheet music. It was a better year for me this
year than last year, despite the fact that I didn't have an album
release this year. I also sold my CDs at the Kempton Craft Sale.
We've had a lot of Pre-Christmas Snow this year... a lot more than
usual. We had about 3 inches of snow on November 18th, and Tirah
actually got a snow-day the following day! The tree outside my
studio window, which is always late to turn colors, had green leaves
with snow on them! And then just a couple days ago we had more snow,
and there is still snow on the ground as I'm writing this
newsletter. Usually we don't get much snow until after Christmas,
but this is a lot of fun!
We had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving this year at our house. We had
our whole family, as well as my mom and dad, Tamar and Dandridge and
family, Nils and Neva, and Carl Smith. Lots of good food, and good
family conversation!
The night before Thanksgiving, as I was putting the kids to bed, I
wanted to tell them a little about what Thanksgiving was all about,
to prepare them for church the following day.
So I began by asking them, "Do you guys know what Thanksgiving is?"
Thea quickly replied: "That's when we eat Pumpkin Pie!!!!"
Oh well, so much for a deep spiritual conversation with my toddlers.
What was I thinking?
No, actually, we DID end up talking about Thanking the Lord for
things, and I think something sunk in for them, so I felt good about it.
Before Thanksgiving, Carl moved the office for his business out of
our living room, so we had a lot of fun rearranging the living room.
It's a lot bigger now, and the space works really well. We're loving
it.
And in Ron Paul news....
Don't worry, I'm not assuming that everyone who reads this newsletter
is a Ron Paul supporter, but it's an exciting, important part of our
lives right now, so I'm including it in my newsletter. Plus, I
originally thought that a discussion of the candidates for the
American Presidency would be irrelevant to people not living in the
USA, but I've found that not to be true. There are actually Ron Paul
fans all over the world!! I think it's because of his foreign and
fiscal policies. They realize that if Ron Paul becomes President of
the United States it will be good for the world, not just the USA.
Tirah and I were very proud to be a part of a massive fund-raising
event for Ron Paul on November 5th, in which we (Ron Paul supporters
everywhere) raised a record-breaking $4.3 million dollars in one 24
hour period! The people are speaking!
Then on November 30th, there was an unofficial fund-raising push (not
organized in any way), in which Ron Paul raised over $300,000.00 in
one day! This pushed him over the top so that he actually beat Rudy
Giuliani in third quarter fund-raising! And Giuliani is considered
a front-runner candidate, while Ron Paul is not.
On December 16th, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, there will
be another massive fund-raising day. Just as the colonists dumped
tea into the Boston Harbor to protest government oppression, we will
be dumping money into the Ron Paul campaign. The catch-phrase is
"Libery is brewing!" Check it out at http://www.teaparty07.com.
And if you like what Ron Paul stands for, you can donate at http://
www.ronpaul2008.com. Very exciting things are happening!
There's a wonderful little biography of Ron Paul's family on his
website, written by his wife of 50 years, Carol Paul (Yay for marriage!)
You can read it here: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/331/the-
american-dream/
Alright, enough political rambling.
We intend to send out a family picture around Christmas time.
We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas season!
May the Lord's love and wisdom be a light in the darkness for you,
and may the Lord bring you Peace and Prosperity in the new year!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Jaden Keal
Keal Family Letter, November 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
Happy November to you all!
We successfully made it through October! Tirah went back to work on
the 5th of October. So I have been the stay-at-home dad for our 3
kids for over a month now! We are all still alive, although we
parents are pretty sleep-deprived! I usually try to send this
newsletter out on the 1st of the month, so it has taken me 13 days to
write this! Busy life!
Jaden turned 3 months old on the 11th. He has been charming us all
with his beautiful smile. And just the other day I heard him chuckle
for the first time! His colic seems to be kept under control by
Tirah being off dairy, so the days have been filled with more smiles
than screams. He is getting into a really regular routine of
Eating, Activity, and Sleeping, which is very nice.
It's pretty cool what technology can do for the stay-at-home dad.
The essential obviously being Tirah's breast-pump and the bottles
that he drinks from. But then there's the Baby Bjorn, the tread-
mill, monitor, and of course the internet for ordering supplies.
All of which allow for better management on my part. Being a stay-
at-home dad is actually probably good experience to have on one's
resume if one is looking for a management job. Not that an employer
would necessarily see it that way, but maybe they should! I feel
successful when I can manage to keep all three kids happy at once.
It's such a good feeling... to know you're alive, it's such a happy
feeling; you're growing inside... Oops sorry. Stream of
consciousness. The soundtrack running in my head these days is
composed of kid's music. Maybe it's paving the way for a future
career?
I've thought lately about the idea of making a website or blog for
Stay-At-Home Dads. Not that I really have the time for it, but I
definitely have the experience and content for it. At the very least
maybe I'll turn this newsletter into a blog.
Apparently Stay-at-Home Dads are one of the fastest growing family
styles in the country right now, so there could even be a market for
it. Although the acronyms haven't yet caught up with it's
popularity. Moms have all the cool acronyms. Work-At-Home-Moms
rule the world with the powerful acronym WAHM! Don't mess with
them! Stay-At-Home-Moms have a similarly functional acronym of
SAHM. But what to Stay-At-Home-Dads have? SAHD. We are not
sad, but that acronym is. Work-At-Home-Dads is not much better:
WAHD. And then of course Stay-at-Home-Papas (SAHP) sounds...
well... sappy. And Work-At-Home-Papas (WAHP) doesn't have nearly the
punch that Work-At-Home-Mamas (WAHM) does:
"Hello! What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a Work-At-Home-Mom!"
WAHM!
"Good for you!"
"Hello! What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a Work-At-Home-Papa!"
WAHP.
"Oh... that's so cute!"
I saw a great slogan on a Stay-At-Home-Dad website the other day:
"Men who change diapers.... change the world!"
That makes me think of another one: "Men who rock babies... ROCK!"
Alright, enough patting myself on the back... time to pat my baby on
the back:
Jaden is 3 months old, and very cute. My mom dug out some baby
pictures of me, and it's amazing how much Jaden looks just like me
when I was 3 months old. He's a smiley boy. He's growing fast.
He's already in size 3 diapers, and probably soon to be in size 4.
Cirdan came up with a nick-name for him; he calls him "Bacon
Micah." Cirdan thinks it's hilarious. I have to admit... it IS
pretty funny.
Cirdan is really developing quite the imagination. He spends a lot
of his time playing with dinosaurs and/or cars & trucks, making up
all sorts of games and scenarios in his little head. If you listen
closely, you can catch some very cute little dialogues. Lately he's
been making his little Duplo (Lego) boy ride on a little Duplo cow...
which of course is what makes a Cowboy! Very smart.
Cirdan's default answer to anything right now is "NO!" It doesn't
matter whether he wants it or not, it just comes out first... sort of
like a young adult's "Um."
Cirdan: "Papa, what's for supper?"
Papa: "Pizza!"
Cirdan: "NO!... oh... I mean... yeah!"
Thea has really developed a skill in drawing lately. She's
amazing! She can draw mermaids, and little girls in dresses,
complete with 5 fingers and eyelashes. It's become somewhat
standard that about once a week, Thea walks into my studio with a
drawing and asks to send it to Mama at work. So I scan and email it
to Tirah. Now all of Tirah's co-workers ask for "Thea drawings" to
post on their doors!
And also, to our great surprise a couple of weeks ago, she wrote her
name! T H E A . Fortunately it's an easy name, but still at 4
and 3/4, I think that's pretty cool. Now she does a lot more
writing. She loves to fill pages with all of the letters and numbers
that she knows. Mostly T, H, E, and A.
Just the other day, we were on our way up to Hawk Mountain to visit
Tirah, and we drove past a house where they kept chickens. As we
drove past, I had to slow down to a stop because there was a chicken
in the road. After it had gotten out of the way, and I resumed
driving, I hear Thea from the back seat innocently call out: "Papa,
why did the chicken cross the road?" I loved how oblivious she was
to the humorous significance of her question. To her it was a
perfectly reasonable, ordinary question. But of course, amid many
chuckles, I had to answer her: "To get to the other side!" Chuckle,
chuckle. It's moments like those that really make me love my job.
We just finished a six week parenting course. It was really good.
We learned some valuable tools for becoming better parents, such as
validating our kids' feelings, visualizing situations through their
eyes, becoming aware of default reactions (in both children and
parents), and investigating our attitudes about our roles as parents
(Dictator or Helpful Guide?).
Just today I was thinking about how inconsistent we can be as
parents. When little baby Jaden is hungry, he cries and sometimes
screams. My reaction as a parent is to want to feed him as soon as
possible and to comfort him. I don't say to him: "Well, my goodness
Jaden! If you're going to scream about it then maybe you won't get
your bottle! Go to your room until you calm down and ask nicely!"
That's ridiculous... horrific. And yet when my 3 and 4 year olds
are hungry, they essentially do the same thing. Except it looks a
little different. It can often look like a 4 year old screaming
"PAPA! I HATE YOU!!!" and slapping me in my face. That sort of
expression of emotion is not one that naturally evokes a desire to
comfort. It often arouses anger in us. But what we have to
remember is that, despite the illusion of rationality created by
their ability to talk, my toddlers are a lot closer to babies than to
adults. And when my daughter says "PAPA, I HATE YOU!", comfort,
validation and love are exactly what she needs.
Tirah is a tired, sleep-deprived, working mother. Jaden still wakes
up a lot at night for feedings. She loves her job, but she
definitely misses the kids during the day. Fortunately she works
very close to home, and works in a small non-profit work-place that
is very casual and family-like. During the first week of this month,
I took Jaden up to Hawk Mountain once a day for a feeding with Mama.
Over the next couple of weeks, we slowly cut back to only the
occasional trip up the mountain. But it was great that we were able
to do that, and that Tirah has a job that allows her to take a
nursing break like that. In that time Thea and Cirdan have made
friends of just about everybody who works at Hawk Mountain. The
other day when we went up for a feeding, it was sort of a slow day
for everybody, so everybody still in the building grabbed a basket of
magic markers, came into the Hawk Mountain kitchen and had a "Drawing
Party" with Thea and Cirdan. Thea wanted to draw a snowman, so
everybody else drew a snowman too. Isn't that a great work-place?
On Friday the 9th of November, we drove up in the afternoon for a
visit. It was raining in the valley, but as we got up to the top of
the mountain it was snowing! There weren't many people there, so
the whole family got to hang out with Mama "at work" for the
afternoon, watching the first snow of the year! It was great!
We're still on the look-out for a house to buy or rent. Although at
this point it's seeming more like renting is the way to go for us, in
our current financial situation. There are a couple possibilities
that we're considering. We'll keep you apprised.
In other news... my child-hood friend Justin Hendricks (who just
enlisted in the Army) is engaged to Anndwyn Schrock. Yay! I think
they plan to get married next summer, and then Anndwyn will be a
military wife.
Last month, in order to cut our expenses, we started a new plan of
shopping for a month at a time. So this is the second month we have
been doing that. It's been great! Not only does it save a couple
hundred dollars a month in grocery bills because of buying in bulk,
but it also saves on gas because we only go out shopping once a month.
And now for something a little political. I don't usually talk
politics in my newsletters, but I'm pretty excited about this.
Sorry to anyone who doesn't live in the USA, but I wanted to talk a
little bit about my favorite candidate for the Presidential election
in 2008. His name is Ron Paul. He is a true conservative in the
sense that he really stands for the Constitution of the United
States. He is the only candidate running who truly seeks to defend
all of the civil liberties of every American. If he got into office,
the Land of the Free might actually be truly Free again! To give
you a sense of where he stands on some of the main issues, here is a
break-down:
1. He would try to eliminate income tax (which is unconstitutional),
and get rid of the IRS. He is the true tax-payer's friend!
2. He advocates a foreign policy of non-intervention (but not
isolation). He would bring all of our troops home and encourage a
foreign policy of economic trade with all, military alliance with
none. (Did you know that World War I would possibly have never been a
World War if the nations of the world had not been entangled in so
many military alliances!) He believes that in all areas of life, our
responsibility to help our fellow human being, is the role (and
choice) of each and every citizen, rather than the role of
government. (Proper separation of church and state; charity should
not be dictated by the government.)
3. He would have our troops defending our borders, instead of messing
with other countries' business.
4. He believes that every American has the right to life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness, and as a doctor who has delivered over 4000
babies, he believes that life begins at conception. (Therefore he is
Pro Life)
5. He would try to end this communist, welfare state that we've
gotten ourselves into, and allow for a state where people are free to
pursue happiness, rather than expecting it to be delivered to them on
a silver platter. (He is against universal health-care; see number 9)
6. He would reform Social Security so that young people can choose to
opt out of a bankrupt system, while protecting the income that old
people depend on.
7. He would protect our right to keep and bear arms, so that if our
government became too corrupt and dictatorial, the citizens would be
capable of overthrowing it. (An American tradition since the very
beginning.)
8. He would protect our freedom to choose our children's education,
be it home-schooling or private schooling or public schooling.
9. He would protect our freedom to choose our health care, be it
allopathic, homeopathic, or any alternative form of health care.
10. He voted against the Patriot Act, and believes that we must never
sacrifice our freedom for security. If we do, we lose both.
11. He wants to try to halt this run-away inflation and get us back
on the gold standard, and eliminate the Federal Reserve. Imagine
that! Not only could we keep more of our hard-earned money, but our
money wouldn't be losing so much value over time! This land would
once more be a land of freedom and prosperity!
I've never been so excited about a presidential candidate. All of
the other presidential candidates are unfortunately misguided in
various ways by the idea that the role of government is to take care
of the American people, when in fact the role of government is (and
was always meant to be) to simply protect our freedom to take care of
ourselves and other people. Check out Ron Paul at http://
www.ronpaul2008.com. And I strongly encourage you to register as
Republican and vote for Ron Paul in the primaries for your state.
Thank you. I will get off my soap box now.
And lastly, news about my music business: I will be selling my CDs
at the Bryn Athyn Craft Sale this Saturday, November 17th, 10:00 AM
to 3:00 PM. I will also be selling my CDs at the Kempton Craft Sale,
Saturday December 1st, 9:30 to 11:30 PM. I will also be selling
sheet music for a few of my compositions. I just finished up the
year long project of creating a musical soundtrack for the Glencairn
Documentary. I'm also working on creating a music video for "Peace
of Heaven" ... stay tuned for that.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! May the Lord bring
you peace and prosperity.
Love from,
Solomon (30), Tirah (27), Thea (4 & 3/4), Cirdan (3 & 1/2), Jaden (3
months)
Happy November to you all!
We successfully made it through October! Tirah went back to work on
the 5th of October. So I have been the stay-at-home dad for our 3
kids for over a month now! We are all still alive, although we
parents are pretty sleep-deprived! I usually try to send this
newsletter out on the 1st of the month, so it has taken me 13 days to
write this! Busy life!
Jaden turned 3 months old on the 11th. He has been charming us all
with his beautiful smile. And just the other day I heard him chuckle
for the first time! His colic seems to be kept under control by
Tirah being off dairy, so the days have been filled with more smiles
than screams. He is getting into a really regular routine of
Eating, Activity, and Sleeping, which is very nice.
It's pretty cool what technology can do for the stay-at-home dad.
The essential obviously being Tirah's breast-pump and the bottles
that he drinks from. But then there's the Baby Bjorn, the tread-
mill, monitor, and of course the internet for ordering supplies.
All of which allow for better management on my part. Being a stay-
at-home dad is actually probably good experience to have on one's
resume if one is looking for a management job. Not that an employer
would necessarily see it that way, but maybe they should! I feel
successful when I can manage to keep all three kids happy at once.
It's such a good feeling... to know you're alive, it's such a happy
feeling; you're growing inside... Oops sorry. Stream of
consciousness. The soundtrack running in my head these days is
composed of kid's music. Maybe it's paving the way for a future
career?
I've thought lately about the idea of making a website or blog for
Stay-At-Home Dads. Not that I really have the time for it, but I
definitely have the experience and content for it. At the very least
maybe I'll turn this newsletter into a blog.
Apparently Stay-at-Home Dads are one of the fastest growing family
styles in the country right now, so there could even be a market for
it. Although the acronyms haven't yet caught up with it's
popularity. Moms have all the cool acronyms. Work-At-Home-Moms
rule the world with the powerful acronym WAHM! Don't mess with
them! Stay-At-Home-Moms have a similarly functional acronym of
SAHM. But what to Stay-At-Home-Dads have? SAHD. We are not
sad, but that acronym is. Work-At-Home-Dads is not much better:
WAHD. And then of course Stay-at-Home-Papas (SAHP) sounds...
well... sappy. And Work-At-Home-Papas (WAHP) doesn't have nearly the
punch that Work-At-Home-Mamas (WAHM) does:
"Hello! What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a Work-At-Home-Mom!"
WAHM!
"Good for you!"
"Hello! What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a Work-At-Home-Papa!"
WAHP.
"Oh... that's so cute!"
I saw a great slogan on a Stay-At-Home-Dad website the other day:
"Men who change diapers.... change the world!"
That makes me think of another one: "Men who rock babies... ROCK!"
Alright, enough patting myself on the back... time to pat my baby on
the back:
Jaden is 3 months old, and very cute. My mom dug out some baby
pictures of me, and it's amazing how much Jaden looks just like me
when I was 3 months old. He's a smiley boy. He's growing fast.
He's already in size 3 diapers, and probably soon to be in size 4.
Cirdan came up with a nick-name for him; he calls him "Bacon
Micah." Cirdan thinks it's hilarious. I have to admit... it IS
pretty funny.
Cirdan is really developing quite the imagination. He spends a lot
of his time playing with dinosaurs and/or cars & trucks, making up
all sorts of games and scenarios in his little head. If you listen
closely, you can catch some very cute little dialogues. Lately he's
been making his little Duplo (Lego) boy ride on a little Duplo cow...
which of course is what makes a Cowboy! Very smart.
Cirdan's default answer to anything right now is "NO!" It doesn't
matter whether he wants it or not, it just comes out first... sort of
like a young adult's "Um."
Cirdan: "Papa, what's for supper?"
Papa: "Pizza!"
Cirdan: "NO!... oh... I mean... yeah!"
Thea has really developed a skill in drawing lately. She's
amazing! She can draw mermaids, and little girls in dresses,
complete with 5 fingers and eyelashes. It's become somewhat
standard that about once a week, Thea walks into my studio with a
drawing and asks to send it to Mama at work. So I scan and email it
to Tirah. Now all of Tirah's co-workers ask for "Thea drawings" to
post on their doors!
And also, to our great surprise a couple of weeks ago, she wrote her
name! T H E A . Fortunately it's an easy name, but still at 4
and 3/4, I think that's pretty cool. Now she does a lot more
writing. She loves to fill pages with all of the letters and numbers
that she knows. Mostly T, H, E, and A.
Just the other day, we were on our way up to Hawk Mountain to visit
Tirah, and we drove past a house where they kept chickens. As we
drove past, I had to slow down to a stop because there was a chicken
in the road. After it had gotten out of the way, and I resumed
driving, I hear Thea from the back seat innocently call out: "Papa,
why did the chicken cross the road?" I loved how oblivious she was
to the humorous significance of her question. To her it was a
perfectly reasonable, ordinary question. But of course, amid many
chuckles, I had to answer her: "To get to the other side!" Chuckle,
chuckle. It's moments like those that really make me love my job.
We just finished a six week parenting course. It was really good.
We learned some valuable tools for becoming better parents, such as
validating our kids' feelings, visualizing situations through their
eyes, becoming aware of default reactions (in both children and
parents), and investigating our attitudes about our roles as parents
(Dictator or Helpful Guide?).
Just today I was thinking about how inconsistent we can be as
parents. When little baby Jaden is hungry, he cries and sometimes
screams. My reaction as a parent is to want to feed him as soon as
possible and to comfort him. I don't say to him: "Well, my goodness
Jaden! If you're going to scream about it then maybe you won't get
your bottle! Go to your room until you calm down and ask nicely!"
That's ridiculous... horrific. And yet when my 3 and 4 year olds
are hungry, they essentially do the same thing. Except it looks a
little different. It can often look like a 4 year old screaming
"PAPA! I HATE YOU!!!" and slapping me in my face. That sort of
expression of emotion is not one that naturally evokes a desire to
comfort. It often arouses anger in us. But what we have to
remember is that, despite the illusion of rationality created by
their ability to talk, my toddlers are a lot closer to babies than to
adults. And when my daughter says "PAPA, I HATE YOU!", comfort,
validation and love are exactly what she needs.
Tirah is a tired, sleep-deprived, working mother. Jaden still wakes
up a lot at night for feedings. She loves her job, but she
definitely misses the kids during the day. Fortunately she works
very close to home, and works in a small non-profit work-place that
is very casual and family-like. During the first week of this month,
I took Jaden up to Hawk Mountain once a day for a feeding with Mama.
Over the next couple of weeks, we slowly cut back to only the
occasional trip up the mountain. But it was great that we were able
to do that, and that Tirah has a job that allows her to take a
nursing break like that. In that time Thea and Cirdan have made
friends of just about everybody who works at Hawk Mountain. The
other day when we went up for a feeding, it was sort of a slow day
for everybody, so everybody still in the building grabbed a basket of
magic markers, came into the Hawk Mountain kitchen and had a "Drawing
Party" with Thea and Cirdan. Thea wanted to draw a snowman, so
everybody else drew a snowman too. Isn't that a great work-place?
On Friday the 9th of November, we drove up in the afternoon for a
visit. It was raining in the valley, but as we got up to the top of
the mountain it was snowing! There weren't many people there, so
the whole family got to hang out with Mama "at work" for the
afternoon, watching the first snow of the year! It was great!
We're still on the look-out for a house to buy or rent. Although at
this point it's seeming more like renting is the way to go for us, in
our current financial situation. There are a couple possibilities
that we're considering. We'll keep you apprised.
In other news... my child-hood friend Justin Hendricks (who just
enlisted in the Army) is engaged to Anndwyn Schrock. Yay! I think
they plan to get married next summer, and then Anndwyn will be a
military wife.
Last month, in order to cut our expenses, we started a new plan of
shopping for a month at a time. So this is the second month we have
been doing that. It's been great! Not only does it save a couple
hundred dollars a month in grocery bills because of buying in bulk,
but it also saves on gas because we only go out shopping once a month.
And now for something a little political. I don't usually talk
politics in my newsletters, but I'm pretty excited about this.
Sorry to anyone who doesn't live in the USA, but I wanted to talk a
little bit about my favorite candidate for the Presidential election
in 2008. His name is Ron Paul. He is a true conservative in the
sense that he really stands for the Constitution of the United
States. He is the only candidate running who truly seeks to defend
all of the civil liberties of every American. If he got into office,
the Land of the Free might actually be truly Free again! To give
you a sense of where he stands on some of the main issues, here is a
break-down:
1. He would try to eliminate income tax (which is unconstitutional),
and get rid of the IRS. He is the true tax-payer's friend!
2. He advocates a foreign policy of non-intervention (but not
isolation). He would bring all of our troops home and encourage a
foreign policy of economic trade with all, military alliance with
none. (Did you know that World War I would possibly have never been a
World War if the nations of the world had not been entangled in so
many military alliances!) He believes that in all areas of life, our
responsibility to help our fellow human being, is the role (and
choice) of each and every citizen, rather than the role of
government. (Proper separation of church and state; charity should
not be dictated by the government.)
3. He would have our troops defending our borders, instead of messing
with other countries' business.
4. He believes that every American has the right to life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness, and as a doctor who has delivered over 4000
babies, he believes that life begins at conception. (Therefore he is
Pro Life)
5. He would try to end this communist, welfare state that we've
gotten ourselves into, and allow for a state where people are free to
pursue happiness, rather than expecting it to be delivered to them on
a silver platter. (He is against universal health-care; see number 9)
6. He would reform Social Security so that young people can choose to
opt out of a bankrupt system, while protecting the income that old
people depend on.
7. He would protect our right to keep and bear arms, so that if our
government became too corrupt and dictatorial, the citizens would be
capable of overthrowing it. (An American tradition since the very
beginning.)
8. He would protect our freedom to choose our children's education,
be it home-schooling or private schooling or public schooling.
9. He would protect our freedom to choose our health care, be it
allopathic, homeopathic, or any alternative form of health care.
10. He voted against the Patriot Act, and believes that we must never
sacrifice our freedom for security. If we do, we lose both.
11. He wants to try to halt this run-away inflation and get us back
on the gold standard, and eliminate the Federal Reserve. Imagine
that! Not only could we keep more of our hard-earned money, but our
money wouldn't be losing so much value over time! This land would
once more be a land of freedom and prosperity!
I've never been so excited about a presidential candidate. All of
the other presidential candidates are unfortunately misguided in
various ways by the idea that the role of government is to take care
of the American people, when in fact the role of government is (and
was always meant to be) to simply protect our freedom to take care of
ourselves and other people. Check out Ron Paul at http://
www.ronpaul2008.com. And I strongly encourage you to register as
Republican and vote for Ron Paul in the primaries for your state.
Thank you. I will get off my soap box now.
And lastly, news about my music business: I will be selling my CDs
at the Bryn Athyn Craft Sale this Saturday, November 17th, 10:00 AM
to 3:00 PM. I will also be selling my CDs at the Kempton Craft Sale,
Saturday December 1st, 9:30 to 11:30 PM. I will also be selling
sheet music for a few of my compositions. I just finished up the
year long project of creating a musical soundtrack for the Glencairn
Documentary. I'm also working on creating a music video for "Peace
of Heaven" ... stay tuned for that.
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! May the Lord bring
you peace and prosperity.
Love from,
Solomon (30), Tirah (27), Thea (4 & 3/4), Cirdan (3 & 1/2), Jaden (3
months)
Keal Family Letter, October 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
Happy October to you all!
This is the beginning of a new phase in our life. These next two
months are going to be rough going for a while.
Tirah goes back to work on Friday after over two months of glorious
maternity leave. It was a wonderful taste of heaven. A glimpse into
our ideal situation, which we hope to achieve someday, namely: having
everybody at home all the time. One of our goals in life is to reach
a point where I, or both Tirah and I are working solely from home,
and supporting the family. This is our dream. With God nothing is
impossible!
Jaden will be 8 weeks old this Saturday. I will very soon be the
stay-at-home dad of 2 toddlers and a 2 month old baby! Adventure,
here we come! It will be rough going for a while. Jaden still
very much prefers Tirah to me. But I've been able to successfully
bottle feed him. Tirah goes back to work right in time for the busy
season at Hawk Mountain. So she'll be working longer hours until
December.
Thea and Cirdan love to watch Backyardigans, and in one of their
favorite episodes, as their Viking ship is heading towards a
whirlpool, one of them asks "What do we do!?" and another one
replies, "The only thing we can do... HOLD ON TIGHT!"
So that's what we'll be doing for these next two months... holding on
tight. Holding on to our sanity, our sense of control, our sense of
purpose, and our sense of humor.
Jaden is over his diaper rash and baby eczema (thank the Lord!), but
unfortunately he's been suffering from colic all month. So he
continues to be a very fussy little baby. We took him to the
chiropractor the other day (or the "choir-practor" as our kids call
him), and he's got Tirah on a diet of no dairy, to see if that will
help Jaden to better digest her breast milk. Tirah was already off
chocolate, because that helped to clear up Jaden's eczema. So now,
sadly, she's off chocolate and milk (which of course includes
chocolate milk), and she's missing them horribly. But it's all worth
it, if it helps Jaden feel better! (Of course that's easy for me to
say!)
One of the only things that calms Jaden is walking with him on our
tread mill. I don't know if it's the motion or the vibrations or the
noise, but it often calms him down (not guaranteed). We may be worn-
out sleep-deprived parents, but at least we're in shape! Um... I
guess.
And on top of Jaden's colic, he now has a cold (which he got from
Thea and Cirdan)! So Jaden continues to spend most of his time
crying. I'd say he spends about 90% of the time that he's not
eating or sleeping, crying. Well maybe it's down to 80%. 80% or
90%, it still FEELS like he cries all the time!
I've been amazed at how codependent I can be with my children. If
they're mad, I get mad. If they're sad, I get sad. If they're
happy, I'm happy. It's like I'm a slave to their emotions.
Jaden's fussiness has been a useful exercise in learning to maintain
my own sense of well-being, despite the emotional roller coasters
that my children are. It's hard, but it's possible... and
ultimately better for everyone.
Cirdan and Thea are still getting over their colds, but they're
mostly back to normal. Although normal has drastically changed since
Jaden has been born. The kid's are still adjusting to the fact that
they don't get most of our attention anymore.
The other day Thea was asking about Jaden's name: "Papa, why does
Jaden have two names?"
"Well, Jaden has a middle name which is Micah! You have a middle
name too... do you know what it is?"
"Yes, my middle name is Clarity Keal!"
"Well, actually Keal is your last name, but yes, Clarity is your
middle name. Cirdan do you know what your middle name is?"
"Yes.... it's.... Cirdan..... Winner-Guy!"
Cirdan "Winner-Guy" Keal. I have no idea where he came up with that!
Tirah just got her hair cut yesterday. It is now REALLY SHORT!
Much to my disappointment. But if it helps maintain this busy
Mama's sanity, then I'm in favor of it. I'm just looking forward to
when she grows it out again!
Tirah goes back to work on Friday (the 5th). She is not really
looking forward to it. It has been so nice to have her home for all
this time, and she is very much in Mama-mode right now, and not in
Work-mode. I think once she's back at work, it will be O.K., but I
know she'll miss us, and we'll miss her. It's good incentive for
me to keep working on building my business, so that one day she can
decide whether she wants to keep working or not.
We're still looking for a new place to live, whether it be renting or
buying. We've enlisted the aid of a realtor to help us find a house
that we could fit in, and afford the payments on. There is also a
slight chance that we may be able to rent the house next door. That
would actually be really nice because we might be able to move in in
the next couple months, and the kids wouldn't be far from Meemaw and
Deedaw. We're still not sure if we can afford to rent the house
next door. But if we can, it would be a great place to live until we
find a place that we can buy. It would certainly fit us nicely. I
would have a bigger room for my studio too.
Needless to say, with the possibility of moving soon, and the fact
that we don't have much money left over until Tirah's next paycheck,
we've been looking into ways of cutting our expenses. One thing
that we started doing is: shopping for a month. On Monday I went to
Sam's Club, and I bought all of our food for a whole month! We have
a little money set aside to buy milk and produce, but other than
that, we can only eat what we have in our fridge and freezer, for the
rest of the month! In preparation for this we skipped our last
shopping trip and ate up all the dregs out of our fridge and
freezer. You know, the left-over bread, the things stuffed way back
in the freezer. It was actually a really good exercise in creative
meal planning. I find that I tend to assume that a meal should have
certain components. But there's nothing wrong with having just a
block of cheese for lunch... especially if that's all that's left to
eat! We managed to stretch out the last week of August without a
shopping trip, and we cleaned out our fridge and freezer. We got
pretty creative with meal planning. It was kind of a fun exercise.
And hopefully we can shave a $100 or so off of our monthly grocery bill!
On the 16th we went down to Lutherville Maryland to visit with Steve
and Galadriel and Kate and Genai and new baby Joel. It was a fun
visit, and it went really well as far as traveling with a newborn.
Jaden seems to do better when we're out and about. He likes the
car. He also tends to go to sleep when there's a lot of commotion...
I guess it's a defense mechanism. Or maybe he likes to behave for
family and friends, but not us. I don't know. We also took him
out to a party recently, and he was fine! We went to a Going-Away
party for Justin Hendricks who is joining the Army!
We had planned to go out to Ohio before Tirah's maternity leave was
up, but unfortunately the timing didn't work out, because the family
was sick in Ohio, and we didn't want to expose Jaden to it. Oh well.
Last night Tirah and I attending the first meeting of a 6 week
parenting course that we're taking. It looks like it will be very
helpful in our endeavors to become better parents for our growing
family.
Oh yes! Some fun news: Both Roxanne and Tamar are pregnant with
their third child! By the end of next year, my Mom and Dad will
have 9 grandchildren!
Well, that's about all for now. Next month, I'll let you know how
we're doing with Tirah back at work and me as the full-time dad... if
I can get to the computer!
Have a great day!
Love,
- Solomon (30), Tirah (27), Thea (4.5), Cirdan (3), Jaden (8 weeks).
Happy October to you all!
This is the beginning of a new phase in our life. These next two
months are going to be rough going for a while.
Tirah goes back to work on Friday after over two months of glorious
maternity leave. It was a wonderful taste of heaven. A glimpse into
our ideal situation, which we hope to achieve someday, namely: having
everybody at home all the time. One of our goals in life is to reach
a point where I, or both Tirah and I are working solely from home,
and supporting the family. This is our dream. With God nothing is
impossible!
Jaden will be 8 weeks old this Saturday. I will very soon be the
stay-at-home dad of 2 toddlers and a 2 month old baby! Adventure,
here we come! It will be rough going for a while. Jaden still
very much prefers Tirah to me. But I've been able to successfully
bottle feed him. Tirah goes back to work right in time for the busy
season at Hawk Mountain. So she'll be working longer hours until
December.
Thea and Cirdan love to watch Backyardigans, and in one of their
favorite episodes, as their Viking ship is heading towards a
whirlpool, one of them asks "What do we do!?" and another one
replies, "The only thing we can do... HOLD ON TIGHT!"
So that's what we'll be doing for these next two months... holding on
tight. Holding on to our sanity, our sense of control, our sense of
purpose, and our sense of humor.
Jaden is over his diaper rash and baby eczema (thank the Lord!), but
unfortunately he's been suffering from colic all month. So he
continues to be a very fussy little baby. We took him to the
chiropractor the other day (or the "choir-practor" as our kids call
him), and he's got Tirah on a diet of no dairy, to see if that will
help Jaden to better digest her breast milk. Tirah was already off
chocolate, because that helped to clear up Jaden's eczema. So now,
sadly, she's off chocolate and milk (which of course includes
chocolate milk), and she's missing them horribly. But it's all worth
it, if it helps Jaden feel better! (Of course that's easy for me to
say!)
One of the only things that calms Jaden is walking with him on our
tread mill. I don't know if it's the motion or the vibrations or the
noise, but it often calms him down (not guaranteed). We may be worn-
out sleep-deprived parents, but at least we're in shape! Um... I
guess.
And on top of Jaden's colic, he now has a cold (which he got from
Thea and Cirdan)! So Jaden continues to spend most of his time
crying. I'd say he spends about 90% of the time that he's not
eating or sleeping, crying. Well maybe it's down to 80%. 80% or
90%, it still FEELS like he cries all the time!
I've been amazed at how codependent I can be with my children. If
they're mad, I get mad. If they're sad, I get sad. If they're
happy, I'm happy. It's like I'm a slave to their emotions.
Jaden's fussiness has been a useful exercise in learning to maintain
my own sense of well-being, despite the emotional roller coasters
that my children are. It's hard, but it's possible... and
ultimately better for everyone.
Cirdan and Thea are still getting over their colds, but they're
mostly back to normal. Although normal has drastically changed since
Jaden has been born. The kid's are still adjusting to the fact that
they don't get most of our attention anymore.
The other day Thea was asking about Jaden's name: "Papa, why does
Jaden have two names?"
"Well, Jaden has a middle name which is Micah! You have a middle
name too... do you know what it is?"
"Yes, my middle name is Clarity Keal!"
"Well, actually Keal is your last name, but yes, Clarity is your
middle name. Cirdan do you know what your middle name is?"
"Yes.... it's.... Cirdan..... Winner-Guy!"
Cirdan "Winner-Guy" Keal. I have no idea where he came up with that!
Tirah just got her hair cut yesterday. It is now REALLY SHORT!
Much to my disappointment. But if it helps maintain this busy
Mama's sanity, then I'm in favor of it. I'm just looking forward to
when she grows it out again!
Tirah goes back to work on Friday (the 5th). She is not really
looking forward to it. It has been so nice to have her home for all
this time, and she is very much in Mama-mode right now, and not in
Work-mode. I think once she's back at work, it will be O.K., but I
know she'll miss us, and we'll miss her. It's good incentive for
me to keep working on building my business, so that one day she can
decide whether she wants to keep working or not.
We're still looking for a new place to live, whether it be renting or
buying. We've enlisted the aid of a realtor to help us find a house
that we could fit in, and afford the payments on. There is also a
slight chance that we may be able to rent the house next door. That
would actually be really nice because we might be able to move in in
the next couple months, and the kids wouldn't be far from Meemaw and
Deedaw. We're still not sure if we can afford to rent the house
next door. But if we can, it would be a great place to live until we
find a place that we can buy. It would certainly fit us nicely. I
would have a bigger room for my studio too.
Needless to say, with the possibility of moving soon, and the fact
that we don't have much money left over until Tirah's next paycheck,
we've been looking into ways of cutting our expenses. One thing
that we started doing is: shopping for a month. On Monday I went to
Sam's Club, and I bought all of our food for a whole month! We have
a little money set aside to buy milk and produce, but other than
that, we can only eat what we have in our fridge and freezer, for the
rest of the month! In preparation for this we skipped our last
shopping trip and ate up all the dregs out of our fridge and
freezer. You know, the left-over bread, the things stuffed way back
in the freezer. It was actually a really good exercise in creative
meal planning. I find that I tend to assume that a meal should have
certain components. But there's nothing wrong with having just a
block of cheese for lunch... especially if that's all that's left to
eat! We managed to stretch out the last week of August without a
shopping trip, and we cleaned out our fridge and freezer. We got
pretty creative with meal planning. It was kind of a fun exercise.
And hopefully we can shave a $100 or so off of our monthly grocery bill!
On the 16th we went down to Lutherville Maryland to visit with Steve
and Galadriel and Kate and Genai and new baby Joel. It was a fun
visit, and it went really well as far as traveling with a newborn.
Jaden seems to do better when we're out and about. He likes the
car. He also tends to go to sleep when there's a lot of commotion...
I guess it's a defense mechanism. Or maybe he likes to behave for
family and friends, but not us. I don't know. We also took him
out to a party recently, and he was fine! We went to a Going-Away
party for Justin Hendricks who is joining the Army!
We had planned to go out to Ohio before Tirah's maternity leave was
up, but unfortunately the timing didn't work out, because the family
was sick in Ohio, and we didn't want to expose Jaden to it. Oh well.
Last night Tirah and I attending the first meeting of a 6 week
parenting course that we're taking. It looks like it will be very
helpful in our endeavors to become better parents for our growing
family.
Oh yes! Some fun news: Both Roxanne and Tamar are pregnant with
their third child! By the end of next year, my Mom and Dad will
have 9 grandchildren!
Well, that's about all for now. Next month, I'll let you know how
we're doing with Tirah back at work and me as the full-time dad... if
I can get to the computer!
Have a great day!
Love,
- Solomon (30), Tirah (27), Thea (4.5), Cirdan (3), Jaden (8 weeks).
Keal Family Letter, September 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
Happy September to you all!
We are officially OUT-NUMBERED! Two Parents vs. Three Kids... the Kids win.
I remember when we only had Thea. All we had to worry about was Thea. There were no other kids fighting in the background... just Thea. When she slept... we could sleep. We even had some free time left over because she slept more than we did. We didn't know how good we had it!
Then Cirdan came along. Thea was only 1 and 1/2, and fortunately just walking, but life was manageable because there was a parent for every child. At some points, if we were lucky, both kids would be asleep at the same time... and then there was much rejoicing.
But it seems that parenting gets exponentially harder with the addition of each new child. So far it seems that having 3 kids is twice as hard as having 2 kids... now is that really fair?! Thea and Cirdan are pretty independent little toddlers, which is good, but they still need supervision (Hey, I wish I had "super-vision," then maybe I could tell who really hit who first!). Thea doesn't nap anymore, and Cirdan is getting close to not napping anymore. For the past month, our life has had one purpose: Try to keep all three kids happy... with a side-order of "could we get some sleep" and maybe a small helping of movies.
Having three kids is sort of like juggling... we've reached that point where we are really parenting now. When you're juggling one or two balls, you're not really juggling, it's when you get to three balls that people are impressed. Or rather it's when people decide to hang around to see how long you can do it before you totally lose control. Parenting really feels like juggling sometimes. We often have to leave one kid "hanging in mid-air" and hope that they will come land right in our open hand.
But just like juggling... it's a lot of fun. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. Tirah and I like to watch Sci-Fi adventure movies. Lately, that's what we'll do in the evening, once all three kids are finally asleep, we'll turn on some Star Trek, or StarGate. It's kind of funny how, at the end of a long day filled with little beings who are fighting and screaming and stealing and talking gibberish, we like to flick on a movie filled with little beings who are fighting, screaming, stealing, and talking gibberish. Escapism? Really? I wonder.
Really I think it's just a different kind of adventure. We all like adventure in our lives, it's just that sometimes we get bored with the adventure that we are currently in, and we want to watch somebody else's adventure. Almost as if to say, "boy am I glad I'm not trying to save the world from alien invasion!" Or maybe as if to say, "boy I wish I could worry about alien invasion for a while, instead of three screaming kids!" Maybe, far away, on some distant planet, some futuristic alien super-hero is sitting back with a bag of chips, watching us through his "super-vision" telescope and saying, "boy, am I glad I'm not taking care of three kids right now. It's nice to relax and not worry about global annihilation for a few minutes!" Whatever it is... we humans like adventure. And I like the adventure that Tirah and I are living.
I've heard that it gets easier after 3 kids. But I don't know about that. I baby-sat for my sister the other day, so I was in charge of 4 toddlers for a couple hours. That was when I realized how good I had it with just 2 or 3. When you only have 2 or 3 kids, you never have to break up two different fights at once!
So, starting with the youngest: Jaden is almost a month old now. He's exactly 4 weeks today. Unfortunately it's been a rough month for him (and by association, for us too). He has had a very bad diaper rash all month. And he's also had a bad case of baby acne all over his body! It looks very uncomfortable... and by his fussiness, I think he agrees. He basically has three modes right now: Eat, Sleep, and Cry. Peaceful, non-meal, awake times are precious rare gems that we try to treasure. I got a brief smile from him early one morning, right before I changed his diaper. We're trying lots of things (diet, homeopathy, aloe vera, prayer) and we're hoping that we'll start to see some improvement soon. But amid all of the fussiness, he is the cutest little thing on the planet.
As I was watching him one time when he was staring at this brand new world, I couldn't help but wonder if that's what we look like to angels, when we wake up in the spiritual world after death. Wide-eyed brand new spiritual beings.
Cirdan is still in a violent phase. His default, if something doesn't go his way, is to hit the person closest to him. Even when he's playing nicely, he can be too rough sometimes. But over all, he's our little angel boy. While his actions don't always express his heart very well, his words do. He says the sweetest, nicest things to people. He's our little sunshine boy.
I wanted to share a very cute thing he said the other night: We were getting ready for bed, and while I was helping Thea get undressed, Cirdan was throwing stuffed animals up into the air as high as he could get them to go. One time, he threw an animal up into the air, and he didn't notice that it fell back down behind his crib, so he turned to me and said, "Uh oh, it went up to Heaven!"
The other day, just after Jaden emptied a little spit-up onto my shirt, Cirdan asked me with concern in his voice: "Papa, what is that coming out of Jaden's face?"
Cirdan also has a very short attention span right now. He's curious, but not curious enough to hear a full answer. He'll very often ask us a question, but before we can truly answer him, he looks away, and is on to something else. The look on his face reminds me of the windows that sometimes pop up on my computer: "Application has unexpectedly quit. Data may have been lost. Would you like to save and restart?" No... never mind.
Cirdan has an interesting concept of time. It used to be that when he was referring to something that happened in the past, he would refer to it as happening "yesterday." "Yesterday" simply meant "in the past." I wasn't born yesterday, but Cirdan was, according to him. Well, lately he has graduated. Now things that happened in the past are referred to as happening "Last Week." "Mama and Papa, when you got married last week, was it at the big church?" It's almost like his concept of time is broadening as he gets older. It used to be that he took life day by day. Now he understands the concept of a week's worth of time. Last month? Forget it... Does Not Compute. It reminds me a little of adult's concepts of time. The longer I live, the more I understand what long periods of time are like. It used to be that I didn't remember much from a decade ago, but now I do. I can even remember some things that happened over 20 years ago. And yet, I'm only 30 years old. Unlike a 60 year old, I cannot remember 30 years ago. Angels in heaven can remember hundreds of years into their past. They undoubtedly have a better perspective on eternity.
Moving on to Thea: Thea has the opposite situation to Cirdan. While Thea's actions reveal her angelic heart, her words do not. Thea, being a strong-willed child, likes to feel like she is in control and has freedom. Ultimately she wants to be recognized for the valuable member of the family that she is. So if we aren't doing that , by not giving her choices and quality time, she assumes that we aren't being good parents and so she takes over. Her latest favorite phrases are: "No, you're wrong!" and "Papa, it's too late!" or "No, wait, here's the deal.." or even "I don't love you!" or "I don't want to be your daughter anymore!" It's hard knowing that Jaden's presence is probably the hardest for Thea to deal with, because she craves quality time, and we don't have a lot of time to give. But it's all part of the adventure.
Thea loves to sing. In fact she doesn't like silence, and she tries to fill silence with whatever words or songs she can think of. She tends to commentate her life in song. This can be very cute at times, and very annoying at other times. Lately Thea and I have been going shopping together while Cirdan naps at home with Mama and Jaden. This has been some very good quality time for her. But it's a funny mix. She's a chatterbox, and I'm a quiet guy. So she spends most of the shopping trip singing our adventures to the nearest listener. Well, one time she had to go potty. So I took her into the men's room. There was somebody else in one of the other stalls. So here I was standing in a stall, with my 4 year old girl sitting on the potty, and she was singing a song about "Going Potty" at the top of her lungs, with another man in the stall next to us. It was one of those times when I was simultaneously tickled pink, and thoroughly embarrassed at the same time.
But as I said, Thea's actions reveal her heart. She loves to help people. What a great trait to nurture!
Tirah is probably the most sleep-deprived of the two of us. And it's a little hard right now because Jaden only likes Mama. Especially when he's upset, I have a hard time calming him down... only mama can do that. It's amazing how quickly he knows he's in mama's arms... it must be the smell. That glorious smell of mama, versus that weird smell of papa. Tirah is definitely enjoying her maternity leave, but also anxious about having to go back to work next month.
I haven't had much chance to work on music lately, although I did manage to create a new page on my website that features some clips of some of the music that I've been working on in my studio this year. Things like the flute and piano album, and the Glencairn Documentary. You can check it out at: http://www.solomonkeal.com/listen/studio.
We are thinking more and more about trying to buy a house, rather than rent one. The people in Virginville still haven't called about that rental place. So maybe with the help of Providence we will be able to buy our own house soon. We know so little about the whole process, so we're trying to learn. We'll see what happens.
I wanted to share a quote that Tirah and I heard in a Joel Osteen sermon: "Don't tell your God how big your problems are... tell your problems how big your God is!"
So that's all for this time. This month is the last month of Tirah's maternity leave, so the adventure continues! Tune in next time for the continuation of the adventures of Solomon and Tirah and Family.
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan and Jaden.
Happy September to you all!
We are officially OUT-NUMBERED! Two Parents vs. Three Kids... the Kids win.
I remember when we only had Thea. All we had to worry about was Thea. There were no other kids fighting in the background... just Thea. When she slept... we could sleep. We even had some free time left over because she slept more than we did. We didn't know how good we had it!
Then Cirdan came along. Thea was only 1 and 1/2, and fortunately just walking, but life was manageable because there was a parent for every child. At some points, if we were lucky, both kids would be asleep at the same time... and then there was much rejoicing.
But it seems that parenting gets exponentially harder with the addition of each new child. So far it seems that having 3 kids is twice as hard as having 2 kids... now is that really fair?! Thea and Cirdan are pretty independent little toddlers, which is good, but they still need supervision (Hey, I wish I had "super-vision," then maybe I could tell who really hit who first!). Thea doesn't nap anymore, and Cirdan is getting close to not napping anymore. For the past month, our life has had one purpose: Try to keep all three kids happy... with a side-order of "could we get some sleep" and maybe a small helping of movies.
Having three kids is sort of like juggling... we've reached that point where we are really parenting now. When you're juggling one or two balls, you're not really juggling, it's when you get to three balls that people are impressed. Or rather it's when people decide to hang around to see how long you can do it before you totally lose control. Parenting really feels like juggling sometimes. We often have to leave one kid "hanging in mid-air" and hope that they will come land right in our open hand.
But just like juggling... it's a lot of fun. I wouldn't trade my life for anything. Tirah and I like to watch Sci-Fi adventure movies. Lately, that's what we'll do in the evening, once all three kids are finally asleep, we'll turn on some Star Trek, or StarGate. It's kind of funny how, at the end of a long day filled with little beings who are fighting and screaming and stealing and talking gibberish, we like to flick on a movie filled with little beings who are fighting, screaming, stealing, and talking gibberish. Escapism? Really? I wonder.
Really I think it's just a different kind of adventure. We all like adventure in our lives, it's just that sometimes we get bored with the adventure that we are currently in, and we want to watch somebody else's adventure. Almost as if to say, "boy am I glad I'm not trying to save the world from alien invasion!" Or maybe as if to say, "boy I wish I could worry about alien invasion for a while, instead of three screaming kids!" Maybe, far away, on some distant planet, some futuristic alien super-hero is sitting back with a bag of chips, watching us through his "super-vision" telescope and saying, "boy, am I glad I'm not taking care of three kids right now. It's nice to relax and not worry about global annihilation for a few minutes!" Whatever it is... we humans like adventure. And I like the adventure that Tirah and I are living.
I've heard that it gets easier after 3 kids. But I don't know about that. I baby-sat for my sister the other day, so I was in charge of 4 toddlers for a couple hours. That was when I realized how good I had it with just 2 or 3. When you only have 2 or 3 kids, you never have to break up two different fights at once!
So, starting with the youngest: Jaden is almost a month old now. He's exactly 4 weeks today. Unfortunately it's been a rough month for him (and by association, for us too). He has had a very bad diaper rash all month. And he's also had a bad case of baby acne all over his body! It looks very uncomfortable... and by his fussiness, I think he agrees. He basically has three modes right now: Eat, Sleep, and Cry. Peaceful, non-meal, awake times are precious rare gems that we try to treasure. I got a brief smile from him early one morning, right before I changed his diaper. We're trying lots of things (diet, homeopathy, aloe vera, prayer) and we're hoping that we'll start to see some improvement soon. But amid all of the fussiness, he is the cutest little thing on the planet.
As I was watching him one time when he was staring at this brand new world, I couldn't help but wonder if that's what we look like to angels, when we wake up in the spiritual world after death. Wide-eyed brand new spiritual beings.
Cirdan is still in a violent phase. His default, if something doesn't go his way, is to hit the person closest to him. Even when he's playing nicely, he can be too rough sometimes. But over all, he's our little angel boy. While his actions don't always express his heart very well, his words do. He says the sweetest, nicest things to people. He's our little sunshine boy.
I wanted to share a very cute thing he said the other night: We were getting ready for bed, and while I was helping Thea get undressed, Cirdan was throwing stuffed animals up into the air as high as he could get them to go. One time, he threw an animal up into the air, and he didn't notice that it fell back down behind his crib, so he turned to me and said, "Uh oh, it went up to Heaven!"
The other day, just after Jaden emptied a little spit-up onto my shirt, Cirdan asked me with concern in his voice: "Papa, what is that coming out of Jaden's face?"
Cirdan also has a very short attention span right now. He's curious, but not curious enough to hear a full answer. He'll very often ask us a question, but before we can truly answer him, he looks away, and is on to something else. The look on his face reminds me of the windows that sometimes pop up on my computer: "Application has unexpectedly quit. Data may have been lost. Would you like to save and restart?" No... never mind.
Cirdan has an interesting concept of time. It used to be that when he was referring to something that happened in the past, he would refer to it as happening "yesterday." "Yesterday" simply meant "in the past." I wasn't born yesterday, but Cirdan was, according to him. Well, lately he has graduated. Now things that happened in the past are referred to as happening "Last Week." "Mama and Papa, when you got married last week, was it at the big church?" It's almost like his concept of time is broadening as he gets older. It used to be that he took life day by day. Now he understands the concept of a week's worth of time. Last month? Forget it... Does Not Compute. It reminds me a little of adult's concepts of time. The longer I live, the more I understand what long periods of time are like. It used to be that I didn't remember much from a decade ago, but now I do. I can even remember some things that happened over 20 years ago. And yet, I'm only 30 years old. Unlike a 60 year old, I cannot remember 30 years ago. Angels in heaven can remember hundreds of years into their past. They undoubtedly have a better perspective on eternity.
Moving on to Thea: Thea has the opposite situation to Cirdan. While Thea's actions reveal her angelic heart, her words do not. Thea, being a strong-willed child, likes to feel like she is in control and has freedom. Ultimately she wants to be recognized for the valuable member of the family that she is. So if we aren't doing that , by not giving her choices and quality time, she assumes that we aren't being good parents and so she takes over. Her latest favorite phrases are: "No, you're wrong!" and "Papa, it's too late!" or "No, wait, here's the deal.." or even "I don't love you!" or "I don't want to be your daughter anymore!" It's hard knowing that Jaden's presence is probably the hardest for Thea to deal with, because she craves quality time, and we don't have a lot of time to give. But it's all part of the adventure.
Thea loves to sing. In fact she doesn't like silence, and she tries to fill silence with whatever words or songs she can think of. She tends to commentate her life in song. This can be very cute at times, and very annoying at other times. Lately Thea and I have been going shopping together while Cirdan naps at home with Mama and Jaden. This has been some very good quality time for her. But it's a funny mix. She's a chatterbox, and I'm a quiet guy. So she spends most of the shopping trip singing our adventures to the nearest listener. Well, one time she had to go potty. So I took her into the men's room. There was somebody else in one of the other stalls. So here I was standing in a stall, with my 4 year old girl sitting on the potty, and she was singing a song about "Going Potty" at the top of her lungs, with another man in the stall next to us. It was one of those times when I was simultaneously tickled pink, and thoroughly embarrassed at the same time.
But as I said, Thea's actions reveal her heart. She loves to help people. What a great trait to nurture!
Tirah is probably the most sleep-deprived of the two of us. And it's a little hard right now because Jaden only likes Mama. Especially when he's upset, I have a hard time calming him down... only mama can do that. It's amazing how quickly he knows he's in mama's arms... it must be the smell. That glorious smell of mama, versus that weird smell of papa. Tirah is definitely enjoying her maternity leave, but also anxious about having to go back to work next month.
I haven't had much chance to work on music lately, although I did manage to create a new page on my website that features some clips of some of the music that I've been working on in my studio this year. Things like the flute and piano album, and the Glencairn Documentary. You can check it out at: http://www.solomonkeal.com/listen/studio.
We are thinking more and more about trying to buy a house, rather than rent one. The people in Virginville still haven't called about that rental place. So maybe with the help of Providence we will be able to buy our own house soon. We know so little about the whole process, so we're trying to learn. We'll see what happens.
I wanted to share a quote that Tirah and I heard in a Joel Osteen sermon: "Don't tell your God how big your problems are... tell your problems how big your God is!"
So that's all for this time. This month is the last month of Tirah's maternity leave, so the adventure continues! Tune in next time for the continuation of the adventures of Solomon and Tirah and Family.
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan and Jaden.
A Baby Boy! August 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
I'm happy to announce the birth of our third child: a baby boy! He
was born at a quarter past midnight on August 11th, in our home in
Lenhartsville. He was 8 pounds 12 ounces, 21 and 1/2 inches long,
with a 15 inch head. Tirah had had a day of "false" labor earlier
in the week, and then during the day on the 10th, she had pretty many
contractions. All of which led up to the fact that by the time
midwife came by for a check-up in the afternoon, Tirah was 5
centimeters. We called the midwife at around 11:00 at night, and
when she arrived, Tirah was already 9 centimeters! The baby was born
an hour and quarter later. A very quick birth! Mama and the baby
are both very healthy. He is nursing well.
We don't have a name yet. We'll keep you posted.
Thea and Cirdan love him. We've taken several pictures, as well as
some video camera footage, which we hope to share with you soon.
Love,
- Solomon
Hello Friends and Family.
Our son's name is: Jaden Micah Keal.
"Jaden" comes from the Hebrew meaning "God had heard."
"Micah" is a version of Michael meaning "Who is like the Lord?"
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Jaden.
I'm happy to announce the birth of our third child: a baby boy! He
was born at a quarter past midnight on August 11th, in our home in
Lenhartsville. He was 8 pounds 12 ounces, 21 and 1/2 inches long,
with a 15 inch head. Tirah had had a day of "false" labor earlier
in the week, and then during the day on the 10th, she had pretty many
contractions. All of which led up to the fact that by the time
midwife came by for a check-up in the afternoon, Tirah was 5
centimeters. We called the midwife at around 11:00 at night, and
when she arrived, Tirah was already 9 centimeters! The baby was born
an hour and quarter later. A very quick birth! Mama and the baby
are both very healthy. He is nursing well.
We don't have a name yet. We'll keep you posted.
Thea and Cirdan love him. We've taken several pictures, as well as
some video camera footage, which we hope to share with you soon.
Love,
- Solomon
Hello Friends and Family.
Our son's name is: Jaden Micah Keal.
"Jaden" comes from the Hebrew meaning "God had heard."
"Micah" is a version of Michael meaning "Who is like the Lord?"
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Jaden.
Keal Family Letter, August 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
Tirah is now full term, so the baby could come any day now! However,
both Thea and Cirdan were 10 days late, so we're trying not to get
our hopes up too much. Tirah is VERY ready to be DONE being
PREGNANT! Fortunately she is now on maternity leave, and we've been
enjoying spending all of our time together as a whole family. She's
been on maternity leave for one week now. The baby is head down,
and every thing is looking good, thank the Lord!
Cirdan and Thea are as cute and wonderful and difficult and
intelligent and strong-willed and angelic as ever. Parenting them
is a continual learning process, and great for spiritual growth. Our
kids have already claimed the roles of "children" in our family, so
the only jobs left for me and Tirah fall into the category of "grown-
up." It's kind of interesting how spending all my time trying to
communicate with toddlers is helping me to become a better adult.
The Lord is very wise.
On July 13-15 we were able to get away for the weekend; up to the
Catskills of New York state for a Marriage Retreat led by Lori and
John Odhner. It was wonderful! There were 9 couples there (so 18
people, although John Odhner kept referred to it as 19 because of our
baby). The whole weekend was filled with friendship and wisdom and
music and laughing. It was very rejuvenating!
The trip up was a bit of an adventure though! We drove up with
Calvin and Maggie Odhner, who are very good friends of ours. The
trip was like a comedy of errors. We were supposed to get to the
Retreat by about 7:00... well we didn't get there until almost 1:00
at night! First we got off late, and then we forgot some of my
music equipment. Then we got stuck in stand-still traffic. Then we
took a wrong turn and ended up heading into New York City. THEN...
the car broke down! So we ended up stuck in a place called
Tarrytown New York, and we got some pizza (having missed our dinner
reservations) and searched for a car rental place, but the closest
place to rent a car was the airport, but it took forever to get there
because there was a man-hunt on the highway, and the only available
rental car was almost too small, etc, etc, etc. But all in all, it
was a lot of fun to spend that time with Calvin and Maggie!
Jori and Abbey and Malcolm, meanwhile, were back at our house
watching our little kids, which we are very grateful for. It sounded
like a good weekend was had by all.
On the 17th we had the last meeting of our second Marriage Support
Group. Many of the people involved in this group were interested in
continuing! So after the baby is old enough and we start it up
again, we might turn it into an on-going thing (instead of just an 8
week session) which would be great!
On the 19th we went out food shopping, and came back having bought
our minivan! We hadn't intended to buy the van on that trip, but we
though we would drive through the car dealership near the grocery
store and see what they had. Well, they had exactly the right van
for us. It's a 2002 Toyota Sienna. It had 87,000 miles on it. It's
only had one owner. And most importantly... it's a nice color blue
and it has a CD player! ;-)
It was a price we could afford, and the salesman was not at all
pushy. So we were able to buy our minivan before the new baby
came! Now we will all fit into one car. We've been having a lot of
fun on Tirah's maternity leave, just driving around in it.
On the 21st, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" arrived in the
mail! We spent the next week reading it together, which was another
nice thing to be doing on Tirah's maternity leave. Great book by the
way! I don't know how many of you have read Harry Potter, but Tirah
and I are pretty big fans. The last book in the series definitely
lived up to our expectations for sheer entertainment as well as
philosophical and spiritual value.
I've sort of been taking a vacation since Tirah's been on maternity
leave, so I don't have much to report on the music front. Although I
almost have my next piece of sheet music available ("Surrender" from
the "Peace of Heaven" album). I'll keep you posted.
Coming up soon... I will be reporting the birth of our third child!
Stay tuned for that!
Have a great day!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby.
Tirah is now full term, so the baby could come any day now! However,
both Thea and Cirdan were 10 days late, so we're trying not to get
our hopes up too much. Tirah is VERY ready to be DONE being
PREGNANT! Fortunately she is now on maternity leave, and we've been
enjoying spending all of our time together as a whole family. She's
been on maternity leave for one week now. The baby is head down,
and every thing is looking good, thank the Lord!
Cirdan and Thea are as cute and wonderful and difficult and
intelligent and strong-willed and angelic as ever. Parenting them
is a continual learning process, and great for spiritual growth. Our
kids have already claimed the roles of "children" in our family, so
the only jobs left for me and Tirah fall into the category of "grown-
up." It's kind of interesting how spending all my time trying to
communicate with toddlers is helping me to become a better adult.
The Lord is very wise.
On July 13-15 we were able to get away for the weekend; up to the
Catskills of New York state for a Marriage Retreat led by Lori and
John Odhner. It was wonderful! There were 9 couples there (so 18
people, although John Odhner kept referred to it as 19 because of our
baby). The whole weekend was filled with friendship and wisdom and
music and laughing. It was very rejuvenating!
The trip up was a bit of an adventure though! We drove up with
Calvin and Maggie Odhner, who are very good friends of ours. The
trip was like a comedy of errors. We were supposed to get to the
Retreat by about 7:00... well we didn't get there until almost 1:00
at night! First we got off late, and then we forgot some of my
music equipment. Then we got stuck in stand-still traffic. Then we
took a wrong turn and ended up heading into New York City. THEN...
the car broke down! So we ended up stuck in a place called
Tarrytown New York, and we got some pizza (having missed our dinner
reservations) and searched for a car rental place, but the closest
place to rent a car was the airport, but it took forever to get there
because there was a man-hunt on the highway, and the only available
rental car was almost too small, etc, etc, etc. But all in all, it
was a lot of fun to spend that time with Calvin and Maggie!
Jori and Abbey and Malcolm, meanwhile, were back at our house
watching our little kids, which we are very grateful for. It sounded
like a good weekend was had by all.
On the 17th we had the last meeting of our second Marriage Support
Group. Many of the people involved in this group were interested in
continuing! So after the baby is old enough and we start it up
again, we might turn it into an on-going thing (instead of just an 8
week session) which would be great!
On the 19th we went out food shopping, and came back having bought
our minivan! We hadn't intended to buy the van on that trip, but we
though we would drive through the car dealership near the grocery
store and see what they had. Well, they had exactly the right van
for us. It's a 2002 Toyota Sienna. It had 87,000 miles on it. It's
only had one owner. And most importantly... it's a nice color blue
and it has a CD player! ;-)
It was a price we could afford, and the salesman was not at all
pushy. So we were able to buy our minivan before the new baby
came! Now we will all fit into one car. We've been having a lot of
fun on Tirah's maternity leave, just driving around in it.
On the 21st, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" arrived in the
mail! We spent the next week reading it together, which was another
nice thing to be doing on Tirah's maternity leave. Great book by the
way! I don't know how many of you have read Harry Potter, but Tirah
and I are pretty big fans. The last book in the series definitely
lived up to our expectations for sheer entertainment as well as
philosophical and spiritual value.
I've sort of been taking a vacation since Tirah's been on maternity
leave, so I don't have much to report on the music front. Although I
almost have my next piece of sheet music available ("Surrender" from
the "Peace of Heaven" album). I'll keep you posted.
Coming up soon... I will be reporting the birth of our third child!
Stay tuned for that!
Have a great day!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby.
Keal Family Letter, July 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
Tirah is now in week 36 of 40. By next month, the baby will be just
about done and ready to take out of the oven. Currently we are
working hard to keep the baby turned the right way around. The baby
has been breech (head up) for much of the last month. Tirah has been
lying up-side-down, using hot and cold on her tummy, using
moxibustion (or "socks combustion" as I like to call it) which is an
Eastern method for turning a breech baby in which you hold a
smoldering "cigar" near the pregnant woman's baby toes, which is
supposed to trigger pressure points that turn the baby around. How
did they figure that sort of thing out? Then there's also
homeopathy, and chiropractic, and not to mention a daily dose of
prayer. For some reason, the baby doesn't seem to want to just
stay head down yet. Hopefully everything that we're doing will
convince it otherwise. As of this writing, I believe the baby is
head down. Keep us in your prayers!
Cirdan turned three on the 13th last month. Unfortunately he was
sick on his birthday. We went ahead and celebrated that day (because
it was Tirah's day off), but it was not quite the fun day that we
were hoping it would be. We gave Cirdan a little drum set, which he
now likes, but wasn't impressed by on his birthday. Fortunately
Cirdan got a whole bunch of kid's TV shows on tape from Mormor, which
was just perfect for a sick-day/birthday. Thanks Mom!
Cirdan entered the realm of "three-year-old-boy" with a bang. You'd
think he got his first major dose of testosterone, because he
suddenly has become very violent. He just loves to hit and whack
and kick. Which is fine when it's a soccer ball, but not when it's
his sister's head. Our methods of punishment (the naughty room)
don't seem to be having an effect on him anymore. He's still the
sweet little Cirdan that he's always been, but he definitely has a
Jekyll and Hyde aspect to his nature now.
Thea keeps growing up. Her current struggle is with being too
bossy. But over-all I think it's just a manifestation of the fact
that she loves people, and loves to be very involved in whatever the
people around her are doing.
Just this morning, I took the kids to the Younger Children's Service
at our church, and for the first time they got very involved with the
service. In the past, they would just sit on my lap and ask me over
and over when it was going to be over. But this time (for some
reason) they both decided that they were going to sit up front on the
little chairs (without me), and they sat nicely and listened to the
minister, and even answered and asked questions. It was really
cool! I was very proud of them.
Tirah has 11 more days of work (including today) until her maternity
leave. Her last day is the 24th of July. It's definitely been
getting harder for her as the days get hotter. There's no air
conditioning in the Hawk Mountain Bookstore. Over-all though, it's
been a good experience for Tirah to be working while being pregnant.
It certainly helps that it's a job that she really likes. But beyond
that, it's actually a preferable situation to the one I'm in as the
stay-at-home parent. We were realizing the other day that our jobs
are actually sort of similar. We're both managers. Tirah's job
involves telling other people what to do. My job also involves
telling other people what to do. The only difference is... my people
DON'T LISTEN TO ME! And so I spend a good portion of my day
running around after toddlers, picking them up when they're naughty
or hurt, breaking up fights, getting yelled at when they're mad.
It's certainly not an environment conducive to rest. We're actually
really glad that Tirah is not in my position while being enormously
pregnant. When people find out that Tirah is working while being
pregnant, they often say things like: "Oooh, that's gotta be
rough." And our response lately is something like, "Actually it's
better than the alternative!"
On Father's Day this year, Tirah gave me a wonderful present. She
took the day off of work, to give me the day off! It's been a while
since I've had a day off (that wasn't still a parenting day). I got
to play around with some new music software that I got. It was
glorious!
We got to be in the June 19th pageant this year in our church, which
was fun. Our family along with another family was representing the
Children of Israel in the wilderness in the story of the Lord giving
the manna. The nice thing was, just as the kids were getting bored
with the whole pageant thing, the angels came with the manna, which
was real bread, and the kids got to actually eat it! It actually
worked out really well, because before the manna arrived, our kids
were complaining, just like the children of Israel were in the
story. Good job kids! Great acting!
On the 23rd of June, we went to Gordon McQueen's 40th birthday party,
which was a lot of fun. I was asked to write and read a funny poem
in his honor, so I did a spoof of the Night Before Christmas. It
was a lot of fun. It was one of the first social situations where I
was able to relax a little bit, as a parent. The kids are getting
old enough now, that they don't need constant supervision. It was nice.
On the 24th was our 6th anniversary, which we celebrated on the 27th
because that was Tirah's day off. We went out for a family
breakfast in the morning, and then took the kids to the Lehigh Valley
Zoo, and then to lunch at Wegmans, and then we went swimming in the
afternoon. After the kids were in bed, Tirah and I ate our
traditional anniversary dinner: Chicken, Fresh Mozzarella, and French
Bread, with Sparkling Apple Cider. It was a good day.
The July 4th celebration here in Kempton was also a lot of fun. It
was a nice cool day... overcast and windy. Perfect for pregnant
ladies. My A Cappella group sang four songs including the Star
Spangled Banner, and Taps. That evening we got to hang out with Abby
and Malcolm, and Thane. We had a nice barbecue and did sparklers in
between the raindrops.
The sad news is that my Grandpa Keal just passed into the spiritual
world this month on July 5th. He was 92. However, it's very nice to
know that he is out of pain now. I can just picture him running and
jumping and doing a little jig up in Heaven. And I'm sure he's
already making the angels laugh with his jokes. As one Keal leaves
this world, a new one will be entering it soon.
This weekend, Tirah and I are heading up to the mountains of New York
state for a Marriage Retreat led by Lori and John Odhner. It's a
Marriage Support Support Weekend (for people who are actively
involved in Marriage Support) We are very much looking forward to
it. It will be a nice little vacation just before the baby comes.
And made possible by Jori and Abby who are watching our kids while we
are away! Thanks you two!
The jury is still out on this house that we hope to rent in
Virginville. The landlords apparently are in no hurry to get someone
to move in. It's been a month since we turned in our application.
But they still have a toilet to install, and a garage to clean out.
We're just hoping that we'll be the only ones left when they get
around to calling people!
So that's about all for now. Next month... the baby will be coming!
Have a great day everyone!
Love,
- Solomon (30), Tirah (27), Thea (4), Cirdan (3), and Baby Keal
(almost 0).
Tirah is now in week 36 of 40. By next month, the baby will be just
about done and ready to take out of the oven. Currently we are
working hard to keep the baby turned the right way around. The baby
has been breech (head up) for much of the last month. Tirah has been
lying up-side-down, using hot and cold on her tummy, using
moxibustion (or "socks combustion" as I like to call it) which is an
Eastern method for turning a breech baby in which you hold a
smoldering "cigar" near the pregnant woman's baby toes, which is
supposed to trigger pressure points that turn the baby around. How
did they figure that sort of thing out? Then there's also
homeopathy, and chiropractic, and not to mention a daily dose of
prayer. For some reason, the baby doesn't seem to want to just
stay head down yet. Hopefully everything that we're doing will
convince it otherwise. As of this writing, I believe the baby is
head down. Keep us in your prayers!
Cirdan turned three on the 13th last month. Unfortunately he was
sick on his birthday. We went ahead and celebrated that day (because
it was Tirah's day off), but it was not quite the fun day that we
were hoping it would be. We gave Cirdan a little drum set, which he
now likes, but wasn't impressed by on his birthday. Fortunately
Cirdan got a whole bunch of kid's TV shows on tape from Mormor, which
was just perfect for a sick-day/birthday. Thanks Mom!
Cirdan entered the realm of "three-year-old-boy" with a bang. You'd
think he got his first major dose of testosterone, because he
suddenly has become very violent. He just loves to hit and whack
and kick. Which is fine when it's a soccer ball, but not when it's
his sister's head. Our methods of punishment (the naughty room)
don't seem to be having an effect on him anymore. He's still the
sweet little Cirdan that he's always been, but he definitely has a
Jekyll and Hyde aspect to his nature now.
Thea keeps growing up. Her current struggle is with being too
bossy. But over-all I think it's just a manifestation of the fact
that she loves people, and loves to be very involved in whatever the
people around her are doing.
Just this morning, I took the kids to the Younger Children's Service
at our church, and for the first time they got very involved with the
service. In the past, they would just sit on my lap and ask me over
and over when it was going to be over. But this time (for some
reason) they both decided that they were going to sit up front on the
little chairs (without me), and they sat nicely and listened to the
minister, and even answered and asked questions. It was really
cool! I was very proud of them.
Tirah has 11 more days of work (including today) until her maternity
leave. Her last day is the 24th of July. It's definitely been
getting harder for her as the days get hotter. There's no air
conditioning in the Hawk Mountain Bookstore. Over-all though, it's
been a good experience for Tirah to be working while being pregnant.
It certainly helps that it's a job that she really likes. But beyond
that, it's actually a preferable situation to the one I'm in as the
stay-at-home parent. We were realizing the other day that our jobs
are actually sort of similar. We're both managers. Tirah's job
involves telling other people what to do. My job also involves
telling other people what to do. The only difference is... my people
DON'T LISTEN TO ME! And so I spend a good portion of my day
running around after toddlers, picking them up when they're naughty
or hurt, breaking up fights, getting yelled at when they're mad.
It's certainly not an environment conducive to rest. We're actually
really glad that Tirah is not in my position while being enormously
pregnant. When people find out that Tirah is working while being
pregnant, they often say things like: "Oooh, that's gotta be
rough." And our response lately is something like, "Actually it's
better than the alternative!"
On Father's Day this year, Tirah gave me a wonderful present. She
took the day off of work, to give me the day off! It's been a while
since I've had a day off (that wasn't still a parenting day). I got
to play around with some new music software that I got. It was
glorious!
We got to be in the June 19th pageant this year in our church, which
was fun. Our family along with another family was representing the
Children of Israel in the wilderness in the story of the Lord giving
the manna. The nice thing was, just as the kids were getting bored
with the whole pageant thing, the angels came with the manna, which
was real bread, and the kids got to actually eat it! It actually
worked out really well, because before the manna arrived, our kids
were complaining, just like the children of Israel were in the
story. Good job kids! Great acting!
On the 23rd of June, we went to Gordon McQueen's 40th birthday party,
which was a lot of fun. I was asked to write and read a funny poem
in his honor, so I did a spoof of the Night Before Christmas. It
was a lot of fun. It was one of the first social situations where I
was able to relax a little bit, as a parent. The kids are getting
old enough now, that they don't need constant supervision. It was nice.
On the 24th was our 6th anniversary, which we celebrated on the 27th
because that was Tirah's day off. We went out for a family
breakfast in the morning, and then took the kids to the Lehigh Valley
Zoo, and then to lunch at Wegmans, and then we went swimming in the
afternoon. After the kids were in bed, Tirah and I ate our
traditional anniversary dinner: Chicken, Fresh Mozzarella, and French
Bread, with Sparkling Apple Cider. It was a good day.
The July 4th celebration here in Kempton was also a lot of fun. It
was a nice cool day... overcast and windy. Perfect for pregnant
ladies. My A Cappella group sang four songs including the Star
Spangled Banner, and Taps. That evening we got to hang out with Abby
and Malcolm, and Thane. We had a nice barbecue and did sparklers in
between the raindrops.
The sad news is that my Grandpa Keal just passed into the spiritual
world this month on July 5th. He was 92. However, it's very nice to
know that he is out of pain now. I can just picture him running and
jumping and doing a little jig up in Heaven. And I'm sure he's
already making the angels laugh with his jokes. As one Keal leaves
this world, a new one will be entering it soon.
This weekend, Tirah and I are heading up to the mountains of New York
state for a Marriage Retreat led by Lori and John Odhner. It's a
Marriage Support Support Weekend (for people who are actively
involved in Marriage Support) We are very much looking forward to
it. It will be a nice little vacation just before the baby comes.
And made possible by Jori and Abby who are watching our kids while we
are away! Thanks you two!
The jury is still out on this house that we hope to rent in
Virginville. The landlords apparently are in no hurry to get someone
to move in. It's been a month since we turned in our application.
But they still have a toilet to install, and a garage to clean out.
We're just hoping that we'll be the only ones left when they get
around to calling people!
So that's about all for now. Next month... the baby will be coming!
Have a great day everyone!
Love,
- Solomon (30), Tirah (27), Thea (4), Cirdan (3), and Baby Keal
(almost 0).
Keal Family Letter, June 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
Tirah is now in week 31 of 40. The baby is roughly a foot long, and
weighs about 3 and 1/2 pounds. The baby is capable of opening it's
eyes. It has hair on it's head, and toenails on it's toes. It's
brain is capable of memory, learning, and processing sights and sounds.
Thea and Cirdan have really enjoyed the monthly visits by our
midwife, Robin, and they can't wait to hear the "Baby's Heart Beep!"
as they call it.
Cirdan will be turning 3 on the 13th of this month! He tends to be
covered in "owies" lately, because he's a rough-and-tumble little boy.
Thea has lately become fascinated with "what's in our bodies."
Periodically she will ask me, "Papa, what is in our bodies?" and I
will then tell her as much as I can remember from Anatomy classes in
school. She already knows about the heart, the lungs, the brain,
the stomach, bones, muscles, nerves, drums (eardrums), and even
things like tendons. It's really fun to watch her little brain soak
up this information and try to process it.
We had our American Flag out for Memorial Day, and the kid's
mispronunciation of the name of the flag was very profound: They
were trying to say "It's an American Flag!" but it came out: "It's A
Miracle Flag!"
There's a robin's nest up in the rafters of our back porch, and last
month we watched four baby robins hatch, and grow, and be fed, and
finally fledge (fly from their nest.) Me and the kids actually got
to observe 3 of the 4 baby robins leave the nest and take their very
first flight. The whole process is so common and yet still so
miraculous to watch. Tirah and I found ourselves sitting on the back
porch just watching the robin's nest, like it was the most
fascinating TV show! I actually have some video footage of Thea and
Cirdan following a little baby robin around the yard, who had just
flown from the nest. Because they had grown up on our porch, they
weren't really afraid of us. One of these days, I'll get around to
posting that video for y'all to see.
We've been house hunting this past month, and we found a wonderful
little rental house in Virginville (about 4 miles away from
Lenhartsville), that would be just perfect for us. It's a three bed-
room house, with a fully enclosed-insulated-finished back porch,
which would be perfect for my studio. It's got a large yard, and
it's in a nice quite little town. And it's a price that we can just
afford.
We sent in our application, so now we just have to wait, and hope
that they like us! We're very much hoping that we'll get it,
because we really like it! And if we do get it, we could be moving
this month!
We celebrate our 6th anniversary at the end of this month! We're in
the middle of our second round of Marriage Support Group, which is
very much fun, and very enlightening and useful.
And that's about all for now!
We hope you are all doing well.
Have a great day!
- Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal.
Tirah is now in week 31 of 40. The baby is roughly a foot long, and
weighs about 3 and 1/2 pounds. The baby is capable of opening it's
eyes. It has hair on it's head, and toenails on it's toes. It's
brain is capable of memory, learning, and processing sights and sounds.
Thea and Cirdan have really enjoyed the monthly visits by our
midwife, Robin, and they can't wait to hear the "Baby's Heart Beep!"
as they call it.
Cirdan will be turning 3 on the 13th of this month! He tends to be
covered in "owies" lately, because he's a rough-and-tumble little boy.
Thea has lately become fascinated with "what's in our bodies."
Periodically she will ask me, "Papa, what is in our bodies?" and I
will then tell her as much as I can remember from Anatomy classes in
school. She already knows about the heart, the lungs, the brain,
the stomach, bones, muscles, nerves, drums (eardrums), and even
things like tendons. It's really fun to watch her little brain soak
up this information and try to process it.
We had our American Flag out for Memorial Day, and the kid's
mispronunciation of the name of the flag was very profound: They
were trying to say "It's an American Flag!" but it came out: "It's A
Miracle Flag!"
There's a robin's nest up in the rafters of our back porch, and last
month we watched four baby robins hatch, and grow, and be fed, and
finally fledge (fly from their nest.) Me and the kids actually got
to observe 3 of the 4 baby robins leave the nest and take their very
first flight. The whole process is so common and yet still so
miraculous to watch. Tirah and I found ourselves sitting on the back
porch just watching the robin's nest, like it was the most
fascinating TV show! I actually have some video footage of Thea and
Cirdan following a little baby robin around the yard, who had just
flown from the nest. Because they had grown up on our porch, they
weren't really afraid of us. One of these days, I'll get around to
posting that video for y'all to see.
We've been house hunting this past month, and we found a wonderful
little rental house in Virginville (about 4 miles away from
Lenhartsville), that would be just perfect for us. It's a three bed-
room house, with a fully enclosed-insulated-finished back porch,
which would be perfect for my studio. It's got a large yard, and
it's in a nice quite little town. And it's a price that we can just
afford.
We sent in our application, so now we just have to wait, and hope
that they like us! We're very much hoping that we'll get it,
because we really like it! And if we do get it, we could be moving
this month!
We celebrate our 6th anniversary at the end of this month! We're in
the middle of our second round of Marriage Support Group, which is
very much fun, and very enlightening and useful.
And that's about all for now!
We hope you are all doing well.
Have a great day!
- Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal.
Keal Family Letter, May 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
The Spring-Time weather has arrived here in Lenhartsville! We are spending most of our days outside now; playing in the swings, digging in the sand-box, helping Meemaw, and Deedaw in the garden, going on walks, eating meals outside.
Tirah is now in week 27 of 40. The baby is the size of an ear of corn. Tirah now weighs more than I do. She's a very tired Mama! We are all looking forward to maternity leave in July. But she has more energy that she probably would if she wasn't taking Body Balance right now. (An aloe-vera, sea vegetable liquid supplement). In fact we're all taking it, and it's helping all of us. I'm no longer taking Sam-E for depression, and I seem to have a higher tolerance for sugar. Pretty cool stuff.
Thea and Cirdan are doing well, although they both have a "night-time" cough right now. Around Easter we took the kids up to Hawk Mountain for a "Raptor Egg Hunt," in which a whole bunch of little kids got a short and humorous lecture about birds of prey, and then we all marched off into the woods to hunt for little wooden "raptor eggs" that the "Spring-Time Raptor" had hidden for them. It was a lot of fun... except that it was snowing!
A couple of weeks ago I took the kids (with Tamar and Dandridge and family) to the Lehigh Valley Zoo, which we had never been to before. It's a nice size Zoo for little kids.
On May 1st, Tirah and the kids got to participate in a May Pole Dance at Gray Glenn's.
We started up our second round of Marriage Support Group here in Kempton last Tuesday night (May 1st). We may even have a slightly larger group than we had the first time, which is very exciting for us, because at first it was looking like we might not have enough people at all. But we had several last minute couples joining. It's a lot of fun to be doing it again!
Oh, some exciting news: We paid off our Subaru Outback! (Thanks to our tax refund!) Which is perfect timing, because we are about to out-grow it! Once the baby is born, we won't all fit into the wagon. So we will be looking for a mini-van pretty soon.
We also may be moving within the next 12 months. Not only are we out-growing our car, but our shared household as well. After considering all the possible options, it seems like the best plan for everyone will be for us to find an apartment that we can afford and also fit into. So the house hunting has begun! I'm actually hoping that the house next-door will become available for rent soon, and we can simply move one house over. It would be less of a culture-shock for the kids, since Meemaw and Deedaw will be right next-door. The ideal will be to find a place that has three bed-rooms, plus a space for my studio (essentially a four-bedroom place) for something that we can afford. We'll see what happens. The Lord is in charge.
If any of you want sheet music for my piano compositions, please let me know which ones you would like. "Star Gazing" is done and available here: http://www.lulu.com/solomonkeal. And I'm working on "Surrender," from my latest album.
Roxanne and I will be starting to record the flute and piano album this month! Yay!
Well, that's all for now. Gotta go back outside!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal.
The Spring-Time weather has arrived here in Lenhartsville! We are spending most of our days outside now; playing in the swings, digging in the sand-box, helping Meemaw, and Deedaw in the garden, going on walks, eating meals outside.
Tirah is now in week 27 of 40. The baby is the size of an ear of corn. Tirah now weighs more than I do. She's a very tired Mama! We are all looking forward to maternity leave in July. But she has more energy that she probably would if she wasn't taking Body Balance right now. (An aloe-vera, sea vegetable liquid supplement). In fact we're all taking it, and it's helping all of us. I'm no longer taking Sam-E for depression, and I seem to have a higher tolerance for sugar. Pretty cool stuff.
Thea and Cirdan are doing well, although they both have a "night-time" cough right now. Around Easter we took the kids up to Hawk Mountain for a "Raptor Egg Hunt," in which a whole bunch of little kids got a short and humorous lecture about birds of prey, and then we all marched off into the woods to hunt for little wooden "raptor eggs" that the "Spring-Time Raptor" had hidden for them. It was a lot of fun... except that it was snowing!
A couple of weeks ago I took the kids (with Tamar and Dandridge and family) to the Lehigh Valley Zoo, which we had never been to before. It's a nice size Zoo for little kids.
On May 1st, Tirah and the kids got to participate in a May Pole Dance at Gray Glenn's.
We started up our second round of Marriage Support Group here in Kempton last Tuesday night (May 1st). We may even have a slightly larger group than we had the first time, which is very exciting for us, because at first it was looking like we might not have enough people at all. But we had several last minute couples joining. It's a lot of fun to be doing it again!
Oh, some exciting news: We paid off our Subaru Outback! (Thanks to our tax refund!) Which is perfect timing, because we are about to out-grow it! Once the baby is born, we won't all fit into the wagon. So we will be looking for a mini-van pretty soon.
We also may be moving within the next 12 months. Not only are we out-growing our car, but our shared household as well. After considering all the possible options, it seems like the best plan for everyone will be for us to find an apartment that we can afford and also fit into. So the house hunting has begun! I'm actually hoping that the house next-door will become available for rent soon, and we can simply move one house over. It would be less of a culture-shock for the kids, since Meemaw and Deedaw will be right next-door. The ideal will be to find a place that has three bed-rooms, plus a space for my studio (essentially a four-bedroom place) for something that we can afford. We'll see what happens. The Lord is in charge.
If any of you want sheet music for my piano compositions, please let me know which ones you would like. "Star Gazing" is done and available here: http://www.lulu.com/solomonkeal. And I'm working on "Surrender," from my latest album.
Roxanne and I will be starting to record the flute and piano album this month! Yay!
Well, that's all for now. Gotta go back outside!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal.
Keal Family Letter, April 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
Happy Easter everyone! "I'm... dreaming... of a white... Easter?" Yes indeed, here in Kempton we had a white Easter. It was flurrying on and off all day. We didn't have any accumulation, except up at Hawk Mountain where they got a visible dusting on the ground, until the sun burnt it off. Strange Spring-time. Maybe it's due to Global Warming... or... something....
Tirah is in week 24 of her pregnancy with our third child. The baby is 8.5 inches long, weighs 1.25 pounds, and is the size of a carrot... at least so says AmericanBaby.com. The baby has been kicking up a storm lately. It's always fun to get those first sensory signs of life.
Also according to AmericanBaby.com, "In his watery kingdom, my child can hear sounds -- Tirah's beating heart, stomach growls, and even a muffled distortion of our voices. He is sensitive to loud noises, which can startle him or cause him to blink or jump. He is alert and stretching his limbs, kicking, gripping, and following the umbilical cord with his hands."
He is only a "he" this week. Next week I'm sure he'll be a "she." At least that's what AmericanBaby.com says. :-)
Cirdan is a rambunctious little "almost-3-year-old." He'll be turning 3 in June. His favorite words right now are "No!" and "Why?" "No" of course is just the default reaction of any "almost-3-year-old." If you say anything to Cirdan, he'll say "No" first to cover his bases. He can always say "Yes" a split second later if he decides that he actually agrees with us, but it's better to be safe than sorry, I guess.
And "Why?" is really just another way of saying, "Tell me more about that... I'll let you know when I've lost interest in that topic."
Cirdan: "Hey Papa, there's a leaf on that tree!"
Me: "Yes there is."
Cirdan: "Why?"
Of course the easy answer is, "Because that's the way the Lord made it." or even simply, "Because." ...as if that's really an answer.
Then of course the reply is, "Why?"
What Cirdan really wants me to do is to say: "Because trees use a process called photosynthesis in which they use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. The reason that the leaf is green is because of a pigment called..."
Cirdan: "Papa, I'm hungry."
Me: "O.K. Let's go get lunch."
Thea actually operates on the same definition of "Why?" as well. But she can go for much longer before she loses interest in what I'm saying. It can actually be a fun way to try to remember everything I learned in my years of school. I also believe that it's just a good way to parent... to let our children know that we actually want to communicate with them.
Speaking of remembering what I learned in school, Tirah and I are reading Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything," and last night we were reading the chapter on Cells, and he said that it's been estimated that we lose 500 brain cells an hour! No wonder I'm so... I'm so... (what's the word?)... so.... Dumb!
Along with "No!" and "Why?" some of Cirdan's other favorite words are... unrepeatable. What is it with kids and potty talk!? They think that the word "Poopy" is the funniest thing they have ever heard in their short lives. Tirah and I struggle with knowing how to parent them in this situation, because it seems like our reaction to their potty talk just makes it even more funny for them. They know that they're not supposed to say certain words, and if they mumble them under their breath, and we catch them at it, they are amazingly clever at weaseling out of it.
Me: "Cirdan! Don't say that! That's rude!"
Cirdan: "Papa, I was just talking about Whinnie the Pooh... in his pants!"
Cirdan loves to walk around the house saying words like "Poofy!" or "Goopy!" or "Chicken Coup!" or "Basketball Hoop!" Partly because he knows it gets our attention, but also partly because he genuinely thinks those words are funny because of what they sound like.
Cirdan even knows how to spell a few words!... but only words that start with the letter "p." He'll walk around shouting, "Pig starts with PEEEEEE!" Crazy kid!
Thea has become a wonderful little helper lately! She is in her element when she is helping us with something.
I'm in the middle of reading a great book called "You Cant' Make Me... But I Can Be Persuaded." by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias. It's about Parenting Strong-Willed Children. It's a great book for me to read, because it describes very accurately and with warm affection and respect, the personality type that both Thea and Tirah fit into. Strong Willed Children (or SWCs) are the people that change the world!... in both bad AND good ways. Reading this book has been a great window into the minds of not only my 4 year old daughter, but also my wife of almost 6 years. It's been a lot of fun, and amazingly useful.
Basically I need to learn how to let Thea have SOME control, and then she's a happy camper. I need to ask her opinion, I need to give her reasonable choices. (For example: "Eat your food, or go to the Naughty Room!" is not a reasonable choice) I need to learn to be O.K. with her facing the consequences of some things in order for her to learn. I need to be flexible enough to let her be in charge of some aspect of her life, that I would prefer to be in charge of. Basically I need to learn to cooperate with her as much as I want her to cooperate with me. It's been wonderful to see the change in our relationship based on these principles.
Thea saw me reading the book the other day and asked me what I was reading, so I said,
"It's a book that helps me learn how to be a better Papa."
And with a very excited look on her face she said,
"Oooh! I want a book that helps me learn how to be a better Thea!"
Cirdan is not as much of a SWC. For example the other day I heard (word-for-word) my kids say:
Thea: "Papa, I'm going up stairs with you."
Cirdan: "Papa, can I go up stairs with you?"
That's the difference between Thea and Cirdan in a nutshell.
Tirah's been feeling very tired lately. She's carrying around a lot of extra weight. But she was telling me that there is a good aspect of her working right now, which is that she has something to focus on all day, other than her enormous tummy. With her previous pregnancies, her life seemed to revolve around her pregnancy, while this time, she can focus on her work, and not get caught up in the negative aspects of pregnancy. We are, however, very much looking forward to the time when she goes on maternity leave.
Last month I turned 30! I had a very nice birthday party. Tirah took me out to Outback restaurant with most of my family. And then we went to Roxanne's house for brownie sundaes. It was a good birthday.
On March 31st, my 7 part men's a cappella group had a gig singing for the General Church Treasurer's Banquet here in Kempton. It went really well. We sang four very entertaining songs, which were: "Spam" (by Moose Butter), our own "revised" version of a classic Barbershop song called "Aura Lee," a very appropriate Treasurer's Meetings song called "Everybody Said," and a nice sort of campfire song called "Sweet Potato." We even got the event captured on video, and I spent some time creating a nice little DVD of the gig using Apple's iMovie and iDVD.
Some exciting news for my music business: First: I have a new website! Go check it out at the same address: http://www.solomonkeal.com. The photo at the top is from a place called Loon Lake in New York state, where we vacationed once. The photo was taken by somebody in my family (I can't remember who) and it was enhanced by Elise Genzlinger. She also nicely combined that photo with a portrait photo which is on the About page. I then sent all that on to Steve Simons who designed a very cool website which I think will be much more user-friendly and able to do what I want it to do.
Second: I now have a piece of sheet music available for one of my compositions! The sheet music is for the piece, "Star Gazing," from the album "Thoughts and Affections." You can purchase and download this sheet music by clicking on this link: http://www.lulu.com/solomonkeal, or by clicking on any of the link for sheet music on my website.
If you have a piece of mine that you would like to see in sheet music form, please let me know. I've started assembling a Request List, and I will be notating my music on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Well, that's about all for this month. Whoa, the month is almost half over anyway!
I hope you all are doing well.
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal
Happy Easter everyone! "I'm... dreaming... of a white... Easter?" Yes indeed, here in Kempton we had a white Easter. It was flurrying on and off all day. We didn't have any accumulation, except up at Hawk Mountain where they got a visible dusting on the ground, until the sun burnt it off. Strange Spring-time. Maybe it's due to Global Warming... or... something....
Tirah is in week 24 of her pregnancy with our third child. The baby is 8.5 inches long, weighs 1.25 pounds, and is the size of a carrot... at least so says AmericanBaby.com. The baby has been kicking up a storm lately. It's always fun to get those first sensory signs of life.
Also according to AmericanBaby.com, "In his watery kingdom, my child can hear sounds -- Tirah's beating heart, stomach growls, and even a muffled distortion of our voices. He is sensitive to loud noises, which can startle him or cause him to blink or jump. He is alert and stretching his limbs, kicking, gripping, and following the umbilical cord with his hands."
He is only a "he" this week. Next week I'm sure he'll be a "she." At least that's what AmericanBaby.com says. :-)
Cirdan is a rambunctious little "almost-3-year-old." He'll be turning 3 in June. His favorite words right now are "No!" and "Why?" "No" of course is just the default reaction of any "almost-3-year-old." If you say anything to Cirdan, he'll say "No" first to cover his bases. He can always say "Yes" a split second later if he decides that he actually agrees with us, but it's better to be safe than sorry, I guess.
And "Why?" is really just another way of saying, "Tell me more about that... I'll let you know when I've lost interest in that topic."
Cirdan: "Hey Papa, there's a leaf on that tree!"
Me: "Yes there is."
Cirdan: "Why?"
Of course the easy answer is, "Because that's the way the Lord made it." or even simply, "Because." ...as if that's really an answer.
Then of course the reply is, "Why?"
What Cirdan really wants me to do is to say: "Because trees use a process called photosynthesis in which they use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. The reason that the leaf is green is because of a pigment called..."
Cirdan: "Papa, I'm hungry."
Me: "O.K. Let's go get lunch."
Thea actually operates on the same definition of "Why?" as well. But she can go for much longer before she loses interest in what I'm saying. It can actually be a fun way to try to remember everything I learned in my years of school. I also believe that it's just a good way to parent... to let our children know that we actually want to communicate with them.
Speaking of remembering what I learned in school, Tirah and I are reading Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything," and last night we were reading the chapter on Cells, and he said that it's been estimated that we lose 500 brain cells an hour! No wonder I'm so... I'm so... (what's the word?)... so.... Dumb!
Along with "No!" and "Why?" some of Cirdan's other favorite words are... unrepeatable. What is it with kids and potty talk!? They think that the word "Poopy" is the funniest thing they have ever heard in their short lives. Tirah and I struggle with knowing how to parent them in this situation, because it seems like our reaction to their potty talk just makes it even more funny for them. They know that they're not supposed to say certain words, and if they mumble them under their breath, and we catch them at it, they are amazingly clever at weaseling out of it.
Me: "Cirdan! Don't say that! That's rude!"
Cirdan: "Papa, I was just talking about Whinnie the Pooh... in his pants!"
Cirdan loves to walk around the house saying words like "Poofy!" or "Goopy!" or "Chicken Coup!" or "Basketball Hoop!" Partly because he knows it gets our attention, but also partly because he genuinely thinks those words are funny because of what they sound like.
Cirdan even knows how to spell a few words!... but only words that start with the letter "p." He'll walk around shouting, "Pig starts with PEEEEEE!" Crazy kid!
Thea has become a wonderful little helper lately! She is in her element when she is helping us with something.
I'm in the middle of reading a great book called "You Cant' Make Me... But I Can Be Persuaded." by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias. It's about Parenting Strong-Willed Children. It's a great book for me to read, because it describes very accurately and with warm affection and respect, the personality type that both Thea and Tirah fit into. Strong Willed Children (or SWCs) are the people that change the world!... in both bad AND good ways. Reading this book has been a great window into the minds of not only my 4 year old daughter, but also my wife of almost 6 years. It's been a lot of fun, and amazingly useful.
Basically I need to learn how to let Thea have SOME control, and then she's a happy camper. I need to ask her opinion, I need to give her reasonable choices. (For example: "Eat your food, or go to the Naughty Room!" is not a reasonable choice) I need to learn to be O.K. with her facing the consequences of some things in order for her to learn. I need to be flexible enough to let her be in charge of some aspect of her life, that I would prefer to be in charge of. Basically I need to learn to cooperate with her as much as I want her to cooperate with me. It's been wonderful to see the change in our relationship based on these principles.
Thea saw me reading the book the other day and asked me what I was reading, so I said,
"It's a book that helps me learn how to be a better Papa."
And with a very excited look on her face she said,
"Oooh! I want a book that helps me learn how to be a better Thea!"
Cirdan is not as much of a SWC. For example the other day I heard (word-for-word) my kids say:
Thea: "Papa, I'm going up stairs with you."
Cirdan: "Papa, can I go up stairs with you?"
That's the difference between Thea and Cirdan in a nutshell.
Tirah's been feeling very tired lately. She's carrying around a lot of extra weight. But she was telling me that there is a good aspect of her working right now, which is that she has something to focus on all day, other than her enormous tummy. With her previous pregnancies, her life seemed to revolve around her pregnancy, while this time, she can focus on her work, and not get caught up in the negative aspects of pregnancy. We are, however, very much looking forward to the time when she goes on maternity leave.
Last month I turned 30! I had a very nice birthday party. Tirah took me out to Outback restaurant with most of my family. And then we went to Roxanne's house for brownie sundaes. It was a good birthday.
On March 31st, my 7 part men's a cappella group had a gig singing for the General Church Treasurer's Banquet here in Kempton. It went really well. We sang four very entertaining songs, which were: "Spam" (by Moose Butter), our own "revised" version of a classic Barbershop song called "Aura Lee," a very appropriate Treasurer's Meetings song called "Everybody Said," and a nice sort of campfire song called "Sweet Potato." We even got the event captured on video, and I spent some time creating a nice little DVD of the gig using Apple's iMovie and iDVD.
Some exciting news for my music business: First: I have a new website! Go check it out at the same address: http://www.solomonkeal.com. The photo at the top is from a place called Loon Lake in New York state, where we vacationed once. The photo was taken by somebody in my family (I can't remember who) and it was enhanced by Elise Genzlinger. She also nicely combined that photo with a portrait photo which is on the About page. I then sent all that on to Steve Simons who designed a very cool website which I think will be much more user-friendly and able to do what I want it to do.
Second: I now have a piece of sheet music available for one of my compositions! The sheet music is for the piece, "Star Gazing," from the album "Thoughts and Affections." You can purchase and download this sheet music by clicking on this link: http://www.lulu.com/solomonkeal, or by clicking on any of the link for sheet music on my website.
If you have a piece of mine that you would like to see in sheet music form, please let me know. I've started assembling a Request List, and I will be notating my music on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Well, that's about all for this month. Whoa, the month is almost half over anyway!
I hope you all are doing well.
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal
Keal Family Letter, March 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
Happy March to you all. We had pretty much snow here in
Lenhartsville this past month. Unfortunately enough to shut down
the highway near our house. But fortunately enough to build a
snowman in the back yard with Thea and Cirdan. Well, actually a
snowlady... she was wearing a flowery sun hat, and a purple scarf.
The kids had a lot of fun with it... O.K. so did I... O.K. maybe I
had more fun with it than the kids did.
It got a little warmer towards the end of the month; warm enough to
rain and melt a lot of snow, and get our hopes up about Spring... but
now it's getting colder again, and it's currently flurrying outside
my window.
So starting with the youngest and going to the oldest:
Baby Keal is 18 weeks old (in the womb). He or she is 5.5 inches
long, and weighs 5.5 oz, just big enough to cradle in the palm of
one's hand. Fingerprints and footprints are starting to form on his
or her tiny little feet and fingers. Tirah has felt a few tiny
kicks already, and has started to notice that the baby seems to "wake
up" right as we are settling down for bed. The baby has been the
most behaved little kid I have ever been around. He or she doesn't
scream when he or she doesn't get his or her way. He or she
finishes all of his or her supper. Over-all, he or she doesn't get
into too much trouble. An absolute gem of a kid!
Moving up: Cirdan is 2 and 2/3. His favorite things right now are:
Dinosaurs, soccer, and cars. His favorite dinosaur is the
Triceratops, or "Top-ceratops" as he calls it. I certainly get my
exercise when I play soccer with Cirdan, which consists of running up
and down the hall way while kicking, throwing, or carrying his soccer
ball. And if I put two matchbox cars in his hands, he will be off
in his own little world for hours. Cirdan is learning to
communicate better everyday, while still retaining that adorable 2-
year-old comprehension of language. The other day Tirah was reading
a book about animals to the kids. They got to a page which had a
picture of a fox on it. Thea said, "That's a fox." and Cirdan
responded with, "No Thea, it's just one Fok!" One fok, two fox...
that makes sense!
I've discovered a perpetual motion machine! Here's how to build
it: You take one 2-year-old boy who loves to ask, "Why?" over and
over again. And you put him in the same room with a 4-year-old girl
who loves to talk non-stop... and boom! you've got a perpetual
motion machine. It's great!
Thea is 4 years old. She is quite the amazing little girl. Her
latest thing is that she keeps getting better at singing harmony to
songs. Tirah and I always sing lullabies to the kids before bed, and
we usually sing two-part harmony; Tirah on the melody, and me on the
harmony. Thea has been soaking this in for a while now. She
eventually started learning to sing my harmony (an octave or two up),
and would be able to sing along with me. Now, she has progressed to
the point where she makes up her own harmony, and we end up singing 3-
part harmony with our 4-year old daughter every night during
lullabies! She doesn't always get it right, but more often than not
she does, and she makes it up! This third part is not something
that we taught her... she just hears where the right notes should
be! Last night, totally out of the blue, she surprised us at the
end of one lullaby by intentionally singing harmony that created
suspension (where her note moved over three notes to create a
suspended chord which then resolved into the final major chord)!
That's the sort of thing you hear in classical pieces! It's very cool!
Thea has (I think finally) stopped taking naps. This means that I
have to switch my music time to the evenings because I don't get it
as much during naps anymore. Sometimes she will play happily by
herself, but she's a very social "Quality Time" little girl, so
during Cirdan's nap I try to spend more time playing with her. We
also might start putting her to bed at night a little later than
Cirdan. She often keeps him awake with fun games, chatter, and
uproarious laughter. We think we might try having Cirdan's bedtime
at 8:00 and Thea's at 8:30. Plus that gives Thea a little more
Quality Time with us, and especially with Mama.
Tirah is more and more feeling the weight of the baby. Morning
sickness is not a problem anymore, in fact she has lately been
craving meat, which is something that used to make her sick a few
months ago. Tirah is essentially working two jobs: helping a book
store grow, and helping a little baby grow... at the same time.
Understandably, she gets very tired. We are also starting to
wonder if Tirah suffers from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder),
because we've started to notice that she often gets the blues in the
winter, so we are very much looking forward to Spring.
Tirah has been doing some great things at Hawk Mountain. She began a
program in which Hawk Mountain features monthly events throughout the
non-migration season. She's had two events so far: The Snowflake
Flurry in January, and Feed the Birds in February. These events were
designed to get families to come to Hawk Mountain, even when the
birds aren't flying as much. For the Snowflake Flurry, Tirah read a
book aloud to children, about snowflakes, and then taught people how
to make some really cool snowflake patterns. This past month she
read a children's book about Bird Beaks, and then helped people make
Pine Cone Birdfeeders. While the first event was a little slower,
the second event noticeably boosted the bookstore sales, and both
events were written up in local newspapers, complete with a picture
of my beautiful wife! Very cool stuff!
Tirah and I attended the Caring For Marriage Conference in Bryn Athyn
this past month. http://www.caringformarriage.org. We ran a
workshop on Marriage and Depression, which went very well. We also
sang some of our songs for the Sunday night celebration at the end of
the conference. The conference was a ton of fun! And with a new
baby on the way, we decided it was time to take a second honeymoon,
so we left the kids at home with Meemaw and Deedaw for that weekend,
and we rented a hotel room for three nights! It was luxurious! Not
something we can really afford, but if we have to go into debt for
the sake of a healthy marriage, I'm all for that! It's all part of
the philosophy that we try to live; of spending as much time, energy
and money on our marriage, as we did on our courtship and wedding.
The last day in Bryn Athyn was also Tirah's birthday, so it worked
nicely for celebrating that too.
So once again, we're doing a "No TV Diet" for a month. We often get
into bad habits of watching too much TV, so we put the TV away for a
month to focus on more important things, and hopefully get into a
better habit with our movie watching. When we do it successfully,
we often end up not watching TV for about two months just because of
the good habit we got ourselves into!
My music business is doing pretty well. With the baby on the way
this year, I don't know if I will manage to produce another album by
the end of this year. But I do hope to start producing sheet music
very soon. I have the notation software now, I just need to learn
how to use it. I've had some really cool for-hire studio projects
lately. Somebody hired me to create a soundtrack from an older
movie, for which the soundtrack was unavailable. With my audio
sequencing software I was able to cut out dialogue and put together a
really fun soundtrack, edited straight from the movie! And I got
paid for it!
In less than a week, I will be turning 30! Although I don't know
why I'm telling all of you that... the "old man" teasing has already
begun!
At one point in my twenties, I made myself a goal to be doing music
full-time by the time I was 30. So while it's not supporting the
family yet, I'm at least on that road heading in the right direction,
and that makes me feel good.
Have a great day everyone!
Love from,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal.
Happy March to you all. We had pretty much snow here in
Lenhartsville this past month. Unfortunately enough to shut down
the highway near our house. But fortunately enough to build a
snowman in the back yard with Thea and Cirdan. Well, actually a
snowlady... she was wearing a flowery sun hat, and a purple scarf.
The kids had a lot of fun with it... O.K. so did I... O.K. maybe I
had more fun with it than the kids did.
It got a little warmer towards the end of the month; warm enough to
rain and melt a lot of snow, and get our hopes up about Spring... but
now it's getting colder again, and it's currently flurrying outside
my window.
So starting with the youngest and going to the oldest:
Baby Keal is 18 weeks old (in the womb). He or she is 5.5 inches
long, and weighs 5.5 oz, just big enough to cradle in the palm of
one's hand. Fingerprints and footprints are starting to form on his
or her tiny little feet and fingers. Tirah has felt a few tiny
kicks already, and has started to notice that the baby seems to "wake
up" right as we are settling down for bed. The baby has been the
most behaved little kid I have ever been around. He or she doesn't
scream when he or she doesn't get his or her way. He or she
finishes all of his or her supper. Over-all, he or she doesn't get
into too much trouble. An absolute gem of a kid!
Moving up: Cirdan is 2 and 2/3. His favorite things right now are:
Dinosaurs, soccer, and cars. His favorite dinosaur is the
Triceratops, or "Top-ceratops" as he calls it. I certainly get my
exercise when I play soccer with Cirdan, which consists of running up
and down the hall way while kicking, throwing, or carrying his soccer
ball. And if I put two matchbox cars in his hands, he will be off
in his own little world for hours. Cirdan is learning to
communicate better everyday, while still retaining that adorable 2-
year-old comprehension of language. The other day Tirah was reading
a book about animals to the kids. They got to a page which had a
picture of a fox on it. Thea said, "That's a fox." and Cirdan
responded with, "No Thea, it's just one Fok!" One fok, two fox...
that makes sense!
I've discovered a perpetual motion machine! Here's how to build
it: You take one 2-year-old boy who loves to ask, "Why?" over and
over again. And you put him in the same room with a 4-year-old girl
who loves to talk non-stop... and boom! you've got a perpetual
motion machine. It's great!
Thea is 4 years old. She is quite the amazing little girl. Her
latest thing is that she keeps getting better at singing harmony to
songs. Tirah and I always sing lullabies to the kids before bed, and
we usually sing two-part harmony; Tirah on the melody, and me on the
harmony. Thea has been soaking this in for a while now. She
eventually started learning to sing my harmony (an octave or two up),
and would be able to sing along with me. Now, she has progressed to
the point where she makes up her own harmony, and we end up singing 3-
part harmony with our 4-year old daughter every night during
lullabies! She doesn't always get it right, but more often than not
she does, and she makes it up! This third part is not something
that we taught her... she just hears where the right notes should
be! Last night, totally out of the blue, she surprised us at the
end of one lullaby by intentionally singing harmony that created
suspension (where her note moved over three notes to create a
suspended chord which then resolved into the final major chord)!
That's the sort of thing you hear in classical pieces! It's very cool!
Thea has (I think finally) stopped taking naps. This means that I
have to switch my music time to the evenings because I don't get it
as much during naps anymore. Sometimes she will play happily by
herself, but she's a very social "Quality Time" little girl, so
during Cirdan's nap I try to spend more time playing with her. We
also might start putting her to bed at night a little later than
Cirdan. She often keeps him awake with fun games, chatter, and
uproarious laughter. We think we might try having Cirdan's bedtime
at 8:00 and Thea's at 8:30. Plus that gives Thea a little more
Quality Time with us, and especially with Mama.
Tirah is more and more feeling the weight of the baby. Morning
sickness is not a problem anymore, in fact she has lately been
craving meat, which is something that used to make her sick a few
months ago. Tirah is essentially working two jobs: helping a book
store grow, and helping a little baby grow... at the same time.
Understandably, she gets very tired. We are also starting to
wonder if Tirah suffers from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder),
because we've started to notice that she often gets the blues in the
winter, so we are very much looking forward to Spring.
Tirah has been doing some great things at Hawk Mountain. She began a
program in which Hawk Mountain features monthly events throughout the
non-migration season. She's had two events so far: The Snowflake
Flurry in January, and Feed the Birds in February. These events were
designed to get families to come to Hawk Mountain, even when the
birds aren't flying as much. For the Snowflake Flurry, Tirah read a
book aloud to children, about snowflakes, and then taught people how
to make some really cool snowflake patterns. This past month she
read a children's book about Bird Beaks, and then helped people make
Pine Cone Birdfeeders. While the first event was a little slower,
the second event noticeably boosted the bookstore sales, and both
events were written up in local newspapers, complete with a picture
of my beautiful wife! Very cool stuff!
Tirah and I attended the Caring For Marriage Conference in Bryn Athyn
this past month. http://www.caringformarriage.org. We ran a
workshop on Marriage and Depression, which went very well. We also
sang some of our songs for the Sunday night celebration at the end of
the conference. The conference was a ton of fun! And with a new
baby on the way, we decided it was time to take a second honeymoon,
so we left the kids at home with Meemaw and Deedaw for that weekend,
and we rented a hotel room for three nights! It was luxurious! Not
something we can really afford, but if we have to go into debt for
the sake of a healthy marriage, I'm all for that! It's all part of
the philosophy that we try to live; of spending as much time, energy
and money on our marriage, as we did on our courtship and wedding.
The last day in Bryn Athyn was also Tirah's birthday, so it worked
nicely for celebrating that too.
So once again, we're doing a "No TV Diet" for a month. We often get
into bad habits of watching too much TV, so we put the TV away for a
month to focus on more important things, and hopefully get into a
better habit with our movie watching. When we do it successfully,
we often end up not watching TV for about two months just because of
the good habit we got ourselves into!
My music business is doing pretty well. With the baby on the way
this year, I don't know if I will manage to produce another album by
the end of this year. But I do hope to start producing sheet music
very soon. I have the notation software now, I just need to learn
how to use it. I've had some really cool for-hire studio projects
lately. Somebody hired me to create a soundtrack from an older
movie, for which the soundtrack was unavailable. With my audio
sequencing software I was able to cut out dialogue and put together a
really fun soundtrack, edited straight from the movie! And I got
paid for it!
In less than a week, I will be turning 30! Although I don't know
why I'm telling all of you that... the "old man" teasing has already
begun!
At one point in my twenties, I made myself a goal to be doing music
full-time by the time I was 30. So while it's not supporting the
family yet, I'm at least on that road heading in the right direction,
and that makes me feel good.
Have a great day everyone!
Love from,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal.
Keal Family Letter, February 2007
Hello Friends and Family!
Happy February to you all. Here in Lenhartsville it is cold enough
to make a polar bear think twice about getting out of bed. It was
apparently 0 degrees Fahrenheit at some point this morning. We had
about an inch of snow a few days ago, and it's still on the ground;
the sun can't touch it.
Our kids have fallen in love with "snowmen" this winter, largely due
to the fact that they have watched both "Frosty the Snowman," and the
movie version of Raymond Briggs' "The Snowman." They keep asking
when they will be able to go outside and make a snowman.
Unfortunately we haven't had enough snow to make a snowman. We've
had a few dustings of snow, but nothing big enough to make a snowman
with. The kids are always a little disappointed. Whenever the
flurries start they get their hopes up, but when I tell them, "it's
just a dusting," they resign themselves to just watching out the window.
The other day I overheard this conversation: Cirdan said, "Thea,
look! It's snowing!" And Thea said, "No Cirdan, it's not snow,
it's just dust!"
I'm always fascinated by the way kids will sometimes say things.
It's a little glimpse into their tiny understandings. The things
that come out of my kids' mouths will range from very funny to
profoundly poetic. The other day, Thea was reading a book in which
there was a picture of someone who was obviously very sad and crying
about something. But she couldn't see the tears in the picture. So
she turned to me and said, "But Papa, I can't see the drops of his
sadness."
Thea just celebrated her fourth birthday on the 2nd. We had a very
nice party. She requested "black cake with white icing," which is
what we had. We decided that when Thea turned 4, she would be done
with her binky (pacifier). We have been hyping this up for a couple
months now, telling her that she will be such a big girl that she
won't "need" her binky anymore. Fortunately, it seems to be
working. There was only one time, during a nap time after she turned
4, that she told me that she wanted to be 3 again. But over all,
she seems to have been able to kick the habit; cold turkey.
Cirdan is still a hopeless binky addict. If he manages to get
upstairs without us knowing, he heads straight for his bed, grabs his
binky, and hides behind the rocking chair, sucking to his heart's
content. It could be a struggle to get him off the binky. I don't
know if they make binky patches, but we'll have to look for
something. Maybe we can enroll him in Pacifier Addicts Anonymous.
Here are some more classic quotes from Thea: She loves to wash her
hands, and she spends a long time doing it. Which was why it made
perfect sense that she told me, "The soap was very dirty, so I had to
clean it."
Thea is an "Acts of Service" kind of person. (One of Gary Chapman's
Five Love Languages) Which means that one of the most common
phrases you will hear come out of her mouth is: "Can I help you?"
I think she's got a future in customer service.
Here's another one: Thea was in the naughty room because she was
screaming. From the other room, I hear these words reverberate
around the house: "I"M NOT GOING TO SCREAM ANYMORE!!!!"
Tirah and I just recently watched the first two seasons of the Cosby
Show on DVD. That has got to be some of the best quality
entertainment on the face of the planet! It's hysterical, it's
clean, and it set's a good example for parents, spouses, and
children. I've developed a new slogan for myself, as the stay-at-
home parent: Whenever I'm faced with a situation where I don't know
what to do as a parent, I ask myself, "What would Bill Cosby do?"
Well, first of all, just thinking about Bill Cosby get's me in a
better mood, which helps to clear my emotions. And second: what Bill
Cosby would do is he would make somebody laugh, which helps to clear
everyone else's emotions. There have been several times now, where
I've turned my children's screaming into laughing, just by making an
idiot of myself! And that's not even that hard to do! The man is
brilliant!
The Cosby Show is also great for supporting the idea of a strong,
healthy marriage as the foundation for a healthy family. It has
often been said that Cliff and Clair Huxtable are the most romantic
married couple in the history of television, and I would have to
agree. Bill Cosby (as Cliff Huxtable) sets the example for all
husbands as a man who passionately loves his wife, and constantly
gives her attention and affection. They make marriage look like so
much fun! One of my favorite quotes from the show is Cliff talking
to Clair: "You are a genius! And I'm a genius because I married
you!" If more husbands said that to their wives on a regular basis,
there would be less divorce.
As our children get older, Tirah and I think more and more about how
we want to raise them, what we want to teach them, and what we hope
to equip them with. Tirah and I just finished reading Jeremiah and
Lamentations, and we were saddened by the descriptions of
children being killed and the fact that the great Jerusalem couldn't
protect them from the enemy. We started wondering what that meant
for us. Our church teaches that "children" in the Bible represent
innocence, and that "Jerusalem" represents the Church, and that it's
"walls" represent the truth.
So in this story, the church became corrupt and it's understanding of
the truth fell apart, and therefore innocence was no longer
protected. And yet when the church was good, the truth was able to
protect innocence. At least that's our rudimentary understanding of
the story. But what really struck us was this idea of "truth
protecting innocence." We seem to have this assumption in our
culture that in order to protect innocence you need to hide the
truth! "We shouldn't tell our kids about that because we want to
preserve their innocence." And yet the Bible seems to be teaching us
that it is truth, not ignorance, that protects innocence!
This fits with the imagery of the story. We might be inclined to
think of the walls of Jerusalem as something that simply hides the
enemy from the children within, (and hides the children from the
enemy without). Or we could think of the walls of Jerusalem as a way
of gaining an elevated view of the surrounding armies, and thereby
knowing how better to defeat them!
We also have to look at the word "innocence." Swedenborg defines
innocence as "the willingness to be led by the Lord." (HH 341) It's
the explanation of truth, not the hiding of truth, that preserves
this. I see confirmation of this with my kids every day. If my kids
ask me a question that is a little beyond their comprehension, I'm
presented with a choice: I could either hide the truth, ("The stork
brings babies!") or I could try to explain the truth to them. In
my experience, even a little 3-year-old knows when I'm not telling
her the whole truth. And when I do that, I can see the "willingness
to be led" start to fade from her eyes. It's the truth that
preserves innocence! What a wake-up call for us parents!
Speaking of the church: my sister Roxanne introduced me to this
great website called GoodSearch.com. It's a search engine that
donates a portion of it's revenue to the charity of your choice.
Our local church school (The Kempton New Church School) is now added
to it's database. It's pretty cool! Go check it out: http://
www.goodsearch.com.
Tirah and I are looking forward to the "Caring For Marriage"
Conference later this month. I'll tell you how it went next time.
Well that's all for now.
Have a great day everyone!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal.
Happy February to you all. Here in Lenhartsville it is cold enough
to make a polar bear think twice about getting out of bed. It was
apparently 0 degrees Fahrenheit at some point this morning. We had
about an inch of snow a few days ago, and it's still on the ground;
the sun can't touch it.
Our kids have fallen in love with "snowmen" this winter, largely due
to the fact that they have watched both "Frosty the Snowman," and the
movie version of Raymond Briggs' "The Snowman." They keep asking
when they will be able to go outside and make a snowman.
Unfortunately we haven't had enough snow to make a snowman. We've
had a few dustings of snow, but nothing big enough to make a snowman
with. The kids are always a little disappointed. Whenever the
flurries start they get their hopes up, but when I tell them, "it's
just a dusting," they resign themselves to just watching out the window.
The other day I overheard this conversation: Cirdan said, "Thea,
look! It's snowing!" And Thea said, "No Cirdan, it's not snow,
it's just dust!"
I'm always fascinated by the way kids will sometimes say things.
It's a little glimpse into their tiny understandings. The things
that come out of my kids' mouths will range from very funny to
profoundly poetic. The other day, Thea was reading a book in which
there was a picture of someone who was obviously very sad and crying
about something. But she couldn't see the tears in the picture. So
she turned to me and said, "But Papa, I can't see the drops of his
sadness."
Thea just celebrated her fourth birthday on the 2nd. We had a very
nice party. She requested "black cake with white icing," which is
what we had. We decided that when Thea turned 4, she would be done
with her binky (pacifier). We have been hyping this up for a couple
months now, telling her that she will be such a big girl that she
won't "need" her binky anymore. Fortunately, it seems to be
working. There was only one time, during a nap time after she turned
4, that she told me that she wanted to be 3 again. But over all,
she seems to have been able to kick the habit; cold turkey.
Cirdan is still a hopeless binky addict. If he manages to get
upstairs without us knowing, he heads straight for his bed, grabs his
binky, and hides behind the rocking chair, sucking to his heart's
content. It could be a struggle to get him off the binky. I don't
know if they make binky patches, but we'll have to look for
something. Maybe we can enroll him in Pacifier Addicts Anonymous.
Here are some more classic quotes from Thea: She loves to wash her
hands, and she spends a long time doing it. Which was why it made
perfect sense that she told me, "The soap was very dirty, so I had to
clean it."
Thea is an "Acts of Service" kind of person. (One of Gary Chapman's
Five Love Languages) Which means that one of the most common
phrases you will hear come out of her mouth is: "Can I help you?"
I think she's got a future in customer service.
Here's another one: Thea was in the naughty room because she was
screaming. From the other room, I hear these words reverberate
around the house: "I"M NOT GOING TO SCREAM ANYMORE!!!!"
Tirah and I just recently watched the first two seasons of the Cosby
Show on DVD. That has got to be some of the best quality
entertainment on the face of the planet! It's hysterical, it's
clean, and it set's a good example for parents, spouses, and
children. I've developed a new slogan for myself, as the stay-at-
home parent: Whenever I'm faced with a situation where I don't know
what to do as a parent, I ask myself, "What would Bill Cosby do?"
Well, first of all, just thinking about Bill Cosby get's me in a
better mood, which helps to clear my emotions. And second: what Bill
Cosby would do is he would make somebody laugh, which helps to clear
everyone else's emotions. There have been several times now, where
I've turned my children's screaming into laughing, just by making an
idiot of myself! And that's not even that hard to do! The man is
brilliant!
The Cosby Show is also great for supporting the idea of a strong,
healthy marriage as the foundation for a healthy family. It has
often been said that Cliff and Clair Huxtable are the most romantic
married couple in the history of television, and I would have to
agree. Bill Cosby (as Cliff Huxtable) sets the example for all
husbands as a man who passionately loves his wife, and constantly
gives her attention and affection. They make marriage look like so
much fun! One of my favorite quotes from the show is Cliff talking
to Clair: "You are a genius! And I'm a genius because I married
you!" If more husbands said that to their wives on a regular basis,
there would be less divorce.
As our children get older, Tirah and I think more and more about how
we want to raise them, what we want to teach them, and what we hope
to equip them with. Tirah and I just finished reading Jeremiah and
Lamentations, and we were saddened by the descriptions of
children being killed and the fact that the great Jerusalem couldn't
protect them from the enemy. We started wondering what that meant
for us. Our church teaches that "children" in the Bible represent
innocence, and that "Jerusalem" represents the Church, and that it's
"walls" represent the truth.
So in this story, the church became corrupt and it's understanding of
the truth fell apart, and therefore innocence was no longer
protected. And yet when the church was good, the truth was able to
protect innocence. At least that's our rudimentary understanding of
the story. But what really struck us was this idea of "truth
protecting innocence." We seem to have this assumption in our
culture that in order to protect innocence you need to hide the
truth! "We shouldn't tell our kids about that because we want to
preserve their innocence." And yet the Bible seems to be teaching us
that it is truth, not ignorance, that protects innocence!
This fits with the imagery of the story. We might be inclined to
think of the walls of Jerusalem as something that simply hides the
enemy from the children within, (and hides the children from the
enemy without). Or we could think of the walls of Jerusalem as a way
of gaining an elevated view of the surrounding armies, and thereby
knowing how better to defeat them!
We also have to look at the word "innocence." Swedenborg defines
innocence as "the willingness to be led by the Lord." (HH 341) It's
the explanation of truth, not the hiding of truth, that preserves
this. I see confirmation of this with my kids every day. If my kids
ask me a question that is a little beyond their comprehension, I'm
presented with a choice: I could either hide the truth, ("The stork
brings babies!") or I could try to explain the truth to them. In
my experience, even a little 3-year-old knows when I'm not telling
her the whole truth. And when I do that, I can see the "willingness
to be led" start to fade from her eyes. It's the truth that
preserves innocence! What a wake-up call for us parents!
Speaking of the church: my sister Roxanne introduced me to this
great website called GoodSearch.com. It's a search engine that
donates a portion of it's revenue to the charity of your choice.
Our local church school (The Kempton New Church School) is now added
to it's database. It's pretty cool! Go check it out: http://
www.goodsearch.com.
Tirah and I are looking forward to the "Caring For Marriage"
Conference later this month. I'll tell you how it went next time.
Well that's all for now.
Have a great day everyone!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal.
Keal Family Letter, January 2007
Hello Friends and Family. Happy New Year!
I hope you all had very nice Christmas and New Year celebrations.
We enjoyed the holidays very much.
On the 10th of December we had our Keal Family Christmas party, but
this year it was with no kids! Only grown-ups! Grown-up food, grown-
up conversation, grown-up noise levels... it was glorious! Part of
the reason we did that was because this year was the first year in
which we celebrated Christmas as just a nuclear family. Up until
now, Christmas's have been either a Keal family Christmas (My mom and
dad, and their descendants) or an Echols family Christmas (Tirah's
mom and dad, and their descendants). This year, most of Christmas
day consisted of only me and Tirah and our kids. It was simply
nice. But more on that later.
On December 11th, we went to a Christmas party at Lori and John
Odhner's, which was lots of fun. Then that Friday, we had the
Kempton Christmas Sing, in which our Men's A Cappella group sang some
of the songs featured on the album we made. The album (called "Earth
Today Rejoices!" with all proceeds going to the Kempton Church) sold
very well this season! Then the week before Christmas we went
caroling with our kids, and Matt Synnestvedt and his girls. It was
short and sweet, as our kids are still a bit young for caroling.
Then there was the Tableaux and the Christmas Eve service, which were
both very nice.
During the one of those services, while I was holding a wiggling
Cirdan in my lap, and wondering if it was really worth it to drag my
kids to church, something occurred that hinted to me that my kids
actually hear a small amount of the sermon. The minister was
talking about the Lord being our Savior, and Cirdan immediately
turned to me, and in not-quite-a-whisper said, "Papa! He said 'See
the Savior in His Temple!'" And then later on, during the same
sermon, while the mister was talking about the Lord being born in a
manger, Cirdan turned to me again and declared, "Papa! He said 'Away
in a Manger!'" Our kids, you see, think in music. A trait that I
can't say I'm not proud of. They compare things by means of songs
that they know. And often that's the only thing they really know
about a subject. When ever Cirdan sees a picture of Santa Claus, he
turns to me and says, "Papa! Look! It's 'Santa Claus is Coming to
Town!'"... that being his full name, you see.
Our kids are growing up to be classic children. The other day, I
heard Thea complain to me about Cirdan: "Papa! He's touching the
air! I don't like that!" Despite the classic nature of that
quote, I should explain the situation in Thea's defense. Cirdan had
been hitting Thea. So while telling Cirdan to stop hitting Thea, I
also told Thea to move away from Cirdan (not on obvious solution for
a 3 year old, I guess.) So she did move away from Cirdan. Cirdan
meanwhile kept hitting the air in Thea's general direction. Thus the
quote above.
Cirdan's latest favorite saying is: "But Papa, I can't, because I'm a
little boy!" For example: "Cirdan, please finish your lunch."
"Papa, I can't, because I'm a little boy." "Cirdan, stop hitting
your sister!" "Papa, I can't, because I'm a little boy." I
imagine his two-year-old reasoning goes something like this: "Thea
gets to do things that I can't because she's a big girl, so then I
shouldn't have to do things I don't want to do, because I'm a little
boy." ... or something.
We had an interesting situation this year. For a long time, we could
not find our Christmas ornaments! Things were getting re-organized
in the attic, and they somehow got moved to a strange location. So
we ended up having a Christmas tree with only lights on it, for most
of December. Which actually turned out nicely, because by the time
we found our ornaments, we decided that we would just wait, and
decorate the tree on Christmas Eve, which is apparently a Swedish
tradition anyway.
We've been wanting to incorporate more Swedish traditions into our
Christmas celebration, because of Tirah's Swedish heritage. To that
end, Tirah made Cardamom (or Cardamon) bread on Christmas Eve, for us
to eat as Christmas breakfast. It's a sort of a coffee-cake bread
which you dip in your coffee (or other morning beverage). The meal
is apparently called Coffee Duppa (spelling?). It was the first
time we had made this bread, and for whatever reason, we ended up
staying up until 2:00 in the morning on Christmas Day in order to
finish this bread! But it was fun anyway. Tirah and I sat on the
couch, half-asleep, watching some movie (I don't remember what it
was!), waiting for the timer to ding!
Tirah and I gave each other our presents on Christmas Eve, that way
leaving the entirety of Christmas Day for the kids. Christmas Day
was fun, crazy, and busy. We opened our stockings, then had Coffee
Duppa, then Family worship, and then got to work on presents. We
ended up getting our kids, way too many presents! We found a great
discount store called Ollie's, and we ended up buying most of our
presents there. But too many. It took us all day, and part of
Boxing Day to open all of the kid's presents. Now, in all fairness,
that is partly due to the fact that Carl Smith also got way too many
toys for our kids. And then there were presents from my parents,
Tirah's parents, etc. Lot's of presents!
That night, my parents invited us, and Peter and Roxanne's family,
and Carl Smith to Christmas dinner. Then after the kids were in
bed, we played card games. It was a good day. Carl bought us a
little camcorder (digital video camera), which is very cool! So we
video taped Christmas Eve, and parts of Christmas Day. I have video
editing software that came with my computer, which I'm excited to
learn how to use.
One present that Tirah and I got, was a gift card to the movies. I
also had a coupon for Pizza Hut. So a few days after Christmas,
Tirah and I went out for dinner and a movie, and ended up spending
more on gas, then on the actual date! We went to see "Night at the
Museum," which is very entertaining, and highly recommended by us.
On New Year's Eve, Tirah and I were invited over to Peter and
Roxanne's house, and we celebrated the New Year with them and Robert
and Elise Genzlinger. It was a fun night of food and games.
Our biggest news for this year is that we are having another baby!
Tirah is coming up on the end of her 1st trimester, and hopefully
coming to the end of her morning sickness. (Christmas break couldn't
have come at a better time, as it was probably the peak of Tirah's
morning sickness) Hawk Mountain grants up to 3 months of un-paid
maternity leave. The baby is due in the end of July, or early
August. So Tirah will probably be taking July, August, and
September off of work. She has to be back for October, because the
Fall is the Migration season at Hawk Mountain. Life is certainly
quite a ride! We suddenly need to be thinking about the
possibility of a new car, and maybe even moving to a new place, if it
doesn't work to add one more little 'being' to our already full
shared-household. We just recently told our kids about the new
baby, and they are very excited! Thea keeps asking, "Can I hold the
baby, even while I'm a kid?!" Both kids keep asking if the baby
has enough blankets and pillows in Tirah's tummy.
Well, that's about all for now.
Have a great New Year everyone, and may the Lord bless your endeavors.
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal
I hope you all had very nice Christmas and New Year celebrations.
We enjoyed the holidays very much.
On the 10th of December we had our Keal Family Christmas party, but
this year it was with no kids! Only grown-ups! Grown-up food, grown-
up conversation, grown-up noise levels... it was glorious! Part of
the reason we did that was because this year was the first year in
which we celebrated Christmas as just a nuclear family. Up until
now, Christmas's have been either a Keal family Christmas (My mom and
dad, and their descendants) or an Echols family Christmas (Tirah's
mom and dad, and their descendants). This year, most of Christmas
day consisted of only me and Tirah and our kids. It was simply
nice. But more on that later.
On December 11th, we went to a Christmas party at Lori and John
Odhner's, which was lots of fun. Then that Friday, we had the
Kempton Christmas Sing, in which our Men's A Cappella group sang some
of the songs featured on the album we made. The album (called "Earth
Today Rejoices!" with all proceeds going to the Kempton Church) sold
very well this season! Then the week before Christmas we went
caroling with our kids, and Matt Synnestvedt and his girls. It was
short and sweet, as our kids are still a bit young for caroling.
Then there was the Tableaux and the Christmas Eve service, which were
both very nice.
During the one of those services, while I was holding a wiggling
Cirdan in my lap, and wondering if it was really worth it to drag my
kids to church, something occurred that hinted to me that my kids
actually hear a small amount of the sermon. The minister was
talking about the Lord being our Savior, and Cirdan immediately
turned to me, and in not-quite-a-whisper said, "Papa! He said 'See
the Savior in His Temple!'" And then later on, during the same
sermon, while the mister was talking about the Lord being born in a
manger, Cirdan turned to me again and declared, "Papa! He said 'Away
in a Manger!'" Our kids, you see, think in music. A trait that I
can't say I'm not proud of. They compare things by means of songs
that they know. And often that's the only thing they really know
about a subject. When ever Cirdan sees a picture of Santa Claus, he
turns to me and says, "Papa! Look! It's 'Santa Claus is Coming to
Town!'"... that being his full name, you see.
Our kids are growing up to be classic children. The other day, I
heard Thea complain to me about Cirdan: "Papa! He's touching the
air! I don't like that!" Despite the classic nature of that
quote, I should explain the situation in Thea's defense. Cirdan had
been hitting Thea. So while telling Cirdan to stop hitting Thea, I
also told Thea to move away from Cirdan (not on obvious solution for
a 3 year old, I guess.) So she did move away from Cirdan. Cirdan
meanwhile kept hitting the air in Thea's general direction. Thus the
quote above.
Cirdan's latest favorite saying is: "But Papa, I can't, because I'm a
little boy!" For example: "Cirdan, please finish your lunch."
"Papa, I can't, because I'm a little boy." "Cirdan, stop hitting
your sister!" "Papa, I can't, because I'm a little boy." I
imagine his two-year-old reasoning goes something like this: "Thea
gets to do things that I can't because she's a big girl, so then I
shouldn't have to do things I don't want to do, because I'm a little
boy." ... or something.
We had an interesting situation this year. For a long time, we could
not find our Christmas ornaments! Things were getting re-organized
in the attic, and they somehow got moved to a strange location. So
we ended up having a Christmas tree with only lights on it, for most
of December. Which actually turned out nicely, because by the time
we found our ornaments, we decided that we would just wait, and
decorate the tree on Christmas Eve, which is apparently a Swedish
tradition anyway.
We've been wanting to incorporate more Swedish traditions into our
Christmas celebration, because of Tirah's Swedish heritage. To that
end, Tirah made Cardamom (or Cardamon) bread on Christmas Eve, for us
to eat as Christmas breakfast. It's a sort of a coffee-cake bread
which you dip in your coffee (or other morning beverage). The meal
is apparently called Coffee Duppa (spelling?). It was the first
time we had made this bread, and for whatever reason, we ended up
staying up until 2:00 in the morning on Christmas Day in order to
finish this bread! But it was fun anyway. Tirah and I sat on the
couch, half-asleep, watching some movie (I don't remember what it
was!), waiting for the timer to ding!
Tirah and I gave each other our presents on Christmas Eve, that way
leaving the entirety of Christmas Day for the kids. Christmas Day
was fun, crazy, and busy. We opened our stockings, then had Coffee
Duppa, then Family worship, and then got to work on presents. We
ended up getting our kids, way too many presents! We found a great
discount store called Ollie's, and we ended up buying most of our
presents there. But too many. It took us all day, and part of
Boxing Day to open all of the kid's presents. Now, in all fairness,
that is partly due to the fact that Carl Smith also got way too many
toys for our kids. And then there were presents from my parents,
Tirah's parents, etc. Lot's of presents!
That night, my parents invited us, and Peter and Roxanne's family,
and Carl Smith to Christmas dinner. Then after the kids were in
bed, we played card games. It was a good day. Carl bought us a
little camcorder (digital video camera), which is very cool! So we
video taped Christmas Eve, and parts of Christmas Day. I have video
editing software that came with my computer, which I'm excited to
learn how to use.
One present that Tirah and I got, was a gift card to the movies. I
also had a coupon for Pizza Hut. So a few days after Christmas,
Tirah and I went out for dinner and a movie, and ended up spending
more on gas, then on the actual date! We went to see "Night at the
Museum," which is very entertaining, and highly recommended by us.
On New Year's Eve, Tirah and I were invited over to Peter and
Roxanne's house, and we celebrated the New Year with them and Robert
and Elise Genzlinger. It was a fun night of food and games.
Our biggest news for this year is that we are having another baby!
Tirah is coming up on the end of her 1st trimester, and hopefully
coming to the end of her morning sickness. (Christmas break couldn't
have come at a better time, as it was probably the peak of Tirah's
morning sickness) Hawk Mountain grants up to 3 months of un-paid
maternity leave. The baby is due in the end of July, or early
August. So Tirah will probably be taking July, August, and
September off of work. She has to be back for October, because the
Fall is the Migration season at Hawk Mountain. Life is certainly
quite a ride! We suddenly need to be thinking about the
possibility of a new car, and maybe even moving to a new place, if it
doesn't work to add one more little 'being' to our already full
shared-household. We just recently told our kids about the new
baby, and they are very excited! Thea keeps asking, "Can I hold the
baby, even while I'm a kid?!" Both kids keep asking if the baby
has enough blankets and pillows in Tirah's tummy.
Well, that's about all for now.
Have a great New Year everyone, and may the Lord bless your endeavors.
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, Cirdan, and Baby Keal
Merry Christmas! 2006
Merry Christmas everyone!
We didn't send out traditional "snail mail" Christmas cards, so here
is our email Christmas card... complete with a family picture, and a
link to our Singing Christmas Card, where you can hear Thea and
Cirdan singing some songs.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year. The spirit of giving that
seems to pervade our often ego-centric culture is refreshing. It
has been fun watching our kids as they slowly catch on to what
Christmas is. Mostly, it seems, they "feel" it more than they
"know" what it is. And whether that excited feeling comes from the
immature wish to get presents, or a spiritual closeness with the
angels, doesn't really matter to me right now, it's just plain fun.
The best way, I've found, to explain Christmas to our kids, is that
it's the Lord's birthday. Thea especially knows what birthdays are,
and so she can imagine the fun ahead as we celebrate that day. (She
keeps asking if there will be cake!) But what is really cute is
watching the kids' reactions to the concept that the Lord was once a
baby! Both Thea and Cirdan really love to see (and hold) the
representations of the Baby Jesus. It never occurred to me before
now, that part of what is special about Christmas for children, is
that it brings the Lord to their level. As adults we know the
importance of picturing God as a Human Being that we can relate
to. Isn't it wonderful then that even children, especially at
Christmas, can find a way to relate to God, and know (feel) that He
understands them. It's amazing to think that Jesus was once a two
year old, and a three year old. Since He was God, and was victorious
over temptation, He must not have thrown temper tantrums. What a
great role model for all toddlers! It's a strange part of Jesus'
life, that we will never really know about. But somehow it's
wonderful to know that it happened.
Of course, most of the time (for the rest of the year), it's
appropriate for children to think of the Lord as a Parent figure.
Someone who will take care of them, and protect them. But then
that's appropriate for us adults too. And that leads me to my next
thought:
One of the ways that I most commonly picture the Lord, is as a sort
of Santa Claus figure. A big, jolly, generous, old
Grandfather! (Not so much the red and white winter gear, just the
face and form.) Someone who takes care of everyone in the whole
world. Sort of like the image of the Lord in Revelation: "He was
wearing a long robe with a gold sash across His chest. His head and
His hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And His eyes were
bright like flames of fire.... and his voice thundered like mighty
ocean waves.... And his face was as bright as the sun in all its
brilliance." (Rev. 1:13-16) But also a little more approachable,
like this: "His eyes, how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little
mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the beard on his chin was as white
as the snow.... He had a broad face and a little round belly, that
shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and
plump, a right jolly old elf, and I laughed when I saw him, in spite
of myself." (Clement Clarke Moore)
In Revelation, John was afraid of God at first, but I tend to be
drawn more to the idea that God would inspire joy and laughter in
us. "A wink of his eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know
I had nothing to dread." (Clement C. Moore) "Don't be afraid! I
am the First and the Last.... Look, I am alive forever and ever!"
(Rev. 1:17-18) I like to picture the Lord as a 65 year old Jesus
Christ, Who is in that wonderful Grandparent phase of life, and
spends His time doting upon His children and grandchildren with hugs,
kisses, and gifts. Jesus Christ in His Golden Age of Love and
Wisdom. That's the image of God that I love to pray to. That's the
image of Jesus Christ that I want to be created in the image of.
Tirah and I have been trying to decide what to tell our kids about
Santa. In the Christian world, Santa Claus has traditionally been at
odds with the story of the Lord's birth. But I believe that the Santa
Claus mythology (like many other fairy tales) is sort of like a
parable. And any goodness in stories like that, is ultimately from
God. I like the idea of a generous, omniscient, omnipresent man who
comes into our world from far away, and brings warmth and joy to a
world enveloped in cold (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). To be
clear about our primary focus, we are going to tell our kids that the
gifts in the stockings are from the Lord. But though Santa Claus is
not "THE" Christmas story, I'm not opposed to him being "A" Christmas
story. It's a nice parable.
The Lord is for everyone, for all seasons, and it's wonderful to
imagine Him in all His various forms, from "no hair" to "white
hair!" As He said, "I am the First and the Last."
Happy Birthday Jesus! Thank You for being born a little Child, as
well as being our Divine Parent. Thank You for bringing joy to our
lives!
Love from,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea and Cirdan Keal.
P.S. To listen to Thea and Cirdan singing in our Singing Christmas
Card go to http://www.solomonkeal.com/listen/studio and scroll to the
very bottom of the page.
We didn't send out traditional "snail mail" Christmas cards, so here
is our email Christmas card... complete with a family picture, and a
link to our Singing Christmas Card, where you can hear Thea and
Cirdan singing some songs.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year. The spirit of giving that
seems to pervade our often ego-centric culture is refreshing. It
has been fun watching our kids as they slowly catch on to what
Christmas is. Mostly, it seems, they "feel" it more than they
"know" what it is. And whether that excited feeling comes from the
immature wish to get presents, or a spiritual closeness with the
angels, doesn't really matter to me right now, it's just plain fun.
The best way, I've found, to explain Christmas to our kids, is that
it's the Lord's birthday. Thea especially knows what birthdays are,
and so she can imagine the fun ahead as we celebrate that day. (She
keeps asking if there will be cake!) But what is really cute is
watching the kids' reactions to the concept that the Lord was once a
baby! Both Thea and Cirdan really love to see (and hold) the
representations of the Baby Jesus. It never occurred to me before
now, that part of what is special about Christmas for children, is
that it brings the Lord to their level. As adults we know the
importance of picturing God as a Human Being that we can relate
to. Isn't it wonderful then that even children, especially at
Christmas, can find a way to relate to God, and know (feel) that He
understands them. It's amazing to think that Jesus was once a two
year old, and a three year old. Since He was God, and was victorious
over temptation, He must not have thrown temper tantrums. What a
great role model for all toddlers! It's a strange part of Jesus'
life, that we will never really know about. But somehow it's
wonderful to know that it happened.
Of course, most of the time (for the rest of the year), it's
appropriate for children to think of the Lord as a Parent figure.
Someone who will take care of them, and protect them. But then
that's appropriate for us adults too. And that leads me to my next
thought:
One of the ways that I most commonly picture the Lord, is as a sort
of Santa Claus figure. A big, jolly, generous, old
Grandfather! (Not so much the red and white winter gear, just the
face and form.) Someone who takes care of everyone in the whole
world. Sort of like the image of the Lord in Revelation: "He was
wearing a long robe with a gold sash across His chest. His head and
His hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And His eyes were
bright like flames of fire.... and his voice thundered like mighty
ocean waves.... And his face was as bright as the sun in all its
brilliance." (Rev. 1:13-16) But also a little more approachable,
like this: "His eyes, how they twinkled! His dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little
mouth was drawn up like a bow, and the beard on his chin was as white
as the snow.... He had a broad face and a little round belly, that
shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly. He was chubby and
plump, a right jolly old elf, and I laughed when I saw him, in spite
of myself." (Clement Clarke Moore)
In Revelation, John was afraid of God at first, but I tend to be
drawn more to the idea that God would inspire joy and laughter in
us. "A wink of his eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know
I had nothing to dread." (Clement C. Moore) "Don't be afraid! I
am the First and the Last.... Look, I am alive forever and ever!"
(Rev. 1:17-18) I like to picture the Lord as a 65 year old Jesus
Christ, Who is in that wonderful Grandparent phase of life, and
spends His time doting upon His children and grandchildren with hugs,
kisses, and gifts. Jesus Christ in His Golden Age of Love and
Wisdom. That's the image of God that I love to pray to. That's the
image of Jesus Christ that I want to be created in the image of.
Tirah and I have been trying to decide what to tell our kids about
Santa. In the Christian world, Santa Claus has traditionally been at
odds with the story of the Lord's birth. But I believe that the Santa
Claus mythology (like many other fairy tales) is sort of like a
parable. And any goodness in stories like that, is ultimately from
God. I like the idea of a generous, omniscient, omnipresent man who
comes into our world from far away, and brings warmth and joy to a
world enveloped in cold (at least in the Northern Hemisphere). To be
clear about our primary focus, we are going to tell our kids that the
gifts in the stockings are from the Lord. But though Santa Claus is
not "THE" Christmas story, I'm not opposed to him being "A" Christmas
story. It's a nice parable.
The Lord is for everyone, for all seasons, and it's wonderful to
imagine Him in all His various forms, from "no hair" to "white
hair!" As He said, "I am the First and the Last."
Happy Birthday Jesus! Thank You for being born a little Child, as
well as being our Divine Parent. Thank You for bringing joy to our
lives!
Love from,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea and Cirdan Keal.
P.S. To listen to Thea and Cirdan singing in our Singing Christmas
Card go to http://www.solomonkeal.com/listen/studio and scroll to the
very bottom of the page.
Keal Family Letter, December 2006
Hello Family and Friends. Happy December to you all.
Christmas time is here! We just got our Christmas tree the other day, and we've put lights on it, and we've set up our nativity scene. We even had snow flurries on Tuesday (the 5th)! We haven't yet put ornaments on the tree, because we... um... because we can't find them! :-) We've been doing some re-organizing in the attic, and things got moved and we currently can't find our Christmas tree ornaments. Don't worry we'll find them, it's just a little funny.
Part of the reorganizing that we're doing in the attic is because we are planning to finish the attic in the next year or so. At some point, Thea and Cirdan are going to need separate rooms. So the plan is that we will finish the attic (leaving cubby-holes in the eaves for storage) and then the attic will be the kids bedroom and playroom. I will then move my studio into what is currently the kid's room, which will be very nice. The room my studio is currently in, is a 9 foot by 9 foot room, just barely big enough for what I have in it. I recently recorded a our 7 part men's A Cappella group in that room, and it was a bit cozy.
The current kid's room (my future studio) is a 15 foot by 12 foot room, which will greatly increase what I will be able to do as a recording studio.
The attic is a 21 foot by 13 foot room, which will be great as a kid's bedroom/playroom. It will also be further from the living room which means that we won't keep the kids awake when we're having meetings, or watching movies.
The room my current studio is in will then become another kid's room, once Thea and Cirdan need separate rooms. Hopefully at that point, one of them will WANT a small 9X9 room!
So those are our renovation plans for the coming year.
Thea and Cirdan have been enjoying the Christmas preparations. Just last night we took them to see the Christmas Village in Bernville PA, which is about 30 minutes from our house. It's sort of like a Christmas Amusement Park for kids. It's the size of a small park, and everything is covered with christmas lights. There are fun little houses with Christmas scenes inside, and Christmas music playing everywhere you go. As an adult, it's a little cheesy, but the kids just ate it up. At the entrance/exit there were two adults dressed in a Christmas Mouse, and Christmas Bear costumes. Thea, and especially Cirdan loved these "people." It was hard to drag Cirdan away, because he kept wanting to wave to them. Both Thea and Cirdan have really gotten into puppets lately. Sometimes I think that if I really want the kids to listen to me, I just have to put a puppet on my hand, and they're all ears.
In a way, entering December feels less stressful than November was. I hope that feeling continues through Christmas. November was full of things like: Getting my new album "Peace of Heaven" done, doing the Bryn Athyn Craft Sale, finishing the Kempton New Church Men's A Cappella album, and then preparing for the Whisperings Concert on December 1st. Now it's just time for Christmas.
The Whisperings concert went fairly well. Because of how the concert flows, the order of artists on the playlist generally goes from least experienced to most experienced. I was the least experienced of all the artists, so I went first. Which in some ways is nice, and in other ways is not. I was very nervous, so I ended up screwing up the first piece that I played. The rest of the concert went better, but it was hard to let go of that rough beginning. All the other artists were very comforting, and told me all their horror stories of messing up in concerts. The more time I have away from the concert, the less I feel bad about it, but it was definitely not how I wanted my first Whisperings Concert to go. But I got to hang out with David Nevue, Greg Maroney, Michael Dulin, and Gary Girouard, who are all great guys, and wonderful pianists. After the concert, Tirah and I went out for coffee with David Nevue, Gary Girouard and his wife. It was lots of fun.
We have two more Marriage Support Group meetings for this group. Sometime next year we'll start it up again, with new people, on a different day of the week. Tirah and I will also be leading a workshop at the Caring For Marriage Conference in Bryn Athyn in February 2007. Our topic will be Marriage and Depression. We are looking forward to finally (hopefully) getting to go to this conference.
We've finally gotten back to a good date night routine. Every other Wednesday night is now date night. It's great to have it set up like that, because it's amazing how - even thought marriage is such a high priority for us - regular maintenance like dates nights often takes a back seat to lower-priority/more-pressing things like getting new tires!
Tirah has vacation time coming up! We're thinking that we might take it sometime in early 2007. We are still trying to figure out what we want to do. We haven't been on vacation since 2002!
We had a very nice Thanksgiving at Peter and Roxanne's new house above Leaser Lake. And we look forward to a very nice quiet family Christmas. Merry Christmas to all of you. May the Lord's peace on earth fill your hearts, and last the whole next year!
Love from,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan.
Christmas time is here! We just got our Christmas tree the other day, and we've put lights on it, and we've set up our nativity scene. We even had snow flurries on Tuesday (the 5th)! We haven't yet put ornaments on the tree, because we... um... because we can't find them! :-) We've been doing some re-organizing in the attic, and things got moved and we currently can't find our Christmas tree ornaments. Don't worry we'll find them, it's just a little funny.
Part of the reorganizing that we're doing in the attic is because we are planning to finish the attic in the next year or so. At some point, Thea and Cirdan are going to need separate rooms. So the plan is that we will finish the attic (leaving cubby-holes in the eaves for storage) and then the attic will be the kids bedroom and playroom. I will then move my studio into what is currently the kid's room, which will be very nice. The room my studio is currently in, is a 9 foot by 9 foot room, just barely big enough for what I have in it. I recently recorded a our 7 part men's A Cappella group in that room, and it was a bit cozy.
The current kid's room (my future studio) is a 15 foot by 12 foot room, which will greatly increase what I will be able to do as a recording studio.
The attic is a 21 foot by 13 foot room, which will be great as a kid's bedroom/playroom. It will also be further from the living room which means that we won't keep the kids awake when we're having meetings, or watching movies.
The room my current studio is in will then become another kid's room, once Thea and Cirdan need separate rooms. Hopefully at that point, one of them will WANT a small 9X9 room!
So those are our renovation plans for the coming year.
Thea and Cirdan have been enjoying the Christmas preparations. Just last night we took them to see the Christmas Village in Bernville PA, which is about 30 minutes from our house. It's sort of like a Christmas Amusement Park for kids. It's the size of a small park, and everything is covered with christmas lights. There are fun little houses with Christmas scenes inside, and Christmas music playing everywhere you go. As an adult, it's a little cheesy, but the kids just ate it up. At the entrance/exit there were two adults dressed in a Christmas Mouse, and Christmas Bear costumes. Thea, and especially Cirdan loved these "people." It was hard to drag Cirdan away, because he kept wanting to wave to them. Both Thea and Cirdan have really gotten into puppets lately. Sometimes I think that if I really want the kids to listen to me, I just have to put a puppet on my hand, and they're all ears.
In a way, entering December feels less stressful than November was. I hope that feeling continues through Christmas. November was full of things like: Getting my new album "Peace of Heaven" done, doing the Bryn Athyn Craft Sale, finishing the Kempton New Church Men's A Cappella album, and then preparing for the Whisperings Concert on December 1st. Now it's just time for Christmas.
The Whisperings concert went fairly well. Because of how the concert flows, the order of artists on the playlist generally goes from least experienced to most experienced. I was the least experienced of all the artists, so I went first. Which in some ways is nice, and in other ways is not. I was very nervous, so I ended up screwing up the first piece that I played. The rest of the concert went better, but it was hard to let go of that rough beginning. All the other artists were very comforting, and told me all their horror stories of messing up in concerts. The more time I have away from the concert, the less I feel bad about it, but it was definitely not how I wanted my first Whisperings Concert to go. But I got to hang out with David Nevue, Greg Maroney, Michael Dulin, and Gary Girouard, who are all great guys, and wonderful pianists. After the concert, Tirah and I went out for coffee with David Nevue, Gary Girouard and his wife. It was lots of fun.
We have two more Marriage Support Group meetings for this group. Sometime next year we'll start it up again, with new people, on a different day of the week. Tirah and I will also be leading a workshop at the Caring For Marriage Conference in Bryn Athyn in February 2007. Our topic will be Marriage and Depression. We are looking forward to finally (hopefully) getting to go to this conference.
We've finally gotten back to a good date night routine. Every other Wednesday night is now date night. It's great to have it set up like that, because it's amazing how - even thought marriage is such a high priority for us - regular maintenance like dates nights often takes a back seat to lower-priority/more-pressing things like getting new tires!
Tirah has vacation time coming up! We're thinking that we might take it sometime in early 2007. We are still trying to figure out what we want to do. We haven't been on vacation since 2002!
We had a very nice Thanksgiving at Peter and Roxanne's new house above Leaser Lake. And we look forward to a very nice quiet family Christmas. Merry Christmas to all of you. May the Lord's peace on earth fill your hearts, and last the whole next year!
Love from,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan.
Keal Family Letter, November 2006
Hello Family and Friends. Happy November to you all.
October was a very full month for us. But it was full of good
things, so it seemed to really fly by. (It also helps that I didn't
write the last newsletter until October 12th)
Cirdan is still the cutest little boy that ever walked and talked.
He is such a pleasant little spirit. His only real problem area
right now is that he tends to refuse food at supper time, and often
throws food when he gets angry.
We've learned in our family counseling sessions that Thea is very
likely suffering from Night Terrors. For those that don't know what
Night Terrors are, they are more than just nightmares. Night Terrors
are in the same family of sleep disorders as Sleep Walking. Someone
who is suffering from Night Terrors will look like they are awake
(like with sleep walking), but they are really still asleep. So even
though Thea talks with us, yells at us, screams at us, hits and kicks
us and herself, she is not really awake, and very likely doesn't even
recognize us. Her experience of reality is entirely different from
ours. It has been great to learn more about it, because it's so
much easier to be sympathetic to these midnight temper tantrums when
we know what she's going through.
Potty training is often a factor in the causes of Night Terrors. And
another factor that can contribute to Night Terrors is not getting
enough sleep. As I've said in previous letters, Thea was no longer
taking afternoon naps. Well, after she got her second dose of her
Homeopathic constitutional, she suddenly started asking to take
afternoon naps again, and when that happened, she started having less
Night Terrors. That combined with her Love Tank being filled with
more Quality Time, and us being more sympathetic, seems to be helping
the entire situation.
She definitely still a little 3 and 1/2 year old, red-headed, temper
tantrumy little girl, but we've learned some things to help us deal
with it.
And the kids just got sick yesterday, so we've slipped back a
little. But we've got our Homeopath on call now, and that has been
wonderful in helping us not get worried about relapses of ear-
infections (or "ear connections," as the kids call them.)
My sister Roxanne and her family have moved up to Kempton now. They
bought a beautiful little ranch home over-looking Leaser Lake, which
is about 10 minutes from our house. We are very excited about them
living up here.
Our Marriage Support Group has been going well. We've had four
meetings now, and it's been a lot of fun, and very useful. It's a
lot more work to lead a group, than to merely participate in one, but
it feels great to have actually started it! It will certainly be a
wonderful learning experience!
Tirah's busy season up at Hawk Mountain is beginning to wind down
now, which is nice. With both of us being so busy lately, it's been
hard to find time for us as a married couple. Date nights have
become almost non-existent, and quality time together has been
minimal. All of this has been starting to take it's toll on us.
Even though we're leading a Marriage Support Group, we haven't been
doing the "homework" of maintaining our marriage as much as we
should. (Merely helping other people to maintain their marriages
doesn't count towards maintaining ours) So this month we plan to put
more focus back on our marriage, and be better about regular quality
time, and regular "date nights."
Exciting things are happening with my music business. In a few short
weeks, my next solo piano album "Peace of Heaven" will become
available. One of the first places I will be selling it will be the
Bryn Athyn Craft Sale on November 18th. You will also be able to
buy it online at http://www.solomonkeal.com.
The A Cappella Men's group that I belong to, called: Kempton New
Church Men's A Cappella, will be releasing an album of sacred
Christmas songs to benefit the Kempton New Church. That album will
be called: "Earth Today Rejoices." Stay tuned for more info on that.
I've also been asked by Glencairn Museum to score a half hour video
that is being produced about Glencairn. This is very exciting for
me, because I've always thought it would be fun to get into
soundtracks and film scoring, and this will be my first
opportunity. I will be composing original themes for the
documentary, as well as weaving in tracks from the Glencairn Horns
album.
Also, in just under a month, on Friday December 1st, I will be
performing in my very first Whisperings Concert! For those that
don't know: "Whisperings" is a nation-wide (actually world-wide)
community of solo piano artists. We have our own online radio
station (http://www.solopianoradio.com) and we do group concerts.
This concert will be in Mechanicsburg PA, which is just outside of
Harrisburg (the state capital). If any of you are interested in
coming to the concert check out http://www.solopianoradio.com/
concerts/mechanicsburg.htm. Actually, even if you can't come, go
check out that link anyway, 'cause it has a really cool looking
poster in it.
Well that's about all for now. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Love from,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan Keal.
October was a very full month for us. But it was full of good
things, so it seemed to really fly by. (It also helps that I didn't
write the last newsletter until October 12th)
Cirdan is still the cutest little boy that ever walked and talked.
He is such a pleasant little spirit. His only real problem area
right now is that he tends to refuse food at supper time, and often
throws food when he gets angry.
We've learned in our family counseling sessions that Thea is very
likely suffering from Night Terrors. For those that don't know what
Night Terrors are, they are more than just nightmares. Night Terrors
are in the same family of sleep disorders as Sleep Walking. Someone
who is suffering from Night Terrors will look like they are awake
(like with sleep walking), but they are really still asleep. So even
though Thea talks with us, yells at us, screams at us, hits and kicks
us and herself, she is not really awake, and very likely doesn't even
recognize us. Her experience of reality is entirely different from
ours. It has been great to learn more about it, because it's so
much easier to be sympathetic to these midnight temper tantrums when
we know what she's going through.
Potty training is often a factor in the causes of Night Terrors. And
another factor that can contribute to Night Terrors is not getting
enough sleep. As I've said in previous letters, Thea was no longer
taking afternoon naps. Well, after she got her second dose of her
Homeopathic constitutional, she suddenly started asking to take
afternoon naps again, and when that happened, she started having less
Night Terrors. That combined with her Love Tank being filled with
more Quality Time, and us being more sympathetic, seems to be helping
the entire situation.
She definitely still a little 3 and 1/2 year old, red-headed, temper
tantrumy little girl, but we've learned some things to help us deal
with it.
And the kids just got sick yesterday, so we've slipped back a
little. But we've got our Homeopath on call now, and that has been
wonderful in helping us not get worried about relapses of ear-
infections (or "ear connections," as the kids call them.)
My sister Roxanne and her family have moved up to Kempton now. They
bought a beautiful little ranch home over-looking Leaser Lake, which
is about 10 minutes from our house. We are very excited about them
living up here.
Our Marriage Support Group has been going well. We've had four
meetings now, and it's been a lot of fun, and very useful. It's a
lot more work to lead a group, than to merely participate in one, but
it feels great to have actually started it! It will certainly be a
wonderful learning experience!
Tirah's busy season up at Hawk Mountain is beginning to wind down
now, which is nice. With both of us being so busy lately, it's been
hard to find time for us as a married couple. Date nights have
become almost non-existent, and quality time together has been
minimal. All of this has been starting to take it's toll on us.
Even though we're leading a Marriage Support Group, we haven't been
doing the "homework" of maintaining our marriage as much as we
should. (Merely helping other people to maintain their marriages
doesn't count towards maintaining ours) So this month we plan to put
more focus back on our marriage, and be better about regular quality
time, and regular "date nights."
Exciting things are happening with my music business. In a few short
weeks, my next solo piano album "Peace of Heaven" will become
available. One of the first places I will be selling it will be the
Bryn Athyn Craft Sale on November 18th. You will also be able to
buy it online at http://www.solomonkeal.com.
The A Cappella Men's group that I belong to, called: Kempton New
Church Men's A Cappella, will be releasing an album of sacred
Christmas songs to benefit the Kempton New Church. That album will
be called: "Earth Today Rejoices." Stay tuned for more info on that.
I've also been asked by Glencairn Museum to score a half hour video
that is being produced about Glencairn. This is very exciting for
me, because I've always thought it would be fun to get into
soundtracks and film scoring, and this will be my first
opportunity. I will be composing original themes for the
documentary, as well as weaving in tracks from the Glencairn Horns
album.
Also, in just under a month, on Friday December 1st, I will be
performing in my very first Whisperings Concert! For those that
don't know: "Whisperings" is a nation-wide (actually world-wide)
community of solo piano artists. We have our own online radio
station (http://www.solopianoradio.com) and we do group concerts.
This concert will be in Mechanicsburg PA, which is just outside of
Harrisburg (the state capital). If any of you are interested in
coming to the concert check out http://www.solopianoradio.com/
concerts/mechanicsburg.htm. Actually, even if you can't come, go
check out that link anyway, 'cause it has a really cool looking
poster in it.
Well that's about all for now. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Love from,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan Keal.
Keal Family Letter, October 2006
Hello Family and Friends. Happy October to you all. I've finally
found some time to write.
The leaves are starting to turn colors here in Kempton. The air is
getting chilly. It's that time of year for wrapping yourself around
a warm cup o' something in the morning and evening. Autumn is one
of my favorite times of year... especially since I no longer have to
go back to school! I think mostly it's the food: Pumpkin pie,
ginger bread with whipped cream, hot chocolate, apple cider... aaahh,
it's a good time of year!
We are all doing well. Cirdan lately has really gotten into playing
drums. He loves to beat on the old tom toms. I like to think that
it's his musical Keal/Echols nature coming out already, but it's
probably just that he's a two-year old boy who is finally ALLOWED to
hit something repeatedly. No, I know it's partly musical too. He
also loves to sing. Very often we will wake up in the morning to
hear him singing songs to himself in the next room. It's very sweet!
Thea is pretty much completely potty trained now, although she still
like company while she's in the bathroom. Cirdan has actually
started potty training as well - just so he's not left out - and he's
actually getting it too!
Thea has been quite the problem-child 3 1/2 year old lately. She
spends most of her time angry, screaming, and miserable. She has a
real problem with authority. She wants to be the boss of everyone,
and she doesn't like to be told that she is wrong, or doing something
naughty. She's also been developing a really rude streak lately.
She will very often talk back to Tirah and I when we're reprimanding
her. She'll just throw the reprimand back in our faces. It makes
some sense after all: children learn by example. And the example
she's been getting from Tirah and I lately is: "No, don't do that!
Be nice to your brother! Don't hit! Give that back!" It's
really no surprise that we hear the same things coming from her.
Thea's latest favorite phrase is "Papa, BE NICE!" What do you say
to that?
Thea not only has problems with the authority of Tirah and I as her
parents, she also has problems with the laws of physics. If she
can't manage to squeeze one more card into her bag, or she can't hang
a blanket on the back of her little chair without it falling over...
then it must be the end of the world.
She throws these anger tantrums, where she doesn't seem to be angry
at anything in specific, just everything in general. At the end of
one of these tantrums (which are usually at least a half an hour,
and often an hour long) even she doesn't remember what started it.
It's like Tirah's temper got mixed with my sensitivity, and BANG!
It's really sad (not to mention very frustrating), and Tirah and I
are struggling to know what to do for her. We've actually been
trying to treat it homeopathically, and we've also recently started
seeing a Family Counselor to learn about how to become better parents
in this sort of situation. We're very hopeful that the counseling
will be a big help.
We've also been trying to treat it emotionally. Lately, Tirah and I
finished reading Gary Chapman's "The Five Love Languages." A
wonderfully enlightening and useful book, and one that I highly
recommend. For anyone who hasn't read it, the five love languages
are: 1. Words of Affirmation, 2. Quality Time, 3. Receiving (or
Giving) Gifts, 4. Acts of Service, and 5. Physical Touch. All
humans need to feel loved in all five of those areas, but part of
what makes us different from one another is that we tend to have a
primary love language that we emotionally "speak" above all the
rest. (We also tend to have a secondary love language, a third,
etc.) Reading this book has not only been wonderful for our
marriage (since the majority of couples don't have the same native
love language), but it's also been very valuable for our roles as
parents.
My primary love language is Words of Affirmation. My "love tank" is
full when I get lots of those. My love tank drains really fast when
I hear critical words, or when somebody makes fun of me in a cruel
way. My secondary love language is Acts of Service. I tend to show
Tirah that I love her by doing things for her: the dishes, the
laundry, etc.
Tirah's primary love language is Quality Time. Her love tank is full
when she gets lots of that. Her love tank drains really fast when
the lower priorities of life take up most of our time. Her
secondary love language is Physical Touch.
Our kids are an interesting mix of our love languages. We've made
guesses as to what our kid's love languages are, based on
observation: Thea's primary love languages seems to be Quality Time
(Tirah's primary), and her secondary love languages seems to be Acts
of Service (my secondary). Cirdan's primary love languages seems to
be Physical Touch (Tirah's secondary) and his secondary love language
seems to be Words of Affirmation (my primary).
Cirdan is always asking for a hug when he's sad. And he often gives
spontaneous hugs to us. He has always been much more cuddly and
snuggly than Thea ever was. This says to us that his primary love
language is Physical Touch. He also has always been very good at
saying "Please" and "Thank you," which is what led us to believe that
his secondary love language is Words of Affirmation.
When Tirah gets home from work, the first thing Thea says to her is,
"Mama, come look at this!" or "Come see what I did!" This is very
much a Quality Time trait. Thea also is always asking us if she can
help us. This is an Act of Service trait.
Cirdan has always seemed like an "easier" child than Thea, and we're
starting to see a little bit more why that might be. "Quality Time"
people are by definition more "High Maintenance." This isn't a bad
thing, it's just the way it is. In some ways, giving somebody the
undivided attention that characterizes Quality Time is the most
"giving" of any of the love languages because time is so valuable.
You're laying down your life for your friend. But it is also,
therefore, the hardest love language to put into practice. It can
be a lot easier to simply give someone a hug, or a rose, or a kind
word. Cirdan's little "love tank" can be filled with a five minute
hug. Thea's little "love tank" seems to require hours of Quality Time.
Tirah and I are very excited to announce that we have now started a
Marriage Support Group up here in Kempton! We're following the
model of Lori and John Odhner's Marriage Support Group. We've had
two meetings already, with a total of six couples. It was a bit of
a rough start, because there wasn't very much interest for it here in
Kempton, and that was a little depressing, but almost at the last
minute we got 2 more couples, and it's been a very nice little
group. The last meeting we had with Lori and John was about "Having
a Vision for your Marriage," and starting our own Marriage Support
Group was a part of that vision for me and Tirah.
Tirah is still working hard up a Hawk Mountain. The Fall season is
the Busy season at Hawk Mountain, and this is her first Fall season
as the Book Store Manager, so it can be stressful at times, but she's
hanging in there, and still enjoying it very much.
I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately, by everything that I
have on my plate. It's nice to be so busy that I never get bored,
and it's wonderful to be pursuing so many things that I see as
important, but I sure wish there were a few more hours in the day!
To give you a sense of what I've been up to here's the list of the
things I'm involved in currently:
1. Full-time father of two toddlers.
2. Husband, invested in the happiness of my wife.
3. Musician trying to start my own business. (Recording Artist,
Performer, Recording Engineer, Composer)
4. Member of Kempton Men's A Cappella group that's trying to record a
church fund-raiser Christmas album by Christmas.
5. Recently elected Presiding Partner of a family investment club.
6. Co-facilitator of a weekly Marriage Support Group.
7. Member of the Kempton Worship Song Book Committee
8. Playing recorded music for church about once a month.
9. Recently added to the members of Pastor's Council.
10. Tirah and I represent the majority of a Contemporary Service
Committee here in Kempton.
11. Not to mention the numerous household tasks that seems to take up
the majority of my time: paying bills, handling our budget, making co-
op orders, scheduling our busy life, getting firewood, mowing the
lawn, cooking meals, and cleaning the house.
With all of that, Tirah and I are starting to realize that we don't
have time to watch movies anymore, which is sad, but OK. Especially
if we want to keep up with more important things like reading from
the Word, doing regular exercise, and marriage maintenance like date
nights. As Rick Warren says, "You have just enough time to do God's
will."
Oh, by the way, you can still pre-order my next solo piano album
called "Peace of Heaven." Send me an email if you would like to do
that. Only $13.00 for a limited time! Visit my website for more
info: http://www.solomonkeal.com.
And finally, I have a suggestion for a new way to celebrate
Halloween. Let's spend some time this Halloween thinking about
people who have passed into the spiritual world. Let's start a new
trend: Insead of the blood and gore, let's focus on remembering
family and friends who have died. Instead of focussing on death,
let's focus on life after death! Let's reclaim Halloween as a true
"holiday."
Have a wonderful day, and God bless you!
- Solomon (Domestic Management)
- Tirah (Book Store Management)
- Thea (Unmanagement)
- Cirdan (Little Man agement)
found some time to write.
The leaves are starting to turn colors here in Kempton. The air is
getting chilly. It's that time of year for wrapping yourself around
a warm cup o' something in the morning and evening. Autumn is one
of my favorite times of year... especially since I no longer have to
go back to school! I think mostly it's the food: Pumpkin pie,
ginger bread with whipped cream, hot chocolate, apple cider... aaahh,
it's a good time of year!
We are all doing well. Cirdan lately has really gotten into playing
drums. He loves to beat on the old tom toms. I like to think that
it's his musical Keal/Echols nature coming out already, but it's
probably just that he's a two-year old boy who is finally ALLOWED to
hit something repeatedly. No, I know it's partly musical too. He
also loves to sing. Very often we will wake up in the morning to
hear him singing songs to himself in the next room. It's very sweet!
Thea is pretty much completely potty trained now, although she still
like company while she's in the bathroom. Cirdan has actually
started potty training as well - just so he's not left out - and he's
actually getting it too!
Thea has been quite the problem-child 3 1/2 year old lately. She
spends most of her time angry, screaming, and miserable. She has a
real problem with authority. She wants to be the boss of everyone,
and she doesn't like to be told that she is wrong, or doing something
naughty. She's also been developing a really rude streak lately.
She will very often talk back to Tirah and I when we're reprimanding
her. She'll just throw the reprimand back in our faces. It makes
some sense after all: children learn by example. And the example
she's been getting from Tirah and I lately is: "No, don't do that!
Be nice to your brother! Don't hit! Give that back!" It's
really no surprise that we hear the same things coming from her.
Thea's latest favorite phrase is "Papa, BE NICE!" What do you say
to that?
Thea not only has problems with the authority of Tirah and I as her
parents, she also has problems with the laws of physics. If she
can't manage to squeeze one more card into her bag, or she can't hang
a blanket on the back of her little chair without it falling over...
then it must be the end of the world.
She throws these anger tantrums, where she doesn't seem to be angry
at anything in specific, just everything in general. At the end of
one of these tantrums (which are usually at least a half an hour,
and often an hour long) even she doesn't remember what started it.
It's like Tirah's temper got mixed with my sensitivity, and BANG!
It's really sad (not to mention very frustrating), and Tirah and I
are struggling to know what to do for her. We've actually been
trying to treat it homeopathically, and we've also recently started
seeing a Family Counselor to learn about how to become better parents
in this sort of situation. We're very hopeful that the counseling
will be a big help.
We've also been trying to treat it emotionally. Lately, Tirah and I
finished reading Gary Chapman's "The Five Love Languages." A
wonderfully enlightening and useful book, and one that I highly
recommend. For anyone who hasn't read it, the five love languages
are: 1. Words of Affirmation, 2. Quality Time, 3. Receiving (or
Giving) Gifts, 4. Acts of Service, and 5. Physical Touch. All
humans need to feel loved in all five of those areas, but part of
what makes us different from one another is that we tend to have a
primary love language that we emotionally "speak" above all the
rest. (We also tend to have a secondary love language, a third,
etc.) Reading this book has not only been wonderful for our
marriage (since the majority of couples don't have the same native
love language), but it's also been very valuable for our roles as
parents.
My primary love language is Words of Affirmation. My "love tank" is
full when I get lots of those. My love tank drains really fast when
I hear critical words, or when somebody makes fun of me in a cruel
way. My secondary love language is Acts of Service. I tend to show
Tirah that I love her by doing things for her: the dishes, the
laundry, etc.
Tirah's primary love language is Quality Time. Her love tank is full
when she gets lots of that. Her love tank drains really fast when
the lower priorities of life take up most of our time. Her
secondary love language is Physical Touch.
Our kids are an interesting mix of our love languages. We've made
guesses as to what our kid's love languages are, based on
observation: Thea's primary love languages seems to be Quality Time
(Tirah's primary), and her secondary love languages seems to be Acts
of Service (my secondary). Cirdan's primary love languages seems to
be Physical Touch (Tirah's secondary) and his secondary love language
seems to be Words of Affirmation (my primary).
Cirdan is always asking for a hug when he's sad. And he often gives
spontaneous hugs to us. He has always been much more cuddly and
snuggly than Thea ever was. This says to us that his primary love
language is Physical Touch. He also has always been very good at
saying "Please" and "Thank you," which is what led us to believe that
his secondary love language is Words of Affirmation.
When Tirah gets home from work, the first thing Thea says to her is,
"Mama, come look at this!" or "Come see what I did!" This is very
much a Quality Time trait. Thea also is always asking us if she can
help us. This is an Act of Service trait.
Cirdan has always seemed like an "easier" child than Thea, and we're
starting to see a little bit more why that might be. "Quality Time"
people are by definition more "High Maintenance." This isn't a bad
thing, it's just the way it is. In some ways, giving somebody the
undivided attention that characterizes Quality Time is the most
"giving" of any of the love languages because time is so valuable.
You're laying down your life for your friend. But it is also,
therefore, the hardest love language to put into practice. It can
be a lot easier to simply give someone a hug, or a rose, or a kind
word. Cirdan's little "love tank" can be filled with a five minute
hug. Thea's little "love tank" seems to require hours of Quality Time.
Tirah and I are very excited to announce that we have now started a
Marriage Support Group up here in Kempton! We're following the
model of Lori and John Odhner's Marriage Support Group. We've had
two meetings already, with a total of six couples. It was a bit of
a rough start, because there wasn't very much interest for it here in
Kempton, and that was a little depressing, but almost at the last
minute we got 2 more couples, and it's been a very nice little
group. The last meeting we had with Lori and John was about "Having
a Vision for your Marriage," and starting our own Marriage Support
Group was a part of that vision for me and Tirah.
Tirah is still working hard up a Hawk Mountain. The Fall season is
the Busy season at Hawk Mountain, and this is her first Fall season
as the Book Store Manager, so it can be stressful at times, but she's
hanging in there, and still enjoying it very much.
I've been feeling a little overwhelmed lately, by everything that I
have on my plate. It's nice to be so busy that I never get bored,
and it's wonderful to be pursuing so many things that I see as
important, but I sure wish there were a few more hours in the day!
To give you a sense of what I've been up to here's the list of the
things I'm involved in currently:
1. Full-time father of two toddlers.
2. Husband, invested in the happiness of my wife.
3. Musician trying to start my own business. (Recording Artist,
Performer, Recording Engineer, Composer)
4. Member of Kempton Men's A Cappella group that's trying to record a
church fund-raiser Christmas album by Christmas.
5. Recently elected Presiding Partner of a family investment club.
6. Co-facilitator of a weekly Marriage Support Group.
7. Member of the Kempton Worship Song Book Committee
8. Playing recorded music for church about once a month.
9. Recently added to the members of Pastor's Council.
10. Tirah and I represent the majority of a Contemporary Service
Committee here in Kempton.
11. Not to mention the numerous household tasks that seems to take up
the majority of my time: paying bills, handling our budget, making co-
op orders, scheduling our busy life, getting firewood, mowing the
lawn, cooking meals, and cleaning the house.
With all of that, Tirah and I are starting to realize that we don't
have time to watch movies anymore, which is sad, but OK. Especially
if we want to keep up with more important things like reading from
the Word, doing regular exercise, and marriage maintenance like date
nights. As Rick Warren says, "You have just enough time to do God's
will."
Oh, by the way, you can still pre-order my next solo piano album
called "Peace of Heaven." Send me an email if you would like to do
that. Only $13.00 for a limited time! Visit my website for more
info: http://www.solomonkeal.com.
And finally, I have a suggestion for a new way to celebrate
Halloween. Let's spend some time this Halloween thinking about
people who have passed into the spiritual world. Let's start a new
trend: Insead of the blood and gore, let's focus on remembering
family and friends who have died. Instead of focussing on death,
let's focus on life after death! Let's reclaim Halloween as a true
"holiday."
Have a wonderful day, and God bless you!
- Solomon (Domestic Management)
- Tirah (Book Store Management)
- Thea (Unmanagement)
- Cirdan (Little Man agement)
Keal Family Letter, September 2006
Hello Friends and Family. Happy September to you all.
August has been very busy, but very good for us. Thea has continued
to potty train well. Some of the latest achievements are that she
is now in a big girl bed, and she is also in underpants all the time
now... even at night. There have been a few accidents here and
there, but it seems to be working pretty well, over all.
The introduction of a Big Girl Bed to the kids room was very exciting
for the kids. For several weeks they've enjoyed being allowed to
jump on Thea's new bed, while singing at the top of their lungs: "No
More Monkeys Jumping On The Bed!" Unfortunately because of a few
bumps, falls, and fights, we've decided on a new policy of, you
guessed it: no more monkeys jumping on the bed.
Another new development with Thea is that she no longer takes
afternoon naps. This has been a major struggle for me, because
afternoon nap time was my time for working in my studio. Now that
only Cirdan takes afternoon naps, I have Thea doing what I call
"Quiet Time" where she stays in the living room and plays by
herself. This works out pretty well, because most of my job as
parent these days is the equivalent to a referee in a boxing ring,
and Thea playing by herself means that there's no fighting going on.
But she does still want my attention, and she spends a lot of her
time knocking on my studio door telling me that she "wants
something," namely: my attention. It's a hard struggle, because I
want to be a good father, but I also know that maintaining some form
of intellectual or occupational work is important for a stay-at-home
dad.
Our kids are growing up fast! Here are some of their latest
interests and talents: Cirdan is really in to trucks. He is almost
always carrying two of his favorite toy trucks around with him. It's
very cute to watch. It's amazing to watch an infant boy growing up
into a young child. He reacts to things so differently from the way
that Thea reacts to things. It's funny how stereotypical it can be
sometimes. The other day he got ahold of Thea's hairbrush, and he
started wacking the kitchen oven with it, as hard as he could. So I
called over to him to stop, and then I asked him, "Cirdan, why were
you doing that?" Stupid question really... as if I thought I would
actually get a justifiable reason from him. But he caught me
totally off guard when he responded with, "Because I'm a Guy!"
But don't worry... his response was only coincidentally humorous
profundity, because I think he was actually referring to a Muppet
episode that the kids had watched in which some "Guy" was hitting
something. So Cirdan was merely copying that "Guy", and therefore
his response was perfectly explanatory.
Cirdan has also started showing more interest in learning his
letters, which we are excited about. He seems to recognize familiar
shapes in the letters of the alphabet. Just yesterday, he was
looking at Tirah's name spelled out in all capital letters, and he
gave a very good guess at the letters. T-I-R-A-H according to him
was T-T-K-W-6. Maybe I'm really reaching here, as the proud father
of a two-year-old, but I could see where he was coming from: An "I"
does look a bit like a "T". An "R" does look a bit like a "K". And
an "A" has the same slanting lines as a "W". I don't know where the
"6" came from for an "H".
Thea has been developing some fun new skills. She has learned to
draw faces. It's basically a circle with two dots for eyes, one dot
for a nose, and a squiggly line for a mouth, but it's no accident...
it's very intentionally a face for her. And it makes sense to me
that she, as a feminine being, would first learn to draw faces: the
contact point for relationships. Cirdan will probably be drawing
trucks first.
Thea has also been getting very good at learning harmony to songs,
and holding that harmony, while we sing the melody! Sometimes at
night, when Tirah and I sing lullabies to the kids, we'll start to
get hints of three-part harmony. It's exciting to think that in
several years, our little foursome of a family will be able to sing
four part harmony!
Here are some funny phrases that our kids use: "A bit while." For
example: "Papa, could we go outside for a bit while?"
Another funny phrase that has recently come into use is "Here's the
problem..." Thea is turning into quite the little negotiator:
Thea: "Papa, I want to go outside."
Solomon: "Thea, we can't go outside right now, because it's raining."
Thea: "Well... here's the problem... I WANT to go outside!"
Oh... that's a good point... well if you put it that way... I'll see
what I can do...
Well, Tirah and I are now done our 8 week Marriage Support Group with
Lori and John Odhner, down in Bryn Athyn. And we are very sad to be
done, because it was a) very valuable, and 2) a lot of fun! But we
are very excited to start our own Marriage Support Group up here in
Kempton. Hopefully we can start one up within the next month or so.
We had some fun times visiting family this past month. Earlier in
August we took a weekend to go down to the Baltimore Maryland area to
visit with Steve and Galadriel (Tirah's sister), and their kids: Kate
and Genai. We had some great conversations and just plain good
fun. Later in the month, Tirah's youngest sister Geneva came to
stay with us for about a week and a half before she went down to Bryn
Athyn for her senior year of high school. That was a lot of fun
too, and wonderful for me to be able to get some much needed work
done, while Thea and Cirdan got to play with their aunt.
We then went down to Bryn Athyn early in September to get a brief
visit in with Pop Echols, Jori, Abby, Nils and 'Neva. And though it
was brief, it was really nice.
Well, this has been the season for houses! I know of three of my
relatives who are buying and moving into new houses in the next month
or two. My cousin Mandy and her husband Jack just bought a house.
Tirah's sister Eli and his wife Nicola just bought a house down in
Atlanta. And my sister Roxanne and her husband Peter just bought a
house up here in Kempton! We are especially excited about Peter
and Roxanne moving up here to Kempton. It means that my whole
immediate family will live in the same area... something that not
many families desire, but that we love. Roxanne and I will be able
to work on our flute and piano album more easily. Peter and I will
be able to work on the music business more easily. And instead of
driving over an hour to visit with them, they'll be 15 or so minutes
away!
Tirah has been getting into the busy season up at Hawk Mountain,
which at times can be stressful, but she still very much enjoys her
job there. And we're still loving the schedule of her being home
more. We recently were bold enough to try taking both Thea and
Cirdan on a hike up to North Look-out at Hawk Mountain. It was fun,
but exhausting, and a little nerve-wracking. Thea did pretty well
on the trails, and was able to navigate the rocks with some help.
Cirdan on the other hand is old enough to try tackling the trail, but
young enough that he doesn't know what's best for him. Several
times he tripped over rocks because he glanced away for a second.
We ended up carrying the kids for a lot of the trail (which is where
the "exhausting" comes in), and we determined that Hawk Mountain is
really for ages 3 and up.
This past weekend I was fortunate enough (thanks to the wonderful
generosity of my sister Roxanne, who baby-sat my kids) to go on the
Kempton Men's Weekend, which is entitled "Briar Patch." The
concept and name of "Briar Patch" - which is by Kempton definition: a
Men's Gathering - originally was coined in response to a Kempton
Women's Gathering (which unfortunately hasn't happened in years)
which was entitled "Rose Garden." Some very witty Kemptonite came
up with "Briar Patch" as the masculine version of the "Rose
Garden." This year's Briar Patch, organized by Penn Cooper, was
the second Men's Gathering to occur, in which around 40 men
participated, and we rented a Laurel-like campground. It was a lot
of fun, and I felt very humbled by some of the wisdom of the elder
men in Kempton. The things they were saying rang very true for me.
(It was reassuring to find that most of the men I disagree with in
Kempton are younger men, like me... men who are not in the age of
wisdom.) I also gained a new epiphany about my place in Kempton.
One thing I share with every other man in Kempton (even if it's the
only thing I share with them) is a very strong feeling of the
importance of marriage and family. Even if I disagree with other
Kempton men on the most effective way to have a healthy marriage and
family, at least I can find comfort in knowing that we're striving
for the same goal, and therefore we are on the same team.
The good news in my music business is that I've finished recording my
next solo piano album entitled "Peace of Heaven." You can listen to
2 minute samples of the first 7 pieces on the album by going to
http://www.solomonkeal.com/music.html. Now I have to finish
mastering, and creating the album cover and liner notes. I'm still
selling pre-orders for this album, for only $13.00. Send me an email
if you're interested. Also, for anyone in the B.A. area, I'll be
playing background music for the Glencairn Open Sunday on October
1st. There's also a slight chance that I might get to play in a
musical Christmas event at the Mitchel Performing Arts Center in Bryn
Athyn in December some time. Stay tuned for more info to come later.
Well, that all folks!
Have a wonderful day, and may the Lord bless your lives!
- Solomon, Tirah, Thea and Cirdan Keal.
August has been very busy, but very good for us. Thea has continued
to potty train well. Some of the latest achievements are that she
is now in a big girl bed, and she is also in underpants all the time
now... even at night. There have been a few accidents here and
there, but it seems to be working pretty well, over all.
The introduction of a Big Girl Bed to the kids room was very exciting
for the kids. For several weeks they've enjoyed being allowed to
jump on Thea's new bed, while singing at the top of their lungs: "No
More Monkeys Jumping On The Bed!" Unfortunately because of a few
bumps, falls, and fights, we've decided on a new policy of, you
guessed it: no more monkeys jumping on the bed.
Another new development with Thea is that she no longer takes
afternoon naps. This has been a major struggle for me, because
afternoon nap time was my time for working in my studio. Now that
only Cirdan takes afternoon naps, I have Thea doing what I call
"Quiet Time" where she stays in the living room and plays by
herself. This works out pretty well, because most of my job as
parent these days is the equivalent to a referee in a boxing ring,
and Thea playing by herself means that there's no fighting going on.
But she does still want my attention, and she spends a lot of her
time knocking on my studio door telling me that she "wants
something," namely: my attention. It's a hard struggle, because I
want to be a good father, but I also know that maintaining some form
of intellectual or occupational work is important for a stay-at-home
dad.
Our kids are growing up fast! Here are some of their latest
interests and talents: Cirdan is really in to trucks. He is almost
always carrying two of his favorite toy trucks around with him. It's
very cute to watch. It's amazing to watch an infant boy growing up
into a young child. He reacts to things so differently from the way
that Thea reacts to things. It's funny how stereotypical it can be
sometimes. The other day he got ahold of Thea's hairbrush, and he
started wacking the kitchen oven with it, as hard as he could. So I
called over to him to stop, and then I asked him, "Cirdan, why were
you doing that?" Stupid question really... as if I thought I would
actually get a justifiable reason from him. But he caught me
totally off guard when he responded with, "Because I'm a Guy!"
But don't worry... his response was only coincidentally humorous
profundity, because I think he was actually referring to a Muppet
episode that the kids had watched in which some "Guy" was hitting
something. So Cirdan was merely copying that "Guy", and therefore
his response was perfectly explanatory.
Cirdan has also started showing more interest in learning his
letters, which we are excited about. He seems to recognize familiar
shapes in the letters of the alphabet. Just yesterday, he was
looking at Tirah's name spelled out in all capital letters, and he
gave a very good guess at the letters. T-I-R-A-H according to him
was T-T-K-W-6. Maybe I'm really reaching here, as the proud father
of a two-year-old, but I could see where he was coming from: An "I"
does look a bit like a "T". An "R" does look a bit like a "K". And
an "A" has the same slanting lines as a "W". I don't know where the
"6" came from for an "H".
Thea has been developing some fun new skills. She has learned to
draw faces. It's basically a circle with two dots for eyes, one dot
for a nose, and a squiggly line for a mouth, but it's no accident...
it's very intentionally a face for her. And it makes sense to me
that she, as a feminine being, would first learn to draw faces: the
contact point for relationships. Cirdan will probably be drawing
trucks first.
Thea has also been getting very good at learning harmony to songs,
and holding that harmony, while we sing the melody! Sometimes at
night, when Tirah and I sing lullabies to the kids, we'll start to
get hints of three-part harmony. It's exciting to think that in
several years, our little foursome of a family will be able to sing
four part harmony!
Here are some funny phrases that our kids use: "A bit while." For
example: "Papa, could we go outside for a bit while?"
Another funny phrase that has recently come into use is "Here's the
problem..." Thea is turning into quite the little negotiator:
Thea: "Papa, I want to go outside."
Solomon: "Thea, we can't go outside right now, because it's raining."
Thea: "Well... here's the problem... I WANT to go outside!"
Oh... that's a good point... well if you put it that way... I'll see
what I can do...
Well, Tirah and I are now done our 8 week Marriage Support Group with
Lori and John Odhner, down in Bryn Athyn. And we are very sad to be
done, because it was a) very valuable, and 2) a lot of fun! But we
are very excited to start our own Marriage Support Group up here in
Kempton. Hopefully we can start one up within the next month or so.
We had some fun times visiting family this past month. Earlier in
August we took a weekend to go down to the Baltimore Maryland area to
visit with Steve and Galadriel (Tirah's sister), and their kids: Kate
and Genai. We had some great conversations and just plain good
fun. Later in the month, Tirah's youngest sister Geneva came to
stay with us for about a week and a half before she went down to Bryn
Athyn for her senior year of high school. That was a lot of fun
too, and wonderful for me to be able to get some much needed work
done, while Thea and Cirdan got to play with their aunt.
We then went down to Bryn Athyn early in September to get a brief
visit in with Pop Echols, Jori, Abby, Nils and 'Neva. And though it
was brief, it was really nice.
Well, this has been the season for houses! I know of three of my
relatives who are buying and moving into new houses in the next month
or two. My cousin Mandy and her husband Jack just bought a house.
Tirah's sister Eli and his wife Nicola just bought a house down in
Atlanta. And my sister Roxanne and her husband Peter just bought a
house up here in Kempton! We are especially excited about Peter
and Roxanne moving up here to Kempton. It means that my whole
immediate family will live in the same area... something that not
many families desire, but that we love. Roxanne and I will be able
to work on our flute and piano album more easily. Peter and I will
be able to work on the music business more easily. And instead of
driving over an hour to visit with them, they'll be 15 or so minutes
away!
Tirah has been getting into the busy season up at Hawk Mountain,
which at times can be stressful, but she still very much enjoys her
job there. And we're still loving the schedule of her being home
more. We recently were bold enough to try taking both Thea and
Cirdan on a hike up to North Look-out at Hawk Mountain. It was fun,
but exhausting, and a little nerve-wracking. Thea did pretty well
on the trails, and was able to navigate the rocks with some help.
Cirdan on the other hand is old enough to try tackling the trail, but
young enough that he doesn't know what's best for him. Several
times he tripped over rocks because he glanced away for a second.
We ended up carrying the kids for a lot of the trail (which is where
the "exhausting" comes in), and we determined that Hawk Mountain is
really for ages 3 and up.
This past weekend I was fortunate enough (thanks to the wonderful
generosity of my sister Roxanne, who baby-sat my kids) to go on the
Kempton Men's Weekend, which is entitled "Briar Patch." The
concept and name of "Briar Patch" - which is by Kempton definition: a
Men's Gathering - originally was coined in response to a Kempton
Women's Gathering (which unfortunately hasn't happened in years)
which was entitled "Rose Garden." Some very witty Kemptonite came
up with "Briar Patch" as the masculine version of the "Rose
Garden." This year's Briar Patch, organized by Penn Cooper, was
the second Men's Gathering to occur, in which around 40 men
participated, and we rented a Laurel-like campground. It was a lot
of fun, and I felt very humbled by some of the wisdom of the elder
men in Kempton. The things they were saying rang very true for me.
(It was reassuring to find that most of the men I disagree with in
Kempton are younger men, like me... men who are not in the age of
wisdom.) I also gained a new epiphany about my place in Kempton.
One thing I share with every other man in Kempton (even if it's the
only thing I share with them) is a very strong feeling of the
importance of marriage and family. Even if I disagree with other
Kempton men on the most effective way to have a healthy marriage and
family, at least I can find comfort in knowing that we're striving
for the same goal, and therefore we are on the same team.
The good news in my music business is that I've finished recording my
next solo piano album entitled "Peace of Heaven." You can listen to
2 minute samples of the first 7 pieces on the album by going to
http://www.solomonkeal.com/music.html. Now I have to finish
mastering, and creating the album cover and liner notes. I'm still
selling pre-orders for this album, for only $13.00. Send me an email
if you're interested. Also, for anyone in the B.A. area, I'll be
playing background music for the Glencairn Open Sunday on October
1st. There's also a slight chance that I might get to play in a
musical Christmas event at the Mitchel Performing Arts Center in Bryn
Athyn in December some time. Stay tuned for more info to come later.
Well, that all folks!
Have a wonderful day, and may the Lord bless your lives!
- Solomon, Tirah, Thea and Cirdan Keal.
Keal Family Letter, August 2006
Hello Friends and Family. Happy August to you all!
We had a wonderful July here at the Keal household. Tirah's new job as the Bookstore Manager at Hawk Mountain is going really well. She's really enjoying the work, and I think she will be a wonderful asset to the Mountain. Though it's been stressful at times over the month (hiring new helpers, learning new tasks), over-all it's been wonderful for her, and for us having her around more. After about a month working there, she's starting to feel more prepared for the Fall season, which is the busy season up at Hawk Mountain.
At the beginning of July we started potty training Thea, and fortunately this time it's working. We had tried once a while ago, but it was met with resistance after the first few times. This time, at age 3 and 1/2, she finally seems ready. I think she's been loving the independence it gives her. We decided to just jump right into it, so one day (a Sunday I believe), we took her out of diapers, and put her in underpants, and hoped for the best. She had about a week of accidents here and there, and then she got it. We've had several weeks now of an accident-free, proud to be three, independent little girl. She still wears diapers when she sleeps, but in a week or two, we'll be moving her out of her crib and into a "Big Girl Bed," which she is very excited about. Then we'll try to teach her that she can climb out of bed to use the potty if she has too. Hopefully she won't spend all night in the bathroom!
Cirdan has been a bit jealous of all this attention paid out to Thea. He always insists on coming upstairs with me and Thea, whenever she has to use the bathroom. I knew he was feeling a bit left-out when I went into the kid's room to check on Cirdan, and found him curled up in Thea's crib, sucking on her binky! A few days later, after a particularly long bathroom episode, Thea and I went looking for Cirdan, and found him asleep on me and Tirah's bed! But though I know he feels jealous at times, I think most of the time, he just likes to get in on the action, and often he comes running into the bathroom singing, "I'm proud of you, so proud of you, I hope that you're as proud as I am..." although it comes out sounding more like, "I poud a you, so poud a you, Ah ho dat you a poud a ah am..."
This potty training thing is certainly a good test of my patience. There have been days when - during the waking hours - Thea has gone to the bathroom every half an hour... and she usually takes 15 minutes to do the whole process! (She loves washing her hands. It seems like for her, washing hands is the equivalent of a massage.) Anyway, I end up spending half of the kid's waking hours sitting on the edge of the bathtub, resting my head in my hands, trying to remind myself why parenting is so fulfilling!
Cirdan is developing quite the imagination, and thirst for knowledge. His favorite phrase right now is, "What's that?" I'm going to guess that I hear that phrase around 200 times a day. It is simultaneously tiring and thrilling to hear it that much. It's wonderful to see his curiosity, and his drive to learn! What an amazing creation little children's brains are. He soaks up information like a little pink sponge. When I'm in a good mood, I love to do my best to answer each and every question the best that I can, because I know that I can make a big difference, not only in what he learns, but in how he views the learning process later in life. I love to think that one of the best things I can do as a parent is to nurture the thirst for knowledge.
It's fun to watch Cirdan's imagination. Both he and Thea love to play in their little toy kitchen. Often times they will bring me little toy cups of some imaginary beverage which I absolutely love. The other day I heard lots of activity going on in their little kitchen, and then the little voice of Cirdan yelling across the room to me, "Papa! Pancakes are ready!"
Since Tirah started working at Hawk Mountain, I've taken the kids up there a few times, and we've walked the trails a little bit. The Hawk Mountain Sanctuary building is on one side of the road, and the trails are on the other side of the road, so we had the opportunity to teach the kids a little more about roads, and how you have to watch for cars coming. A short time after one of those trips up to the Mountain, the kids were playing in the living room, pushing their little strollers around. At one point amid the hustle and bustle of little feet and little wheels, Cirdan stopped his stroller, and yelled out, "Car Coming!" He then slowly turned his head from side to side, and after the car (which I couldn't see) passed, he rushed off again.
Tirah and I have had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of a Lori and John Odhner Marriage Support Group for the last four weeks. It's an eight week support group, so we're half way done. It takes place in Bryn Athyn, every Wednesday night, so it's a bit of a trek for us every week. But as we discussed in the first meeting, it's unfortunate that our culture doesn't support the idea of spending as much energy on our marriages, as we do on dating, courting, and the proposal. And I used to drive down to Bryn Athyn every weekend when Tirah and I were dating, so it's perfectly reasonable to spend the same amount of energy (and gas money) on our marriage today!
It's been a wonderful way to connect with each other every week, as well as a great opportunity to meet other couples and support, and be supported by, them. We've learned some valuable exercises that we have already begun to apply to our marriage, and share with others. Healthy marriage is a very important thing for both Tirah and I, and we've been discovering more and more that we think it will play a bigger and bigger part in our lives, and even possibly our occupations, further down the road. We would love to become marriage counselors at some point. So we've now consciously made that a goal in our lives, and decided to set aside money for marriage education.
So when this marriage support group is over, we hope to start one of our own up here in Kempton, which is severely lacking on that sort of thing. There is a marriage doctrinal class here in Kempton, but that's a very different thing from a marriage support group. The doctrinal class is like reading and talking about climbing a mountain, while a marriage support group is like actually starting to climb that mountain. It's the good that compliments the truth of a doctrinal class.
And the nice thing is that, while it's usually a minister that runs a doctrinal class, any married couple could start up a marriage support group. So that is another one of our goals, probably for early next year. Lori and John are excited to have us start one up here too.
One of the things that we talked about in our marriage support group was an idea that Lori and John came up with called the Marriage Badge. Lori had a few of her boys go through the Boyscout program, and she was impressed by how much of a support group it was for young men. So she thought we could borrow a few ideas from them, and she came up with the idea of a married couple setting up goals for themselves, and if they accomplished those goals, they would earn a Marriage Badge, and get the support of other married couples along the way. (And they could even work their way up to Eagle Spouse!)
So the Marriage Badge that Tirah and I are working on right now is our Music Badge. We haven't really done music together since before Thea was born, and yet that is a huge love for both of us; part of us falling in love with each other; and something that brings us closer together. It's sad how often the tasks of daily life take us away from the person we're living right next to. So we set some goals for ourselves: having a weekly music night for the two of us, performing for our marriage support group, producing a CD of our love songs, and organizing another concert. It's been very fulfilling so far!
Speaking of music, Tirah and I have also been independently getting back into regular music times. Now that Tirah doesn't work evenings, she's been able to get to go to choir more often. And I've been a part of a men's a cappella group. Actually our a cappella group is planning on releasing a Christmas CD as a fund raiser for our church. So that's a lot of fun.
I'm still recording my next album, "Peace of Heaven." You can now pre-order it, for only $13.00 (as opposed to the regular price of $15.00). Send me an email if you want to pre-order. As always you can learn more at my website (http://www.solomonkeal.com), or by subscribing to my music newsletter.
Have a great day everybody, and if you're in the Northern Hemisphere... stay cool!
Love,
Solomon (Husband, Father, Musician)
Tirah (Wife, Mother, Bookstore Manager)
Thea (Potty-trained independent big girl)
Cirdan (Inquisitive little tyke)
We had a wonderful July here at the Keal household. Tirah's new job as the Bookstore Manager at Hawk Mountain is going really well. She's really enjoying the work, and I think she will be a wonderful asset to the Mountain. Though it's been stressful at times over the month (hiring new helpers, learning new tasks), over-all it's been wonderful for her, and for us having her around more. After about a month working there, she's starting to feel more prepared for the Fall season, which is the busy season up at Hawk Mountain.
At the beginning of July we started potty training Thea, and fortunately this time it's working. We had tried once a while ago, but it was met with resistance after the first few times. This time, at age 3 and 1/2, she finally seems ready. I think she's been loving the independence it gives her. We decided to just jump right into it, so one day (a Sunday I believe), we took her out of diapers, and put her in underpants, and hoped for the best. She had about a week of accidents here and there, and then she got it. We've had several weeks now of an accident-free, proud to be three, independent little girl. She still wears diapers when she sleeps, but in a week or two, we'll be moving her out of her crib and into a "Big Girl Bed," which she is very excited about. Then we'll try to teach her that she can climb out of bed to use the potty if she has too. Hopefully she won't spend all night in the bathroom!
Cirdan has been a bit jealous of all this attention paid out to Thea. He always insists on coming upstairs with me and Thea, whenever she has to use the bathroom. I knew he was feeling a bit left-out when I went into the kid's room to check on Cirdan, and found him curled up in Thea's crib, sucking on her binky! A few days later, after a particularly long bathroom episode, Thea and I went looking for Cirdan, and found him asleep on me and Tirah's bed! But though I know he feels jealous at times, I think most of the time, he just likes to get in on the action, and often he comes running into the bathroom singing, "I'm proud of you, so proud of you, I hope that you're as proud as I am..." although it comes out sounding more like, "I poud a you, so poud a you, Ah ho dat you a poud a ah am..."
This potty training thing is certainly a good test of my patience. There have been days when - during the waking hours - Thea has gone to the bathroom every half an hour... and she usually takes 15 minutes to do the whole process! (She loves washing her hands. It seems like for her, washing hands is the equivalent of a massage.) Anyway, I end up spending half of the kid's waking hours sitting on the edge of the bathtub, resting my head in my hands, trying to remind myself why parenting is so fulfilling!
Cirdan is developing quite the imagination, and thirst for knowledge. His favorite phrase right now is, "What's that?" I'm going to guess that I hear that phrase around 200 times a day. It is simultaneously tiring and thrilling to hear it that much. It's wonderful to see his curiosity, and his drive to learn! What an amazing creation little children's brains are. He soaks up information like a little pink sponge. When I'm in a good mood, I love to do my best to answer each and every question the best that I can, because I know that I can make a big difference, not only in what he learns, but in how he views the learning process later in life. I love to think that one of the best things I can do as a parent is to nurture the thirst for knowledge.
It's fun to watch Cirdan's imagination. Both he and Thea love to play in their little toy kitchen. Often times they will bring me little toy cups of some imaginary beverage which I absolutely love. The other day I heard lots of activity going on in their little kitchen, and then the little voice of Cirdan yelling across the room to me, "Papa! Pancakes are ready!"
Since Tirah started working at Hawk Mountain, I've taken the kids up there a few times, and we've walked the trails a little bit. The Hawk Mountain Sanctuary building is on one side of the road, and the trails are on the other side of the road, so we had the opportunity to teach the kids a little more about roads, and how you have to watch for cars coming. A short time after one of those trips up to the Mountain, the kids were playing in the living room, pushing their little strollers around. At one point amid the hustle and bustle of little feet and little wheels, Cirdan stopped his stroller, and yelled out, "Car Coming!" He then slowly turned his head from side to side, and after the car (which I couldn't see) passed, he rushed off again.
Tirah and I have had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of a Lori and John Odhner Marriage Support Group for the last four weeks. It's an eight week support group, so we're half way done. It takes place in Bryn Athyn, every Wednesday night, so it's a bit of a trek for us every week. But as we discussed in the first meeting, it's unfortunate that our culture doesn't support the idea of spending as much energy on our marriages, as we do on dating, courting, and the proposal. And I used to drive down to Bryn Athyn every weekend when Tirah and I were dating, so it's perfectly reasonable to spend the same amount of energy (and gas money) on our marriage today!
It's been a wonderful way to connect with each other every week, as well as a great opportunity to meet other couples and support, and be supported by, them. We've learned some valuable exercises that we have already begun to apply to our marriage, and share with others. Healthy marriage is a very important thing for both Tirah and I, and we've been discovering more and more that we think it will play a bigger and bigger part in our lives, and even possibly our occupations, further down the road. We would love to become marriage counselors at some point. So we've now consciously made that a goal in our lives, and decided to set aside money for marriage education.
So when this marriage support group is over, we hope to start one of our own up here in Kempton, which is severely lacking on that sort of thing. There is a marriage doctrinal class here in Kempton, but that's a very different thing from a marriage support group. The doctrinal class is like reading and talking about climbing a mountain, while a marriage support group is like actually starting to climb that mountain. It's the good that compliments the truth of a doctrinal class.
And the nice thing is that, while it's usually a minister that runs a doctrinal class, any married couple could start up a marriage support group. So that is another one of our goals, probably for early next year. Lori and John are excited to have us start one up here too.
One of the things that we talked about in our marriage support group was an idea that Lori and John came up with called the Marriage Badge. Lori had a few of her boys go through the Boyscout program, and she was impressed by how much of a support group it was for young men. So she thought we could borrow a few ideas from them, and she came up with the idea of a married couple setting up goals for themselves, and if they accomplished those goals, they would earn a Marriage Badge, and get the support of other married couples along the way. (And they could even work their way up to Eagle Spouse!)
So the Marriage Badge that Tirah and I are working on right now is our Music Badge. We haven't really done music together since before Thea was born, and yet that is a huge love for both of us; part of us falling in love with each other; and something that brings us closer together. It's sad how often the tasks of daily life take us away from the person we're living right next to. So we set some goals for ourselves: having a weekly music night for the two of us, performing for our marriage support group, producing a CD of our love songs, and organizing another concert. It's been very fulfilling so far!
Speaking of music, Tirah and I have also been independently getting back into regular music times. Now that Tirah doesn't work evenings, she's been able to get to go to choir more often. And I've been a part of a men's a cappella group. Actually our a cappella group is planning on releasing a Christmas CD as a fund raiser for our church. So that's a lot of fun.
I'm still recording my next album, "Peace of Heaven." You can now pre-order it, for only $13.00 (as opposed to the regular price of $15.00). Send me an email if you want to pre-order. As always you can learn more at my website (http://www.solomonkeal.com), or by subscribing to my music newsletter.
Have a great day everybody, and if you're in the Northern Hemisphere... stay cool!
Love,
Solomon (Husband, Father, Musician)
Tirah (Wife, Mother, Bookstore Manager)
Thea (Potty-trained independent big girl)
Cirdan (Inquisitive little tyke)
Keal Family Letter, July 2006
Hello Friends and Family. Happy July to you all!
Surprise, surprise... Tirah has a new job! (Didn't I just tell you that?) The continuing adventures of Tirah's career: Not long after Tirah started settling into her new promotion at Jo-Ann Fabrics, she got a call from Hawk Mountain asking if she was interested in interviewing for the Book Store Manager position. She said yes... interviewed... and got the job! Here's the back-story:
Tirah worked up at Hawk Mountain, off and on, as the Assistant Book Store Manager, for the past few years. She stopped after the Fall of 2004. Just after that, the Book Store Manager (a good friend of ours named Scott Davis) quit... coincidentally to go back home and be a Mr. Mom like me. As he left, Scott recommended to the director of Hawk Mountain that Tirah would be the best person to fill his shoes. The director didn't hire a new Book Store Manager right away because he wanted to re-evaluate the book store entirely. But finally after many months, he was ready to hire. We got the call just after Tirah got her promotion at Jo-Ann Fabrics. It caught us by surprise because we had sort of forgotten about the possibility. Tirah was one of several people interviewing for the job. After a few days we got a call saying that they had narrowed it down to two people: Tirah and somebody else. The director was going to call references. Finally, about the middle of June, we got the call saying that Tirah got the job!
It's a much better situation for us. Here's the comparison:
1. Hawk Mountain is 15 minutes away... Jo-Ann is 45 minutes away.
2. The commute to Hawk Mountain is through rural Kempton... the commute to Jo-Ann is through rush-hour highway traffic.
3. Hawk Mountain is an 8 hour work day... Jo-Ann is a 9 hour work day.
4. Hawk Mountain has regular hours: 9-5-ish... Jo-Ann was a flexible schedule (we could never plan our social life very easily)
5. At Hawk Mountain, Tirah will be home every night for dinner... at Jo-Ann, Tirah often got home at 10:30 at night, and sometimes had to be at work at 6:00 in the morning. It messed up all our schedules: social, home, sleeping, etc.
6. Hawk Mountain is better suited to Tirah's talents: friendly customer service... her promotion at Jo-Ann meant more paper-work and less customer service.
7. Hawk Mountain is much better pay, even than her promotion at Jo-Ann Fabrics.
8. Hawk Mountain has a nicer work environment, such as windows (for looking outside)... no windows at Jo-Ann Fabrics.
9. Hawk Mountain is a nicer business model: non-profit... Jo-Ann is a corporate retail franchise.
10. Tirah's boss at Jo-Ann (one of the people she got along with best) is also leaving.
11. Except for the Fall, Tirah will likely have two days off in a row every week... at Jo-Ann she rarely got two days off in a row.
12. It sounds like some of the benefits are better, such as vacation time. (We haven't been on vacation since before Thea was born... it will be nice to maybe get the chance soon.)
13. It's close enough that I can drive her to work when I need the car. She might even be able to car-pool with my dad.
I can think of one down-side right now, which is that the health insurance is so expensive that we can only afford Tirah. So me and the kids will have to find our own health insurance. But even after paying for health insurance for me and the kids out of pocket, Tirah is still making more money. Plus, I can get discounted health insurance through some of my music contacts.
Right now, Tirah is stuck in a crazy, messed up scheduling pattern... she's in the middle of working 10 days straight! As you can imagine, she's very tired. The schedule at Jo-Ann got mixed up and she had to work the last 4 days there, right before she works 6 days at Hawk Mountain. So she's working June 29th to July 8th without a break! She's amazing. It will be 10 days in a row, broken up between two different jobs... but the excitement of the new job will probably be off-set by the stress of learning the new job. She's a trooper!
Tirah and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on June 24th. Well, actually we celebrated all weekend! Tirah managed to get that whole weekend off. Here's what we did: On Friday night (June 23rd), after Tirah got home from work, we went out to dinner, and then did some shopping for the weekend. We bought the ingredients for the picnic lunch that was "our thing" while we were dating. It consisted of chicken, a baguette (long french bread), and some nice cheese like Armenian string cheese, or fresh mozzarella. We also bought some Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider, and some yummy sugar-free desserts. All of that was to be saved for a candle-light dinner at home on our anniversary. We then went and bought a book about marriage that we'd been wanting to read.
On Saturday, the 24th, we grabbed the kids and drove off to the North Museum in Lancaster. It's a hands-on, designed-for-kids, science and natural history museum, complete with a planetarium. Thanks for the membership Abby! We all had a great time there. We then had a family picnic lunch in a nearby park, and then drove home as the kids napped in the car. The rest of the day was normal, until after the kids went to bed, when we had our candle-light dinner.
On Sunday, after reading and praying together, we got up and put on our wedding clothes, and took some pictures of us and the kids. After the kids went down for their naps, we took off for Bryn Athyn to go to Brian Smith and Janine Gladish's wedding. Going to a wedding, especially without kids, is a wonderful way to celebrate one's anniversary. We had lots of fun, and we even got to dance at the reception.
On June 13th, Cirdan turned two. We had a nice, little party with just family. He got some books, and a soccer (football) shirt that Tirah made. And then we let the kids have some chocolate cake. They don't eat cake very often, and we certainly paid the price that night (it was a long night), but hey, it was a birthday party!
Thea and Cirdan continue to amaze us as we watch them grow up. A few days ago, Thea was frustrated and sad over something I told her she couldn't do. Refusing sympathy from me, she stood in the middle of the kitchen floor, crying. Now, to back up a bit, the kids have been having a lot of fun lately playing with balloons. They're great toys for kids: they're slow enough that they can learn motor skills more easily, and they're light enough that they don't cause a lot of collateral damage. Thea and Cirdan each had their own balloon; Thea's was red, and Cirdan's was blue; and they had been feeling very possessive over their balloons and fighting about it all morning. Well, as Thea stood there crying in the kitchen, I saw Cirdan slowly walk towards her with his blue balloon. He then handed her his balloon! She was too sad to take it, so he dropped it and slowly (almost as if he knew this might back-fire) reached out his short little arms to give her a sympathetic hug. Thankfully, Thea didn't respond by hitting him (which she often does), but accepted the comfort from her two year old sibling. He then, slowly, reached his little head towards Thea's and gave her a little toddler kiss... which she also did not object to. And Cirdan didn't give up until - wonder of wonders - he actually helped to mend Thea's bad mood!
Tirah and I have been reading a parenting book recently called, "Children are from Heaven," (by the same author as "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.") and this little story was certainly a nice example of that. Children are driven so much by emotion (much more so that adults), and a lot of the time, that emotion is selfishness. This is normal and natural, but it is so nice to see those moments when the fact that "children are from heaven" really shines through, and they astound us with signs of heavenly selflessness.
Thea is amazingly perceptive. She notices things, especially relationships and other people-related concepts. The other day, during a meal at the kitchen table, Thea amazed us by calling my dad, "Ian." We didn't think she knew that his name was anything other than "Dee-Daw." Not to mention that fact that she seemed to understand the complicated distinction between someone's name and someone's title. Just to be sure, my mom started asking her questions:
"Thea, do you know what Dee-Daw's name is?"
She replied, "Ian!"
"Do you know what Mee-Maw's name is?"
"Wellesley!" (perfectly pronounced, no less!)
"Do you know what Papa's name is?"
"Solomon!"
"Do you know what Mama's name is?"
"Sweety!"
And there's where her understanding broke down slightly, though understandably so; as I call Tirah "Sweety," much more often than I call her by her actually name. It is certainly very cute to think that Thea thinks that Tirah's name is "Sweety." I know she's heard me call Tirah, "Tirah," occasionally. Perhaps she thinks "Tirah" is another title: "Sweety, my Tirah." or "Sweety, Papa's Tirah." The minds of children are so fascinating!
Well, I have been a Stay-at-home Dad, a Mr. Mom, a Full-Time Parent, for a whole year now... and I'm loving it. Tirah and I are both loving the roles that we're in right now. It's funny how switching from the stereotypical or traditional roles of husband/father and wife/mother, has actually helped us to become a better husband/father and a better wife/mother. Since Tirah has been working outside of the home, she's been forced to make the best of her time with the kids, and though the time is less, the quality is better. She's been able to get an objective view of the things that really matter to her, and a chance to support her true feminine qualities. The same is true for me. Since I've been the stay-at-home parent, I've been able to focus more on my career goals, and thus pursue and encourage true masculine qualities in me, that were dormant while I was working outside of the home, and focused merely on bringing home a paycheck. The kids are getting a more balanced parenting environment, with a father who is very present. And walking a mile in each other's shoes has certainly improved our marriage. We understand each other more, and resent each other less. It's been wonderful to see the Lord's hand in the strange and wonderful path that is our life.
My music business is still moving forward. I'm recording my next album, and you can now pre-order it. For more news, check out the News page of my website (http://www.solomonkeal.com/news.html), or subscribe to my music newsletter.
Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan Keal.
Surprise, surprise... Tirah has a new job! (Didn't I just tell you that?) The continuing adventures of Tirah's career: Not long after Tirah started settling into her new promotion at Jo-Ann Fabrics, she got a call from Hawk Mountain asking if she was interested in interviewing for the Book Store Manager position. She said yes... interviewed... and got the job! Here's the back-story:
Tirah worked up at Hawk Mountain, off and on, as the Assistant Book Store Manager, for the past few years. She stopped after the Fall of 2004. Just after that, the Book Store Manager (a good friend of ours named Scott Davis) quit... coincidentally to go back home and be a Mr. Mom like me. As he left, Scott recommended to the director of Hawk Mountain that Tirah would be the best person to fill his shoes. The director didn't hire a new Book Store Manager right away because he wanted to re-evaluate the book store entirely. But finally after many months, he was ready to hire. We got the call just after Tirah got her promotion at Jo-Ann Fabrics. It caught us by surprise because we had sort of forgotten about the possibility. Tirah was one of several people interviewing for the job. After a few days we got a call saying that they had narrowed it down to two people: Tirah and somebody else. The director was going to call references. Finally, about the middle of June, we got the call saying that Tirah got the job!
It's a much better situation for us. Here's the comparison:
1. Hawk Mountain is 15 minutes away... Jo-Ann is 45 minutes away.
2. The commute to Hawk Mountain is through rural Kempton... the commute to Jo-Ann is through rush-hour highway traffic.
3. Hawk Mountain is an 8 hour work day... Jo-Ann is a 9 hour work day.
4. Hawk Mountain has regular hours: 9-5-ish... Jo-Ann was a flexible schedule (we could never plan our social life very easily)
5. At Hawk Mountain, Tirah will be home every night for dinner... at Jo-Ann, Tirah often got home at 10:30 at night, and sometimes had to be at work at 6:00 in the morning. It messed up all our schedules: social, home, sleeping, etc.
6. Hawk Mountain is better suited to Tirah's talents: friendly customer service... her promotion at Jo-Ann meant more paper-work and less customer service.
7. Hawk Mountain is much better pay, even than her promotion at Jo-Ann Fabrics.
8. Hawk Mountain has a nicer work environment, such as windows (for looking outside)... no windows at Jo-Ann Fabrics.
9. Hawk Mountain is a nicer business model: non-profit... Jo-Ann is a corporate retail franchise.
10. Tirah's boss at Jo-Ann (one of the people she got along with best) is also leaving.
11. Except for the Fall, Tirah will likely have two days off in a row every week... at Jo-Ann she rarely got two days off in a row.
12. It sounds like some of the benefits are better, such as vacation time. (We haven't been on vacation since before Thea was born... it will be nice to maybe get the chance soon.)
13. It's close enough that I can drive her to work when I need the car. She might even be able to car-pool with my dad.
I can think of one down-side right now, which is that the health insurance is so expensive that we can only afford Tirah. So me and the kids will have to find our own health insurance. But even after paying for health insurance for me and the kids out of pocket, Tirah is still making more money. Plus, I can get discounted health insurance through some of my music contacts.
Right now, Tirah is stuck in a crazy, messed up scheduling pattern... she's in the middle of working 10 days straight! As you can imagine, she's very tired. The schedule at Jo-Ann got mixed up and she had to work the last 4 days there, right before she works 6 days at Hawk Mountain. So she's working June 29th to July 8th without a break! She's amazing. It will be 10 days in a row, broken up between two different jobs... but the excitement of the new job will probably be off-set by the stress of learning the new job. She's a trooper!
Tirah and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on June 24th. Well, actually we celebrated all weekend! Tirah managed to get that whole weekend off. Here's what we did: On Friday night (June 23rd), after Tirah got home from work, we went out to dinner, and then did some shopping for the weekend. We bought the ingredients for the picnic lunch that was "our thing" while we were dating. It consisted of chicken, a baguette (long french bread), and some nice cheese like Armenian string cheese, or fresh mozzarella. We also bought some Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider, and some yummy sugar-free desserts. All of that was to be saved for a candle-light dinner at home on our anniversary. We then went and bought a book about marriage that we'd been wanting to read.
On Saturday, the 24th, we grabbed the kids and drove off to the North Museum in Lancaster. It's a hands-on, designed-for-kids, science and natural history museum, complete with a planetarium. Thanks for the membership Abby! We all had a great time there. We then had a family picnic lunch in a nearby park, and then drove home as the kids napped in the car. The rest of the day was normal, until after the kids went to bed, when we had our candle-light dinner.
On Sunday, after reading and praying together, we got up and put on our wedding clothes, and took some pictures of us and the kids. After the kids went down for their naps, we took off for Bryn Athyn to go to Brian Smith and Janine Gladish's wedding. Going to a wedding, especially without kids, is a wonderful way to celebrate one's anniversary. We had lots of fun, and we even got to dance at the reception.
On June 13th, Cirdan turned two. We had a nice, little party with just family. He got some books, and a soccer (football) shirt that Tirah made. And then we let the kids have some chocolate cake. They don't eat cake very often, and we certainly paid the price that night (it was a long night), but hey, it was a birthday party!
Thea and Cirdan continue to amaze us as we watch them grow up. A few days ago, Thea was frustrated and sad over something I told her she couldn't do. Refusing sympathy from me, she stood in the middle of the kitchen floor, crying. Now, to back up a bit, the kids have been having a lot of fun lately playing with balloons. They're great toys for kids: they're slow enough that they can learn motor skills more easily, and they're light enough that they don't cause a lot of collateral damage. Thea and Cirdan each had their own balloon; Thea's was red, and Cirdan's was blue; and they had been feeling very possessive over their balloons and fighting about it all morning. Well, as Thea stood there crying in the kitchen, I saw Cirdan slowly walk towards her with his blue balloon. He then handed her his balloon! She was too sad to take it, so he dropped it and slowly (almost as if he knew this might back-fire) reached out his short little arms to give her a sympathetic hug. Thankfully, Thea didn't respond by hitting him (which she often does), but accepted the comfort from her two year old sibling. He then, slowly, reached his little head towards Thea's and gave her a little toddler kiss... which she also did not object to. And Cirdan didn't give up until - wonder of wonders - he actually helped to mend Thea's bad mood!
Tirah and I have been reading a parenting book recently called, "Children are from Heaven," (by the same author as "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.") and this little story was certainly a nice example of that. Children are driven so much by emotion (much more so that adults), and a lot of the time, that emotion is selfishness. This is normal and natural, but it is so nice to see those moments when the fact that "children are from heaven" really shines through, and they astound us with signs of heavenly selflessness.
Thea is amazingly perceptive. She notices things, especially relationships and other people-related concepts. The other day, during a meal at the kitchen table, Thea amazed us by calling my dad, "Ian." We didn't think she knew that his name was anything other than "Dee-Daw." Not to mention that fact that she seemed to understand the complicated distinction between someone's name and someone's title. Just to be sure, my mom started asking her questions:
"Thea, do you know what Dee-Daw's name is?"
She replied, "Ian!"
"Do you know what Mee-Maw's name is?"
"Wellesley!" (perfectly pronounced, no less!)
"Do you know what Papa's name is?"
"Solomon!"
"Do you know what Mama's name is?"
"Sweety!"
And there's where her understanding broke down slightly, though understandably so; as I call Tirah "Sweety," much more often than I call her by her actually name. It is certainly very cute to think that Thea thinks that Tirah's name is "Sweety." I know she's heard me call Tirah, "Tirah," occasionally. Perhaps she thinks "Tirah" is another title: "Sweety, my Tirah." or "Sweety, Papa's Tirah." The minds of children are so fascinating!
Well, I have been a Stay-at-home Dad, a Mr. Mom, a Full-Time Parent, for a whole year now... and I'm loving it. Tirah and I are both loving the roles that we're in right now. It's funny how switching from the stereotypical or traditional roles of husband/father and wife/mother, has actually helped us to become a better husband/father and a better wife/mother. Since Tirah has been working outside of the home, she's been forced to make the best of her time with the kids, and though the time is less, the quality is better. She's been able to get an objective view of the things that really matter to her, and a chance to support her true feminine qualities. The same is true for me. Since I've been the stay-at-home parent, I've been able to focus more on my career goals, and thus pursue and encourage true masculine qualities in me, that were dormant while I was working outside of the home, and focused merely on bringing home a paycheck. The kids are getting a more balanced parenting environment, with a father who is very present. And walking a mile in each other's shoes has certainly improved our marriage. We understand each other more, and resent each other less. It's been wonderful to see the Lord's hand in the strange and wonderful path that is our life.
My music business is still moving forward. I'm recording my next album, and you can now pre-order it. For more news, check out the News page of my website (http://www.solomonkeal.com/news.html), or subscribe to my music newsletter.
Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan Keal.
Keal Family Letter, June 2006
Hello Friends and Family. Happy June to you all!
Our yard is now green again! It's not completely back to normal, but it looks a lot better. We may have to re-seed a couple of areas that didn't quite take, but most of it is green.
Tirah has now settled into her new job as the Operational Team Leader at Jo-Ann Fabrics. It looks like her increase in pay will just about account for the decrease in pay from quitting working for Carl. So our over-all financial life-style will stay about the same. But the biggest benefit will be that Tirah only has one job, and can come home from work, and be done work.
On June 13th, Cirdan will be turning TWO! He is quite the little boy. He loves soccer (or football if you live outside the USA), and spends a good portion of his day running around the house kicking a little ball, and getting pretty good at it. He developed this funny little habit of winding up with the wrong foot. He'll run up to a ball, and swing his left foot back, and then kick the ball with his right foot! It seems to work alright for him, although I think I'd fall flat on my nose if I kicked a ball like that.
His vocabulary increases every day. His latest favorite phrase is "Oh... Yes... Right!" For example: "Hey Cirdan, it's time for you to go into the living room and clean up the Lego!" "Oh... Yes... Right!" Almost as if to say, "Thanks for reminding me Papa, I knew I'd forgotten what I was supposed to be doing." That's pretty much how he responds to anything you tell him. Well... that's not true. He often responds with an emphatic "NO!" He is almost two after all. Cirdan is just entering the Terrible Twos, and Thea has just recently left them. This means that our two children tend to take turns driving us crazy. We have family worship every night before bed, and often times one of our children will be a little angel and participate wonderfully in the worship, while the other one is a complete basket case. And then the very next night it could be the exact reverse. It's almost as if they've worked out their own little schedule: "Hey Cirdan, I was the basket case last night, so tonight it's your turn to be the basket case, and I'll be a good little girl, O.K.?" "Oh... Yes... Right!"
Cirdan is often just a very agreeable little boy. This is usually a very good thing. But sometimes it catches me by surprise. I find it hard to think of ways to punish him, because he loves anything I do. Recently at the dinner table, Cirdan was banging his spoon on the table; something that we try to discourage them from doing. So I said, "Cirdan, if you hit your spoon on the table one more time, I'm going to take your spoon away from you!" Cirdan looked up at me, said "O.K.!" and then slammed his spoon on the table once more. It was almost as if he had said, "You've got yourself a deal Papa! I get to bang my spoon on the table one more time! Thanks so much!" It was hard not to laugh as I took the spoon away from such a content little boy.
A couple of days ago I was sitting in the living room, and the kids were running in and out of the room. After a few minutes, the house was filled with the noise of silence. Any parent will tell you, this is often not a good thing. So I ran into the kitchen to find Cirdan sitting in the middle of the kitchen table, dipping his fingers in the butter dish, and licking to his heart's content. He looked up at me, not with a face full of guilt, but almost as if to say, "Papa! You should try this!" So I pulled him off the table, cleaned his fingers off, put him down, and went back into the living room. But oh, what foolish parents we are! A few minutes later, I heard the same silence fill the air, and sure enough, he was back on the kitchen table licking butter. I often forget that children don't get implied messages. By taking him off the table, I meant to imply that he was not allowed up there. He probably thought I just wanted a go at the butter myself, and since I was bigger... well... survival of the fittest! So as soon as I was gone, all bets were off.
Cirdan has learned the secret of life. We recently watched a funny movie called "Last Holiday," in which there is a great quote that says, "The secret of life is... butter." Cirdan has already figured out the secret of life... at such an early age!
Thea is becoming quite the graceful little girl. She's always loved dancing to music, but recently we've begun to notice how much natural talent she seems to have in the area of dance. She does interpretive dancing to music... at age 3. And it's very good! You can tell, she actually feels the music, and expresses her impression of it in her dancing.
It's always fun hearing the way a little child's mind works by listening to the way they describe things and put together words and phrases. We were driving down a long hill in the car, the other day, and Thea said that she wanted to go down another "Road Slide." Recently we went to Bryn Athyn, and saw where the kid's Aunt Jori works (at Glencairn), and since then, Thea and Cirdan have gotten this impression that the place where people go to work is called a "Castle." We dropped my Dad off at work the other day (at Cabela's) and the kids called it a castle. It was very cute.
Our house has a bit of an ant infestation right now. There are often ants running around on the kitchen floor. Cirdan and Thea find ants to be fascinating, but they don't quite get what they are. I think they think they are little toys. But then even toys are anthropomorphic to little kids. Anyway... the kids were "playing" with an ant on the floor, and they gave it a friendly little swipe, in which they (unintentionally) decapitated the ant. So Thea comes running up to me and says, "Papa, the ant broke! Can you put his head back on?" At their age, they have no concept of death. I don't think they would get it, even if I tried to explain it.
I was thinking the other day about how our children are such strange mixtures of us as parents. At first glance you might get the impression that Thea is a little "Tirah," and Cirdan is a little "Solomon." But you dig a little deeper, and you'll find that Thea is more of a little "Solomon," and Cirdan is more of a little "Tirah." But really, they're a mixture of both of us... for better and worse. Tirah and I are a great example of the phrase "opposites attract." There are so many ways in which we are completely opposites in the way we think, feel, and act. So when you combine opposites in one person... what happens? Well... Thea and Cirdan happen. At times, both Thea and Cirdan can be a wonderful combination of all of our best qualities: thoughtful, socially adept, confident, loving order, yet also joyfully spontaneous. And at other times, they can be a combination of all of our worst qualities: overly sensitive with a temper, obsessive compulsive, selfish, fearful, etc. I guess it all evens out in the wash, and the Lord guides us, as well as our children, towards the combined good in us, and away from the compounded bad.
I was recently noticing how many cousins Thea and Cirdan already have. They have 7 first cousins! Caleb and Garrett, Nathaniel and Malachi, Kate and Genai, and Asher. They also have 4 second cousins: Annicka, Zachery and Daniel Hennigan, and Ingrid Longstaff. As well as 3 sort of "adopted" cousins (close friends of the family): Bethany Genzlinger, and Shanna and Rafe McQueen.
Tirah and I have recently changed our routine a little bit. We used to do our inspirational and meditational readings at night before bed. But we found that we often ended up not really hearing what we were reading, or out-right falling asleep while reading. This is not a good way of dealing with such an important part of life. So we moved our meditation time to the morning, right after we wake up. So now, we wake up, and spend the very first part of our day reading from the Bible, the Writings, or some other spiritual book (or all three), and then we pray. This way we are armed and ready for our day. We can go into each day with some spiritual task, or thought, or goal, as well as having prayed for guidance for the day. We are finding this new routine very valuable and enjoyable. It's also a great time to focus on our marriage.
Lately we are reading a book called "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. You've probably heard of it. We are finding it very useful and inspirational.
Tirah and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary this month. The little angel that is our marriage is leaving toddler-hood, and entering early childhood. We have certainly learned a lot in five years, and we find new ways to love each other, and learn from each other every day.
Speaking of toddler-hood, my music business is still growing. Today I began recording my next solo piano album, "Peace of Heaven." I'm also learning more and more every day about the nature of business, as well as specifically the music business. Once again, I'm so grateful to the Lord, my wife, and all of you, for your help in this dream of mine.
May the Lord bless your lives!
Have a wonderful June!
Love,
The Keals:
Solomon John
Tirah Marie Echols
Thea Clarity
Cirdan Ewan.
Our yard is now green again! It's not completely back to normal, but it looks a lot better. We may have to re-seed a couple of areas that didn't quite take, but most of it is green.
Tirah has now settled into her new job as the Operational Team Leader at Jo-Ann Fabrics. It looks like her increase in pay will just about account for the decrease in pay from quitting working for Carl. So our over-all financial life-style will stay about the same. But the biggest benefit will be that Tirah only has one job, and can come home from work, and be done work.
On June 13th, Cirdan will be turning TWO! He is quite the little boy. He loves soccer (or football if you live outside the USA), and spends a good portion of his day running around the house kicking a little ball, and getting pretty good at it. He developed this funny little habit of winding up with the wrong foot. He'll run up to a ball, and swing his left foot back, and then kick the ball with his right foot! It seems to work alright for him, although I think I'd fall flat on my nose if I kicked a ball like that.
His vocabulary increases every day. His latest favorite phrase is "Oh... Yes... Right!" For example: "Hey Cirdan, it's time for you to go into the living room and clean up the Lego!" "Oh... Yes... Right!" Almost as if to say, "Thanks for reminding me Papa, I knew I'd forgotten what I was supposed to be doing." That's pretty much how he responds to anything you tell him. Well... that's not true. He often responds with an emphatic "NO!" He is almost two after all. Cirdan is just entering the Terrible Twos, and Thea has just recently left them. This means that our two children tend to take turns driving us crazy. We have family worship every night before bed, and often times one of our children will be a little angel and participate wonderfully in the worship, while the other one is a complete basket case. And then the very next night it could be the exact reverse. It's almost as if they've worked out their own little schedule: "Hey Cirdan, I was the basket case last night, so tonight it's your turn to be the basket case, and I'll be a good little girl, O.K.?" "Oh... Yes... Right!"
Cirdan is often just a very agreeable little boy. This is usually a very good thing. But sometimes it catches me by surprise. I find it hard to think of ways to punish him, because he loves anything I do. Recently at the dinner table, Cirdan was banging his spoon on the table; something that we try to discourage them from doing. So I said, "Cirdan, if you hit your spoon on the table one more time, I'm going to take your spoon away from you!" Cirdan looked up at me, said "O.K.!" and then slammed his spoon on the table once more. It was almost as if he had said, "You've got yourself a deal Papa! I get to bang my spoon on the table one more time! Thanks so much!" It was hard not to laugh as I took the spoon away from such a content little boy.
A couple of days ago I was sitting in the living room, and the kids were running in and out of the room. After a few minutes, the house was filled with the noise of silence. Any parent will tell you, this is often not a good thing. So I ran into the kitchen to find Cirdan sitting in the middle of the kitchen table, dipping his fingers in the butter dish, and licking to his heart's content. He looked up at me, not with a face full of guilt, but almost as if to say, "Papa! You should try this!" So I pulled him off the table, cleaned his fingers off, put him down, and went back into the living room. But oh, what foolish parents we are! A few minutes later, I heard the same silence fill the air, and sure enough, he was back on the kitchen table licking butter. I often forget that children don't get implied messages. By taking him off the table, I meant to imply that he was not allowed up there. He probably thought I just wanted a go at the butter myself, and since I was bigger... well... survival of the fittest! So as soon as I was gone, all bets were off.
Cirdan has learned the secret of life. We recently watched a funny movie called "Last Holiday," in which there is a great quote that says, "The secret of life is... butter." Cirdan has already figured out the secret of life... at such an early age!
Thea is becoming quite the graceful little girl. She's always loved dancing to music, but recently we've begun to notice how much natural talent she seems to have in the area of dance. She does interpretive dancing to music... at age 3. And it's very good! You can tell, she actually feels the music, and expresses her impression of it in her dancing.
It's always fun hearing the way a little child's mind works by listening to the way they describe things and put together words and phrases. We were driving down a long hill in the car, the other day, and Thea said that she wanted to go down another "Road Slide." Recently we went to Bryn Athyn, and saw where the kid's Aunt Jori works (at Glencairn), and since then, Thea and Cirdan have gotten this impression that the place where people go to work is called a "Castle." We dropped my Dad off at work the other day (at Cabela's) and the kids called it a castle. It was very cute.
Our house has a bit of an ant infestation right now. There are often ants running around on the kitchen floor. Cirdan and Thea find ants to be fascinating, but they don't quite get what they are. I think they think they are little toys. But then even toys are anthropomorphic to little kids. Anyway... the kids were "playing" with an ant on the floor, and they gave it a friendly little swipe, in which they (unintentionally) decapitated the ant. So Thea comes running up to me and says, "Papa, the ant broke! Can you put his head back on?" At their age, they have no concept of death. I don't think they would get it, even if I tried to explain it.
I was thinking the other day about how our children are such strange mixtures of us as parents. At first glance you might get the impression that Thea is a little "Tirah," and Cirdan is a little "Solomon." But you dig a little deeper, and you'll find that Thea is more of a little "Solomon," and Cirdan is more of a little "Tirah." But really, they're a mixture of both of us... for better and worse. Tirah and I are a great example of the phrase "opposites attract." There are so many ways in which we are completely opposites in the way we think, feel, and act. So when you combine opposites in one person... what happens? Well... Thea and Cirdan happen. At times, both Thea and Cirdan can be a wonderful combination of all of our best qualities: thoughtful, socially adept, confident, loving order, yet also joyfully spontaneous. And at other times, they can be a combination of all of our worst qualities: overly sensitive with a temper, obsessive compulsive, selfish, fearful, etc. I guess it all evens out in the wash, and the Lord guides us, as well as our children, towards the combined good in us, and away from the compounded bad.
I was recently noticing how many cousins Thea and Cirdan already have. They have 7 first cousins! Caleb and Garrett, Nathaniel and Malachi, Kate and Genai, and Asher. They also have 4 second cousins: Annicka, Zachery and Daniel Hennigan, and Ingrid Longstaff. As well as 3 sort of "adopted" cousins (close friends of the family): Bethany Genzlinger, and Shanna and Rafe McQueen.
Tirah and I have recently changed our routine a little bit. We used to do our inspirational and meditational readings at night before bed. But we found that we often ended up not really hearing what we were reading, or out-right falling asleep while reading. This is not a good way of dealing with such an important part of life. So we moved our meditation time to the morning, right after we wake up. So now, we wake up, and spend the very first part of our day reading from the Bible, the Writings, or some other spiritual book (or all three), and then we pray. This way we are armed and ready for our day. We can go into each day with some spiritual task, or thought, or goal, as well as having prayed for guidance for the day. We are finding this new routine very valuable and enjoyable. It's also a great time to focus on our marriage.
Lately we are reading a book called "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. You've probably heard of it. We are finding it very useful and inspirational.
Tirah and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary this month. The little angel that is our marriage is leaving toddler-hood, and entering early childhood. We have certainly learned a lot in five years, and we find new ways to love each other, and learn from each other every day.
Speaking of toddler-hood, my music business is still growing. Today I began recording my next solo piano album, "Peace of Heaven." I'm also learning more and more every day about the nature of business, as well as specifically the music business. Once again, I'm so grateful to the Lord, my wife, and all of you, for your help in this dream of mine.
May the Lord bless your lives!
Have a wonderful June!
Love,
The Keals:
Solomon John
Tirah Marie Echols
Thea Clarity
Cirdan Ewan.
Keal Family Letter, May 2006
Hello Friends and Family. Happy May to you all!
We are slowly reclaiming our yard after the sewage system went in. We've lived with a yard of dirt and mud for many moons now, and finally we are starting to re-brick our paths, and re-seed our lawn. Hopefully by mid-summer, we will have a normally green yard again.
Our big news for this month is that Tirah got a huge promotion at work, at Jo-Ann Fabrics! There is a three-tiered manager hierarchy: there's the main store manager at the top (called the Store Team Leader, or STL), then under her are two other managers, and under them are 3 or 4 other managers or supervisors. Tirah started out on the third level down as the Soft-lines Supervisor. Just recently, one of the managers on the second level quit to go back to school, so a position was left open, and the STL offered it to Tirah!
So now Tirah will be the Operational Team Leader (or OTL), which is a salaried job, and so she will be getting paid a lot more than she was as the Soft-lines Supervisor. She'll have to work a 9 hour day instead of an 8 hour day, but the increase in pay means that we will be able to afford to have her stop working for Carl Smith as his bookkeeper. So now when she comes home from work, she won't have to work for somebody else in her free time. The increase in pay also means that we'll hopefully be able to start hacking away at our debt, and working towards a more healthy financial life. So we're pretty excited about all of that! Tirah will be training for that job this month, and then starting in June!
Some other good news is that our tax return this year will take a huge chunk out of our medical bills debt!
Thea and I just recently got our homeopathic constitutionals done, and we are both going through the ups and downs that accompany that. Hopefully by next month, I'll be able to report that she and I are feeling much better over-all, but right now we are both cranky, tired, and sore.
Cirdan will be turning two next month! Can you believe that? His most recent accomplishment is: actually getting an inch or two of air when he jumps. He's very proud of that. He is an extremely active little boy. He's constantly running, jumping climbing, exploring, digging in the dirt. He's also really started singing a lot more. He can't quite get the right pitches to really sing a melody, but he has a good sense of rhythm.
Thea has mastered the art of holding a melody. Her latest attempt is to learn harmony. She's aware of the fact that the harmony to a song is not the melody, she just hasn't quite found out what it is. She does her best though, and sometimes she will actually find some harmonic notes to what we are singing to her. It's very cute.
Cirdan is old enough now that he and Thea are much more capable of playing games together. They do their fair share of sibling warfare, but they spend a lot of time running around, playing hide and seek, tickling, cooking pretend supper, or just playing some unexplainable kid game that seems to center around lots of giggling.
Here's a funny story: We were sitting around the kitchen table, and Thea was holding a conversation with me and Dee-Daw (my dad), and it went something like this:
Thea: "Papa, tomorrow I'm going to go to work at 8 o'clock."
Dee-daw: "Some of us might still be asleep at 8 o'clock!"
Thea: "We'll see about that Dee-daw!"
Dee-daw: [laughing]
Thea: "I'm funny because I'm a big girl."
As well as being a musician, one of my goals in life is also to write books. I have several ideas in mind. One of which is a book about Christian parenting. It's fun to think that as a stay-at-home dad, I'm doing active research for that book. It's very comforting at times to think about that: [Screaming children] "I'm doing research for my book." [Louder Screaming Children] "I'm Doing Research For My BOOK!"
I'm still working on advancing my music career. Last month I upgraded a lot of things in my studio. I got a new computer (iMac G5), and I upgraded my recording software, and I purchased a new condenser microphone that will be perfect for recording things like vocals and flute. I'm working on finishing the compositions for my next solo piano album (possibly called "Peace of Heaven"), and I have several other recording jobs as well.
This December 1st, I will be performing in my very first Whisperings concert! Check out my website for more details on that. (http://www.solomonkeal.com)
Tirah and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary next month!
Well that's about all for now.
May the Lord bless all your lives!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan
We are slowly reclaiming our yard after the sewage system went in. We've lived with a yard of dirt and mud for many moons now, and finally we are starting to re-brick our paths, and re-seed our lawn. Hopefully by mid-summer, we will have a normally green yard again.
Our big news for this month is that Tirah got a huge promotion at work, at Jo-Ann Fabrics! There is a three-tiered manager hierarchy: there's the main store manager at the top (called the Store Team Leader, or STL), then under her are two other managers, and under them are 3 or 4 other managers or supervisors. Tirah started out on the third level down as the Soft-lines Supervisor. Just recently, one of the managers on the second level quit to go back to school, so a position was left open, and the STL offered it to Tirah!
So now Tirah will be the Operational Team Leader (or OTL), which is a salaried job, and so she will be getting paid a lot more than she was as the Soft-lines Supervisor. She'll have to work a 9 hour day instead of an 8 hour day, but the increase in pay means that we will be able to afford to have her stop working for Carl Smith as his bookkeeper. So now when she comes home from work, she won't have to work for somebody else in her free time. The increase in pay also means that we'll hopefully be able to start hacking away at our debt, and working towards a more healthy financial life. So we're pretty excited about all of that! Tirah will be training for that job this month, and then starting in June!
Some other good news is that our tax return this year will take a huge chunk out of our medical bills debt!
Thea and I just recently got our homeopathic constitutionals done, and we are both going through the ups and downs that accompany that. Hopefully by next month, I'll be able to report that she and I are feeling much better over-all, but right now we are both cranky, tired, and sore.
Cirdan will be turning two next month! Can you believe that? His most recent accomplishment is: actually getting an inch or two of air when he jumps. He's very proud of that. He is an extremely active little boy. He's constantly running, jumping climbing, exploring, digging in the dirt. He's also really started singing a lot more. He can't quite get the right pitches to really sing a melody, but he has a good sense of rhythm.
Thea has mastered the art of holding a melody. Her latest attempt is to learn harmony. She's aware of the fact that the harmony to a song is not the melody, she just hasn't quite found out what it is. She does her best though, and sometimes she will actually find some harmonic notes to what we are singing to her. It's very cute.
Cirdan is old enough now that he and Thea are much more capable of playing games together. They do their fair share of sibling warfare, but they spend a lot of time running around, playing hide and seek, tickling, cooking pretend supper, or just playing some unexplainable kid game that seems to center around lots of giggling.
Here's a funny story: We were sitting around the kitchen table, and Thea was holding a conversation with me and Dee-Daw (my dad), and it went something like this:
Thea: "Papa, tomorrow I'm going to go to work at 8 o'clock."
Dee-daw: "Some of us might still be asleep at 8 o'clock!"
Thea: "We'll see about that Dee-daw!"
Dee-daw: [laughing]
Thea: "I'm funny because I'm a big girl."
As well as being a musician, one of my goals in life is also to write books. I have several ideas in mind. One of which is a book about Christian parenting. It's fun to think that as a stay-at-home dad, I'm doing active research for that book. It's very comforting at times to think about that: [Screaming children] "I'm doing research for my book." [Louder Screaming Children] "I'm Doing Research For My BOOK!"
I'm still working on advancing my music career. Last month I upgraded a lot of things in my studio. I got a new computer (iMac G5), and I upgraded my recording software, and I purchased a new condenser microphone that will be perfect for recording things like vocals and flute. I'm working on finishing the compositions for my next solo piano album (possibly called "Peace of Heaven"), and I have several other recording jobs as well.
This December 1st, I will be performing in my very first Whisperings concert! Check out my website for more details on that. (http://www.solomonkeal.com)
Tirah and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary next month!
Well that's about all for now.
May the Lord bless all your lives!
Love,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan
Keal Family Letter, April 2006
Hello Friends and Family. Spring has arrived in Lenhartsville! We
have been greatly enjoying the beautiful warm weather here. It has
done wonders for our health, both physical and mental. The flowers are
blooming in our yard, and we've been able to go on walks again. We all
have a tiny bit of sunburn, but it's a good kind of pain, like after a
good exercise, or helping somebody move into a new house.
Speaking of a new house, we did some Spring cleaning in our living room
lately, and while doing so, we decided to try rearranging the living
room. There's now much more space, and it's much more functional. If
a Feng Shui expert were to walk through our living room, he might even
nod quietly to himself. I even built a new worship center in the
corner.
Well, after 55 straight days of sickness in our family, we feel that we
can safely say that we are well again! (This month it was the flu.)
The only big stress in our lives at this point is the stress of medical
bills. But even in that, I'm trusting that the Lord will take care of
us. We will deal with it as best we can. Several of our friends and
family have recently blessed us with a monetary gift to help us
through. Many of those friends were anonymous, so if any of them were
you, please know that we are extraordinarily grateful to you!
One of the good things to come from all of this sickness, is that we've
finally gotten on the ball about finding a Homeopathic doctor, and
getting professional Homeopathic care. Mitchel Shapiro actually lives
in Delaware, so it's a bit of a hike, but Tirah and Cirdan have already
seen him, and Thea and I will be seeing him this month. The initial
consultations are somewhat pricey, but phone consultations are very
reasonable. We are very excited about having that become a big part of
our health care.
Cirdan has become quite the little talker lately. He knows so many
words at this point that I can't keep track of them all. He said
"Cucumber" the other day... a perfect pronunciation too!
Cirdan seems to be moving towards the Terrible Twos just as fast as
Thea is moving out of them. It used to be that for evening worship,
Thea would be a basket case, while Cirdan would be happily listening to
the story and singing the songs. Now it's just the opposite. Cirdan
refuses to sit still, while Thea participates wonderfully. I think
part of it is that we've gotten her more involved in worship too. Both
kids now take turns opening and closing the Word, and saying the little
sayings that go with it. Thea loves it! She very gently unwraps the
cloth and opens the Word while saying "Make a joyful noise to the Lord,
all you lands!" It's very cute and wonderful to see. Thea is also
capable of saying the entire Lord's Prayer. Cirdan, in a good mood,
can say some of it. It usually comes out sounding like this:
"Odder....a...a
Vens...a...a...Name....a...a...Come.....a...a....Done....a....a....Urt..
...a....Day...a...Bed...a....a....Detts....a....a.....Dettess.....a....a
....Shun....a....a....Vul.....a....Dum....a....Tower....a...a...Ver....A
MEN!" It is wonderfully cute!
Tirah is still working as a manger at Jo-Ann Fabrics, as well as being
Carl Smith's bookkeeper. She works long and hard. She is amazingly
devoted to our cause. She's the wonderful bread-winner in our house.
I'm sure many of you have seen the wonderful movie: "March of the
Penguins," narrated by Morgan Freeman. For those that haven't seen it,
it describes and portrays the amazing seasonal lifestyles of the
Emperor Penguins in Antarctica. They all come out of the sea and begin
an incredibly long march towards a spot that they all know, where they
mate and raise their baby penguins. They are seasonly monogamous, and
make for very cute little families. The amazing thing being that after
the egg is produced, the mother penguin gives it to the father penguin,
and then she goes back to the sea to eat, while the father penguin
takes care of the egg until it hatches. Throughout the early life of
the chick, the father and mother take turns being the "bread-winner"
and the "stay-at-home parent."
We can very much relate to this sort of lifestyle... we are in it right
now. I used to be the bread-winner. Now it's Tirah's turn, while I
watch the baby penguins. At some point, hopefully when my music
business takes off, I will go back to being the bread-winner, and Tirah
will take a turn being the stay-at-home parent. The wonderful thing
being that it's all part of the incredible journey we're on as a
family; a journey to raise children, improve a marriage, and pursue the
dreams and goals of a useful, purposeful, and passionate life. As
Morgan Freeman said: "In the harshest place on earth, love finds a way.
This is the incredible true story of a family's journey to bring life
into the world."
I've lately been reading a wonderful book called "No More Christian
Nice Guy: when being nice, instead of good, hurts men, women, and
children." by Paul Coughlin. This book was written for me. The idea
behind it is that through various causes, many men in our culture today
have become Christian Nice Guys, or CNG's. A CNG is someone who aims
to please others at the expense of himself. A CNG fears conflict, and
seeks appeasement. A CNG is not a leader, but a follower. A CNG will
never disagree with his wife. A CNG is passive (or even aggressive)
but never assertive. A CNG is humble and self sacrificing because he
is told to be. A CNG will rarely show anger, or love, but he will
make subtle confusing attempts at both. A CNG rarely stands up for
what he believes in. You get the idea. The goal is for men who are
like this to become Christian Good Guys. A CGG is just the opposite
of all these things; he is passionate, fearless, assertive, a leader,
loving, someone who goes on the offensive, while also defending the
things and people he cares about. The book uses the imagery of Jesus
as an example. Jesus was not a Christian Nice Guy. He threw the money
changers out of the temple, He called his disciples "Fools!" Jesus was
a radical Who didn't conform to society or peer pressure or what He
knew to be wrong. Jesus was bold, while at the same time merciful.
When Jesus was slapped by one of the Temple guards, He didn't turn the
other cheek, but rather confronted this guard verbally, and basically
exposed him for being merely a bully. We have a wonderful role model
in Jesus Christ, and yet His rugged side is often not proclaimed on the
rooftop. This book has been very useful for me. It is wonderfully
applicable to marriage, parenting, life in the workplace, and life in a
church society and the world at large. I highly recommend it,
especially if any of you men think you can identify in any way with the
Christian Nice Guy mind-set. I know I can. I am currently on the
path to becoming a Christian Good Guy instead.
Some exciting news on the music business front: This month I am a
featured artist on Whisperings Solo Piano Radio
(http://www.solopianoradio.com)! Throughout the month of April, every
Tuesday night at 10:00 PM EST (7:00 PM PST), tune into Whisperings and
you can hear a half hour show of all my music! Pretty cool! Also,
check out my website (http://www.solomonkeal.com); I've given it a bit
of a face-lift.
Well that's about all for now. We hope you are all doing well, and
enjoying the Season of life that you are in.
You are all in our thoughts and prayers. God bless!
Much love from,
The Emperor Penguins:
Solomon - The current adult penguin watching the baby penguins
Tirah - The current adult penguin commuting to the sea to fish and get
food
Solomon and Tirah's marriage - Baby penguin number 1
Thea - Baby penguin number 2
Cirdan - Baby penguin number 3
Solomon's Music Business - Baby penguin number 4
have been greatly enjoying the beautiful warm weather here. It has
done wonders for our health, both physical and mental. The flowers are
blooming in our yard, and we've been able to go on walks again. We all
have a tiny bit of sunburn, but it's a good kind of pain, like after a
good exercise, or helping somebody move into a new house.
Speaking of a new house, we did some Spring cleaning in our living room
lately, and while doing so, we decided to try rearranging the living
room. There's now much more space, and it's much more functional. If
a Feng Shui expert were to walk through our living room, he might even
nod quietly to himself. I even built a new worship center in the
corner.
Well, after 55 straight days of sickness in our family, we feel that we
can safely say that we are well again! (This month it was the flu.)
The only big stress in our lives at this point is the stress of medical
bills. But even in that, I'm trusting that the Lord will take care of
us. We will deal with it as best we can. Several of our friends and
family have recently blessed us with a monetary gift to help us
through. Many of those friends were anonymous, so if any of them were
you, please know that we are extraordinarily grateful to you!
One of the good things to come from all of this sickness, is that we've
finally gotten on the ball about finding a Homeopathic doctor, and
getting professional Homeopathic care. Mitchel Shapiro actually lives
in Delaware, so it's a bit of a hike, but Tirah and Cirdan have already
seen him, and Thea and I will be seeing him this month. The initial
consultations are somewhat pricey, but phone consultations are very
reasonable. We are very excited about having that become a big part of
our health care.
Cirdan has become quite the little talker lately. He knows so many
words at this point that I can't keep track of them all. He said
"Cucumber" the other day... a perfect pronunciation too!
Cirdan seems to be moving towards the Terrible Twos just as fast as
Thea is moving out of them. It used to be that for evening worship,
Thea would be a basket case, while Cirdan would be happily listening to
the story and singing the songs. Now it's just the opposite. Cirdan
refuses to sit still, while Thea participates wonderfully. I think
part of it is that we've gotten her more involved in worship too. Both
kids now take turns opening and closing the Word, and saying the little
sayings that go with it. Thea loves it! She very gently unwraps the
cloth and opens the Word while saying "Make a joyful noise to the Lord,
all you lands!" It's very cute and wonderful to see. Thea is also
capable of saying the entire Lord's Prayer. Cirdan, in a good mood,
can say some of it. It usually comes out sounding like this:
"Odder....a...a
Vens...a...a...Name....a...a...Come.....a...a....Done....a....a....Urt..
...a....Day...a...Bed...a....a....Detts....a....a.....Dettess.....a....a
....Shun....a....a....Vul.....a....Dum....a....Tower....a...a...Ver....A
MEN!" It is wonderfully cute!
Tirah is still working as a manger at Jo-Ann Fabrics, as well as being
Carl Smith's bookkeeper. She works long and hard. She is amazingly
devoted to our cause. She's the wonderful bread-winner in our house.
I'm sure many of you have seen the wonderful movie: "March of the
Penguins," narrated by Morgan Freeman. For those that haven't seen it,
it describes and portrays the amazing seasonal lifestyles of the
Emperor Penguins in Antarctica. They all come out of the sea and begin
an incredibly long march towards a spot that they all know, where they
mate and raise their baby penguins. They are seasonly monogamous, and
make for very cute little families. The amazing thing being that after
the egg is produced, the mother penguin gives it to the father penguin,
and then she goes back to the sea to eat, while the father penguin
takes care of the egg until it hatches. Throughout the early life of
the chick, the father and mother take turns being the "bread-winner"
and the "stay-at-home parent."
We can very much relate to this sort of lifestyle... we are in it right
now. I used to be the bread-winner. Now it's Tirah's turn, while I
watch the baby penguins. At some point, hopefully when my music
business takes off, I will go back to being the bread-winner, and Tirah
will take a turn being the stay-at-home parent. The wonderful thing
being that it's all part of the incredible journey we're on as a
family; a journey to raise children, improve a marriage, and pursue the
dreams and goals of a useful, purposeful, and passionate life. As
Morgan Freeman said: "In the harshest place on earth, love finds a way.
This is the incredible true story of a family's journey to bring life
into the world."
I've lately been reading a wonderful book called "No More Christian
Nice Guy: when being nice, instead of good, hurts men, women, and
children." by Paul Coughlin. This book was written for me. The idea
behind it is that through various causes, many men in our culture today
have become Christian Nice Guys, or CNG's. A CNG is someone who aims
to please others at the expense of himself. A CNG fears conflict, and
seeks appeasement. A CNG is not a leader, but a follower. A CNG will
never disagree with his wife. A CNG is passive (or even aggressive)
but never assertive. A CNG is humble and self sacrificing because he
is told to be. A CNG will rarely show anger, or love, but he will
make subtle confusing attempts at both. A CNG rarely stands up for
what he believes in. You get the idea. The goal is for men who are
like this to become Christian Good Guys. A CGG is just the opposite
of all these things; he is passionate, fearless, assertive, a leader,
loving, someone who goes on the offensive, while also defending the
things and people he cares about. The book uses the imagery of Jesus
as an example. Jesus was not a Christian Nice Guy. He threw the money
changers out of the temple, He called his disciples "Fools!" Jesus was
a radical Who didn't conform to society or peer pressure or what He
knew to be wrong. Jesus was bold, while at the same time merciful.
When Jesus was slapped by one of the Temple guards, He didn't turn the
other cheek, but rather confronted this guard verbally, and basically
exposed him for being merely a bully. We have a wonderful role model
in Jesus Christ, and yet His rugged side is often not proclaimed on the
rooftop. This book has been very useful for me. It is wonderfully
applicable to marriage, parenting, life in the workplace, and life in a
church society and the world at large. I highly recommend it,
especially if any of you men think you can identify in any way with the
Christian Nice Guy mind-set. I know I can. I am currently on the
path to becoming a Christian Good Guy instead.
Some exciting news on the music business front: This month I am a
featured artist on Whisperings Solo Piano Radio
(http://www.solopianoradio.com)! Throughout the month of April, every
Tuesday night at 10:00 PM EST (7:00 PM PST), tune into Whisperings and
you can hear a half hour show of all my music! Pretty cool! Also,
check out my website (http://www.solomonkeal.com); I've given it a bit
of a face-lift.
Well that's about all for now. We hope you are all doing well, and
enjoying the Season of life that you are in.
You are all in our thoughts and prayers. God bless!
Much love from,
The Emperor Penguins:
Solomon - The current adult penguin watching the baby penguins
Tirah - The current adult penguin commuting to the sea to fish and get
food
Solomon and Tirah's marriage - Baby penguin number 1
Thea - Baby penguin number 2
Cirdan - Baby penguin number 3
Solomon's Music Business - Baby penguin number 4
Keal Family Letter, March 2006
Hello Friends and Family. Welcome to our (late) newsletter. I've
been thinking a lot recently about attitudes. I'm actually planning on
writing a book eventually about spiritual attitudes; the spiritual
orientation of the mind. I like to think of myself as having a "glass
if half full" kind of attitude about life. I can't claim to always
have that attitude, but I strive towards it. It's one of my ideals.
Well, this past month has certainly been a test of that attitude in me.
If I didn't have a strong faith in God, this past month would have
been a test of my faith as well, but fortunately I know that the Lord
only allows evil when some good can come out of it. So our real test
is to try to see the good that came out of this past month for us.
So, what happened in the Keal family this past month? I'll start with
all the bad news, and get it off my chest. I'm just going to out-right
complain. Then I'll end with the good news, count my blessings, and
add my take on the "glass if half full" aspects of what was a truly
miserable month for us. (Speaking of writing a book... this email IS
one.)
It all started with Thea getting an ear infection the last week of
January and into the first week of February. She had a fever and an
earache for about a week. Fortunately it cleared up in time for her
birthday party on Saturday the 4th. Needless to say, we all lost a lot
of sleep that week. Sunday was the Super Bowl, and Cirdan came down
with a fever Sunday night. He then had a fever all week, which didn't
get better like Thea's did, it just got worse. Needless to say we all
lost a lot of sleep that week too. We found out later that he must
have had an ear infection too, but he never gave us any signs that his
ear hurt. On Friday morning, we woke up and his left ear was sticking
out perpendicular to the side of his head. So we headed off for the
Emergency Room. This was to be the first ER trip of three for the
month!
In the ER they informed us that Cirdan had what was called Mastoiditis.
Mastoiditis is when an ear infection spreads to the Mastoid bone just
behind the ear. The Mastoid bone is somewhat hollow, so it can easily
fill with puss and develop an infection. The problem with this is that
it's getting really close to the brain. It's a semi-serious condition,
and if it's not halted by antibiotics, it can lead to the need for
surgery, and/or nasty things like Meningitis. So the doctors told as
that we were looking at a minimum of four days in the hospital with
Cirdan.
Cirdan already felt miserable. But now those nasty old doctors decided
to stick a needle into his arm. How do you tell a 1 and 1/2 year old
boy that these people stabbing you are really trying to help you? It
was a very sad day for all of us. The doctors also needed to take a
Cat-Scan to determine how serious his condition was. You may know that
you have to hold absolutely still for a Cat-Scan. Once again try
telling that to a 1 and 1/2 year old boy with a needle stuck in his arm
and a sore ear. "It's O.K. Cirdan, the doctors are strapping you into
this huge torture machine because they want to help you." "Yeah
right!" he's thinking, "I"m not dumb, these people poked in my sore
ear, and stuck a needle in my arm. Nothing good can come out of this
Papa!" Interestingly, what Cirdan went through is an amazing
analogy for what we adults go through when bad things happen in our
lives. Just as Tirah and I were trying to reassure Cirdan that this
scary hospital was ultimately going to help him, the Lord has just as
much trouble trying to comfort us when bad things happen to us. We're
like children in the Lord's eyes. We can't see the big picture like He
can. He knows that a certain bad thing is just temporary compared to
the long term benefit, but we don't know that, and so we struggle with
things like faith and attitudes. This month has been like a needle
stuck in our arm. Right now, all we feel is the pain. We hope and
pray that we'll be able to see the "medicine" being delivered through
that "needle."
Cirdan developed quite the fear of the "People in the White Coats" over
the course of our stay. We had some very nice nurses taking care of
us, but it didn't matter how nice they were to Cirdan because they were
wearing white coats, and that meant bad things. So, we spent 4 days
and 3 nights in the pediatrics ward of the hospital, Friday the 10th
through Monday the 13th. On Monday we were discharged. Tirah
meanwhile was using up her valuable paid-time-off.
Late Monday afternoon we all arrived home. Cirdan was so happy to be
unplugged from the IV, and able to run around. His swollen ear was
mostly back to normal, and he felt much better. Tirah on the other
hand, had picked up some sort of bug in the hospital. Earlier on
Monday morning, before we left, she threw up in the hospital. Cirdan
actually had thrown up too, and we guess that he got the same thing we
had, but his antibiotic probably knocked it out sooner. When we got
home from the hospital, Tirah crashed in bed, while I put the kids to
bed. Half-way through putting the kids to bed, I started getting a
stomach ache too. By 8:30 that night I was throwing up, and had lost
control of my bodily functions. I had never felt such abdominal pain
in my life. Later that night Tirah called the ambulance for me, and
the same day we left the hospital, we were heading back into it. Only
this time it was a different hospital, because the one we had been in
before was closed. (We found out later that that hospital had an
epidemic outbreak of this G.I. bug)
Once in the hospital we waited forever. At least it felt like that.
Being abdominal pain, the doctors had to have my symptoms active in
order to diagnose it, before they could give me pain killers. Finally
they did, and I was able to sleep. While we were there, Tirah admitted
herself too. So Tirah and I spent the early morning of Valentine's Day
side by side on hospital beds. We were discharged by about 7:00 in
the morning on Tuesday. The doctors never really said what it was,
other than that there was a really nasty G.I. (Gastro-Intestinal) bug
going around. I don't think at that point that they knew just how
nasty it was.
I think it was by the end of Tuesday that Thea, my Mom, and my Dad all
came down with it as well. For some reason I got the worst of it
though. I guess I just have a weaker constitution for that sort of
thing. So we were all pretty sick for the week of the 13th through
the 17th. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep that week. Tirah
felt the least sick of all of us, so she got the hard job of taking
care of all of us. Meanwhile using up even more of her paid time off.
Time-off that we were hoping to spend on vacation time.
Fortunately I felt better by Sunday the 19th, and was able to play for
the Bryn Athyn Marriage Conference Dinner. Unfortunately we were
unable to attend the Conference because we were all sick, and we had to
be giving Cirdan his antibiotic all week (which was not that much fun
either). We were pretty upset about missing the Conference. We had
really been looking forward to it.
So I came home Sunday night after playing for the Dinner, to find Tirah
in a lot of pain from a bad earache. It was her birthday. That week
her ear got better and worse and better and worse. On Wednesday the
22nd, we all went into the doctor's office. Cirdan had to have a
follow-up check-up, and Tirah got her ear looked at. The doctor said
that Cirdan looked fine, but Tirah had an antibiotic prescribed for
her. She didn't get it filled right away because she wanted to see if
Homeopathy would heal it.
Cirdan was now done taking his antibiotic. But he then developed a
rash over his whole body. Meanwhile Thea developed a bloated or
distended stomach. So we went back into the doctor's office. The
doctor said that Cirdan's rash was very likely a reaction to the
antibiotic, and he said that Thea's tummy was very possibly her
reaction to the G.I. bug that we all had. Cirdan's rash eventually
cleared up, but he still has a pretty nasty diaper rash, probably a
combination of the antibiotic and the diarrhea. Thea's distended
tummy comes and goes, along with gas and occasional diarrhea.
Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep that week.
But then, Tirah's ear infection got much worse. It started to become
unbearable pain. On Sunday the 26th we filled her perscription. But
the pain kept getting worse. On Monday night (early Tuesday morning)
we drove into the Emergency Room for the third, and hopefully final,
time. This time we waited for almost an hour before getting a pain
killer for her. By the beginning of March she was feeling mostly back
to normal.
The first few days of March we began to think that maybe it was all
over. But then, on Friday night, Cirdan came down with a fever.
Saturday morning we took him into the doctor. His ear infection was
back. So he was going to be back on antibiotics for 5 days. But then
Cirdan's rash came back, and this time it was worse. Then he had a
lethargic episode in the morning on Monday, so we took him into the
doctor AGAIN. This time, they said, "Well he seems to be reacting to
this antibiotic too. We're sort of running out of options here, but
here's another drug to try. I can't promise that he won't react to
this one too." Well, at this point we were fed up. We didn't get
that perscription filled. We decided to get a second opinion.
Tirah's ear infection is still not better yet either. So this Friday,
Tirah and Cirdan have an appointment with Mitch Shapiro, a Homeopath
down near Philadelphia. Hopefully that will help to get us all
healthy again. So far, I'm the only one in my family who hasn't had
an ear infection. I guess that's the thing I have a stronger
constitution for. So the story is still unfinished. We're hoping
that we're nearing the finish line of renewed health.
And if all that wasn't enough, February was the month that we had to
renew both of our driver's licenses (go in and get our photos taken),
and we had to get the oil changed in our car. Not normally distressing
chores, but for this month they were just one more thing. Oh, and the
CD burner in my computer died.
Alright alright... enough complaining! If you've gotten this far in
the email, here's where it gets happier. It's times like these when I
really see the value of being able to live in the present. If I think
too much about the past, I start to feel really sorry for myself. If I
think too much about the future (more sickness? eternal financial
debt?) I worry too much. The present is the only time I can truly
function in, so my prayer is: "Lord, give us this day our daily bread."
So now, let me count my blessings over this past month: Thea was well
for her 3rd birthday! And it was a really fun party, with lots of
family and friends there. I'm thankful that we got to be healthy for
that.
I had to miss most of the Super Bowl, but I managed to see the final
quarter... and the Steelers won! Woohoo! (I'm a huge Steelers fan,
in case you didn't know.)
While, in the hospital, whenever Cirdan managed to fall asleep, Tirah
and I got to watch some of the Winter Olympics in Italy. Something we
wouldn't have been able to do, since we don't have TV at home. That
was fun.
My sister, Tamar, had her second child in, while we were in the
hospital with Cirdan. And though we still haven't been able to see him
(for fear of getting him sick), it's a wonderful event, and we can be
thankful that so far he has not gotten sick. With the birth of
Tamar's second son, we now have an interesting situation in my family:
Thea is the only granddaughter on the Keal side of the family, and
Cirdan is the only grandson on the Echols side of the family. Both my
sisters have two boys. And Steve and Galadriel have two girls. We'll
have to see if Eli and Nicola's baby breaks the pattern, but for now,
Thea remains the favorite granddaughter on the Keal side, and Cirdan
remains the favorite grandson on the Echols side.
Funny story: I was telling Thea that her Aunt Tamar had a new baby; a
concept that she got without too much effort. I then went off on a
long-winded explanation about where babies come from, in which I tried
to appeal to Thea's amazing understanding and comprehension, while
still being appropriate for a 3 year old. Obviously I failed because
when I was done, Thea paused for a second and then said, "Papa, I don't
know what you are talking about."
By the way, Thea is telling everyone that we've all had "Ear
Connections" and that's why we've been sick.
We are very thankful that Tirah has now qualified for paid-time-off in
her job at Jo-Ann Fabrics. If she didn't have that, either Tirah would
have just had to work straight through all of this craziness, or we
would have gone even further into debt. But she was able to take
several days off, and yet still be paid. A huge blessing.
We are very grateful to be able to share a household with my parents.
Having them in the same house through all of this has meant that we
could leave Thea at home while we were in the hospital with Cirdan.
It has meant that we had family babysitters at critical times. When I
took Tirah to the ER in the wee hours of the morning, we were able to
just leave our kids asleep, and just move the baby monitor down the
hall. And we've had family close by, just for the sake of comfort. A
shared household is not always an easy thing, but it's very easy to
take for granted it's benefits.
Living in Kempton is also not always an easy thing, but it does have a
wonderful support network when people need it. We actually had meals
brought to us for a few days. We had people offer to babysit when Mom
and Dad couldn't. We've had someone offer to help us financially when
the bills start rolling in. And we've had many phone messages
expressing love and commiseration.
In between sicknesses, I actually got a chance to have a few business
meetings this month. So my music business hasn't been left completely
behind. Advent sales are still rolling in, which is nice. I also got
the chance, here and there, over the course of the month to give my
website a face-lift. Go and check it out, it looks much cooler now,
and is much more user-friendly. (http://www.solomonkeal.com)
We are incredibly grateful that things haven't been worse. When we
were in the hospital with Cirdan, everybody else in the pediatrics ward
was in much worse shape than Cirdan, and they were looking at weeks,
not days, in the hospital. We are very thankful that things weren't
worse. We're grateful that he didn't require surgery. A month like
this really made us realize how fragile human health is, and how
blessed we were for so long with wonderful health. Maybe now we won't
take it for granted so much.
We are very grateful to have Mom Echols for all her tireless efforts in
finding the right Homeopathic remedies to keep us even more healthy,
and for sending them to us when we didn't have them, and for being by
our side in the wee hours of the night, even if it was just on the
phone.
We've learned how to be better about "rolling with the punches," and
"taking things in stride." We've had many blessings in our lives, and
we were in the habit of thanking the Lord daily for those blessings.
It's a wonderful spiritual challenge to continue to thank the Lord for
blessings, even when they're harder to see. It's a good exercise for
building up the strength of one's character and attitude. And it's
amazing how it really does come down to a choice. We humans are
nothing but choice. That is what determines who we are. I can choose
to feel victimized or sorry for myself, or I can choose to learn from a
situation and count my blessings. It can be very hard to FEEL
grateful and blessed when your family is in so much pain. But
fortunately we can CHOOSE to stay positive and eventually LEARN how to
feel blessed even in difficult times.
So that's the story from the front lines of the Keal household. We
hope that all of you are doing well, and may you feel the Lord's
blessings showering down upon you.
Spring is coming!
Love,
Solomon - Papa, Husband
Tirah - Mama, Wife
Thea - Daughter, Sister
Cirdan - Son, Brother
been thinking a lot recently about attitudes. I'm actually planning on
writing a book eventually about spiritual attitudes; the spiritual
orientation of the mind. I like to think of myself as having a "glass
if half full" kind of attitude about life. I can't claim to always
have that attitude, but I strive towards it. It's one of my ideals.
Well, this past month has certainly been a test of that attitude in me.
If I didn't have a strong faith in God, this past month would have
been a test of my faith as well, but fortunately I know that the Lord
only allows evil when some good can come out of it. So our real test
is to try to see the good that came out of this past month for us.
So, what happened in the Keal family this past month? I'll start with
all the bad news, and get it off my chest. I'm just going to out-right
complain. Then I'll end with the good news, count my blessings, and
add my take on the "glass if half full" aspects of what was a truly
miserable month for us. (Speaking of writing a book... this email IS
one.)
It all started with Thea getting an ear infection the last week of
January and into the first week of February. She had a fever and an
earache for about a week. Fortunately it cleared up in time for her
birthday party on Saturday the 4th. Needless to say, we all lost a lot
of sleep that week. Sunday was the Super Bowl, and Cirdan came down
with a fever Sunday night. He then had a fever all week, which didn't
get better like Thea's did, it just got worse. Needless to say we all
lost a lot of sleep that week too. We found out later that he must
have had an ear infection too, but he never gave us any signs that his
ear hurt. On Friday morning, we woke up and his left ear was sticking
out perpendicular to the side of his head. So we headed off for the
Emergency Room. This was to be the first ER trip of three for the
month!
In the ER they informed us that Cirdan had what was called Mastoiditis.
Mastoiditis is when an ear infection spreads to the Mastoid bone just
behind the ear. The Mastoid bone is somewhat hollow, so it can easily
fill with puss and develop an infection. The problem with this is that
it's getting really close to the brain. It's a semi-serious condition,
and if it's not halted by antibiotics, it can lead to the need for
surgery, and/or nasty things like Meningitis. So the doctors told as
that we were looking at a minimum of four days in the hospital with
Cirdan.
Cirdan already felt miserable. But now those nasty old doctors decided
to stick a needle into his arm. How do you tell a 1 and 1/2 year old
boy that these people stabbing you are really trying to help you? It
was a very sad day for all of us. The doctors also needed to take a
Cat-Scan to determine how serious his condition was. You may know that
you have to hold absolutely still for a Cat-Scan. Once again try
telling that to a 1 and 1/2 year old boy with a needle stuck in his arm
and a sore ear. "It's O.K. Cirdan, the doctors are strapping you into
this huge torture machine because they want to help you." "Yeah
right!" he's thinking, "I"m not dumb, these people poked in my sore
ear, and stuck a needle in my arm. Nothing good can come out of this
Papa!" Interestingly, what Cirdan went through is an amazing
analogy for what we adults go through when bad things happen in our
lives. Just as Tirah and I were trying to reassure Cirdan that this
scary hospital was ultimately going to help him, the Lord has just as
much trouble trying to comfort us when bad things happen to us. We're
like children in the Lord's eyes. We can't see the big picture like He
can. He knows that a certain bad thing is just temporary compared to
the long term benefit, but we don't know that, and so we struggle with
things like faith and attitudes. This month has been like a needle
stuck in our arm. Right now, all we feel is the pain. We hope and
pray that we'll be able to see the "medicine" being delivered through
that "needle."
Cirdan developed quite the fear of the "People in the White Coats" over
the course of our stay. We had some very nice nurses taking care of
us, but it didn't matter how nice they were to Cirdan because they were
wearing white coats, and that meant bad things. So, we spent 4 days
and 3 nights in the pediatrics ward of the hospital, Friday the 10th
through Monday the 13th. On Monday we were discharged. Tirah
meanwhile was using up her valuable paid-time-off.
Late Monday afternoon we all arrived home. Cirdan was so happy to be
unplugged from the IV, and able to run around. His swollen ear was
mostly back to normal, and he felt much better. Tirah on the other
hand, had picked up some sort of bug in the hospital. Earlier on
Monday morning, before we left, she threw up in the hospital. Cirdan
actually had thrown up too, and we guess that he got the same thing we
had, but his antibiotic probably knocked it out sooner. When we got
home from the hospital, Tirah crashed in bed, while I put the kids to
bed. Half-way through putting the kids to bed, I started getting a
stomach ache too. By 8:30 that night I was throwing up, and had lost
control of my bodily functions. I had never felt such abdominal pain
in my life. Later that night Tirah called the ambulance for me, and
the same day we left the hospital, we were heading back into it. Only
this time it was a different hospital, because the one we had been in
before was closed. (We found out later that that hospital had an
epidemic outbreak of this G.I. bug)
Once in the hospital we waited forever. At least it felt like that.
Being abdominal pain, the doctors had to have my symptoms active in
order to diagnose it, before they could give me pain killers. Finally
they did, and I was able to sleep. While we were there, Tirah admitted
herself too. So Tirah and I spent the early morning of Valentine's Day
side by side on hospital beds. We were discharged by about 7:00 in
the morning on Tuesday. The doctors never really said what it was,
other than that there was a really nasty G.I. (Gastro-Intestinal) bug
going around. I don't think at that point that they knew just how
nasty it was.
I think it was by the end of Tuesday that Thea, my Mom, and my Dad all
came down with it as well. For some reason I got the worst of it
though. I guess I just have a weaker constitution for that sort of
thing. So we were all pretty sick for the week of the 13th through
the 17th. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep that week. Tirah
felt the least sick of all of us, so she got the hard job of taking
care of all of us. Meanwhile using up even more of her paid time off.
Time-off that we were hoping to spend on vacation time.
Fortunately I felt better by Sunday the 19th, and was able to play for
the Bryn Athyn Marriage Conference Dinner. Unfortunately we were
unable to attend the Conference because we were all sick, and we had to
be giving Cirdan his antibiotic all week (which was not that much fun
either). We were pretty upset about missing the Conference. We had
really been looking forward to it.
So I came home Sunday night after playing for the Dinner, to find Tirah
in a lot of pain from a bad earache. It was her birthday. That week
her ear got better and worse and better and worse. On Wednesday the
22nd, we all went into the doctor's office. Cirdan had to have a
follow-up check-up, and Tirah got her ear looked at. The doctor said
that Cirdan looked fine, but Tirah had an antibiotic prescribed for
her. She didn't get it filled right away because she wanted to see if
Homeopathy would heal it.
Cirdan was now done taking his antibiotic. But he then developed a
rash over his whole body. Meanwhile Thea developed a bloated or
distended stomach. So we went back into the doctor's office. The
doctor said that Cirdan's rash was very likely a reaction to the
antibiotic, and he said that Thea's tummy was very possibly her
reaction to the G.I. bug that we all had. Cirdan's rash eventually
cleared up, but he still has a pretty nasty diaper rash, probably a
combination of the antibiotic and the diarrhea. Thea's distended
tummy comes and goes, along with gas and occasional diarrhea.
Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep that week.
But then, Tirah's ear infection got much worse. It started to become
unbearable pain. On Sunday the 26th we filled her perscription. But
the pain kept getting worse. On Monday night (early Tuesday morning)
we drove into the Emergency Room for the third, and hopefully final,
time. This time we waited for almost an hour before getting a pain
killer for her. By the beginning of March she was feeling mostly back
to normal.
The first few days of March we began to think that maybe it was all
over. But then, on Friday night, Cirdan came down with a fever.
Saturday morning we took him into the doctor. His ear infection was
back. So he was going to be back on antibiotics for 5 days. But then
Cirdan's rash came back, and this time it was worse. Then he had a
lethargic episode in the morning on Monday, so we took him into the
doctor AGAIN. This time, they said, "Well he seems to be reacting to
this antibiotic too. We're sort of running out of options here, but
here's another drug to try. I can't promise that he won't react to
this one too." Well, at this point we were fed up. We didn't get
that perscription filled. We decided to get a second opinion.
Tirah's ear infection is still not better yet either. So this Friday,
Tirah and Cirdan have an appointment with Mitch Shapiro, a Homeopath
down near Philadelphia. Hopefully that will help to get us all
healthy again. So far, I'm the only one in my family who hasn't had
an ear infection. I guess that's the thing I have a stronger
constitution for. So the story is still unfinished. We're hoping
that we're nearing the finish line of renewed health.
And if all that wasn't enough, February was the month that we had to
renew both of our driver's licenses (go in and get our photos taken),
and we had to get the oil changed in our car. Not normally distressing
chores, but for this month they were just one more thing. Oh, and the
CD burner in my computer died.
Alright alright... enough complaining! If you've gotten this far in
the email, here's where it gets happier. It's times like these when I
really see the value of being able to live in the present. If I think
too much about the past, I start to feel really sorry for myself. If I
think too much about the future (more sickness? eternal financial
debt?) I worry too much. The present is the only time I can truly
function in, so my prayer is: "Lord, give us this day our daily bread."
So now, let me count my blessings over this past month: Thea was well
for her 3rd birthday! And it was a really fun party, with lots of
family and friends there. I'm thankful that we got to be healthy for
that.
I had to miss most of the Super Bowl, but I managed to see the final
quarter... and the Steelers won! Woohoo! (I'm a huge Steelers fan,
in case you didn't know.)
While, in the hospital, whenever Cirdan managed to fall asleep, Tirah
and I got to watch some of the Winter Olympics in Italy. Something we
wouldn't have been able to do, since we don't have TV at home. That
was fun.
My sister, Tamar, had her second child in, while we were in the
hospital with Cirdan. And though we still haven't been able to see him
(for fear of getting him sick), it's a wonderful event, and we can be
thankful that so far he has not gotten sick. With the birth of
Tamar's second son, we now have an interesting situation in my family:
Thea is the only granddaughter on the Keal side of the family, and
Cirdan is the only grandson on the Echols side of the family. Both my
sisters have two boys. And Steve and Galadriel have two girls. We'll
have to see if Eli and Nicola's baby breaks the pattern, but for now,
Thea remains the favorite granddaughter on the Keal side, and Cirdan
remains the favorite grandson on the Echols side.
Funny story: I was telling Thea that her Aunt Tamar had a new baby; a
concept that she got without too much effort. I then went off on a
long-winded explanation about where babies come from, in which I tried
to appeal to Thea's amazing understanding and comprehension, while
still being appropriate for a 3 year old. Obviously I failed because
when I was done, Thea paused for a second and then said, "Papa, I don't
know what you are talking about."
By the way, Thea is telling everyone that we've all had "Ear
Connections" and that's why we've been sick.
We are very thankful that Tirah has now qualified for paid-time-off in
her job at Jo-Ann Fabrics. If she didn't have that, either Tirah would
have just had to work straight through all of this craziness, or we
would have gone even further into debt. But she was able to take
several days off, and yet still be paid. A huge blessing.
We are very grateful to be able to share a household with my parents.
Having them in the same house through all of this has meant that we
could leave Thea at home while we were in the hospital with Cirdan.
It has meant that we had family babysitters at critical times. When I
took Tirah to the ER in the wee hours of the morning, we were able to
just leave our kids asleep, and just move the baby monitor down the
hall. And we've had family close by, just for the sake of comfort. A
shared household is not always an easy thing, but it's very easy to
take for granted it's benefits.
Living in Kempton is also not always an easy thing, but it does have a
wonderful support network when people need it. We actually had meals
brought to us for a few days. We had people offer to babysit when Mom
and Dad couldn't. We've had someone offer to help us financially when
the bills start rolling in. And we've had many phone messages
expressing love and commiseration.
In between sicknesses, I actually got a chance to have a few business
meetings this month. So my music business hasn't been left completely
behind. Advent sales are still rolling in, which is nice. I also got
the chance, here and there, over the course of the month to give my
website a face-lift. Go and check it out, it looks much cooler now,
and is much more user-friendly. (http://www.solomonkeal.com)
We are incredibly grateful that things haven't been worse. When we
were in the hospital with Cirdan, everybody else in the pediatrics ward
was in much worse shape than Cirdan, and they were looking at weeks,
not days, in the hospital. We are very thankful that things weren't
worse. We're grateful that he didn't require surgery. A month like
this really made us realize how fragile human health is, and how
blessed we were for so long with wonderful health. Maybe now we won't
take it for granted so much.
We are very grateful to have Mom Echols for all her tireless efforts in
finding the right Homeopathic remedies to keep us even more healthy,
and for sending them to us when we didn't have them, and for being by
our side in the wee hours of the night, even if it was just on the
phone.
We've learned how to be better about "rolling with the punches," and
"taking things in stride." We've had many blessings in our lives, and
we were in the habit of thanking the Lord daily for those blessings.
It's a wonderful spiritual challenge to continue to thank the Lord for
blessings, even when they're harder to see. It's a good exercise for
building up the strength of one's character and attitude. And it's
amazing how it really does come down to a choice. We humans are
nothing but choice. That is what determines who we are. I can choose
to feel victimized or sorry for myself, or I can choose to learn from a
situation and count my blessings. It can be very hard to FEEL
grateful and blessed when your family is in so much pain. But
fortunately we can CHOOSE to stay positive and eventually LEARN how to
feel blessed even in difficult times.
So that's the story from the front lines of the Keal household. We
hope that all of you are doing well, and may you feel the Lord's
blessings showering down upon you.
Spring is coming!
Love,
Solomon - Papa, Husband
Tirah - Mama, Wife
Thea - Daughter, Sister
Cirdan - Son, Brother
Keal Family Letter, February 2006
Hello Friends and Family! We hope you are all doing well! We seemed
to be over our month long colds, and on the mend, but now Thea has come
down with a fever and an earache, possibly and ear infection. One of
these months, we'll all be well again! Hopefully Thea will be feeling
better for her birthday party on Saturday!
Thea turns 3 tomorrow! We got a new 10 gallon aquarium for Christmas,
and we'll be giving Thea a fish for her birthday! She's really looking
forward to it. It's fun that she's gotten to the age of life where
she's capable of looking forward to her birthday!
Because we've all been sick for so long, I don't have a lot of fun
stories to tell you. But here are some:
Cirdan has become quite the little talker! He can say: dog, duck,
shock (static electricity), poopy, oopsy, happy, sad, horse, Thea,
kitty, sleeping, nap, blanket, piano, hands, knee, feet, Meema
(Grandmother), Deeda (Grandfather), sit (although unfortunately it
comes out sounding more like a swear word), food, drink, sippy cup,
pizza, hot, yeehaw, and so many others. He can also put together
small two-word sentences. He will point at my mom's chair and say
"Meema, sit?" Or he will point at Thea in her crib and say, "Thea,
sleeping?"
Cirdan is getting old enough that he and Thea can play together a
little bit. In good moods they will happily chase each other around
the house for minutes at a time! They also still really enjoy reading
books. Tirah made these wonderful cloth books for their Christmas
presents. They love them!
Thea's latest favorite toy is a little furry kitten that she got for
Christmas. This Kitty goes everywhere with her. One of her favorite
things to do with Kitty is to feed him. The other day I saw Kitty
sitting in his little toy highchair. On the high chair tray Thea had
put... I kid you not... a little toy bird and a little toy mouse! I
think from Thea's point of view these were either "friends" or "toys"
for the Kitty to play with. As appropriate as it may have seemed, I
don't think she intended for them to be "food" for the Kitty!
While Thea and Cirdan can sometimes play nicely together, they more
often cannot. I feel like I spend most of my time breaking up fights.
Sometimes I think to myself that this must be how God feels
sometimes: "I turn around for one second, and My kids are fighting over
some stupid thing!"
I've always been fascinated by the nature of parenthood being
representative of the Lord. There are so many ways that we, as
parents for our children, represent God as Parent of humanity. But
the other day I had the opposite epiphany. It was Sunday, just after
listening to a sermon about how God is in control of our lives, not us.
I remember thinking how obvious that can sometimes be as a parent!
Though we may represent God for our children, we cannot replace Him!
For example, I didn't teach Cirdan how to have a sense of humor, or how
to listen carefully enough to learn language! In actual fact, parents
are mere observers. Our job is to make sure our kids don't die, while
the Lord turns them into adults and then angels. We as parents, don't
have ALL the responsibility, nor do we have NO responsibility. We have
just enough to be guides for our kids. It's a strange role to fill.
Both empowering and humbling.
Tirah is still settling into her job at Jo-Ann Fabrics. Though she
probably won't admit it, I know that she's doing a wonderful job at
what is a very challenging role. Jo-Ann Fabrics has a system called
Cut-Above. It's a system of awards that can be given to any employee
that goes above and beyond, or just really does their job well. After
just 7 months on the job, Tirah has been given 5 Cut-Above awards for
an excellent job done! The awards are these little Scissor pins that
she can pin to her Jo-Ann T-shirt. After 10 Cut-Above awards, an
employee will be given a gold pin.
In January, Tirah's Jo-Ann store had their Christmas party (there
wasn't time during the Christmas season!). I was able to go with her
to the Christmas party. It was fun to meet her co-workers. She's
developing some nice friendships there. One of the challenges for
her, at work, is finding common ground with her co-workers. Aside from
the obvious love of sewing and crafts, many of her co-workers are
either career oriented, or just don't hold a love of family and
marriage to be of very high value, which makes it hard for Tirah.
But, I believe that she has become a good influence in her Jo-Ann
store. Someone who stands for doing her job justly, honestly and
faithfully. Someone who holds customer service to be more important
than monetary gain. And someone that seeks to have good relationships
with everyone around her.
We've finally gotten back to a good routine again, after sickness and
holidays. We're working on a schedule that's flexible enough to
accommodate Tirah's work schedule, while rigid enough to include
everything that is important in our lives, and also gives Tirah
something stable to come home to. We're getting back into weekly date
nights, and back into limiting ourselves to only a weekly movie/TV
night. We're working on making sure that I get at least 20 hours of
music work in per week, while also having time for household chores,
making dinners, and of course my normal parental duties. I think it
will work well.
One of Tirah's new crafty projects is that she's working on re-covering
our living room couch and chairs. I think it will look really nice!
This summer, we will be re-painting and re-flooring the kitchen, thanks
to a very generous Christmas gift.
Some of the things we are looking forward to this year: Tirah and I
will be going to the Marriage Conference in Bryn Athyn, which will be
some wonderful attention for our marriage, as well as some nice
time-off. We are hoping to be able to make it out to Ohio for Easter.
And we are planning a long weekend at Lake Wallenpaupack for our 5th
anniversary in June! Tirah has now worked long enough to earn some
payed time off, which will allow us to do many of these things!
This Sunday is the Superbowl! I'm not normally a huge football fan.
I like watching football. I even watched Monday Night Football on a
fairly regular basis for a while. But I have to admit that I'm a
pretty big Steelers fan. The Steelers (for those that don't know) are
the football team from Pittsburgh PA, where I spent my early childhood.
Once it gets in your blood, it never leaves. I live closer to
Philadelphia Eagles territory, but I'm a Steelers fan through and
through. Well, the Steelers made it to the Superbowl this year! They
were only the sixth seed team, and they beat the number one team! It's
all very exciting! Because of scheduling issues, transportation
issues, and parental duties, I may only get to see the last half of the
Superbowl live, but it will be fun anyway.
My music business continues to move steadily along. I recently
finished doing a financial report for the business for the year of
2005. I'm happy to say that my little business was in the black after
it's first year! There are many projects and plans for this year,
which you can hear about in my music newsletter.
I hope you all have a wonderful February! I wish you all the Lord's
peace.
Love, Solomon, Tirah, Thea and Cirdan Keal.
to be over our month long colds, and on the mend, but now Thea has come
down with a fever and an earache, possibly and ear infection. One of
these months, we'll all be well again! Hopefully Thea will be feeling
better for her birthday party on Saturday!
Thea turns 3 tomorrow! We got a new 10 gallon aquarium for Christmas,
and we'll be giving Thea a fish for her birthday! She's really looking
forward to it. It's fun that she's gotten to the age of life where
she's capable of looking forward to her birthday!
Because we've all been sick for so long, I don't have a lot of fun
stories to tell you. But here are some:
Cirdan has become quite the little talker! He can say: dog, duck,
shock (static electricity), poopy, oopsy, happy, sad, horse, Thea,
kitty, sleeping, nap, blanket, piano, hands, knee, feet, Meema
(Grandmother), Deeda (Grandfather), sit (although unfortunately it
comes out sounding more like a swear word), food, drink, sippy cup,
pizza, hot, yeehaw, and so many others. He can also put together
small two-word sentences. He will point at my mom's chair and say
"Meema, sit?" Or he will point at Thea in her crib and say, "Thea,
sleeping?"
Cirdan is getting old enough that he and Thea can play together a
little bit. In good moods they will happily chase each other around
the house for minutes at a time! They also still really enjoy reading
books. Tirah made these wonderful cloth books for their Christmas
presents. They love them!
Thea's latest favorite toy is a little furry kitten that she got for
Christmas. This Kitty goes everywhere with her. One of her favorite
things to do with Kitty is to feed him. The other day I saw Kitty
sitting in his little toy highchair. On the high chair tray Thea had
put... I kid you not... a little toy bird and a little toy mouse! I
think from Thea's point of view these were either "friends" or "toys"
for the Kitty to play with. As appropriate as it may have seemed, I
don't think she intended for them to be "food" for the Kitty!
While Thea and Cirdan can sometimes play nicely together, they more
often cannot. I feel like I spend most of my time breaking up fights.
Sometimes I think to myself that this must be how God feels
sometimes: "I turn around for one second, and My kids are fighting over
some stupid thing!"
I've always been fascinated by the nature of parenthood being
representative of the Lord. There are so many ways that we, as
parents for our children, represent God as Parent of humanity. But
the other day I had the opposite epiphany. It was Sunday, just after
listening to a sermon about how God is in control of our lives, not us.
I remember thinking how obvious that can sometimes be as a parent!
Though we may represent God for our children, we cannot replace Him!
For example, I didn't teach Cirdan how to have a sense of humor, or how
to listen carefully enough to learn language! In actual fact, parents
are mere observers. Our job is to make sure our kids don't die, while
the Lord turns them into adults and then angels. We as parents, don't
have ALL the responsibility, nor do we have NO responsibility. We have
just enough to be guides for our kids. It's a strange role to fill.
Both empowering and humbling.
Tirah is still settling into her job at Jo-Ann Fabrics. Though she
probably won't admit it, I know that she's doing a wonderful job at
what is a very challenging role. Jo-Ann Fabrics has a system called
Cut-Above. It's a system of awards that can be given to any employee
that goes above and beyond, or just really does their job well. After
just 7 months on the job, Tirah has been given 5 Cut-Above awards for
an excellent job done! The awards are these little Scissor pins that
she can pin to her Jo-Ann T-shirt. After 10 Cut-Above awards, an
employee will be given a gold pin.
In January, Tirah's Jo-Ann store had their Christmas party (there
wasn't time during the Christmas season!). I was able to go with her
to the Christmas party. It was fun to meet her co-workers. She's
developing some nice friendships there. One of the challenges for
her, at work, is finding common ground with her co-workers. Aside from
the obvious love of sewing and crafts, many of her co-workers are
either career oriented, or just don't hold a love of family and
marriage to be of very high value, which makes it hard for Tirah.
But, I believe that she has become a good influence in her Jo-Ann
store. Someone who stands for doing her job justly, honestly and
faithfully. Someone who holds customer service to be more important
than monetary gain. And someone that seeks to have good relationships
with everyone around her.
We've finally gotten back to a good routine again, after sickness and
holidays. We're working on a schedule that's flexible enough to
accommodate Tirah's work schedule, while rigid enough to include
everything that is important in our lives, and also gives Tirah
something stable to come home to. We're getting back into weekly date
nights, and back into limiting ourselves to only a weekly movie/TV
night. We're working on making sure that I get at least 20 hours of
music work in per week, while also having time for household chores,
making dinners, and of course my normal parental duties. I think it
will work well.
One of Tirah's new crafty projects is that she's working on re-covering
our living room couch and chairs. I think it will look really nice!
This summer, we will be re-painting and re-flooring the kitchen, thanks
to a very generous Christmas gift.
Some of the things we are looking forward to this year: Tirah and I
will be going to the Marriage Conference in Bryn Athyn, which will be
some wonderful attention for our marriage, as well as some nice
time-off. We are hoping to be able to make it out to Ohio for Easter.
And we are planning a long weekend at Lake Wallenpaupack for our 5th
anniversary in June! Tirah has now worked long enough to earn some
payed time off, which will allow us to do many of these things!
This Sunday is the Superbowl! I'm not normally a huge football fan.
I like watching football. I even watched Monday Night Football on a
fairly regular basis for a while. But I have to admit that I'm a
pretty big Steelers fan. The Steelers (for those that don't know) are
the football team from Pittsburgh PA, where I spent my early childhood.
Once it gets in your blood, it never leaves. I live closer to
Philadelphia Eagles territory, but I'm a Steelers fan through and
through. Well, the Steelers made it to the Superbowl this year! They
were only the sixth seed team, and they beat the number one team! It's
all very exciting! Because of scheduling issues, transportation
issues, and parental duties, I may only get to see the last half of the
Superbowl live, but it will be fun anyway.
My music business continues to move steadily along. I recently
finished doing a financial report for the business for the year of
2005. I'm happy to say that my little business was in the black after
it's first year! There are many projects and plans for this year,
which you can hear about in my music newsletter.
I hope you all have a wonderful February! I wish you all the Lord's
peace.
Love, Solomon, Tirah, Thea and Cirdan Keal.
Keal Family Letter, January 2006
Hello Friend and Family. Happy New Year! I hope you all had Merry
Christmas celebrations, and Happy New Year's eve parties! We had a
wonderful Keal Family Christmas at Peter and Roxanne's house in Drexel
Hill. My parents and all my siblings and our growing families were
all there. We also had a very nice and relaxing New Year's Eve.
Tirah and I just spent it at home, eating homemade sweets and drinking
hot chocolate, by the fire, watching movies. At midnight we went
outside and waved some sparklers around for a few minutes. One or two
cars were fortunate enough to drive by and witness our tiny fireworks
display. Hopefully it helped to make their evenings as well. It was
very nice and simple. We've been battling colds and coughs throughout
Christmas and New Year's, but we've had a Happy Holidays anyway! We
hope you all have too!
Cirdan is now a year and a half. He's the cutest little boy in the
world. I know, I probably say that every newsletter. Here are some
new aspects of his cuteness. He thinks every sound he hears is music.
The wood stove will creak with the heat, or the water cooler will
bubble, and we'll look down and he'll be dancing away to this hip beat.
It's very cute... and inspiring. Wouldn't it be cool if every sound
we heard was music to our ears? Cirdan talks more and more every day.
He can say apple "bapple," banana "nana," I can't even think of all
the words he now knows, because it's starting to be less of a surprise
to hear him talk.
One of his favorite things now is babies. Thea has her bears and other
stuffed animals which she nurses and takes care of, but she never
really got into babies. But Cirdan just loves babies. He always asks
for the books about babies. He loves his little baby cousin Garrett.
Thea has always loved the book about the Woman Clothed with the Sun, I
think because of the Woman and the Dragon, but Cirdan loves that book
because of the little baby. Cirdan is inheriting all the baby dolls
that Thea doesn't play with. It's very cute.
Of course Cirdan is also approaching the Terrible Twos, and he does
have his naughty side. His worst one is that he loves to throw food.
And the worst of it is that I can't figure out how to punish him.
Everything I do, he loves, or thinks is funny. And we don't punish
with hitting or spanking, so its things like the "naughty room" or just
getting locked in his high chair without food. But sometimes it seems
like he's just saying, "Oh thank you Papa, I was done with that food
anyway." Even just saying "No!" in a stern voice. He's taken to
throwing his food off his tray while say "NO!" almost as if to say,
"Don't worry Papa, I know what to say, I've got it covered."
Thea will be 3 in one month. She just keeps growing up! As always
she comprehends more and more of the way the world works. She knows
that credit cards are for buying things. She knows what money is, and
she asks me for some of her own. You know your child is from the 21st
century when she hands you a toy credit card and says "Here Papa, do
you want some money?"
Both kids love playing with toy phones, and they spend a good chunk of
the day talking to Mama on the phone. The other day both Thea and
Cirdan were playing with toy phones. Thea handed me her phone asking
if I wanted to talk to Mama, so I took it and had a pretend
conversation with Tirah. Cirdan saw this fun game and walked up to me
offering me his phone too. I felt like telling pretend Tirah to
"please hold, I have another call coming through." If only my
audience had been old enough to get a joke like that.
Something very cute that I've noticed about Thea's understanding of
things: She thinks that Tirah makes everything. Everything! I
think it's because she always sees Tirah working on some crafty
project, especially this Christmas season. Whatever the reason, Thea
has this concept that Mama makes everything. She'll come up to me
holding a DVD, and say "Mama made it." Mama also made our Christmas
tree, and our Nativity set. Maybe she thinks that that is what Tirah
does all day at Jo-Ann Fabrics... she makes everything for our home.
Tirah is very glad to be done the hectic Christmas season in retail.
She's back to regular store hours, so on days when she closes the store
she gets back at 11:00 instead of midnight. It's amazing how that
extra hour can feel so much longer. She was sick over Christmas, but
enjoyed the time off anyway. My Christmas present to her this year was
a copy of the New Living Translation of the Bible, which we are both
enjoying very much, and makes our evening ritual that much more
pleasant. Our current evening ritual which we try to maintain every
night is 1. getting ready for bed, 2. reading email (family, and GCFL),
3. reading from either the Word or the Writings (we alternate every
night), 4. praying, 5. doing 20 minutes of yoga, then going to bed.
When we do that, we stay much more sane and healthy, physically,
mentally and spiritually.
Well, it's been one year of attempting to start up my own music
business. So far it's been going well. I have a new album. I have
many new contacts. I have a manager. I'm looking forward to what
this next year brings. It's been so wonderful to get to be home all
the time, and get to work on my music whenever the kids are asleep.
It's a great situation for now. As always, the plan is that I can
eventually earn our living from music, and Tirah can stop being the
bread-winner. But for now, we are happy and content where we are.
I hope you all have a wonderful 2006! May the Lord be with you all on
your paths of life.
Love, Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan Keal.
Christmas celebrations, and Happy New Year's eve parties! We had a
wonderful Keal Family Christmas at Peter and Roxanne's house in Drexel
Hill. My parents and all my siblings and our growing families were
all there. We also had a very nice and relaxing New Year's Eve.
Tirah and I just spent it at home, eating homemade sweets and drinking
hot chocolate, by the fire, watching movies. At midnight we went
outside and waved some sparklers around for a few minutes. One or two
cars were fortunate enough to drive by and witness our tiny fireworks
display. Hopefully it helped to make their evenings as well. It was
very nice and simple. We've been battling colds and coughs throughout
Christmas and New Year's, but we've had a Happy Holidays anyway! We
hope you all have too!
Cirdan is now a year and a half. He's the cutest little boy in the
world. I know, I probably say that every newsletter. Here are some
new aspects of his cuteness. He thinks every sound he hears is music.
The wood stove will creak with the heat, or the water cooler will
bubble, and we'll look down and he'll be dancing away to this hip beat.
It's very cute... and inspiring. Wouldn't it be cool if every sound
we heard was music to our ears? Cirdan talks more and more every day.
He can say apple "bapple," banana "nana," I can't even think of all
the words he now knows, because it's starting to be less of a surprise
to hear him talk.
One of his favorite things now is babies. Thea has her bears and other
stuffed animals which she nurses and takes care of, but she never
really got into babies. But Cirdan just loves babies. He always asks
for the books about babies. He loves his little baby cousin Garrett.
Thea has always loved the book about the Woman Clothed with the Sun, I
think because of the Woman and the Dragon, but Cirdan loves that book
because of the little baby. Cirdan is inheriting all the baby dolls
that Thea doesn't play with. It's very cute.
Of course Cirdan is also approaching the Terrible Twos, and he does
have his naughty side. His worst one is that he loves to throw food.
And the worst of it is that I can't figure out how to punish him.
Everything I do, he loves, or thinks is funny. And we don't punish
with hitting or spanking, so its things like the "naughty room" or just
getting locked in his high chair without food. But sometimes it seems
like he's just saying, "Oh thank you Papa, I was done with that food
anyway." Even just saying "No!" in a stern voice. He's taken to
throwing his food off his tray while say "NO!" almost as if to say,
"Don't worry Papa, I know what to say, I've got it covered."
Thea will be 3 in one month. She just keeps growing up! As always
she comprehends more and more of the way the world works. She knows
that credit cards are for buying things. She knows what money is, and
she asks me for some of her own. You know your child is from the 21st
century when she hands you a toy credit card and says "Here Papa, do
you want some money?"
Both kids love playing with toy phones, and they spend a good chunk of
the day talking to Mama on the phone. The other day both Thea and
Cirdan were playing with toy phones. Thea handed me her phone asking
if I wanted to talk to Mama, so I took it and had a pretend
conversation with Tirah. Cirdan saw this fun game and walked up to me
offering me his phone too. I felt like telling pretend Tirah to
"please hold, I have another call coming through." If only my
audience had been old enough to get a joke like that.
Something very cute that I've noticed about Thea's understanding of
things: She thinks that Tirah makes everything. Everything! I
think it's because she always sees Tirah working on some crafty
project, especially this Christmas season. Whatever the reason, Thea
has this concept that Mama makes everything. She'll come up to me
holding a DVD, and say "Mama made it." Mama also made our Christmas
tree, and our Nativity set. Maybe she thinks that that is what Tirah
does all day at Jo-Ann Fabrics... she makes everything for our home.
Tirah is very glad to be done the hectic Christmas season in retail.
She's back to regular store hours, so on days when she closes the store
she gets back at 11:00 instead of midnight. It's amazing how that
extra hour can feel so much longer. She was sick over Christmas, but
enjoyed the time off anyway. My Christmas present to her this year was
a copy of the New Living Translation of the Bible, which we are both
enjoying very much, and makes our evening ritual that much more
pleasant. Our current evening ritual which we try to maintain every
night is 1. getting ready for bed, 2. reading email (family, and GCFL),
3. reading from either the Word or the Writings (we alternate every
night), 4. praying, 5. doing 20 minutes of yoga, then going to bed.
When we do that, we stay much more sane and healthy, physically,
mentally and spiritually.
Well, it's been one year of attempting to start up my own music
business. So far it's been going well. I have a new album. I have
many new contacts. I have a manager. I'm looking forward to what
this next year brings. It's been so wonderful to get to be home all
the time, and get to work on my music whenever the kids are asleep.
It's a great situation for now. As always, the plan is that I can
eventually earn our living from music, and Tirah can stop being the
bread-winner. But for now, we are happy and content where we are.
I hope you all have a wonderful 2006! May the Lord be with you all on
your paths of life.
Love, Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan Keal.
Keal Family Letter, December 2005
Hello Friends and Family! Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you
are all enjoying the start of the Season.
We are all just getting over a nasty bout of colds and fevers. I
started it all by getting sick on Thanksgiving, and then the rest of
the family followed suit. We're also feeling the stress of the
Holiday rush, perhaps Tirah more than anyone else, since she works in
retail and it's the most stressful time of year in retail. But other
than that, we are all well.
Cirdan will be a year and a half this month. He's become quite the
little boy. The other day he learned how to put two pieces of Lego
together (I'm so proud!). He loves singing and dancing and playing the
"Nanyo" (Piano). He loves destroying things and getting into trouble.
He loves to throw these little crocheted balls that Tirah made.
He'll grab one, and then bend way over forward, with his hand behind
him... winding up for the pitch; and then he throws... often times the
ball going straight up as he releases too early, and it will come down
and bounce off his head. He seriously looks like a little baby
baseball pitcher. He's also started this really cute habit of
walking around with both of his hands clasped behind his back... he
looks like a baby Charlie Chaplin.
Cirdan keeps talking more and more. He's now in the phase where you
can prompt him to try to say a word, and he'll give it his best shot.
The other day he actually put together a small sentence. He had lost
his binky (pacifier); this was while he was still sick, and he was very
sad. As I was crawling around on the floor looking for it, I heard him
say between sobs: "Ah Wah Da Diddy!" (I want my Binky!)
Thea is definitely a two year old. She will be three in February. The
most common word heard to escape her lips is "NO!" She flexes her Will
every day. It is very hard, for both Tirah and I, to be patient
enough to deal with this stage of a developing child. It's difficult
to remember that just because she can talk, doesn't mean she's
rational. She spends a lot of time in the "Naughty Room." She will
scream until her face turns bright red, just because she didn't get
what she wanted. Thea is also still potty training, and has learned
that she can say "I need to go potty!" right before bed-time or
nap-time and then use it as a stalling tactic and just sit on the potty
for a while, not doing anything.
But aside from all the hardship of this stage, she is ever and always
the cutest little girl on the planet. She learns so much every day!
We have family worship every night, and part of the worship is to read
picture book stories from the Word. Thea's favorite is a picture book
of "the Woman Clothed with the Sun" story from Revelation. She can
recite whole pages from the book! It's very cool!
Tirah is very stressed out and very tired, most of the time these days.
Her work is really stressful, being the Christmas season. Plus she
has a long commute. Plus, she has a flex schedule which means she
rarely has two days off in a row. Plus, she works part-time as Carl's
book-keeper. Plus she's making all our Christmas presents. Plus, we
constantly have only barely enough money to survive, which is very
stressful. Plus, the kids are more than a handful right now, and
usually time their biggest tantrums for when Tirah is home. Plus, she
doesn't have much time in her life for the important rejuvenating
things, like keeping in touch with her girl friends, and family.
It's pretty much all overwhelming her right now. We've started doing
yoga together at night before bed, which helps us stay physically
healthy, as well as being a calming, de-stressing type of ritual. We
also try to keep reading from the Word every night so that we stay sane
and remember what's important in life. We try to find the time to do
things to maintain a healthy marriage. We've been reading books
together, which is fun. Last night we made hot chocolate and read to
each other in bed before starting the night-time routine. We're
trying to hang onto the hope that things will keep getting better. As
always, the plan is that my music business will eventually be able to
support us, and Tirah can stop being the bread-winner. We just have
to hang on 'til then.
Speaking of my music business, "Advent" sales are going really well.
I've done one Christmas performance this season, and I'm looking
forward to three more before Christmas. I have several projects
planned for next year. Peter and I are constantly working on the
business, and I have very high hopes that this will be something I can
live on in the future. I'm forever grateful to Tirah for this chance
to pursue this dream. We both think that it's worth all the stress.
It's been great to be at home, and have so much more time to work on
things. Although, I'm afraid the normal household duties like cleaning
have fallen a little by the way-side since "Advent" has come out.
The most recent news with "Advent" is that it has been reviewed by
noted piano music reviewer, Kathy Parsons! Check out her review at
www.solopianopublication.com, or on my website on the Press/Reviews
page (www.solomonkeal.com).
Perhaps it's fitting that the Christmas season, leading up to Christmas
Day, is such a stressful time of year for so many people. Sort of like
the cold and the darkness (at least in the Northern Hemisphere), that
represents the state of the world before the birth of Christ. Without
the Lord in our lives, we cannot help but be stressed out. But when
the Lord is born into our lives, He brings peace.
May all your lives be filled with the peace of Christmas Day... on
every day of the year!
See you next year!
Love,
Solomon (Full-time parent, part-time musician, part-time housekeeper,
full-time husband)
Tirah (Full-time fabric store manager, part-time parent, part-time
book-keeper, full-time wife)
Thea (Full-time Two-Year-Old, part-time angel, full-time daughter)
Cirdan (Full-time Toddler, part-time trouble-maker, full-time son)
The Keal Family (Works in progress, angels in training.)
are all enjoying the start of the Season.
We are all just getting over a nasty bout of colds and fevers. I
started it all by getting sick on Thanksgiving, and then the rest of
the family followed suit. We're also feeling the stress of the
Holiday rush, perhaps Tirah more than anyone else, since she works in
retail and it's the most stressful time of year in retail. But other
than that, we are all well.
Cirdan will be a year and a half this month. He's become quite the
little boy. The other day he learned how to put two pieces of Lego
together (I'm so proud!). He loves singing and dancing and playing the
"Nanyo" (Piano). He loves destroying things and getting into trouble.
He loves to throw these little crocheted balls that Tirah made.
He'll grab one, and then bend way over forward, with his hand behind
him... winding up for the pitch; and then he throws... often times the
ball going straight up as he releases too early, and it will come down
and bounce off his head. He seriously looks like a little baby
baseball pitcher. He's also started this really cute habit of
walking around with both of his hands clasped behind his back... he
looks like a baby Charlie Chaplin.
Cirdan keeps talking more and more. He's now in the phase where you
can prompt him to try to say a word, and he'll give it his best shot.
The other day he actually put together a small sentence. He had lost
his binky (pacifier); this was while he was still sick, and he was very
sad. As I was crawling around on the floor looking for it, I heard him
say between sobs: "Ah Wah Da Diddy!" (I want my Binky!)
Thea is definitely a two year old. She will be three in February. The
most common word heard to escape her lips is "NO!" She flexes her Will
every day. It is very hard, for both Tirah and I, to be patient
enough to deal with this stage of a developing child. It's difficult
to remember that just because she can talk, doesn't mean she's
rational. She spends a lot of time in the "Naughty Room." She will
scream until her face turns bright red, just because she didn't get
what she wanted. Thea is also still potty training, and has learned
that she can say "I need to go potty!" right before bed-time or
nap-time and then use it as a stalling tactic and just sit on the potty
for a while, not doing anything.
But aside from all the hardship of this stage, she is ever and always
the cutest little girl on the planet. She learns so much every day!
We have family worship every night, and part of the worship is to read
picture book stories from the Word. Thea's favorite is a picture book
of "the Woman Clothed with the Sun" story from Revelation. She can
recite whole pages from the book! It's very cool!
Tirah is very stressed out and very tired, most of the time these days.
Her work is really stressful, being the Christmas season. Plus she
has a long commute. Plus, she has a flex schedule which means she
rarely has two days off in a row. Plus, she works part-time as Carl's
book-keeper. Plus she's making all our Christmas presents. Plus, we
constantly have only barely enough money to survive, which is very
stressful. Plus, the kids are more than a handful right now, and
usually time their biggest tantrums for when Tirah is home. Plus, she
doesn't have much time in her life for the important rejuvenating
things, like keeping in touch with her girl friends, and family.
It's pretty much all overwhelming her right now. We've started doing
yoga together at night before bed, which helps us stay physically
healthy, as well as being a calming, de-stressing type of ritual. We
also try to keep reading from the Word every night so that we stay sane
and remember what's important in life. We try to find the time to do
things to maintain a healthy marriage. We've been reading books
together, which is fun. Last night we made hot chocolate and read to
each other in bed before starting the night-time routine. We're
trying to hang onto the hope that things will keep getting better. As
always, the plan is that my music business will eventually be able to
support us, and Tirah can stop being the bread-winner. We just have
to hang on 'til then.
Speaking of my music business, "Advent" sales are going really well.
I've done one Christmas performance this season, and I'm looking
forward to three more before Christmas. I have several projects
planned for next year. Peter and I are constantly working on the
business, and I have very high hopes that this will be something I can
live on in the future. I'm forever grateful to Tirah for this chance
to pursue this dream. We both think that it's worth all the stress.
It's been great to be at home, and have so much more time to work on
things. Although, I'm afraid the normal household duties like cleaning
have fallen a little by the way-side since "Advent" has come out.
The most recent news with "Advent" is that it has been reviewed by
noted piano music reviewer, Kathy Parsons! Check out her review at
www.solopianopublication.com, or on my website on the Press/Reviews
page (www.solomonkeal.com).
Perhaps it's fitting that the Christmas season, leading up to Christmas
Day, is such a stressful time of year for so many people. Sort of like
the cold and the darkness (at least in the Northern Hemisphere), that
represents the state of the world before the birth of Christ. Without
the Lord in our lives, we cannot help but be stressed out. But when
the Lord is born into our lives, He brings peace.
May all your lives be filled with the peace of Christmas Day... on
every day of the year!
See you next year!
Love,
Solomon (Full-time parent, part-time musician, part-time housekeeper,
full-time husband)
Tirah (Full-time fabric store manager, part-time parent, part-time
book-keeper, full-time wife)
Thea (Full-time Two-Year-Old, part-time angel, full-time daughter)
Cirdan (Full-time Toddler, part-time trouble-maker, full-time son)
The Keal Family (Works in progress, angels in training.)
Keal Family Letter, November 2005
Hello Friends and Family! November is here! For me and my one-track
mind, that means that my Christmas CD, "Advent," will be coming out
this month. Very likely in the next two weeks! I will keep you
posted on that.
October was a busy month for us... very much like every other month.
But busy is good! I've been reflecting a lot lately on the concept of
having the right attitude in life. I believe very strongly in the
idea of focussing on the good things in life. Not to completely ignore
that bad things, but just to orient myself towards the good things. I
hope to be a "glass is half-full" kind of guy. I think that it is
actually a big part of being on the road to heaven. Heaven is all
about good things. If we're constantly focussing our minds on what's
going wrong in our lives, we are actually turning our spiritual bodies
towards the road to hell. Whereas, if we're constantly focussing our
minds on what's going right in our lives (no matter what is also going
wrong), we are actually turning our spiritual bodies towards heaven.
I'm not saying we don't need to focus on our problems and try to remove
them. I'm just saying that it really seems like a major difference
between the right path, and the wrong path (which might be better
defined as the happy path, and the sad, or angry path) is simply
attitude.
And now for a taste of some good things in our life right now:
Cirdan is a little boy! He's not really a baby any more; he's a
toddler. We were trying to figure out, the other day, why Cirdan
seems so much cuter than we remember Thea being at this age. (We were
hoping that the answer wasn't that we're horrible parents who play
favorites.) We figured out that it's because Cirdan was walking a lot
sooner than Thea was. And there's something so insanely cute about a
little being that doesn't look big enough to walk... walking.
Cirdan is growing up so fast! He's getting to that phase where it
seems like he learns a new word every day. He can say every word in
the English language that rhymes with -ack, -eck, -ick, -ock, or -uck,
and those seem to be his favorites. It's amazing how many words a
little baby boy can learn that rhyme. You'd think we'd have thought of
that when we invented the English language. Maybe then we wouldn't
have situations like these: "Did he say truck?" "No, he said duck."
"I thought he said book." "No, I'm positive he said rock." "No
no, he wants to go on a walk!" "No he just wants to take off his
sock." "Are you sure he doesn't just want to play with that block?"
"Maybe he's just telling us that he can talk!" If I'd invented the
English language I would have been sure to evaluate the words
associated with early childhood: "What shall we name this powdery
mineral writing medium?" "How about 'chalk'?" "No good! That
rhymes with 'walk.' Parents will go insane. Try something else."
Fortunately, Cirdan has been learning words that don't rhyme with -ock,
too. He can now say: "Uh-oh", "Bowl", "Ball", "Touch", "Out", "Yes",
"Mama", "Papa", "Cheese", "Pop!", "This", "Hat", "Banana" (comes out as
"Nana"), and my personal favorite: "Turtle" (comes out as "Dodo").
A lot of what Cirdan says, however, remains untranslatable by us
Parents. I'm starting to wonder if he's not really speaking English at
all, but rather Ewok, or Jawa. That's what it sounds like most of the
time. Maybe it's my love of Star Wars coming out in him. Either
that or, whoever invented those languages for those movies, had a
one-year-old. Next time you watch those movies, find a picture of
Cirdan, and just listen to the Ewoks or Jawas talking, and it will be a
pretty good impression of the language stage that he's in right now.
Cirdan loves to sing and dance. He can do a lot of hand-motions for
our worship songs. He will talk on pretend phones, and if you give
him a comb, he will comb his hair... or try to anyway. He's in the
parrot phase. He tries to imitate us. It's very cute.
Since Tirah has been working, and having to get up insanely early, or
stay up insanely late, she's been drinking coffee. Which means that
Thea and Cirdan have been drinking coffee too... just pretend coffee.
Cirdan will walk around the house carrying a toy cup and spoon and will
offer you a taste of his coffee.
Thea had a pretend cup of coffee the other morning. When Cirdan came
over and rudely grabbed it from her, she came running up to me,
screaming in a hyper voice: "I NEED MY COFFEE!!!!!!!" I had a really
hard time not laughing.
Thea is also leaping ahead in her ability to talk, and comprehend
language. She also has quite the imagination. The other night, while
we were cleaning up the living room, she was talking on her toy phone
to her cousin Caleb. The pretend conversation went something like
this: "Hi Caleb... We had tacos for supper... I like tacos, but I
don't like lettuce... what are you having for supper?... Hamburgers?...
I like hamburgers.... No you can't go outside... it's time to clean
up... (at which point she brought her toy phone to me and said, "Caleb
wants to go outside." So I took the phone and explained to "Caleb"
that it was time to clean up. She took the phone back, and the
conversation continued.) No you can't go outside because it's time to
clean up... O.K. Bye." She told me the other day that, "I know how
to talk, because I'm a big girl."
Thea has started to figure out that if she talks, I tend to listen. So
at bed-time, she will often talk my ear off, right as I'm trying to
leave the room, because she know it will keep me from closing the door,
and it will delay bed-time. I've never been the type of person who
can hang up on a tele-marketer in the middle of their sentence, and
this is a million times worse, but occasionally I have to close the
door in the middle of her pitch.
Thea is still very much two, and so has frequent tantrums when her Will
is challenged. But she is also learning how to play nicely with her
brother, and how to be polite to us parents.
A funny thing happened a couple of days ago. It was nap time, and both
kids were in their cribs. I was down-stairs doing some chores when I
heard a "Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump." It sounded like
little feet running! I walked over to the monitor to listen better,
but all I heard was the little kid laughter that should have been
silent sleep. They often laugh at each other in their cribs, so I
went back to doing chores. I couple of minutes later, I was walking up
stairs, when I noticed the handle of the kid's room door jiggling! I
walked in, and there was Thea running around the room! She'd gotten
out of her crib... with the bar up! She'd turned the light on, and
she was trying to open the door to get out! I figure she must have
piled all her blankets and pillows in one corner, and climbed out onto
the table next to her crib, and then down. We often let her climb in
and out of her crib with the bar down, but we didn't think she could do
it with the bar up!
Tirah is feeling more confident in her manager's job at Jo-Ann Fabrics.
It's still a tough job, for not much pay, and it's a long commute,
but she feels good knowing that it's letting me work on my music
business. We're trusting the Lord that things will start looking up
for us financially. If we're going to be a rags to riches story, we
need to start with rags I guess. And ultimately we are already rich:
We have a good marriage, two wonderful kids, friends and family, and
hope for the future.
This month will be a big month for my music business, because my
Christmas CD, "Advent" will be coming out. It will be a significant
step in what will be a long period of building a business from scratch.
As always, check out my website for more news: www.solomonkeal.com.
We wish you all well, and we hope you have a wonderful Autumn and
Thanksgiving!
May the Lord bless your lives!
Love from,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan Keal.
mind, that means that my Christmas CD, "Advent," will be coming out
this month. Very likely in the next two weeks! I will keep you
posted on that.
October was a busy month for us... very much like every other month.
But busy is good! I've been reflecting a lot lately on the concept of
having the right attitude in life. I believe very strongly in the
idea of focussing on the good things in life. Not to completely ignore
that bad things, but just to orient myself towards the good things. I
hope to be a "glass is half-full" kind of guy. I think that it is
actually a big part of being on the road to heaven. Heaven is all
about good things. If we're constantly focussing our minds on what's
going wrong in our lives, we are actually turning our spiritual bodies
towards the road to hell. Whereas, if we're constantly focussing our
minds on what's going right in our lives (no matter what is also going
wrong), we are actually turning our spiritual bodies towards heaven.
I'm not saying we don't need to focus on our problems and try to remove
them. I'm just saying that it really seems like a major difference
between the right path, and the wrong path (which might be better
defined as the happy path, and the sad, or angry path) is simply
attitude.
And now for a taste of some good things in our life right now:
Cirdan is a little boy! He's not really a baby any more; he's a
toddler. We were trying to figure out, the other day, why Cirdan
seems so much cuter than we remember Thea being at this age. (We were
hoping that the answer wasn't that we're horrible parents who play
favorites.) We figured out that it's because Cirdan was walking a lot
sooner than Thea was. And there's something so insanely cute about a
little being that doesn't look big enough to walk... walking.
Cirdan is growing up so fast! He's getting to that phase where it
seems like he learns a new word every day. He can say every word in
the English language that rhymes with -ack, -eck, -ick, -ock, or -uck,
and those seem to be his favorites. It's amazing how many words a
little baby boy can learn that rhyme. You'd think we'd have thought of
that when we invented the English language. Maybe then we wouldn't
have situations like these: "Did he say truck?" "No, he said duck."
"I thought he said book." "No, I'm positive he said rock." "No
no, he wants to go on a walk!" "No he just wants to take off his
sock." "Are you sure he doesn't just want to play with that block?"
"Maybe he's just telling us that he can talk!" If I'd invented the
English language I would have been sure to evaluate the words
associated with early childhood: "What shall we name this powdery
mineral writing medium?" "How about 'chalk'?" "No good! That
rhymes with 'walk.' Parents will go insane. Try something else."
Fortunately, Cirdan has been learning words that don't rhyme with -ock,
too. He can now say: "Uh-oh", "Bowl", "Ball", "Touch", "Out", "Yes",
"Mama", "Papa", "Cheese", "Pop!", "This", "Hat", "Banana" (comes out as
"Nana"), and my personal favorite: "Turtle" (comes out as "Dodo").
A lot of what Cirdan says, however, remains untranslatable by us
Parents. I'm starting to wonder if he's not really speaking English at
all, but rather Ewok, or Jawa. That's what it sounds like most of the
time. Maybe it's my love of Star Wars coming out in him. Either
that or, whoever invented those languages for those movies, had a
one-year-old. Next time you watch those movies, find a picture of
Cirdan, and just listen to the Ewoks or Jawas talking, and it will be a
pretty good impression of the language stage that he's in right now.
Cirdan loves to sing and dance. He can do a lot of hand-motions for
our worship songs. He will talk on pretend phones, and if you give
him a comb, he will comb his hair... or try to anyway. He's in the
parrot phase. He tries to imitate us. It's very cute.
Since Tirah has been working, and having to get up insanely early, or
stay up insanely late, she's been drinking coffee. Which means that
Thea and Cirdan have been drinking coffee too... just pretend coffee.
Cirdan will walk around the house carrying a toy cup and spoon and will
offer you a taste of his coffee.
Thea had a pretend cup of coffee the other morning. When Cirdan came
over and rudely grabbed it from her, she came running up to me,
screaming in a hyper voice: "I NEED MY COFFEE!!!!!!!" I had a really
hard time not laughing.
Thea is also leaping ahead in her ability to talk, and comprehend
language. She also has quite the imagination. The other night, while
we were cleaning up the living room, she was talking on her toy phone
to her cousin Caleb. The pretend conversation went something like
this: "Hi Caleb... We had tacos for supper... I like tacos, but I
don't like lettuce... what are you having for supper?... Hamburgers?...
I like hamburgers.... No you can't go outside... it's time to clean
up... (at which point she brought her toy phone to me and said, "Caleb
wants to go outside." So I took the phone and explained to "Caleb"
that it was time to clean up. She took the phone back, and the
conversation continued.) No you can't go outside because it's time to
clean up... O.K. Bye." She told me the other day that, "I know how
to talk, because I'm a big girl."
Thea has started to figure out that if she talks, I tend to listen. So
at bed-time, she will often talk my ear off, right as I'm trying to
leave the room, because she know it will keep me from closing the door,
and it will delay bed-time. I've never been the type of person who
can hang up on a tele-marketer in the middle of their sentence, and
this is a million times worse, but occasionally I have to close the
door in the middle of her pitch.
Thea is still very much two, and so has frequent tantrums when her Will
is challenged. But she is also learning how to play nicely with her
brother, and how to be polite to us parents.
A funny thing happened a couple of days ago. It was nap time, and both
kids were in their cribs. I was down-stairs doing some chores when I
heard a "Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump." It sounded like
little feet running! I walked over to the monitor to listen better,
but all I heard was the little kid laughter that should have been
silent sleep. They often laugh at each other in their cribs, so I
went back to doing chores. I couple of minutes later, I was walking up
stairs, when I noticed the handle of the kid's room door jiggling! I
walked in, and there was Thea running around the room! She'd gotten
out of her crib... with the bar up! She'd turned the light on, and
she was trying to open the door to get out! I figure she must have
piled all her blankets and pillows in one corner, and climbed out onto
the table next to her crib, and then down. We often let her climb in
and out of her crib with the bar down, but we didn't think she could do
it with the bar up!
Tirah is feeling more confident in her manager's job at Jo-Ann Fabrics.
It's still a tough job, for not much pay, and it's a long commute,
but she feels good knowing that it's letting me work on my music
business. We're trusting the Lord that things will start looking up
for us financially. If we're going to be a rags to riches story, we
need to start with rags I guess. And ultimately we are already rich:
We have a good marriage, two wonderful kids, friends and family, and
hope for the future.
This month will be a big month for my music business, because my
Christmas CD, "Advent" will be coming out. It will be a significant
step in what will be a long period of building a business from scratch.
As always, check out my website for more news: www.solomonkeal.com.
We wish you all well, and we hope you have a wonderful Autumn and
Thanksgiving!
May the Lord bless your lives!
Love from,
Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and Cirdan Keal.
Keal Family Letter, October 2005
Hello Friends and Family! October. Autumn. Red-gold leaves. A
late afternoon stroll as the sun sets. Putting on a sweater and
grabbing a cup of hot chocolate. The smell of pumpkin pie. The taste
of ginger bread and apple cider. It's a good time of year.
Well, September has been sort of a stressful month for us. I've been
having a few difficulties in getting the final details of my Christmas
CD, Advent, finished on time. And Tirah and I have been having a hard
time not getting depressed by the reality of our financial situation.
It's a real exercise to try to maintain a trust in the Lord, when our
account goes down to zero every couple of weeks. And the fact that our
back yard is just dirt, is fittingly analogous of our finances. It's
like reverse feng shui, where our moods change our environment. I
know money doesn't grow on trees, but maybe if we find the right grass
seed...
But enough about the boring and depressing details of adult life, lets
move on to the heavenly joys that our children bring to us:
Cirdan is turning into quite the little boy. He walks everywhere, he
climbs everything, he loves cars and trucks, and he loves to play in
the dirt. Fortunately, he also still loves flowers, rainbows, babies,
and hugs. He has started singing, just like his older sister. All he
knows is the four notes from the end of the theme song to Elmo's World;
"That's Elmo's World!" He can't say the words yet, but he goes: Ba,
Baa baa, BAAAAAA!, and he frequently gets the notes right on.
He can say a few more words. He can say "Car," although it comes out
in more of British; "Caah." (I know there's a joke in there
somewhere, about a car and a British crow, but it's just not coming.)
He can also say "Up" and "Down," although once again, "Down" is more
like "Daah." He plays a game where he sits on the bottom step of the
stairs, and he quickly stands up while saying, "UP!" and then sits down
while saying "Daah." He is also learning to say "Please" and "Thank
you" in sign language.
Cirdan is a thriving and successful manufacturer of Joy and Cuteness,
but he's lately branched out and started a small side-business in
Naughtiness and Trouble-making. He will climb into a chair, reach
over and grab a lamp, and shake it hard, while grinning at me, as if to
say: "Come get me Papa!" He also pitches his food off his high-chair
tray, and then laughs and laughs when we tell him "No!" He seems to
find our serious, reprimanding faces amusing. "That's a funny face
Papa, do another one!" Oh well. I certainly get my exercise, both
physically and emotionally.
Thea is such a big little girl. And by "big" I mean personality-wise.
She loves to help me do the household chores. The other day, she
helped me put away all the clean laundry, and I mean she really helped
me! I sorted into piles, and then I told her what drawers to put the
piles in... and she did it! Cool!
She loves making comparisons and finding analogies. (Not surprising
really, since I love that too.) The other day I showed her a picture
of a Star Wars Star Destroyer. She asked me what it was. I told her
that it was a spaceship. She responded with, "Oh. Sort of like a
helicopter!" She made that comparison all on her own! She's
starting to make connections with who and what people are. She knows
that I have a name which is Solomon, but that she calls me Papa. She
knows that other kids have Papas too, and they are different from her
Papa. She knows that there's some sort of connection between men and
women, and Mamas and Papas. The other day we were talking about a man
that had walked by on the sidewalk. She asked me who it was, and I
told her that it was a man, (not knowing who he was). She responded
with, "Papa is sort of like a man!" A couple days ago, I was
changing her diaper (a number 2 diaper) when she looked down and
remarked, "Oh, it's sort of like Play-dough!" "Um... yes..." said I,
"but very different!"
Thea is very aware of everything we say. The other day Tirah was
making zuchini bread. She pulled the last loaf out of the oven too
late, and it had burned on the bottom. She set it down on the table
and said, "That Stinks!" The following day, Thea came up to me and
said, "I want some Stinks." meaning zuchini bread.
Now that Autumn has arrived, and some of the leaves are falling, Thea
has developed this strange fear of dead leaves. She's constantly
asking Tirah and I to move dead leaves so that she can walk by. I'm
hoping it's just a phase, or this Fall is going to be really
interesting.
Thea is getting old enough that I'm starting to become aware of how she
is a little tiny feminine being. My real challenge, as the
stay-at-home parent, is going to be making sure that Thea's emotional
needs are met. I'm starting to see first hand, why women are made for
this job. Very simply; children are pretty much all emotion for a
while, especially little girls. And women are better tuned-in to
emotion than men. And especially since Thea is a girl, I need to make
sure that I don't just treat her the way I instinctively treat
Cirdan... as a little version of me. Fortunately, being married to
Tirah has taught me a lot about how to work very closely with a
feminine being, and I've learned how to respect emotional boundaries
that we men don't have a natural clue about on our own. It's not an
impossible job; I just have to work harder at it than Tirah does. And
it's very odd to have learned relationship skills with my wife, that
I'm now needing to apply to my daughter.
To aid in all of that, we've started having special times where Tirah
and Thea hang out, and Cirdan and I hang out. Good Mama and daughter
time, and good Papa and son time. We've been noticing that Thea tends
to flip-out and have tantrums when Tirah is home, and we've finally
caught on that it's not because she doesn't want Tirah around, it's
because she feels safer to let out all her emotions with Tirah, than
with me.
Thea is still potty training. We have a little chart by her potty, and
she gets a little silver star every time she uses the potty. According
to that chart, she uses the potty 2.0625 times a day... on average.
We're trying to boost the numbers on that 0.0625 time, because it would
be much easier if it was an even three.
One of the things I love about being a full-time parent is that it's
not an hourly rate. I don't have a foreman standing over my shoulder
saying, "Come on... you can change that poopy diaper faster! I'm not
paying you to make faces at your son! Hurry up, you're taking way too
long with that!" I can take as long as I want. In fact, the more
time I spend with my children, the better! (Maybe not as far as diaper
changing goes.) It's about quality time, not efficient time. It's
a nice change.
Tirah is still working hard at Jo-Ann Fabrics. It's a hard job, that
doesn't pay very well. Fortunately it involves two things she really
likes: 1) sewing-type stuff, and 2) helping people. We don't have a
stereotypical normal life like we did when I worked in carpentry.
Tirah hardly ever has two days off in a row, and is often working
weekends and evenings. Neither of us have much free time to speak of,
but we try to find the time to relax together and remember our
marriage. We don't have the time or money to do traditional date
nights very much anymore, but we can read together, or play games
together. We just got into reading Clive Cussler novels. He's the
guy that writes those Dirk Pitt Adventure novels. They're sort of
"Indiana Jones"-like books. So far it's fun!
I'm going to try to start watching Monday Night Football... something I
haven't done in years. Any free time I have (after taking care of the
house and kids) goes towards my music business, and I need some regular
down-time / guy-time in my life, so we're going to try to make that
work.
That's about it for now. We hope you are all doing well.
May the Lord bless your lives.
Love,
Solomon (28), Tirah (25), Thea (2 and 2/3), and Cirdan (15 months)
late afternoon stroll as the sun sets. Putting on a sweater and
grabbing a cup of hot chocolate. The smell of pumpkin pie. The taste
of ginger bread and apple cider. It's a good time of year.
Well, September has been sort of a stressful month for us. I've been
having a few difficulties in getting the final details of my Christmas
CD, Advent, finished on time. And Tirah and I have been having a hard
time not getting depressed by the reality of our financial situation.
It's a real exercise to try to maintain a trust in the Lord, when our
account goes down to zero every couple of weeks. And the fact that our
back yard is just dirt, is fittingly analogous of our finances. It's
like reverse feng shui, where our moods change our environment. I
know money doesn't grow on trees, but maybe if we find the right grass
seed...
But enough about the boring and depressing details of adult life, lets
move on to the heavenly joys that our children bring to us:
Cirdan is turning into quite the little boy. He walks everywhere, he
climbs everything, he loves cars and trucks, and he loves to play in
the dirt. Fortunately, he also still loves flowers, rainbows, babies,
and hugs. He has started singing, just like his older sister. All he
knows is the four notes from the end of the theme song to Elmo's World;
"That's Elmo's World!" He can't say the words yet, but he goes: Ba,
Baa baa, BAAAAAA!, and he frequently gets the notes right on.
He can say a few more words. He can say "Car," although it comes out
in more of British; "Caah." (I know there's a joke in there
somewhere, about a car and a British crow, but it's just not coming.)
He can also say "Up" and "Down," although once again, "Down" is more
like "Daah." He plays a game where he sits on the bottom step of the
stairs, and he quickly stands up while saying, "UP!" and then sits down
while saying "Daah." He is also learning to say "Please" and "Thank
you" in sign language.
Cirdan is a thriving and successful manufacturer of Joy and Cuteness,
but he's lately branched out and started a small side-business in
Naughtiness and Trouble-making. He will climb into a chair, reach
over and grab a lamp, and shake it hard, while grinning at me, as if to
say: "Come get me Papa!" He also pitches his food off his high-chair
tray, and then laughs and laughs when we tell him "No!" He seems to
find our serious, reprimanding faces amusing. "That's a funny face
Papa, do another one!" Oh well. I certainly get my exercise, both
physically and emotionally.
Thea is such a big little girl. And by "big" I mean personality-wise.
She loves to help me do the household chores. The other day, she
helped me put away all the clean laundry, and I mean she really helped
me! I sorted into piles, and then I told her what drawers to put the
piles in... and she did it! Cool!
She loves making comparisons and finding analogies. (Not surprising
really, since I love that too.) The other day I showed her a picture
of a Star Wars Star Destroyer. She asked me what it was. I told her
that it was a spaceship. She responded with, "Oh. Sort of like a
helicopter!" She made that comparison all on her own! She's
starting to make connections with who and what people are. She knows
that I have a name which is Solomon, but that she calls me Papa. She
knows that other kids have Papas too, and they are different from her
Papa. She knows that there's some sort of connection between men and
women, and Mamas and Papas. The other day we were talking about a man
that had walked by on the sidewalk. She asked me who it was, and I
told her that it was a man, (not knowing who he was). She responded
with, "Papa is sort of like a man!" A couple days ago, I was
changing her diaper (a number 2 diaper) when she looked down and
remarked, "Oh, it's sort of like Play-dough!" "Um... yes..." said I,
"but very different!"
Thea is very aware of everything we say. The other day Tirah was
making zuchini bread. She pulled the last loaf out of the oven too
late, and it had burned on the bottom. She set it down on the table
and said, "That Stinks!" The following day, Thea came up to me and
said, "I want some Stinks." meaning zuchini bread.
Now that Autumn has arrived, and some of the leaves are falling, Thea
has developed this strange fear of dead leaves. She's constantly
asking Tirah and I to move dead leaves so that she can walk by. I'm
hoping it's just a phase, or this Fall is going to be really
interesting.
Thea is getting old enough that I'm starting to become aware of how she
is a little tiny feminine being. My real challenge, as the
stay-at-home parent, is going to be making sure that Thea's emotional
needs are met. I'm starting to see first hand, why women are made for
this job. Very simply; children are pretty much all emotion for a
while, especially little girls. And women are better tuned-in to
emotion than men. And especially since Thea is a girl, I need to make
sure that I don't just treat her the way I instinctively treat
Cirdan... as a little version of me. Fortunately, being married to
Tirah has taught me a lot about how to work very closely with a
feminine being, and I've learned how to respect emotional boundaries
that we men don't have a natural clue about on our own. It's not an
impossible job; I just have to work harder at it than Tirah does. And
it's very odd to have learned relationship skills with my wife, that
I'm now needing to apply to my daughter.
To aid in all of that, we've started having special times where Tirah
and Thea hang out, and Cirdan and I hang out. Good Mama and daughter
time, and good Papa and son time. We've been noticing that Thea tends
to flip-out and have tantrums when Tirah is home, and we've finally
caught on that it's not because she doesn't want Tirah around, it's
because she feels safer to let out all her emotions with Tirah, than
with me.
Thea is still potty training. We have a little chart by her potty, and
she gets a little silver star every time she uses the potty. According
to that chart, she uses the potty 2.0625 times a day... on average.
We're trying to boost the numbers on that 0.0625 time, because it would
be much easier if it was an even three.
One of the things I love about being a full-time parent is that it's
not an hourly rate. I don't have a foreman standing over my shoulder
saying, "Come on... you can change that poopy diaper faster! I'm not
paying you to make faces at your son! Hurry up, you're taking way too
long with that!" I can take as long as I want. In fact, the more
time I spend with my children, the better! (Maybe not as far as diaper
changing goes.) It's about quality time, not efficient time. It's
a nice change.
Tirah is still working hard at Jo-Ann Fabrics. It's a hard job, that
doesn't pay very well. Fortunately it involves two things she really
likes: 1) sewing-type stuff, and 2) helping people. We don't have a
stereotypical normal life like we did when I worked in carpentry.
Tirah hardly ever has two days off in a row, and is often working
weekends and evenings. Neither of us have much free time to speak of,
but we try to find the time to relax together and remember our
marriage. We don't have the time or money to do traditional date
nights very much anymore, but we can read together, or play games
together. We just got into reading Clive Cussler novels. He's the
guy that writes those Dirk Pitt Adventure novels. They're sort of
"Indiana Jones"-like books. So far it's fun!
I'm going to try to start watching Monday Night Football... something I
haven't done in years. Any free time I have (after taking care of the
house and kids) goes towards my music business, and I need some regular
down-time / guy-time in my life, so we're going to try to make that
work.
That's about it for now. We hope you are all doing well.
May the Lord bless your lives.
Love,
Solomon (28), Tirah (25), Thea (2 and 2/3), and Cirdan (15 months)
Keal Family Letter, September 2005
Hello Family and Friends! The summer is drawing to a close... I guess
that means we'll be getting a heat wave any time now.
We are all doing well. We send you all our best wishes!
Cirdan is now 1 and two months, and walking everywhere, and all the
time. He's having a wonderful time feeling like he's finally a 'big
kid,' somebody who can play "GO, GO, GO" with the rest of the big kids
(two-year-olds). And though he can't keep up with them, and often
gets knocked down by them, he loves waddling after them nonetheless.
He can also walk up stairs (while holding on to the railing), and he
can crawl all the way down stairs. He also loves spinning. He will
walk around in circles until he gets dizzy and falls down... he loves
it! He's still teething occasionally, and can be very clingy at those
times, but for the most part he remains our little bundle of sunshine.
He's actually started talking too, or at least communicating with us.
Yesterday he walked into the living room where I was reading a book.
He came up to me, and once he had eye contact with me, he firmly
pointed behind himself. For some reason if was very clear to me that
he wanted me to follow him. So I got up, and he led me into the
kitchen where he walked over to his high chair and tapped it once,
while looking into my eyes. It couldn't have been more clear than if
he had just said, "Papa, I'm hungry. Feed me."
He has also learned some sign language basics, things like "More,"
"Food," and "Done." But even more cool than that is that he's really
started talking! He says "Up," when he wants to be picked up. He
says "Ut," when he wants to go outside, or wants to get out of his
high-chair. He will point at a light and say "ite." He says "Uss,"
when he wants his juice.
He loves birds! When ever he sees a bird in a picture or in real life,
he start this high pitch "Eeet, eeet, eeet;" it's very cute. Tirah
has started doing "Ugga Mugga" with the kids (apparently that's what
you say when you rub noses with someone.) Cirdan loves it, and he will
say "Ugga," in response.
Then he's got a series of words for some of his favorite things: Book
is "Uk." Truck comes out as a sort of "Uk." When he wants to go on a
walk he says, "Uk." When he sees a duck he says "Uk." And he says
"Uk," when he points at a rock. So you can see that he's got a pretty
diverse vocabulary.
Thea's imagination and intelligence keeps growing every day. She loves
cooking, which she does in her little kitchen, with play-dough and her
little dishes. She also loves washing her dishes. She understands at
least somewhat that Tirah is at work at Jo-Anns, and that she will be
home later. She knows that if we all get in the car, we are either
going to visit Peter and Roxanne, Tamar and Dandridge, or going to
church. She can (at times) show spontaneous signs of charitable
behavior: offering to help Cirdan with a toy, asking if someone is
feeling better (if they had been sick), offering to set the table, help
with laundry, balance the checkbook (just kidding... I wish). She
understands pretty much anything we say to her, and can show us she
understands by explaining it back to us. This, of course has it's
down-sides, as just the other day I heard her singing, to the tune of
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, these lyrics: "Darn darn Darn darn Darn
darn Daaarn." This little song was inspired by me dropping, and
spilling a whole bottle of apple juice on the floor.
We've started the whole potty training thing, but over the course of
this last month Thea's shown a lot of resistance to it. It's only
within the last couple of days that she's actually started to use her
potty successfully. Yesterday was the first day that she went for a
whole day with a dry diaper, and had used to potty 4 times by the end
of the day!
I love watching our little kids play. It's very true that children are
little scientists. They are constantly fascinated with their
environment and love to experiment with it. I can almost hear what's
going on inside their heads. Cirdan is saying: "Now I wonder what
would happen if I put this handful of sand on my sister's head. Oh!
That was an interesting reaction! I should try that again to make
sure it's consistent. Yes, it is! I must make note of that for my
Thesis on the Effects of Sand on Siblings."
I suppose Thea is more in the artist phase right now. What's going on
inside her head is something like this: "Don't talk to me right now,
I'm working on my Masterpiece! I think I'll call it 'Banana Yogurt All
Over The Table.' Just a little smear here... and... I'm done. Isn't
that beautiful?"
I'm really enjoying being a stay-at-home Papa. I certainly like it a
lot more than doing construction. I've always loved being at home.
I'm enjoying learning a bit more about cooking. And I get a lot more
time to work on music than if I had an out-of-the-home job.
Tirah is still settling into work at Jo-Ann Fabrics. She still has
stuff to learn, but is feeling much more capable every day. The
possibility of the Hawk Mountain job has been put on the back burner.
We were informed that they will attempt to navigate the Fall season
(the busiest time of the year for Hawk Mountain) without a full-time
Book Store Manager. Hopefully they will get to the end of the Fall
and decide that they were insane, and give Tirah a call. Or they will
close the book store entirely. Either way it's on the back burner for
now.
We had our sewer hook-up done this month, which means that our yard is
now a big pile of dirt instead of nice green lawn. While all of us
adults are mourning the loss of lawn, the kids seem to think that
having a huge dirt pile installed is a pretty fair trade. However, we
are looking forward to when we get get it leveled, and plant some new
grass.
My Christmas album is nearing completion. (I know I keep saying that.)
I will be sending the master off to Oasis (the replication house in
Virginia) hopefully today. We successfully raised enough money for
the cost of the replication, thanks to all of you who bought pre-orders
of Advent, and thanks to Peter (my manager/brother-in-law) for the
ingenious idea in the first place. By the way, the last day you can
buy pre-orders of Advent for only $13.00 is September 5th (Labor Day).
After that, you'll have to wait until November when they become
available for $15.00. We're mostly done the graphics for the album.
and that's the last thing we have to do.
That's about it for this month. See you next month.
May the Lord bring peace into your lives.
Love,
- Solomon John, Tirah Marie Echols, Thea Clarity, and
Cirdan Ewan Keal.
that means we'll be getting a heat wave any time now.
We are all doing well. We send you all our best wishes!
Cirdan is now 1 and two months, and walking everywhere, and all the
time. He's having a wonderful time feeling like he's finally a 'big
kid,' somebody who can play "GO, GO, GO" with the rest of the big kids
(two-year-olds). And though he can't keep up with them, and often
gets knocked down by them, he loves waddling after them nonetheless.
He can also walk up stairs (while holding on to the railing), and he
can crawl all the way down stairs. He also loves spinning. He will
walk around in circles until he gets dizzy and falls down... he loves
it! He's still teething occasionally, and can be very clingy at those
times, but for the most part he remains our little bundle of sunshine.
He's actually started talking too, or at least communicating with us.
Yesterday he walked into the living room where I was reading a book.
He came up to me, and once he had eye contact with me, he firmly
pointed behind himself. For some reason if was very clear to me that
he wanted me to follow him. So I got up, and he led me into the
kitchen where he walked over to his high chair and tapped it once,
while looking into my eyes. It couldn't have been more clear than if
he had just said, "Papa, I'm hungry. Feed me."
He has also learned some sign language basics, things like "More,"
"Food," and "Done." But even more cool than that is that he's really
started talking! He says "Up," when he wants to be picked up. He
says "Ut," when he wants to go outside, or wants to get out of his
high-chair. He will point at a light and say "ite." He says "Uss,"
when he wants his juice.
He loves birds! When ever he sees a bird in a picture or in real life,
he start this high pitch "Eeet, eeet, eeet;" it's very cute. Tirah
has started doing "Ugga Mugga" with the kids (apparently that's what
you say when you rub noses with someone.) Cirdan loves it, and he will
say "Ugga," in response.
Then he's got a series of words for some of his favorite things: Book
is "Uk." Truck comes out as a sort of "Uk." When he wants to go on a
walk he says, "Uk." When he sees a duck he says "Uk." And he says
"Uk," when he points at a rock. So you can see that he's got a pretty
diverse vocabulary.
Thea's imagination and intelligence keeps growing every day. She loves
cooking, which she does in her little kitchen, with play-dough and her
little dishes. She also loves washing her dishes. She understands at
least somewhat that Tirah is at work at Jo-Anns, and that she will be
home later. She knows that if we all get in the car, we are either
going to visit Peter and Roxanne, Tamar and Dandridge, or going to
church. She can (at times) show spontaneous signs of charitable
behavior: offering to help Cirdan with a toy, asking if someone is
feeling better (if they had been sick), offering to set the table, help
with laundry, balance the checkbook (just kidding... I wish). She
understands pretty much anything we say to her, and can show us she
understands by explaining it back to us. This, of course has it's
down-sides, as just the other day I heard her singing, to the tune of
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, these lyrics: "Darn darn Darn darn Darn
darn Daaarn." This little song was inspired by me dropping, and
spilling a whole bottle of apple juice on the floor.
We've started the whole potty training thing, but over the course of
this last month Thea's shown a lot of resistance to it. It's only
within the last couple of days that she's actually started to use her
potty successfully. Yesterday was the first day that she went for a
whole day with a dry diaper, and had used to potty 4 times by the end
of the day!
I love watching our little kids play. It's very true that children are
little scientists. They are constantly fascinated with their
environment and love to experiment with it. I can almost hear what's
going on inside their heads. Cirdan is saying: "Now I wonder what
would happen if I put this handful of sand on my sister's head. Oh!
That was an interesting reaction! I should try that again to make
sure it's consistent. Yes, it is! I must make note of that for my
Thesis on the Effects of Sand on Siblings."
I suppose Thea is more in the artist phase right now. What's going on
inside her head is something like this: "Don't talk to me right now,
I'm working on my Masterpiece! I think I'll call it 'Banana Yogurt All
Over The Table.' Just a little smear here... and... I'm done. Isn't
that beautiful?"
I'm really enjoying being a stay-at-home Papa. I certainly like it a
lot more than doing construction. I've always loved being at home.
I'm enjoying learning a bit more about cooking. And I get a lot more
time to work on music than if I had an out-of-the-home job.
Tirah is still settling into work at Jo-Ann Fabrics. She still has
stuff to learn, but is feeling much more capable every day. The
possibility of the Hawk Mountain job has been put on the back burner.
We were informed that they will attempt to navigate the Fall season
(the busiest time of the year for Hawk Mountain) without a full-time
Book Store Manager. Hopefully they will get to the end of the Fall
and decide that they were insane, and give Tirah a call. Or they will
close the book store entirely. Either way it's on the back burner for
now.
We had our sewer hook-up done this month, which means that our yard is
now a big pile of dirt instead of nice green lawn. While all of us
adults are mourning the loss of lawn, the kids seem to think that
having a huge dirt pile installed is a pretty fair trade. However, we
are looking forward to when we get get it leveled, and plant some new
grass.
My Christmas album is nearing completion. (I know I keep saying that.)
I will be sending the master off to Oasis (the replication house in
Virginia) hopefully today. We successfully raised enough money for
the cost of the replication, thanks to all of you who bought pre-orders
of Advent, and thanks to Peter (my manager/brother-in-law) for the
ingenious idea in the first place. By the way, the last day you can
buy pre-orders of Advent for only $13.00 is September 5th (Labor Day).
After that, you'll have to wait until November when they become
available for $15.00. We're mostly done the graphics for the album.
and that's the last thing we have to do.
That's about it for this month. See you next month.
May the Lord bring peace into your lives.
Love,
- Solomon John, Tirah Marie Echols, Thea Clarity, and
Cirdan Ewan Keal.
Keal Family Letter, August 2005
Hello Family and Friends! It's August already? Life is a fast ride!
We are all doing well, and we hope that you are too!
Cirdan took his first steps just last week! I think it was Wednesday
July 27th. Since then, just about every day, he takes a few more
steps. He can take about 6 or 7 steps until he has to plop down.
He's having a lot of fun being a little more like the big people
(including his sister). He's constantly watching Thea and trying to
copy her, or do exactly what she's doing (sometimes to the annoyance of
Thea). Cirdan has also been teething a lot lately, so he flip-flops
back and forth between really happy and really sad.
Cirdan loves books! I mean he really loves books! It's usually the
first thing he reaches for in the morning, and the first game he wants
to play after breakfast, and the last thing he wants to do before bed.
Tirah and I can't sit down in a chair anywhere without feeling little
tiny hands slowly place a little tiny book into our laps, and then he
stands there grinning and shaking his hands like he's going to explode
with excitement, until we pick him up and read him a book. When
reading him a book, he has the cutest, most captivated expression on
his face... eyebrows way up high, and a little "o" for a mouth.
He's also got a thing for hats. Whenever he finds a hat, he puts it on
his head, and looks really pleased with himself. Sometimes he doesn't
get it all the way on so that it's covering his eyes, and he goes
crawling off and bangs his head into the wall, but he doesn't seem to
care. He also thinks that any piece of clothing can be a hat, so
we'll often see him crawling down the hall with a dirty sock wrapped
around his head.
I'm loving the stage of life that Cirdan is in right now. It's so
wonderful to see a little boy in the purest basics of humanity;
without the warped coverings of the stereotypical masculine person.
The other day, Thea asked me to hand her a flower, which I did. Cirdan
then proceeded to tell me (with much waving of hands, and pointing of
fingers, and rapid breathing) that he wanted one too. So I gave him
one too. Thea proceeded to pull all the petals off and chuck the
bare stem onto the ground. Cirdan sat there for probably 15 minutes
just staring at this beautiful flower. It's so sad to me, that in
this world, Cirdan will grow into a bigger little boy that thinks that
flowers and rainbows and hugs and kisses are "sissy" rather than the
beautiful wonderful things that they really are. And I know it's all
part of the process that we men have to go through, but it makes me
treasure these moments with baby Cirdan all the more.
Thea loves to talk and sing. Her favorite songs include: the ABCs,
Horsey Horsey, Swinging Swinging, Old MacDonald had a Backhoe, A Man
had a Hundred Sheep, This is the Day that the Lord has made, and many
others. Oh yeah, and now a funky blues song by John Fogerty (of
Credence Clearwater Revival) called Blueboy. She can say the entire
alphabet (thanks to the song) and she can say some of her numbers,
although in her brain it goes: 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,12, and sometimes she
throws a 6 in at the end.
Tirah is working full-time at Jo-Ann Fabrics in Allentown. She is one
of the four managers of the store. Everyday she feels more confident
about her abilities to do the job. She's starting to have a lot of
fun.
An interesting development just came up yesterday. Tirah used to work
at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, and Scott (the bookstore manager there)
there just gave notice that he's leaving. Since Tirah was essentially
the Assistant Manager of the Bookstore at Hawk Mountain, there's a
slight chance that she could be eligible for the Manager position. It
puts Tirah in a very interesting position of either getting a new job
at Hawk Mountain that could pay a lot more than I ever made in
construction, or telling Jo-Anns that she's had a job offer and could
she please get a raise. Hawk Mountain has some good pros: Hawk
Mountain is only about 15 minutes away, while Jo-Anns is a half and
hour away. She's more familiar with Hawk Mountain than Jo-Anns.
Hawk Mountain would have more regular hours. And it would very
probably pay more. Both stores are in a position to possibly really
need her, which puts her in a good position, but a hard one because she
might have to tell Jo-Anns that she's leaving after only about a month.
And we still have to weigh the benefits packages of each. And this
is all still very much up in the air, because Hawk Mountain might find
somebody else. We'll keep you updated if she ends up getting the
job. We're all crossing our fingers here.
If Tirah did get this job, we could maybe stop living in survival mode
of paycheck to paycheck. The Famine could Finally be Finished! This
could Facilitate a Fabulous new Faze of Financial Freedom For the
Future of the Fair-haired and Freckled Foursome of the Keal Family.
But it really is still up in the air, so we're trying not to count our
Fluffy Feathered Fowl before they've Freed themselves From their tiny
Fragile Fortresses. (O.K. I'll stop now)
Tirah had a long three day weekend this past weekend, so we took
advantage of that and got as much of a summer vacation as we can afford
these days. We were invited up to Lake Wallenpaupack on Friday to
visit Gordon and Jen McQueen at Yodelheim (the cabin where we had our
honeymoon.) That was fun. I got to go sailing (which I haven't for
about four years!). We took Thea on her first motor boat ride. She
loved all the "bubbles" coming out the back of the boat. We had fun
playing in the water and visiting with friends and I got a bad sunburn
to round out the day. Then on Saturday, Tirah and I went to Dorney
Park which we haven't done since before Thea was born. That was a lot
of fun, and we both got bad headaches to round out that day. Tirah and
I felt like we were getting old. You know you're not a kid anymore
when your mind is going: "Dorney Park or a nap, Dorney Park or a
nap..." But it was still a lot of fun.
My music business is still slowly moving forward. It's nice to think
that we might be in a position soon where it can take as long as it
needs to to get off the ground. We're still working on getting my
Christmas CD "Advent" ready to be available by this Christmas.
Remember, you can pre-order it for only $13.00! Send me an email if
you want to pre-order it.
Well that about captures our life at this moment. Tom Hanks, in the
latest Reader's Digest, summed up life pretty well: "It's just one
darn thing after another." And as long as we recognize that, accept
it, and have fun with it, life is a joyful ride.
May the Lord bless your lives.
Love,
Solomon - Stay-at-home Papa, Husband, and Struggling Musician (28)
Tirah - Amazing Working Wife and Mother (25)
Our Marriage (4)
Thea - "The Talker" (2 and a half)
Cirdan - "The Walker" (1 and a month)
We are all doing well, and we hope that you are too!
Cirdan took his first steps just last week! I think it was Wednesday
July 27th. Since then, just about every day, he takes a few more
steps. He can take about 6 or 7 steps until he has to plop down.
He's having a lot of fun being a little more like the big people
(including his sister). He's constantly watching Thea and trying to
copy her, or do exactly what she's doing (sometimes to the annoyance of
Thea). Cirdan has also been teething a lot lately, so he flip-flops
back and forth between really happy and really sad.
Cirdan loves books! I mean he really loves books! It's usually the
first thing he reaches for in the morning, and the first game he wants
to play after breakfast, and the last thing he wants to do before bed.
Tirah and I can't sit down in a chair anywhere without feeling little
tiny hands slowly place a little tiny book into our laps, and then he
stands there grinning and shaking his hands like he's going to explode
with excitement, until we pick him up and read him a book. When
reading him a book, he has the cutest, most captivated expression on
his face... eyebrows way up high, and a little "o" for a mouth.
He's also got a thing for hats. Whenever he finds a hat, he puts it on
his head, and looks really pleased with himself. Sometimes he doesn't
get it all the way on so that it's covering his eyes, and he goes
crawling off and bangs his head into the wall, but he doesn't seem to
care. He also thinks that any piece of clothing can be a hat, so
we'll often see him crawling down the hall with a dirty sock wrapped
around his head.
I'm loving the stage of life that Cirdan is in right now. It's so
wonderful to see a little boy in the purest basics of humanity;
without the warped coverings of the stereotypical masculine person.
The other day, Thea asked me to hand her a flower, which I did. Cirdan
then proceeded to tell me (with much waving of hands, and pointing of
fingers, and rapid breathing) that he wanted one too. So I gave him
one too. Thea proceeded to pull all the petals off and chuck the
bare stem onto the ground. Cirdan sat there for probably 15 minutes
just staring at this beautiful flower. It's so sad to me, that in
this world, Cirdan will grow into a bigger little boy that thinks that
flowers and rainbows and hugs and kisses are "sissy" rather than the
beautiful wonderful things that they really are. And I know it's all
part of the process that we men have to go through, but it makes me
treasure these moments with baby Cirdan all the more.
Thea loves to talk and sing. Her favorite songs include: the ABCs,
Horsey Horsey, Swinging Swinging, Old MacDonald had a Backhoe, A Man
had a Hundred Sheep, This is the Day that the Lord has made, and many
others. Oh yeah, and now a funky blues song by John Fogerty (of
Credence Clearwater Revival) called Blueboy. She can say the entire
alphabet (thanks to the song) and she can say some of her numbers,
although in her brain it goes: 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,12, and sometimes she
throws a 6 in at the end.
Tirah is working full-time at Jo-Ann Fabrics in Allentown. She is one
of the four managers of the store. Everyday she feels more confident
about her abilities to do the job. She's starting to have a lot of
fun.
An interesting development just came up yesterday. Tirah used to work
at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, and Scott (the bookstore manager there)
there just gave notice that he's leaving. Since Tirah was essentially
the Assistant Manager of the Bookstore at Hawk Mountain, there's a
slight chance that she could be eligible for the Manager position. It
puts Tirah in a very interesting position of either getting a new job
at Hawk Mountain that could pay a lot more than I ever made in
construction, or telling Jo-Anns that she's had a job offer and could
she please get a raise. Hawk Mountain has some good pros: Hawk
Mountain is only about 15 minutes away, while Jo-Anns is a half and
hour away. She's more familiar with Hawk Mountain than Jo-Anns.
Hawk Mountain would have more regular hours. And it would very
probably pay more. Both stores are in a position to possibly really
need her, which puts her in a good position, but a hard one because she
might have to tell Jo-Anns that she's leaving after only about a month.
And we still have to weigh the benefits packages of each. And this
is all still very much up in the air, because Hawk Mountain might find
somebody else. We'll keep you updated if she ends up getting the
job. We're all crossing our fingers here.
If Tirah did get this job, we could maybe stop living in survival mode
of paycheck to paycheck. The Famine could Finally be Finished! This
could Facilitate a Fabulous new Faze of Financial Freedom For the
Future of the Fair-haired and Freckled Foursome of the Keal Family.
But it really is still up in the air, so we're trying not to count our
Fluffy Feathered Fowl before they've Freed themselves From their tiny
Fragile Fortresses. (O.K. I'll stop now)
Tirah had a long three day weekend this past weekend, so we took
advantage of that and got as much of a summer vacation as we can afford
these days. We were invited up to Lake Wallenpaupack on Friday to
visit Gordon and Jen McQueen at Yodelheim (the cabin where we had our
honeymoon.) That was fun. I got to go sailing (which I haven't for
about four years!). We took Thea on her first motor boat ride. She
loved all the "bubbles" coming out the back of the boat. We had fun
playing in the water and visiting with friends and I got a bad sunburn
to round out the day. Then on Saturday, Tirah and I went to Dorney
Park which we haven't done since before Thea was born. That was a lot
of fun, and we both got bad headaches to round out that day. Tirah and
I felt like we were getting old. You know you're not a kid anymore
when your mind is going: "Dorney Park or a nap, Dorney Park or a
nap..." But it was still a lot of fun.
My music business is still slowly moving forward. It's nice to think
that we might be in a position soon where it can take as long as it
needs to to get off the ground. We're still working on getting my
Christmas CD "Advent" ready to be available by this Christmas.
Remember, you can pre-order it for only $13.00! Send me an email if
you want to pre-order it.
Well that about captures our life at this moment. Tom Hanks, in the
latest Reader's Digest, summed up life pretty well: "It's just one
darn thing after another." And as long as we recognize that, accept
it, and have fun with it, life is a joyful ride.
May the Lord bless your lives.
Love,
Solomon - Stay-at-home Papa, Husband, and Struggling Musician (28)
Tirah - Amazing Working Wife and Mother (25)
Our Marriage (4)
Thea - "The Talker" (2 and a half)
Cirdan - "The Walker" (1 and a month)
Keal Family Letter, July 2005
Hello Friends and Family. Happy Hazy Hot and Humid July to you all. We’ve been trying to battle the heat here in Lenhartsville. We recently went out and bought a second air conditioner which is now in the kids room, so that they can be more comfortable. Our old air conditioner is in my studio, and we just use a fan to blow it into our bedroom at night.
Well, our biggest news is that Tirah now has a full-time job. She is the softline supervisor at Jo-ann Fabrics in Allentown, which means that she is in charge of all the fabrics in the store. This has been her first week on the job, and so far she’s been enjoying it.
After almost a year of just living on savings, welfare, my small amounts of income, the enormous help of my family, and the grace of God, we decided that it was time that one of us got a full-time job. My music career is going to take longer to start up than just a year.
So now I’m Mr. Mom, and having lots of fun taking care of the kiddoes.
This situation works well for many reasons:
Since I’m the one at home, I have a more flexible schedule that will allow for the occasional work that I have, such as piano lessons, recording sessions, gigs, etc.
At this point in my life, my skills and experience include carpentry, music, and parenting, and I don’t want to go back into carpentry.
Tirah, being an extrovert, naturally has skills that most employers want, namely: being able to work well with people. Whereas I’m an introvert, which is not a “skill” a lot of employers want. She’s also had experience in retail. And she loves to sew.
Out of the two of us, I tend to be the more patient and organized one, which works well for me being the parent at home with two toddlers.
Tirah’s schedule flip-flops between a morning shift (8-ish to 3-ish) and an evening schedule (3-ish to 10-ish). We’ve actually really been enjoying the evening schedule because it means that Tirah can spend good Mom time with the kids in the morning, while I get some work done on music. Then she goes off to work, the kids go down for naps, and I get some more work done on music. The downside is that the kids only get one parent for the bed-time routine. We may start doing family worship in the morning. Anyway, then I get some more work done from about 8 to 10 until Tirah comes home.
Basically, when Tirah works evening shift, our day is upside-down. Whereas most people have family time in the evening, we have it in the morning,
Because of the occasional evening shift, and weekend shift, our social life will be limited, and we’ll have to work really hard to make sure we get enough time for our marriage.
Our life will be a lot more busy now, but it will help us to get to where we want to go, and I’m sure is all part of the Lord’s Master Plan.
Cirdan is now a one-year-old. He can cruise around on his feet while holding on to furniture. He can stand completely on his own for up to 20 seconds, and is very proud of himself. He’s become quite the little climber, and we have to watch him carefully or we’ll turn around and he’ll be up on top of something like a coffee table. He’s developing this little toothy grin, and quite a sense of humor. He shows signs of recognizing words that we say to him, like “juice” and “outside” and “binky” and “cracker.” And he loves to wrestle with Thea... who sometimes likes to wrestle back.
Thea continues to improve her speaking abilities, and shows signs of understanding the basics of any conversation that we have in her presence. She’s become a very cute little Mom for her bears. She has five little beanie-baby size teddy bears which are her babies. She nurses them, changes their diapers, and comforts them when they cry. (Amusingly; when she says she wants her bears, it often comes out sounding like, “I want my beers.” )
Thea’s favorite things these days are swinging in the swing outside, pushing her bears around in her little stroller, going in the car, singing songs, talking, watering the garden, and watching the backhoes in town (our town is getting a sewer system, so there have been backhoes all over town for the last several months). In general she loves doing what the grown-ups are doing.
Well, after four years of marriage and 2 and a half years of parenting, we finally had our first trip to the emergency room. Thea dislocated her elbow. Apparently it’s a pretty common injury for children under age 5. Thea wanted to go one way and Mama was trying to get her to go the other way and “pop.” It sure didn’t help Tirah, who already struggles with feeling like she’s a bad mother, but it was relieving for her to hear that it’s a very common injury. The technical term is an elbow subluxation. So we took her into the emergency room. The doctor was great, and warned Tirah that Thea would cry, and then “pop” he relocated her elbow, and within minutes Thea was waving her arm around and showing off her little “I got an X-ray and lived to tell about it” stickers to every passing stranger. All the nurses at the hospital fell in love with her, and when Tirah and Thea finally came out, Thea was plastered with about 10 colorful little stickers and yelling “My arm ih aaaaall better!”
Exciting things are happening in my music career! I’m happy to announce.... no... wait... I won’t tell you. You’ll have to find out by signing up to receive my music newsletter! There’s nothing scary about my music newsletter guys. There’s no catch, I won’t trap you into buying CDs or anything. It’s just a newsletter like this one, except it’s all about my music career. It will let you know about performances, new CDs, whatever is happening in my life as a musician. It is informative, entertaining, and useful. Useful to you, and to me, because it’s important for me to be able to communicate directly with my fan base.
It’s very easy to sign up. There’s a little box on the top right hand side of the home page of my website, and you just write in your email address. So go on now... go sign up... that’s right.... keep going. Here, I’ll make it easy for you: www.solomonkeal.com.
Here. I’ll make it even MORE easy for you. If you really don’t want to go all the way to my website, then this family newsletter is your official invitation to join my music newsletter. All you have to do is reply to this email, and say “yes” or “sign me up” or “O.K. Solomon” or some such appropriate comment, and I’LL sign you up FOR you! It doesn’t get much easier than that.
So... would you like to receive my music newsletter? (this is the part where you reply, “yes”)
Well enough shameless self-promotion (I am getting better at it), that’s about the jist of our life right now. We all hope your lives are wonderful, and may the Lord bring you peace.
Love,
Solomon - Executive Partner and Head of the Music and Household Departments.
Tirah - Executive Partner and Head of the Finance and Marriage Departments.
Thea - Communications Officer, Head of the Imitations Department, and Local Excavation Supervisor.
Cirdan - Morale Officer and Head of the Exploration Department.
Well, our biggest news is that Tirah now has a full-time job. She is the softline supervisor at Jo-ann Fabrics in Allentown, which means that she is in charge of all the fabrics in the store. This has been her first week on the job, and so far she’s been enjoying it.
After almost a year of just living on savings, welfare, my small amounts of income, the enormous help of my family, and the grace of God, we decided that it was time that one of us got a full-time job. My music career is going to take longer to start up than just a year.
So now I’m Mr. Mom, and having lots of fun taking care of the kiddoes.
This situation works well for many reasons:
Since I’m the one at home, I have a more flexible schedule that will allow for the occasional work that I have, such as piano lessons, recording sessions, gigs, etc.
At this point in my life, my skills and experience include carpentry, music, and parenting, and I don’t want to go back into carpentry.
Tirah, being an extrovert, naturally has skills that most employers want, namely: being able to work well with people. Whereas I’m an introvert, which is not a “skill” a lot of employers want. She’s also had experience in retail. And she loves to sew.
Out of the two of us, I tend to be the more patient and organized one, which works well for me being the parent at home with two toddlers.
Tirah’s schedule flip-flops between a morning shift (8-ish to 3-ish) and an evening schedule (3-ish to 10-ish). We’ve actually really been enjoying the evening schedule because it means that Tirah can spend good Mom time with the kids in the morning, while I get some work done on music. Then she goes off to work, the kids go down for naps, and I get some more work done on music. The downside is that the kids only get one parent for the bed-time routine. We may start doing family worship in the morning. Anyway, then I get some more work done from about 8 to 10 until Tirah comes home.
Basically, when Tirah works evening shift, our day is upside-down. Whereas most people have family time in the evening, we have it in the morning,
Because of the occasional evening shift, and weekend shift, our social life will be limited, and we’ll have to work really hard to make sure we get enough time for our marriage.
Our life will be a lot more busy now, but it will help us to get to where we want to go, and I’m sure is all part of the Lord’s Master Plan.
Cirdan is now a one-year-old. He can cruise around on his feet while holding on to furniture. He can stand completely on his own for up to 20 seconds, and is very proud of himself. He’s become quite the little climber, and we have to watch him carefully or we’ll turn around and he’ll be up on top of something like a coffee table. He’s developing this little toothy grin, and quite a sense of humor. He shows signs of recognizing words that we say to him, like “juice” and “outside” and “binky” and “cracker.” And he loves to wrestle with Thea... who sometimes likes to wrestle back.
Thea continues to improve her speaking abilities, and shows signs of understanding the basics of any conversation that we have in her presence. She’s become a very cute little Mom for her bears. She has five little beanie-baby size teddy bears which are her babies. She nurses them, changes their diapers, and comforts them when they cry. (Amusingly; when she says she wants her bears, it often comes out sounding like, “I want my beers.” )
Thea’s favorite things these days are swinging in the swing outside, pushing her bears around in her little stroller, going in the car, singing songs, talking, watering the garden, and watching the backhoes in town (our town is getting a sewer system, so there have been backhoes all over town for the last several months). In general she loves doing what the grown-ups are doing.
Well, after four years of marriage and 2 and a half years of parenting, we finally had our first trip to the emergency room. Thea dislocated her elbow. Apparently it’s a pretty common injury for children under age 5. Thea wanted to go one way and Mama was trying to get her to go the other way and “pop.” It sure didn’t help Tirah, who already struggles with feeling like she’s a bad mother, but it was relieving for her to hear that it’s a very common injury. The technical term is an elbow subluxation. So we took her into the emergency room. The doctor was great, and warned Tirah that Thea would cry, and then “pop” he relocated her elbow, and within minutes Thea was waving her arm around and showing off her little “I got an X-ray and lived to tell about it” stickers to every passing stranger. All the nurses at the hospital fell in love with her, and when Tirah and Thea finally came out, Thea was plastered with about 10 colorful little stickers and yelling “My arm ih aaaaall better!”
Exciting things are happening in my music career! I’m happy to announce.... no... wait... I won’t tell you. You’ll have to find out by signing up to receive my music newsletter! There’s nothing scary about my music newsletter guys. There’s no catch, I won’t trap you into buying CDs or anything. It’s just a newsletter like this one, except it’s all about my music career. It will let you know about performances, new CDs, whatever is happening in my life as a musician. It is informative, entertaining, and useful. Useful to you, and to me, because it’s important for me to be able to communicate directly with my fan base.
It’s very easy to sign up. There’s a little box on the top right hand side of the home page of my website, and you just write in your email address. So go on now... go sign up... that’s right.... keep going. Here, I’ll make it easy for you: www.solomonkeal.com.
Here. I’ll make it even MORE easy for you. If you really don’t want to go all the way to my website, then this family newsletter is your official invitation to join my music newsletter. All you have to do is reply to this email, and say “yes” or “sign me up” or “O.K. Solomon” or some such appropriate comment, and I’LL sign you up FOR you! It doesn’t get much easier than that.
So... would you like to receive my music newsletter? (this is the part where you reply, “yes”)
Well enough shameless self-promotion (I am getting better at it), that’s about the jist of our life right now. We all hope your lives are wonderful, and may the Lord bring you peace.
Love,
Solomon - Executive Partner and Head of the Music and Household Departments.
Tirah - Executive Partner and Head of the Finance and Marriage Departments.
Thea - Communications Officer, Head of the Imitations Department, and Local Excavation Supervisor.
Cirdan - Morale Officer and Head of the Exploration Department.
Keal Family Letter, June 2005
Hello Friends and Family! I can't believe it's already summer time! I hope everybody here in the States had a nice Memorial Day. The weather here has been great lately, and we are all doing well.
Our little Cirdan is about to turn 1 Year Old on the 13th! It's amazing that it's been that long already. Cirdan has reached that stage where he tries to copy people now. He has learned how to clap, and we think that it sometimes means that he wants to be picked up. He can imitate actions like blowing, and clicking his tongue, and making wabaweeble sounds while flipping his lips with his finger (you know, that's an amazingly difficult action to describe in writing). While standing up, he has occasionally let go of whatever he's been holding on to, and stood on his own for a few seconds. Apparently I took my first steps on my first birthday... we're all wondering if he will do the same.
Thea's ability to speak is jumping in leaps and bounds. The other day she said to Tirah, "I saw a dump truck and a backhoe, and it was digging a hole, just like me in my sandbox!" Of course it sounded more like "Ah daw a Duh Duck ah ah Back Hoe ah ih ah Dig a Hole, da ah Me ih ah Dan Dox!" We were all amazed that she had the capacity to understand the concept of a comparison like that. She also loves singing songs, and is almost always singing something. She even made up a song the other day! (I'm so Proud!) Of course she used what sounds like the first part of the melody for "Hot Cross Buns" but I think is Public Domain, so there won't be any copyright issues. Basically it goes: "I Love You Cirdan, I Love You Cirdan." It comes out sounding like "I Love You Nan-nan, I Love You Nan-nan." It's very cute. Of course that beautiful sentiment is often out-weighed by her spending the rest of her time telling Cirdan, "NO Nan-nan!" Oh well... She's Two.
We are often greeted each morning by hearing her voice over the monitor, either singing a song, or saying, "Mama, I Need a Wipe!" because she's changing her Bear's diaper.
Tirah is doing well. Life is very busy keeping track to two kids, and working part time for Carl, and doing things like the Pre-School Music class, and running a household, and trying to help me get my business going, and now looking for more part-time work because we're running out of money. And yes, it's tiring, but she does it somehow, because she's amazing. I would not have the courage to tackle much of life without her at my side.
Tirah has a regular Thursday get-together with a couple of other moms in the Society, so that's really nice for her.
Our routine is getting a little back to normal now. We have worship every night, which is great! Thea can actually say a lot of the Prayer now. We go on daily walks. We do regular reading together. The TV is back, but it's hidden in the corner, and only comes out when we say it's allowed to. We've only watched a handful of movies this month, which has been very refreshing. We've done more reading, than watching TV. We did manage to go see Star Wars Episode III, that was a lot of fun!
It was fun to get to see Denis and Liz and Family recently, down at John and Ellen's. They are up here for Tammy's graduation.
We'll be heading down to Bryn Athyn for graduation this weekend, and then we'll be staying for the Assembly next week.
I'm still plugging away at this music career. I'm about to finish recording my Christmas album, so that's exciting. Some other exciting news is that one of my pieces made it to number 36 in the Whispering Solo Piano Radio monthly Top 40 List! The Top 40 are less the 10% of the total pieces played on the station! I will be playing background music during the Tuesday dinner hours for the General Church Assembly in Bryn Athyn. I'm putting on a solo piano concert here in Kempton on Saturday June 25th. I'm also playing at a local coffeeshop in July 2nd. Peter and I are still planning a New Church Societies Tour, so stay tuned! Go to my website and sign up for my music newsletter if you want to hear more. (www.solomonkeal.com)
Oh, and on the 24th, Tirah and I will be celebrating our 4th anniversary!
Have a wonderful day!
- Solomon (28), Tirah (25), Thea, (2 and 4 months) and Cirdan (1 Year Old in 12 days)
Our little Cirdan is about to turn 1 Year Old on the 13th! It's amazing that it's been that long already. Cirdan has reached that stage where he tries to copy people now. He has learned how to clap, and we think that it sometimes means that he wants to be picked up. He can imitate actions like blowing, and clicking his tongue, and making wabaweeble sounds while flipping his lips with his finger (you know, that's an amazingly difficult action to describe in writing). While standing up, he has occasionally let go of whatever he's been holding on to, and stood on his own for a few seconds. Apparently I took my first steps on my first birthday... we're all wondering if he will do the same.
Thea's ability to speak is jumping in leaps and bounds. The other day she said to Tirah, "I saw a dump truck and a backhoe, and it was digging a hole, just like me in my sandbox!" Of course it sounded more like "Ah daw a Duh Duck ah ah Back Hoe ah ih ah Dig a Hole, da ah Me ih ah Dan Dox!" We were all amazed that she had the capacity to understand the concept of a comparison like that. She also loves singing songs, and is almost always singing something. She even made up a song the other day! (I'm so Proud!) Of course she used what sounds like the first part of the melody for "Hot Cross Buns" but I think is Public Domain, so there won't be any copyright issues. Basically it goes: "I Love You Cirdan, I Love You Cirdan." It comes out sounding like "I Love You Nan-nan, I Love You Nan-nan." It's very cute. Of course that beautiful sentiment is often out-weighed by her spending the rest of her time telling Cirdan, "NO Nan-nan!" Oh well... She's Two.
We are often greeted each morning by hearing her voice over the monitor, either singing a song, or saying, "Mama, I Need a Wipe!" because she's changing her Bear's diaper.
Tirah is doing well. Life is very busy keeping track to two kids, and working part time for Carl, and doing things like the Pre-School Music class, and running a household, and trying to help me get my business going, and now looking for more part-time work because we're running out of money. And yes, it's tiring, but she does it somehow, because she's amazing. I would not have the courage to tackle much of life without her at my side.
Tirah has a regular Thursday get-together with a couple of other moms in the Society, so that's really nice for her.
Our routine is getting a little back to normal now. We have worship every night, which is great! Thea can actually say a lot of the Prayer now. We go on daily walks. We do regular reading together. The TV is back, but it's hidden in the corner, and only comes out when we say it's allowed to. We've only watched a handful of movies this month, which has been very refreshing. We've done more reading, than watching TV. We did manage to go see Star Wars Episode III, that was a lot of fun!
It was fun to get to see Denis and Liz and Family recently, down at John and Ellen's. They are up here for Tammy's graduation.
We'll be heading down to Bryn Athyn for graduation this weekend, and then we'll be staying for the Assembly next week.
I'm still plugging away at this music career. I'm about to finish recording my Christmas album, so that's exciting. Some other exciting news is that one of my pieces made it to number 36 in the Whispering Solo Piano Radio monthly Top 40 List! The Top 40 are less the 10% of the total pieces played on the station! I will be playing background music during the Tuesday dinner hours for the General Church Assembly in Bryn Athyn. I'm putting on a solo piano concert here in Kempton on Saturday June 25th. I'm also playing at a local coffeeshop in July 2nd. Peter and I are still planning a New Church Societies Tour, so stay tuned! Go to my website and sign up for my music newsletter if you want to hear more. (www.solomonkeal.com)
Oh, and on the 24th, Tirah and I will be celebrating our 4th anniversary!
Have a wonderful day!
- Solomon (28), Tirah (25), Thea, (2 and 4 months) and Cirdan (1 Year Old in 12 days)
Keal Family Letter, May 2005
Hello Friends and Family! Happy May to you all. We are all doing pretty well here in Lenhartsville.
Cirdan will be 11 months old on the 13th of this month! He can now pull himself up to a standing position. He's crawling all over the house. He can crawl all the way up the stairs. And he still crawls all the way up the stairs even thought he has already fallen down the stairs (very scary and sad, but he's a tough little boy) He's got several teeth, I forget how many, but at least four. He is, as ever, the cutest, most smiley little almost-1-year-old that exists!
Thea is 2 years and 3 months. She talks a mile a minute. And she loves singing! Last night we had a conjugial love class here at our house. Part way through the class we all heard, very audibly over the baby monitor, Thea singing the ABCs! It was very cute. She knows many different songs now; partly thanks to the little kid's music class, Do Re Mi, run by my mom and Tirah, and partly thanks to the fact that Tirah is always singing to her and teaching her new songs. She can say the entire alphabet with help, and she can almost sing the entire alphabet without help, including the "now I know my ABCs, next time won't you sing with me?"
I was watching Thea running outside the other day, (she's loves being "oup-guide" as she calls it), and I couldn't help thinking, "when did you learn to run?!" The other day, we were having lunch and she pointed to a jar on the table and said very clearly, "mayonnaise." I remember thinking, "when did you learn that word?!" It's amazing, the learning curve of a child. They just soak things up! And you have to watch closely in order to catch all of the wonderful moments.
Tirah is doing well. Little by little she feels more and more comfortable living in Kempton and socializing with people in our Society, Last night at the conjugial love class, Lawson (our pastor) made fun of her during something he was saying, not in a cruel, picking on her way, but rather in a "you're one of us now" sort of way. Tirah was saying how it was such a surprisingly nice feeling, to feel like she was one of the gang so much that people could make fun of her. It sounds strange, but I think we can all relate to that ironic difference between someone making fun of of you because they don't like you, and someone making fun of you because they really love you and feel close enough to you that they can be informal with you.
This past month we have been entirely TV free! For the whole month of April, we packed the TV into the attic and decided to stop worshipping that false god. Very symbolically we moved our worship center into the hole in our living room left by the absent TV... replacing a false god with the Real God. It's been wonderful. We've been spending more time outside, more time with the kids, more time working on our marriage, more time reading books, playing games, having family worship... essentially all the things we really want to be doing instead of wasting our time in front of the TV. Technically, starting tomorrow, we can bring the TV back down, but we intend to bring it down and hide it in the corner, and only bring it out occasionally, and we will give it another trial month, and if we go back to worshipping the false god, then it goes back to the attic.
My music business is slowly inching forward. The Big News is that my music is now being played on Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio. (www.solopianoradio.com) It's a community of solo piano artists that have a radio station, and do group tours, and in general work together to make a living in the jungle that is the music industry.
I also have a blog page now, (www.solomonthoughts.blogspot.com) where I will be posting my thoughts about being a husband, father, musician, and New Church person.
I now have a functional home recording studio, so I can not only start hiring myself out as a recording engineer, but I am going to begin recording my Christmas album any day now. I also now have a portable digital piano, so I can start doing more gigs.
Peter and I are planning a New Church Societies Solomon Keal Tour. Phase One will be doing local tours this summer to societies that are only a day-trip away from Kempton. Phase Two is to do a North East societies tour this fall. Phase Three is to do a South and West societies tour next summer.
I will be playing some background music at the General Church Assembly in June. And I will be doing a concert here in Kempton on June 25th.
Well, that's all for now.
Have a great day!
- Solomon
Cirdan will be 11 months old on the 13th of this month! He can now pull himself up to a standing position. He's crawling all over the house. He can crawl all the way up the stairs. And he still crawls all the way up the stairs even thought he has already fallen down the stairs (very scary and sad, but he's a tough little boy) He's got several teeth, I forget how many, but at least four. He is, as ever, the cutest, most smiley little almost-1-year-old that exists!
Thea is 2 years and 3 months. She talks a mile a minute. And she loves singing! Last night we had a conjugial love class here at our house. Part way through the class we all heard, very audibly over the baby monitor, Thea singing the ABCs! It was very cute. She knows many different songs now; partly thanks to the little kid's music class, Do Re Mi, run by my mom and Tirah, and partly thanks to the fact that Tirah is always singing to her and teaching her new songs. She can say the entire alphabet with help, and she can almost sing the entire alphabet without help, including the "now I know my ABCs, next time won't you sing with me?"
I was watching Thea running outside the other day, (she's loves being "oup-guide" as she calls it), and I couldn't help thinking, "when did you learn to run?!" The other day, we were having lunch and she pointed to a jar on the table and said very clearly, "mayonnaise." I remember thinking, "when did you learn that word?!" It's amazing, the learning curve of a child. They just soak things up! And you have to watch closely in order to catch all of the wonderful moments.
Tirah is doing well. Little by little she feels more and more comfortable living in Kempton and socializing with people in our Society, Last night at the conjugial love class, Lawson (our pastor) made fun of her during something he was saying, not in a cruel, picking on her way, but rather in a "you're one of us now" sort of way. Tirah was saying how it was such a surprisingly nice feeling, to feel like she was one of the gang so much that people could make fun of her. It sounds strange, but I think we can all relate to that ironic difference between someone making fun of of you because they don't like you, and someone making fun of you because they really love you and feel close enough to you that they can be informal with you.
This past month we have been entirely TV free! For the whole month of April, we packed the TV into the attic and decided to stop worshipping that false god. Very symbolically we moved our worship center into the hole in our living room left by the absent TV... replacing a false god with the Real God. It's been wonderful. We've been spending more time outside, more time with the kids, more time working on our marriage, more time reading books, playing games, having family worship... essentially all the things we really want to be doing instead of wasting our time in front of the TV. Technically, starting tomorrow, we can bring the TV back down, but we intend to bring it down and hide it in the corner, and only bring it out occasionally, and we will give it another trial month, and if we go back to worshipping the false god, then it goes back to the attic.
My music business is slowly inching forward. The Big News is that my music is now being played on Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio. (www.solopianoradio.com) It's a community of solo piano artists that have a radio station, and do group tours, and in general work together to make a living in the jungle that is the music industry.
I also have a blog page now, (www.solomonthoughts.blogspot.com) where I will be posting my thoughts about being a husband, father, musician, and New Church person.
I now have a functional home recording studio, so I can not only start hiring myself out as a recording engineer, but I am going to begin recording my Christmas album any day now. I also now have a portable digital piano, so I can start doing more gigs.
Peter and I are planning a New Church Societies Solomon Keal Tour. Phase One will be doing local tours this summer to societies that are only a day-trip away from Kempton. Phase Two is to do a North East societies tour this fall. Phase Three is to do a South and West societies tour next summer.
I will be playing some background music at the General Church Assembly in June. And I will be doing a concert here in Kempton on June 25th.
Well, that's all for now.
Have a great day!
- Solomon
Keal Family Letter, April 2005
Hello Friends and Family! This is the April edition of the monthly
Keal letter. Spring has Sprung!!! at least here in Lenhartsville.
We've been highly enjoying the beautiful Spring weather lately. We've
made a Spring resolution to go on a 30 minute walk every day. I read
an article (Reader's Digest or something) that was saying that 3 hours
of regular exercise a week has the same (good) effects as
anti-depressent drugs. We've been going almost every day (except for
days when it's pouring rain) and loving it. Just outside of
Lenhartsville is a little road that runs right beside the creek. It
passes an old mill and a waterfall over a dam. It's a beautiful place
to walk, and it takes us exactly a half an hour to walk from our front
door to the most beautiful spot on that road and back. The walking and
the beautiful weather has been doing wonders for Tirah's post-partum
depression.
Cirdan is now 9 months old. He just started crawling within the last
couple of days. I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing a baby
crawl for the first time. He's like a little wind-up toy. The worst
of his teething seems to be over for now. He's got his four front
teeth in. Lately he's been his smiley, laughing old self.
We've been getting a little more sleep lately, except for the last
couple of nights when Thea had the throw-ups. But that seems to have
passed now, thank goodness.
Thea is talking more and more every day. She's using complete
sentences like "I think MeeMah is down stairs" and "I think Carl went
Bye-bye." Of course it sounds more like: "Ah dink Mee Mah eh dawn a
dits." but if you know the lingo you can hear it. (for those of you
who don't know "MeeMah and DeeDah" are my parents) She is also learning
many more numbers and letters. The other day we got her to say the
entire alphabet (with prompting for each letter). We've started using
a "Naughty Room" as a method of punishment. Our naughty room consists
of a gate closing off the area at the bottom of the attic stairs... a
very boring place to be. So far it's had good effects on Thea's
behavior, especially with her hitting Cirdan.
We got our monstrous tax refund, so we are in good shape as far as
financial survival goes, at least for a little while. Part of it is
going towards buying studio equipment for me... and I've already used
up my budget! One of the things I bought was a new Control Surface
and Audio/MIDI Interface. It will allow me to have physical control
over the functions of my music software (so that I don't have to use
the mouse all the time) and it has a huge number of microphone and line
and MIDI inputs (something I can expand into as my studio grows), and
also it is a Firewire connection to the computer instead of a USB
connection (Firewire is a much better connection).
Peter Genzlinger (who is my brother-in-law), and I are working on a
business partnership for my music career. Steve Simons (who is also my
brother-in-law) is starting a publishing company/record label with his
brother-in-law Alex. (That's a lot of brothers-in-law!) The four of
us had a business meeting not long ago to discuss me joining their
record label. It's all very exciting stuff.
Check my website (www.solomonkeal.com) for more updates about my music
career. Fairly soon my website is going to have a new look, designed
by Elise Simons.
Well, that's about it. Have a wonderful Spring day!... (if you are in
the Northern Hemisphere)
May the Lord bring you Peace.
Love from Solomon (28), Tirah (25), Thea (2), and Cirdan (9 months)
Keal.
Keal letter. Spring has Sprung!!! at least here in Lenhartsville.
We've been highly enjoying the beautiful Spring weather lately. We've
made a Spring resolution to go on a 30 minute walk every day. I read
an article (Reader's Digest or something) that was saying that 3 hours
of regular exercise a week has the same (good) effects as
anti-depressent drugs. We've been going almost every day (except for
days when it's pouring rain) and loving it. Just outside of
Lenhartsville is a little road that runs right beside the creek. It
passes an old mill and a waterfall over a dam. It's a beautiful place
to walk, and it takes us exactly a half an hour to walk from our front
door to the most beautiful spot on that road and back. The walking and
the beautiful weather has been doing wonders for Tirah's post-partum
depression.
Cirdan is now 9 months old. He just started crawling within the last
couple of days. I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing a baby
crawl for the first time. He's like a little wind-up toy. The worst
of his teething seems to be over for now. He's got his four front
teeth in. Lately he's been his smiley, laughing old self.
We've been getting a little more sleep lately, except for the last
couple of nights when Thea had the throw-ups. But that seems to have
passed now, thank goodness.
Thea is talking more and more every day. She's using complete
sentences like "I think MeeMah is down stairs" and "I think Carl went
Bye-bye." Of course it sounds more like: "Ah dink Mee Mah eh dawn a
dits." but if you know the lingo you can hear it. (for those of you
who don't know "MeeMah and DeeDah" are my parents) She is also learning
many more numbers and letters. The other day we got her to say the
entire alphabet (with prompting for each letter). We've started using
a "Naughty Room" as a method of punishment. Our naughty room consists
of a gate closing off the area at the bottom of the attic stairs... a
very boring place to be. So far it's had good effects on Thea's
behavior, especially with her hitting Cirdan.
We got our monstrous tax refund, so we are in good shape as far as
financial survival goes, at least for a little while. Part of it is
going towards buying studio equipment for me... and I've already used
up my budget! One of the things I bought was a new Control Surface
and Audio/MIDI Interface. It will allow me to have physical control
over the functions of my music software (so that I don't have to use
the mouse all the time) and it has a huge number of microphone and line
and MIDI inputs (something I can expand into as my studio grows), and
also it is a Firewire connection to the computer instead of a USB
connection (Firewire is a much better connection).
Peter Genzlinger (who is my brother-in-law), and I are working on a
business partnership for my music career. Steve Simons (who is also my
brother-in-law) is starting a publishing company/record label with his
brother-in-law Alex. (That's a lot of brothers-in-law!) The four of
us had a business meeting not long ago to discuss me joining their
record label. It's all very exciting stuff.
Check my website (www.solomonkeal.com) for more updates about my music
career. Fairly soon my website is going to have a new look, designed
by Elise Simons.
Well, that's about it. Have a wonderful Spring day!... (if you are in
the Northern Hemisphere)
May the Lord bring you Peace.
Love from Solomon (28), Tirah (25), Thea (2), and Cirdan (9 months)
Keal.
Keal Family Letter, March 2005
Hello Friends and Family! This is the March edition of the monthly
Keal letter. I hope that February treated all of you better than it
did us. At least it's a short month. The good parts of the month for
us were that Thea turned two on the 2nd and Tirah turned 25 on the
19th. Tirah and I had a lovely time on her birthday: we went out to
dinner at a favorite restaurant, Tirah got a new earring on the upper
part of her right ear... it looks very pretty, and then we went out to
see the movie "Hitch" which we highly recommend.
Some other good news includes the fact that we're getting a good size
tax return this year which will not only help us survive, but help to
pay for my studio equipment!
All other aspects of the month have been miserable. Cirdan has been
teething horribly which means that he's usually awake and screaming for
a good chunk of the night, which means that we're awake and feeling
like screaming. Thea has entered the realm of "Two Years Old" with a
bang... many bangs.... every day. She usually spends a good chunk of
the day screaming because she's not getting what she wants right now!
Tirah and I are running on very little sleep, which often means I'm not
able to put in as many hours of work as I'd like, and worst of all: all
of this is contributing to, and making worse the fact that Tirah is
suffering from Postpartum Depression. I'm sure the cold and dreary
February weather isn't helping either. As well as my own worries
about being able to support my family... which has been contributing to
my lower back hurting for a lot of the month.
But enough doom and gloom. I'm ultimately an optimist... there's
always a silver lining. Ultimately we just need to remember that the
Lord is in charge and it makes life much easier to handle.
Let's see... oh here's some more good news. My business is still
moving forward. It's not supporting us yet, but it is moving forward.
Those who signed up for my music newsletter on my website, can learn
more about all that when I write that monthly newsletter right after
I'm finished with this one. (To sign up go to: www.solomonkeal.com.
Also check out www.solomon-keal.com and www.solomonzone.com)
Oh, some other good news is that we are getting a Contemporary service
going here in Kempton! It's starting out slow and gentle (we don't
want to offend people) but it's happening once a month, in the
Sanctuary, at 10:00 in the morning just like every other service. We
had the first one just this past Sunday, and it was received well and
well attended. We had postlude and prelude singing of some more
Contemporary and Laurel Camp-like songs. We had guitar as well as
piano. We even had many of the instruments mentioned in Psalm 150,
which was what the sermon was about, including: trumpet, flute,
recorder, harp, guitar, and cymbals. The sermon itself was talking
about how we are meant to worship and praise the Lord in many different
ways, like the many different instruments that play music. It was a
great first step in the right direction! A lot of people have been
waiting for years for this.
Well, that's about it. Sorry to be so dismal. I hope that all of you
are doing well. Love from all of us: Solomon (27), Tirah (25), Thea
(2), and Cirdan (8 months). May the Lord bless your lives and grant
you peace.
Keal letter. I hope that February treated all of you better than it
did us. At least it's a short month. The good parts of the month for
us were that Thea turned two on the 2nd and Tirah turned 25 on the
19th. Tirah and I had a lovely time on her birthday: we went out to
dinner at a favorite restaurant, Tirah got a new earring on the upper
part of her right ear... it looks very pretty, and then we went out to
see the movie "Hitch" which we highly recommend.
Some other good news includes the fact that we're getting a good size
tax return this year which will not only help us survive, but help to
pay for my studio equipment!
All other aspects of the month have been miserable. Cirdan has been
teething horribly which means that he's usually awake and screaming for
a good chunk of the night, which means that we're awake and feeling
like screaming. Thea has entered the realm of "Two Years Old" with a
bang... many bangs.... every day. She usually spends a good chunk of
the day screaming because she's not getting what she wants right now!
Tirah and I are running on very little sleep, which often means I'm not
able to put in as many hours of work as I'd like, and worst of all: all
of this is contributing to, and making worse the fact that Tirah is
suffering from Postpartum Depression. I'm sure the cold and dreary
February weather isn't helping either. As well as my own worries
about being able to support my family... which has been contributing to
my lower back hurting for a lot of the month.
But enough doom and gloom. I'm ultimately an optimist... there's
always a silver lining. Ultimately we just need to remember that the
Lord is in charge and it makes life much easier to handle.
Let's see... oh here's some more good news. My business is still
moving forward. It's not supporting us yet, but it is moving forward.
Those who signed up for my music newsletter on my website, can learn
more about all that when I write that monthly newsletter right after
I'm finished with this one. (To sign up go to: www.solomonkeal.com.
Also check out www.solomon-keal.com and www.solomonzone.com)
Oh, some other good news is that we are getting a Contemporary service
going here in Kempton! It's starting out slow and gentle (we don't
want to offend people) but it's happening once a month, in the
Sanctuary, at 10:00 in the morning just like every other service. We
had the first one just this past Sunday, and it was received well and
well attended. We had postlude and prelude singing of some more
Contemporary and Laurel Camp-like songs. We had guitar as well as
piano. We even had many of the instruments mentioned in Psalm 150,
which was what the sermon was about, including: trumpet, flute,
recorder, harp, guitar, and cymbals. The sermon itself was talking
about how we are meant to worship and praise the Lord in many different
ways, like the many different instruments that play music. It was a
great first step in the right direction! A lot of people have been
waiting for years for this.
Well, that's about it. Sorry to be so dismal. I hope that all of you
are doing well. Love from all of us: Solomon (27), Tirah (25), Thea
(2), and Cirdan (8 months). May the Lord bless your lives and grant
you peace.
Keal Family Letter, February 2005
Hello Friends and Family. Because it is dinner time, and I have to
go, this is going to be a very short monthly letter... maybe I'll add
to it later. The two big pieces of new are: Thea turned two today!
...and I have a preliminary website up for all you folks to check out.
This is not the final real website that Elise and Steve are working
on, but it will have to do for now, and it serves my business purposes
in the interim. Go and check it out! www.solomonkeal.com. Let
me know what you think!
Have a wonderful February! - Solomon
Hello friends and family. If you would like, please sign up to
receive my monthly music newsletter on my website. It will be very
much like this monthly newsletter, but only about my music career. It
will contain updates on my recording projects, and information about
where and when I'll be performing, as well as where you can buy my
music. It will be the best way to find out exactly when my next CDs
will be coming out. Also, feel free to use the guestbook feature on
my website as well.
On the home front... Thea had a wonderful birthday party yesterday.
We gave her a little goldfish which she loves to watch and feed. She
also got, from other family members, a new teddy bear, a little
2-year-old plastic garden tools set, and a wonderfully decorated little
box with cards in it, made by my mom. The cards have pictures of her
favorite things, as well as numbers and letters. Tirah made an amazing
spice cake in a bunt pan with a wonderful drizzle icing. Thea calls
all kinds of cake, "Apple cake," (sounds like "Appah Kek") so she had
apple cake for her birthday.
Cirdan is now sitting up on his own and he just started eating
crackers. Unfortunately he is not sleeping well at night, which means
we are not sleeping well at night, but that's parenthood for you.
Have a beautiful day! - Solomon
go, this is going to be a very short monthly letter... maybe I'll add
to it later. The two big pieces of new are: Thea turned two today!
...and I have a preliminary website up for all you folks to check out.
This is not the final real website that Elise and Steve are working
on, but it will have to do for now, and it serves my business purposes
in the interim. Go and check it out! www.solomonkeal.com. Let
me know what you think!
Have a wonderful February! - Solomon
Hello friends and family. If you would like, please sign up to
receive my monthly music newsletter on my website. It will be very
much like this monthly newsletter, but only about my music career. It
will contain updates on my recording projects, and information about
where and when I'll be performing, as well as where you can buy my
music. It will be the best way to find out exactly when my next CDs
will be coming out. Also, feel free to use the guestbook feature on
my website as well.
On the home front... Thea had a wonderful birthday party yesterday.
We gave her a little goldfish which she loves to watch and feed. She
also got, from other family members, a new teddy bear, a little
2-year-old plastic garden tools set, and a wonderfully decorated little
box with cards in it, made by my mom. The cards have pictures of her
favorite things, as well as numbers and letters. Tirah made an amazing
spice cake in a bunt pan with a wonderful drizzle icing. Thea calls
all kinds of cake, "Apple cake," (sounds like "Appah Kek") so she had
apple cake for her birthday.
Cirdan is now sitting up on his own and he just started eating
crackers. Unfortunately he is not sleeping well at night, which means
we are not sleeping well at night, but that's parenthood for you.
Have a beautiful day! - Solomon
Keal Family Letter, December 2004
Merry Christmas everyone, from the Solomon Keal Family!
This has been a very busy month (I'm starting to see a pattern...).
This Friday is the Kempton Christmas Sing. Saturday morning (possibly)
we are having our Keal Christmas because this year me and my siblings
are all spending Christmas with the In-laws, namely: Echols,
Genzlingers, and Coles. Saturday afternoon is the Kempton Tableaux
rehearsal. Sunday morning I'm playing special music for church.
Sunday afternoon and evening a lot of us are singing in the Tableaux.
Then on Wednesday the 22nd, we leave to head towards Ohio. Wednesday
afternoon we arrive in Pittsburgh and spend that afternoon and night
with my grandparents Jack and Sally Rose, and visit with any of my
aunts, uncles, and cousins that are around. We then leave from
Pittsburgh for Ohio around lunchtime on Thursday the 23rd and arrive at
the Echols' in the late evening on the 23rd. That way we have all of
Christmas Eve to spend with the Echols'. On Sunday the 26th, I will
be playing piano for a Day-After-Christmas musical service at the
Cincinnati New Church. We then stay with the Echols' for as long as
our two little under-two-year-olds can stand to be away from home. We
will then drive through the night all the way back to Lenhartsville
some time in the middle of the last week of December.
After all of that, life Will Go Back to Normal. O.K. I'll stop
dreaming. January will be a deciding month for my music career. A
lot of things that I've been working on so far will hopefully start
coming to fruition. My website will be designed. I will finish my
Recording Engineering course, and possibly start looking for a job in a
studio. I will hear if I've become a member of ASCAP (American Society
of Composers, Authors and Publishers). I will hear if I've been
accepted to Solo Piano Radio. I will possibly hear if anyone wants to
help me financially. If anyone does help me financially, I will start
buying the equipment I need to finish my home studio. I will start
recording demos and sending them into TAXI, an independent A&R company.
I will start recording my next album. I will start developing a Music
History course to offer next school year. I will start calling
contacts and performing in local coffeeshops, bookstores, etc. I will
probably start a music e-newsletter (so if any of you want to receive
it let me know). It will be a scary and exciting month! Wish me
luck!
The family is doing well. Cirdan is still the cutest, happiest
little chunk of a boy I've ever seen. He just turned 6 months. He
rolled over the other day. He is starting to eat some solid foods such
as rice cereal and teething biscuits. He has been teething a lot,
which means that between me and Tirah, we collectively get about 8
hours of sleep a night. Thea is approaching the Terrible Twos.
She'll be two in February. She is talking a lot, but we don't always
understand her, which gets her very frustrated. Tirah is, as always,
the glue that holds us all together. She works 24 hours a day keeping
track of a teething 6 month old, a terrible two year old, an unemployed
musician, and anyone else she can touch with her joyous, life-giving
sphere.
Have a wonderful Christmas everyone! Love, Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and
Cirdan Keal.
"Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward
Men!" (Luke 2:14)
This has been a very busy month (I'm starting to see a pattern...).
This Friday is the Kempton Christmas Sing. Saturday morning (possibly)
we are having our Keal Christmas because this year me and my siblings
are all spending Christmas with the In-laws, namely: Echols,
Genzlingers, and Coles. Saturday afternoon is the Kempton Tableaux
rehearsal. Sunday morning I'm playing special music for church.
Sunday afternoon and evening a lot of us are singing in the Tableaux.
Then on Wednesday the 22nd, we leave to head towards Ohio. Wednesday
afternoon we arrive in Pittsburgh and spend that afternoon and night
with my grandparents Jack and Sally Rose, and visit with any of my
aunts, uncles, and cousins that are around. We then leave from
Pittsburgh for Ohio around lunchtime on Thursday the 23rd and arrive at
the Echols' in the late evening on the 23rd. That way we have all of
Christmas Eve to spend with the Echols'. On Sunday the 26th, I will
be playing piano for a Day-After-Christmas musical service at the
Cincinnati New Church. We then stay with the Echols' for as long as
our two little under-two-year-olds can stand to be away from home. We
will then drive through the night all the way back to Lenhartsville
some time in the middle of the last week of December.
After all of that, life Will Go Back to Normal. O.K. I'll stop
dreaming. January will be a deciding month for my music career. A
lot of things that I've been working on so far will hopefully start
coming to fruition. My website will be designed. I will finish my
Recording Engineering course, and possibly start looking for a job in a
studio. I will hear if I've become a member of ASCAP (American Society
of Composers, Authors and Publishers). I will hear if I've been
accepted to Solo Piano Radio. I will possibly hear if anyone wants to
help me financially. If anyone does help me financially, I will start
buying the equipment I need to finish my home studio. I will start
recording demos and sending them into TAXI, an independent A&R company.
I will start recording my next album. I will start developing a Music
History course to offer next school year. I will start calling
contacts and performing in local coffeeshops, bookstores, etc. I will
probably start a music e-newsletter (so if any of you want to receive
it let me know). It will be a scary and exciting month! Wish me
luck!
The family is doing well. Cirdan is still the cutest, happiest
little chunk of a boy I've ever seen. He just turned 6 months. He
rolled over the other day. He is starting to eat some solid foods such
as rice cereal and teething biscuits. He has been teething a lot,
which means that between me and Tirah, we collectively get about 8
hours of sleep a night. Thea is approaching the Terrible Twos.
She'll be two in February. She is talking a lot, but we don't always
understand her, which gets her very frustrated. Tirah is, as always,
the glue that holds us all together. She works 24 hours a day keeping
track of a teething 6 month old, a terrible two year old, an unemployed
musician, and anyone else she can touch with her joyous, life-giving
sphere.
Have a wonderful Christmas everyone! Love, Solomon, Tirah, Thea, and
Cirdan Keal.
"Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward
Men!" (Luke 2:14)
Keal Family Letter, November 2004
Hello all y'all. Sorry for the tardiness of this month's Keal Letter.
I've been very busy.
This is the first month that I have been without a paycheck.
Fortunately we were able to save up enough that we're still living fine
off of our bank account. It turns out I might not be eligible for
Unemployment Compensation because I'm trying to start my own business.
We'll see what happens. I'm actually working part time for Hendricks'
Historic Doors because they needed help for a few weeks. I'm only
working in the afternoons there, and I'll probably be done that this
week. Other than that I'm working hard at getting my music career off
the ground.
My daily routine is this: I get up at 6:00 to be working by 6:30. I
then work for an hour in the morning before breakfast, before Tirah and
the kids are up. Then 7:30 to 8:30 is wake-up time, and family
breakfast hour. Then I work for three hours from 8:30 to 11:30.
11:30 to 12:30 is family lunch hour before the kids go down for naps.
Then I work four hours in the afternoon from 12:30 to 4:30. So that
way, I get in an 8 hour day, but also have an hour-long breakfast and
lunch break.
Currently I'm working on three main priorities. 1. Getting my website
up and running. 2. Getting my Business Plan written and out to
prospective benefactors. 3. Taking my Recording Engineering course.
These are occupying most of my time right now. Other things near the
top of my priority list include reading my Music Business book,
learning more about my music software, practicing the piano, and doing
marketing research. Hopefully very soon, I'll be sending y'all a
message telling you to go visit my website at www.solomonkeal.com.
It's great getting to be home most of the day and being able to see my
family more. We're able to go on family walks. My routine is flexible
enough that I can help out if the kids are sick or something. It's also
been great not doing physical labor all day... it means I'm not
exhausted by 5:00 and I can actually help out and play with the kids
and not be a zombie.
Tirah is done working at Hawk Mountain for the year, which is nice
because we have our weekends back. So now she's just working for Carl
which she does from home. We are planning our Christmas trip out to
the Echols'.
Cirdan just turned 5 months old! He's almost sitting up. He can sit
up on his own if he's sitting in a boppy. Thea is 21 and a half
months. She is talking more every day; putting together little
sentences. Her latest thing is that she knows the numbers 8 and 9 and
can point them out on a clock or in a book, saying very clearly, "Et an
nan." Why 8 and 9? No idea. But it's wonderfully cute.
Well, that's all for now... I've got to get back to work. Over
and Out. - Solomon
I've been very busy.
This is the first month that I have been without a paycheck.
Fortunately we were able to save up enough that we're still living fine
off of our bank account. It turns out I might not be eligible for
Unemployment Compensation because I'm trying to start my own business.
We'll see what happens. I'm actually working part time for Hendricks'
Historic Doors because they needed help for a few weeks. I'm only
working in the afternoons there, and I'll probably be done that this
week. Other than that I'm working hard at getting my music career off
the ground.
My daily routine is this: I get up at 6:00 to be working by 6:30. I
then work for an hour in the morning before breakfast, before Tirah and
the kids are up. Then 7:30 to 8:30 is wake-up time, and family
breakfast hour. Then I work for three hours from 8:30 to 11:30.
11:30 to 12:30 is family lunch hour before the kids go down for naps.
Then I work four hours in the afternoon from 12:30 to 4:30. So that
way, I get in an 8 hour day, but also have an hour-long breakfast and
lunch break.
Currently I'm working on three main priorities. 1. Getting my website
up and running. 2. Getting my Business Plan written and out to
prospective benefactors. 3. Taking my Recording Engineering course.
These are occupying most of my time right now. Other things near the
top of my priority list include reading my Music Business book,
learning more about my music software, practicing the piano, and doing
marketing research. Hopefully very soon, I'll be sending y'all a
message telling you to go visit my website at www.solomonkeal.com.
It's great getting to be home most of the day and being able to see my
family more. We're able to go on family walks. My routine is flexible
enough that I can help out if the kids are sick or something. It's also
been great not doing physical labor all day... it means I'm not
exhausted by 5:00 and I can actually help out and play with the kids
and not be a zombie.
Tirah is done working at Hawk Mountain for the year, which is nice
because we have our weekends back. So now she's just working for Carl
which she does from home. We are planning our Christmas trip out to
the Echols'.
Cirdan just turned 5 months old! He's almost sitting up. He can sit
up on his own if he's sitting in a boppy. Thea is 21 and a half
months. She is talking more every day; putting together little
sentences. Her latest thing is that she knows the numbers 8 and 9 and
can point them out on a clock or in a book, saying very clearly, "Et an
nan." Why 8 and 9? No idea. But it's wonderfully cute.
Well, that's all for now... I've got to get back to work. Over
and Out. - Solomon
Keal Family Letter, October 2004
Hello all you friends and family types. Welcome to the October
issue
of the Monthly Keal Letter. We are all doing well. The weather is
turning cooler and the leaves are turning colors. Tirah and I had some
hot chocolate in front of a fire in the wood stove the other night.
It's time for the season of Cozy.
Cirdan is as cute as can be and getting cuter by the day. He's
got a
smile to die for, and is starting to get very active. Actively trying
to hold things, actively trying to sit up on his own. He and Thea
love each other very much... though not enough to know what's good for
each other. Thea will often be so excited to see Cirdan that she will
scream at the top of her voice... which will then make Cirdan cry.
"What happened Mama? Why is he crying?"
Thea is talking more and more. Though her words are not
completely
formed, she is started to put them together into short baby sentences.
Just this evening, as I was giving her her bath, she heard Tirah coming
up the stairs and started repeating over and over: "Mama - tess! Mama
- tess? Mama - tess!" (Rough translation: "Mother - stairs") She has
her own words for a great many things including: Ball, star, car,
stairs, Cirdan, juice, eggs, peanut butter balls, blanket, Blue Bear
(her teddy bear), Rhino (her Other teddy "bear"), diaper, shoes, socks,
Mama, Papa, Meema, Deeda, video, cracker, cheese, house, flower, knee,
feet, eyes, bathtime, binky (pacifier), balloon, moon, "Hi," "See ya,"
and probably more as we speak. This list of vocabulary words is
pretty much the bulk of what Thea says these days... now that I think
about it, it's pretty much the bulk of what Tirah and I say these days
too. Aaahh Parenthood.
Tirah is doing well. She's having a lot of fun working for Carl
Smith
as the book keeper for his new heating, plumbing and AC business. The
best thing being that she can work out of the office in our living
room. This Autumn she will also be working up at Hawk Mountain again
on weekends. This will make life very busy for this month, but it will
bring in much needed income for the months ahead.
Yes, this is the last month that I will be working in the
carpentry,
construction business. As of November, I will have to go onto
Unemployment benefits as I try to start up my own music business. It's
a scary and exciting time of our life. But we have a good situation to
be in. Since we're renting from my Mom and Dad, we don't have to worry
about getting kicked out of the house when we miss rent payments.
Tirah's income from Carl means that we won't lose our car. Her income
from Hawk Mountain will give us a bit of a head start. And I hope to
be earning money as soon as I possibly can from music.
I am currently working on writing my Business Plan. I'm also
taking a
course in Recording Engineering, which would conceivably allow me to
look for a decent job in a recording studio, or better yet start my own
studio. Steve Simons is helping me get my website up and running.
Elise and Robert Genzlinger (just married) gave me a book on music
business. I'm half way to owning the equipment I need to have a
functional start-up recording studio. I have many ideas for new albums
to make, and I'm researching the music markets I need to tap into. The
wheels are turning my friends, and my family. We still believe very
strongly that this is all Providential. I'm surrounding myself with
Positive Thoughts such as "If you risk nothing, you risk even more." by
Somebody Or. Other. Next month will be the beginning of our new life.
Well, I must go and work on some research for my website.
See you
on the other side. - Solomon and Family
issue
of the Monthly Keal Letter. We are all doing well. The weather is
turning cooler and the leaves are turning colors. Tirah and I had some
hot chocolate in front of a fire in the wood stove the other night.
It's time for the season of Cozy.
Cirdan is as cute as can be and getting cuter by the day. He's
got a
smile to die for, and is starting to get very active. Actively trying
to hold things, actively trying to sit up on his own. He and Thea
love each other very much... though not enough to know what's good for
each other. Thea will often be so excited to see Cirdan that she will
scream at the top of her voice... which will then make Cirdan cry.
"What happened Mama? Why is he crying?"
Thea is talking more and more. Though her words are not
completely
formed, she is started to put them together into short baby sentences.
Just this evening, as I was giving her her bath, she heard Tirah coming
up the stairs and started repeating over and over: "Mama - tess! Mama
- tess? Mama - tess!" (Rough translation: "Mother - stairs") She has
her own words for a great many things including: Ball, star, car,
stairs, Cirdan, juice, eggs, peanut butter balls, blanket, Blue Bear
(her teddy bear), Rhino (her Other teddy "bear"), diaper, shoes, socks,
Mama, Papa, Meema, Deeda, video, cracker, cheese, house, flower, knee,
feet, eyes, bathtime, binky (pacifier), balloon, moon, "Hi," "See ya,"
and probably more as we speak. This list of vocabulary words is
pretty much the bulk of what Thea says these days... now that I think
about it, it's pretty much the bulk of what Tirah and I say these days
too. Aaahh Parenthood.
Tirah is doing well. She's having a lot of fun working for Carl
Smith
as the book keeper for his new heating, plumbing and AC business. The
best thing being that she can work out of the office in our living
room. This Autumn she will also be working up at Hawk Mountain again
on weekends. This will make life very busy for this month, but it will
bring in much needed income for the months ahead.
Yes, this is the last month that I will be working in the
carpentry,
construction business. As of November, I will have to go onto
Unemployment benefits as I try to start up my own music business. It's
a scary and exciting time of our life. But we have a good situation to
be in. Since we're renting from my Mom and Dad, we don't have to worry
about getting kicked out of the house when we miss rent payments.
Tirah's income from Carl means that we won't lose our car. Her income
from Hawk Mountain will give us a bit of a head start. And I hope to
be earning money as soon as I possibly can from music.
I am currently working on writing my Business Plan. I'm also
taking a
course in Recording Engineering, which would conceivably allow me to
look for a decent job in a recording studio, or better yet start my own
studio. Steve Simons is helping me get my website up and running.
Elise and Robert Genzlinger (just married) gave me a book on music
business. I'm half way to owning the equipment I need to have a
functional start-up recording studio. I have many ideas for new albums
to make, and I'm researching the music markets I need to tap into. The
wheels are turning my friends, and my family. We still believe very
strongly that this is all Providential. I'm surrounding myself with
Positive Thoughts such as "If you risk nothing, you risk even more." by
Somebody Or. Other. Next month will be the beginning of our new life.
Well, I must go and work on some research for my website.
See you
on the other side. - Solomon and Family
Keal Family Letter, September 2004
Dear Family and Friends, Solomon here. Well our life has taken a
drastic turn. For those of you that don't know yet, I found out last
Friday that I'm being laid off in two months. But we've decided to see
this potentially scary change of events as being providential. After
all, we've been praying for who knows how long that I could stop
working for Junge Construction, and do music instead. Well, be careful
what you pray for.... So rather than scramble to try to find another
day job in two months, we're going to take the plunge and dive into the
music industry and trust that the Lord is in charge. This really is
perhaps the best time to do it. And I think that the necessity of
having to make a living, will be a good incentive for actually getting
it off the ground. After all, it's either music, or try to find
another carpentry job. They're really the only two things I've got
talent in. So I might as well give music a shot. I also feel like it
would be letting the Lord down, to not attempt to use the talent that
He's given me.
Tirah is working part time for Carl's new business (Effective Heating
Plumbing and Air Conditioning), so that's a little income. She's also
going to work weekends at Hawk Mountain this Fall, so that's a little
more. We have lots of friends and family that are very generous and
willing to help us. Needless to say, the next several months and
possibly year, will be VERY TIGHT financially. Very likely, I will
need to go on Unemployment until I can actually start making money from
my music.
But, we are actually very excited about all of this. Currently I am
working on writing up a Business Plan, which will not only help me
organize and figure out what exactly I will be doing to make money, but
also will be something I can give to any wealthy benefactors who might
be interested in funding my start-up costs.
Steve is currently working on created a website for me. I will be
signing up for a Home-Study Recording Engineering course before the end
of this month. And I'm starting to do some major research into
marketing schemes. The Business will essentially consist of three
branches: a) Songwriting - This will consist of me writing songs and
recording demos to be send to publishers and/or artists to then be
recorded and released. This will (at some future date) generate
royalty income. b) Composing, performing, and recording my piano
music. This will include both marketing and selling my two previous
albums, as well as creating, marketing and selling new albums.
Performing will preferably be limiting to local gigs like coffee shops,
book stores, restaurants, and events such as weddings and concerts.
c) Recording. I intend to learn enough about recording that I can not
only record good quality demos, but good quality finished CDs. This
skill would also allow me to either look for a job at a local recording
studio, or start up my own recording studio. The plan is that we
could eventually live off of the income generated by the above business
endeavors.
The idea of doing what I truly love for a living is very, very
exciting. But until it's a reality, I'm going to need lots and lots of
encouragement and support. Tirah has been my guardian angel through
all of this. She's the Number One Reason that I believe I can do it at
all.
In other news, Cirdan will be baptized by his grandfather (Clark
Echols) this Labor Day. He's the cutest little boy ever! He smiles
at everything! It's so amazing to hold him in my arms, worried about
the financial responsibility of supporting this little life, and then
have him give me a huge smile, as if to say, "I believe in you Papa.
Everything will be O.K." His little bubble of joyful innocence is
like tuning into a Heavenly radio station. It's amazing how the very
things that cause you to worry can be the source of your consolation.
Thea is talking more and more. Perhaps the cutest thing is that she
knows Cirdan's name; she calls him "Nan-nan" and sometimes even
"Neer-nan." She's growing up so fast!
Tirah is, as I said, working for Carl, and will be working at Hawk
Mountain this Fall. As well as being a Mother, Home-maker, Wife, and
full time Support Group for me. She's amazing.
Well, enough for now. I need to go work on my Business Plan. But I
want to close with a quote from a Country song that's out on the radio
right now and is a source of great inspiration for me. "Business man
playin' air guitar; Always dreamed he'd be a Super Star; Quits his job
and starts playin' at nights; Is he giving up his living, or taking
back his life? I guess it's all how you look at it."
See you next month. - Solomon
drastic turn. For those of you that don't know yet, I found out last
Friday that I'm being laid off in two months. But we've decided to see
this potentially scary change of events as being providential. After
all, we've been praying for who knows how long that I could stop
working for Junge Construction, and do music instead. Well, be careful
what you pray for.... So rather than scramble to try to find another
day job in two months, we're going to take the plunge and dive into the
music industry and trust that the Lord is in charge. This really is
perhaps the best time to do it. And I think that the necessity of
having to make a living, will be a good incentive for actually getting
it off the ground. After all, it's either music, or try to find
another carpentry job. They're really the only two things I've got
talent in. So I might as well give music a shot. I also feel like it
would be letting the Lord down, to not attempt to use the talent that
He's given me.
Tirah is working part time for Carl's new business (Effective Heating
Plumbing and Air Conditioning), so that's a little income. She's also
going to work weekends at Hawk Mountain this Fall, so that's a little
more. We have lots of friends and family that are very generous and
willing to help us. Needless to say, the next several months and
possibly year, will be VERY TIGHT financially. Very likely, I will
need to go on Unemployment until I can actually start making money from
my music.
But, we are actually very excited about all of this. Currently I am
working on writing up a Business Plan, which will not only help me
organize and figure out what exactly I will be doing to make money, but
also will be something I can give to any wealthy benefactors who might
be interested in funding my start-up costs.
Steve is currently working on created a website for me. I will be
signing up for a Home-Study Recording Engineering course before the end
of this month. And I'm starting to do some major research into
marketing schemes. The Business will essentially consist of three
branches: a) Songwriting - This will consist of me writing songs and
recording demos to be send to publishers and/or artists to then be
recorded and released. This will (at some future date) generate
royalty income. b) Composing, performing, and recording my piano
music. This will include both marketing and selling my two previous
albums, as well as creating, marketing and selling new albums.
Performing will preferably be limiting to local gigs like coffee shops,
book stores, restaurants, and events such as weddings and concerts.
c) Recording. I intend to learn enough about recording that I can not
only record good quality demos, but good quality finished CDs. This
skill would also allow me to either look for a job at a local recording
studio, or start up my own recording studio. The plan is that we
could eventually live off of the income generated by the above business
endeavors.
The idea of doing what I truly love for a living is very, very
exciting. But until it's a reality, I'm going to need lots and lots of
encouragement and support. Tirah has been my guardian angel through
all of this. She's the Number One Reason that I believe I can do it at
all.
In other news, Cirdan will be baptized by his grandfather (Clark
Echols) this Labor Day. He's the cutest little boy ever! He smiles
at everything! It's so amazing to hold him in my arms, worried about
the financial responsibility of supporting this little life, and then
have him give me a huge smile, as if to say, "I believe in you Papa.
Everything will be O.K." His little bubble of joyful innocence is
like tuning into a Heavenly radio station. It's amazing how the very
things that cause you to worry can be the source of your consolation.
Thea is talking more and more. Perhaps the cutest thing is that she
knows Cirdan's name; she calls him "Nan-nan" and sometimes even
"Neer-nan." She's growing up so fast!
Tirah is, as I said, working for Carl, and will be working at Hawk
Mountain this Fall. As well as being a Mother, Home-maker, Wife, and
full time Support Group for me. She's amazing.
Well, enough for now. I need to go work on my Business Plan. But I
want to close with a quote from a Country song that's out on the radio
right now and is a source of great inspiration for me. "Business man
playin' air guitar; Always dreamed he'd be a Super Star; Quits his job
and starts playin' at nights; Is he giving up his living, or taking
back his life? I guess it's all how you look at it."
See you next month. - Solomon
Keal Family Letter, August 2004
Greeting All Family Types and Others. Solomon here. Sorry about
missing last month's installment of our life. We were busy taking care
of our own new installment of life into our life. Here is a snapshot
of our joyous existence. Cirdan is doing well. Unfortunately he's
had a very bad diaper rash for the past month which is only just
clearing up thanks to a combination of Tirah's diet, new and better
paper diapers, and a magic minty baby-butt cream. But aside from his
rash and the fact that August has hit us like a breath of hazy, hot and
humid air, he's doing well. He's starting to see us more, and
recognize us as Beings. He is smiling a lot, and is insanely cute.
Thea just turned 18 months today! She's a year and a half already!!!
She is blossoming into a wonderful little girl. She is now walking.
It was really just after Cirdan was born that she decided it was time.
She picked it up pretty quickly and is now running around the house,
falling flat on her nose, getting up and running again. Her
vocabulary is coming along nicely. Aside from "Mama" and "Papa," she
has a limited amount of words that she uses, based on a few of her
favorite things. What follows is a list of her favorite things and
her own pronunciations of those things in quotation marks: Ball:
"Bah" (silent "LL" also pronounced "Mabah" which means "my ball"),
Flower: "Row-wah" (she absolutely loves flowers!), Moon "Moom"
(right now this includes the sun) Binky (Pacifier): "Didy", as well
as several others that I can't think of right now. She then applies
this vocabulary to just about everything she comes across. For
example: Fans are flowers. All plants are flowers. Anything
spherical is a ball, this includes apples and oranges. And of course
if it is a bright whitish ball of any sort, it is a "Moom." She also
knows a few sign language signs. She can say "Please," "Hungry," and
"More." She's also made up a few of her own like "Done" (vigorously
shaking hands), "Walk" (moving her hands up and down like feet), and
"Bath" (squeezing her hands together: based on me filling my hands with
water and squirting it at her in the bath.) There are so many cute
things she does, I could go on forever... but I must continue.
Tirah is doing well. She will be starting to work for Carl (Smith)
Hobson soon. He will be launching is own small business any day now,
and Tirah is going to do some office work for him. Tirah is very
excited about this and hopes that it will work out. Being a mother of
two is very different than being a mother of one, but she is doing
fabulously!
I am slowly but steadily learning how to use my music software. I'm
hoping to have my website up and running soon. I'm also researching
music schools that offer online or correspondence courses. So far I've
found two schools that look promising: Berklee Music School, and the
Audio Institute of America. Both of these offer diplomas for courses
completed, which would be great to have were I to look for a job at a
music studio. But most of all with the idea that I will start my own
studio.
Anyway... that's our life. May the Lord bless you all. Love, the
Keals (a family of four)
missing last month's installment of our life. We were busy taking care
of our own new installment of life into our life. Here is a snapshot
of our joyous existence. Cirdan is doing well. Unfortunately he's
had a very bad diaper rash for the past month which is only just
clearing up thanks to a combination of Tirah's diet, new and better
paper diapers, and a magic minty baby-butt cream. But aside from his
rash and the fact that August has hit us like a breath of hazy, hot and
humid air, he's doing well. He's starting to see us more, and
recognize us as Beings. He is smiling a lot, and is insanely cute.
Thea just turned 18 months today! She's a year and a half already!!!
She is blossoming into a wonderful little girl. She is now walking.
It was really just after Cirdan was born that she decided it was time.
She picked it up pretty quickly and is now running around the house,
falling flat on her nose, getting up and running again. Her
vocabulary is coming along nicely. Aside from "Mama" and "Papa," she
has a limited amount of words that she uses, based on a few of her
favorite things. What follows is a list of her favorite things and
her own pronunciations of those things in quotation marks: Ball:
"Bah" (silent "LL" also pronounced "Mabah" which means "my ball"),
Flower: "Row-wah" (she absolutely loves flowers!), Moon "Moom"
(right now this includes the sun) Binky (Pacifier): "Didy", as well
as several others that I can't think of right now. She then applies
this vocabulary to just about everything she comes across. For
example: Fans are flowers. All plants are flowers. Anything
spherical is a ball, this includes apples and oranges. And of course
if it is a bright whitish ball of any sort, it is a "Moom." She also
knows a few sign language signs. She can say "Please," "Hungry," and
"More." She's also made up a few of her own like "Done" (vigorously
shaking hands), "Walk" (moving her hands up and down like feet), and
"Bath" (squeezing her hands together: based on me filling my hands with
water and squirting it at her in the bath.) There are so many cute
things she does, I could go on forever... but I must continue.
Tirah is doing well. She will be starting to work for Carl (Smith)
Hobson soon. He will be launching is own small business any day now,
and Tirah is going to do some office work for him. Tirah is very
excited about this and hopes that it will work out. Being a mother of
two is very different than being a mother of one, but she is doing
fabulously!
I am slowly but steadily learning how to use my music software. I'm
hoping to have my website up and running soon. I'm also researching
music schools that offer online or correspondence courses. So far I've
found two schools that look promising: Berklee Music School, and the
Audio Institute of America. Both of these offer diplomas for courses
completed, which would be great to have were I to look for a job at a
music studio. But most of all with the idea that I will start my own
studio.
Anyway... that's our life. May the Lord bless you all. Love, the
Keals (a family of four)
Keal Family Letter, June 2004
Hello All. Solomon here. I am happy to announce, for all of you
that don't know yet, that we had a baby boy on Sunday June 13th! We
had him here at home. His name is Cirdan Ewan Keal. (Cirdan is
pronounced "Keer-dan," and Ewan is pronounced "You-an." Cirdan is
the name of an elf from J.R.R. Tolkien's books. It means "Ship
builder." Ewan is a form of the name John. In a sense he is
named after both of his grandfathers: John Clark Echols and Ian Keal
(Ian also being a form of John). He was born at 8:22 pm, and he was
8 lbs 8 oz, and 20 and 1/2 inches long. He is doing very well; he's
nursing very well. He still thinks that day is for sleeping and night
is for waking, but hopefully (yawn) that will change soon. Tirah is
doing very well. Over all it was about a 10 hour labor, but only
hard labor for about 4 hours. She only pushed for 5 minutes!
Recovery is going very well... much better than with Thea. Thea is
having a hard time adjusting to Mama not being around very much and not
being able to pick her up. She's throwing a lot of tantrums. But
when she comes in to see Cirdan she's very gentle and fascinated. She
understands that this is a little tiny person... even littler that she
is. Thea has taken her first steps. She walks... when she feels
like it. Right now she still prefers to hold on to Papa's fingers.
Well, gotta go. We'll be sending out photos of Cirdan soon.
See ya! - Solomon
that don't know yet, that we had a baby boy on Sunday June 13th! We
had him here at home. His name is Cirdan Ewan Keal. (Cirdan is
pronounced "Keer-dan," and Ewan is pronounced "You-an." Cirdan is
the name of an elf from J.R.R. Tolkien's books. It means "Ship
builder." Ewan is a form of the name John. In a sense he is
named after both of his grandfathers: John Clark Echols and Ian Keal
(Ian also being a form of John). He was born at 8:22 pm, and he was
8 lbs 8 oz, and 20 and 1/2 inches long. He is doing very well; he's
nursing very well. He still thinks that day is for sleeping and night
is for waking, but hopefully (yawn) that will change soon. Tirah is
doing very well. Over all it was about a 10 hour labor, but only
hard labor for about 4 hours. She only pushed for 5 minutes!
Recovery is going very well... much better than with Thea. Thea is
having a hard time adjusting to Mama not being around very much and not
being able to pick her up. She's throwing a lot of tantrums. But
when she comes in to see Cirdan she's very gentle and fascinated. She
understands that this is a little tiny person... even littler that she
is. Thea has taken her first steps. She walks... when she feels
like it. Right now she still prefers to hold on to Papa's fingers.
Well, gotta go. We'll be sending out photos of Cirdan soon.
See ya! - Solomon
Keal Family Letter, May 2004
Hello Family and Friends, Solomon here. We've reached that
"Springy" time of year when we have the combined fresh air smells of
April Showers and May Flowers. We've all been enjoying the outdoors
a lot. It's been fun watching Thea as she discovers grass, and
dandylions, and little birds that fly across the blue sky. More and
more, the sounds she makes sound like the words we say to her. She is
able to stand and balance all by herself (no hands) for probably 30
seconds, and loves it when we clap and applaud her. Clapping has
become her new sign of happiness. She's been teething quite a bit
lately with nasty old molars coming in. It's been very sad to see her
in so much pain, but her cheerful self comes back very quickly.
One month until our next little bundle of joy is due. We both think
it's a boy, but who knows? Pregnancies always differ from each other.
Just this morning we found out that the baby is not in the right
position for it's last month. The baby should be head down, but he
(she) is lying side-ways (transverse). We're not too worried at this
point. There are plenty of things that Tirah can do to get the baby in
the right position. The trick will be to get the baby to stay head
down by the time Tirah goes into labor. Most medical people see the
only option for a transverse baby at the time of birth to be C-section,
which we do not want at all. But we are hopeful and praying that
everything will be fine.
Tirah just recently was offered a job working for Carl Hobson (once
Carl Smith). He will be starting his own business this July, and
asked Tirah he she wanted to do some secretarial work for him. It
would be a great situation. Tirah could do all her work right at home
on Carl's laptop. It would be a great help financially for us, as
well as helping out an entrepreneurial close friend. Very likely an
answer to two prayers.
It's taken about a month, but I finally got my music software up and
running, and I am able to use it's basic functions fairly well. I
worked through all of it's tutorials, and am now working on recording
one of my songs. It is a boat-load of fun! It will be quite a while
before I've read through the two inch thick (all English) manual. It
is a strange situation to be learning something new where I'm very
aware of what I could and will know, but don't know yet. I know that
there are some functions that the software can do, that I haven't even
seen to be needed yet. But as always, I love learning new things.
The last week this month, I will be taking off from my day job, to work
on our house. We will be knocking out a wall in Mom's massage room to
make the whole room bigger. That will allow us to change the location
of the bottom of Mom and Dad's stairs. Right now they come out in the
kitchen, but we're going to turn them the other way so that they come
out in the massage room. One small step in the giant plan to turn
this old house into two houses. If we have time we'll be doing some
more painting and other odd jobs that we didn't get to last summer.
Hopefully we will get it all done before the baby comes. (When I say
"We" I really mean "I")
Well that's our life right now. Busy as ever. But full of an ever
increasing awareness of the Lord's Providence in all things. Next
month's letter could be late, as we could be in labor. (When I say
"We" I really mean "Tirah") Be excellent to each other, and party
on dudes! - Solomon.
"Springy" time of year when we have the combined fresh air smells of
April Showers and May Flowers. We've all been enjoying the outdoors
a lot. It's been fun watching Thea as she discovers grass, and
dandylions, and little birds that fly across the blue sky. More and
more, the sounds she makes sound like the words we say to her. She is
able to stand and balance all by herself (no hands) for probably 30
seconds, and loves it when we clap and applaud her. Clapping has
become her new sign of happiness. She's been teething quite a bit
lately with nasty old molars coming in. It's been very sad to see her
in so much pain, but her cheerful self comes back very quickly.
One month until our next little bundle of joy is due. We both think
it's a boy, but who knows? Pregnancies always differ from each other.
Just this morning we found out that the baby is not in the right
position for it's last month. The baby should be head down, but he
(she) is lying side-ways (transverse). We're not too worried at this
point. There are plenty of things that Tirah can do to get the baby in
the right position. The trick will be to get the baby to stay head
down by the time Tirah goes into labor. Most medical people see the
only option for a transverse baby at the time of birth to be C-section,
which we do not want at all. But we are hopeful and praying that
everything will be fine.
Tirah just recently was offered a job working for Carl Hobson (once
Carl Smith). He will be starting his own business this July, and
asked Tirah he she wanted to do some secretarial work for him. It
would be a great situation. Tirah could do all her work right at home
on Carl's laptop. It would be a great help financially for us, as
well as helping out an entrepreneurial close friend. Very likely an
answer to two prayers.
It's taken about a month, but I finally got my music software up and
running, and I am able to use it's basic functions fairly well. I
worked through all of it's tutorials, and am now working on recording
one of my songs. It is a boat-load of fun! It will be quite a while
before I've read through the two inch thick (all English) manual. It
is a strange situation to be learning something new where I'm very
aware of what I could and will know, but don't know yet. I know that
there are some functions that the software can do, that I haven't even
seen to be needed yet. But as always, I love learning new things.
The last week this month, I will be taking off from my day job, to work
on our house. We will be knocking out a wall in Mom's massage room to
make the whole room bigger. That will allow us to change the location
of the bottom of Mom and Dad's stairs. Right now they come out in the
kitchen, but we're going to turn them the other way so that they come
out in the massage room. One small step in the giant plan to turn
this old house into two houses. If we have time we'll be doing some
more painting and other odd jobs that we didn't get to last summer.
Hopefully we will get it all done before the baby comes. (When I say
"We" I really mean "I")
Well that's our life right now. Busy as ever. But full of an ever
increasing awareness of the Lord's Providence in all things. Next
month's letter could be late, as we could be in labor. (When I say
"We" I really mean "Tirah") Be excellent to each other, and party
on dudes! - Solomon.
Keal Family Letter, April 2004
Hi all! Solomon here. We've entered April, and today (the 5th)
proved to be one of the coldest days I can remember all winter. We
even got snow here in Kempton! But the snow melted later on in the
day, so I guess spring is just around the corner.
We are all well in the Keal family. We are just getting over our
spring colds. Thea keeps progressing in her intelligence, and obvious
understanding of us... if only we could understand her. Not a word
yet. Well, that's not really true. She says Mama with what seems to
be a certain amount of understanding of it being a name for Tirah. If
we say "What does a duck say?" She will respond with short little
"Ah!" sort of like "Quack" without the q,u,c, or k. If she feels
like it, she can almost say "Ball," though without the double L at the
end. The other day she said what sounded almost like "Papa" but very
quietly whispered, as sort of "pahpah." As far as communicated goes,
she seems to be of the mindset that as long as she can get our
attention by screaming, why talk? Ah, the joys of parenthood. :)
She's getting very comfortable and stable when standing without holding
on to something, especially when we're not trying to get her to do it.
The other day she walked a few steps while I held on to her hands.
She is making slow and steady progress in all things, as she's always
done. We'll probably wake up one morning and have her walk into our
room and say "Wake up Mama and Papa! Today, I've decided to start
walking and talking!"
Tirah has recently been looking around at possibilities for how to earn
some extra money working from home. She looked at some "stuffing
envelopes" type jobs, but it looks like she's settled on developing a
home-made crafts type of business. She bought a whole bunch of yarn
(what is a "bunch" of yarn? Is it a "gaggle" of yarn? Or a "Tangle"
of yarn? Or is there no descriptive plural for yarn, since yarn is
really just one strand? These are Questions that I don't really wonder
about.) and she has already made one Afghan lap blanket, and is
working on a second. She will then try to sell these at craft sales.
She is very happy with this decision for her business.
As for me... this year is an exciting year for music. We have our tax
refund, and I have found the right music software, and I will probably
buy it as soon as I am done this letter. Also... My piano CDs are
finally available to buy online! They can be bough from three
different locations: Fountain Publishing, New Church Radio, and most
recently, CD Baby, which is an online music store for independent
musicians. Check them out! (www.fountainpublishing.com
www.newchurchradio.org www.cdbaby.com) The other exciting news
is that Peter and Roxanne just bought me a year's subscription to Taxi,
which is an independent A&R company. (A&R meaning Artist and
Repertoire.) They are basically middle-men, or talent scouts. They
communicate with big name artists who are looking for songs to sing,
and then pass that information along to "nobody" songwriters like me.
It's a lot more complicated than that, but I'll go into it later.
Anyway it's very cool and exciting. So as soon as I have my software
set up, I'll be able to make demo CDs of the songs I've written, and
then send them in to Taxi, who will potentially send them to some
artist who wants to sing my song!
Well, enough for tonight. Tune in next month for an update on home
renovations, and the final month before the new baby! - Solomon.
proved to be one of the coldest days I can remember all winter. We
even got snow here in Kempton! But the snow melted later on in the
day, so I guess spring is just around the corner.
We are all well in the Keal family. We are just getting over our
spring colds. Thea keeps progressing in her intelligence, and obvious
understanding of us... if only we could understand her. Not a word
yet. Well, that's not really true. She says Mama with what seems to
be a certain amount of understanding of it being a name for Tirah. If
we say "What does a duck say?" She will respond with short little
"Ah!" sort of like "Quack" without the q,u,c, or k. If she feels
like it, she can almost say "Ball," though without the double L at the
end. The other day she said what sounded almost like "Papa" but very
quietly whispered, as sort of "pahpah." As far as communicated goes,
she seems to be of the mindset that as long as she can get our
attention by screaming, why talk? Ah, the joys of parenthood. :)
She's getting very comfortable and stable when standing without holding
on to something, especially when we're not trying to get her to do it.
The other day she walked a few steps while I held on to her hands.
She is making slow and steady progress in all things, as she's always
done. We'll probably wake up one morning and have her walk into our
room and say "Wake up Mama and Papa! Today, I've decided to start
walking and talking!"
Tirah has recently been looking around at possibilities for how to earn
some extra money working from home. She looked at some "stuffing
envelopes" type jobs, but it looks like she's settled on developing a
home-made crafts type of business. She bought a whole bunch of yarn
(what is a "bunch" of yarn? Is it a "gaggle" of yarn? Or a "Tangle"
of yarn? Or is there no descriptive plural for yarn, since yarn is
really just one strand? These are Questions that I don't really wonder
about.) and she has already made one Afghan lap blanket, and is
working on a second. She will then try to sell these at craft sales.
She is very happy with this decision for her business.
As for me... this year is an exciting year for music. We have our tax
refund, and I have found the right music software, and I will probably
buy it as soon as I am done this letter. Also... My piano CDs are
finally available to buy online! They can be bough from three
different locations: Fountain Publishing, New Church Radio, and most
recently, CD Baby, which is an online music store for independent
musicians. Check them out! (www.fountainpublishing.com
www.newchurchradio.org www.cdbaby.com) The other exciting news
is that Peter and Roxanne just bought me a year's subscription to Taxi,
which is an independent A&R company. (A&R meaning Artist and
Repertoire.) They are basically middle-men, or talent scouts. They
communicate with big name artists who are looking for songs to sing,
and then pass that information along to "nobody" songwriters like me.
It's a lot more complicated than that, but I'll go into it later.
Anyway it's very cool and exciting. So as soon as I have my software
set up, I'll be able to make demo CDs of the songs I've written, and
then send them in to Taxi, who will potentially send them to some
artist who wants to sing my song!
Well, enough for tonight. Tune in next month for an update on home
renovations, and the final month before the new baby! - Solomon.
Keal Family Letter, March 2004
Hello, Solomon here.
March has arrived. In my family it is something of a birthday
month with my Grandma's birthday on the 2nd, my birthday on the 10th,
Caleb Genzlinger's birthday on the 14th (turning One), my Mom's
birthday on the 20th, and my sister Roxanne's birthday on the 26th.
March also brings the much anticipated promise of Spring. We can now
look forward to evening walks without a jacket, more light in the
morning and evening, and that wonderful smell of new life in the ground.
February was a bit of a rough month for us financially. I was sick
several days and missed work ( and therefore pay) in a month that is
already hard enough with it's nasty habit of being so short. Not only
is February a Dreary month, but it is also the eternal curse of all of
us Hourly Wage workers to earn less money, but still have to pay the
same monthly bills. This galactic unfairness is very frustrating to
me. Fortunately, things are looking up. Because of having Thea as a
dependent, and Tirah not having income, we are getting a very large tax
refund which will save our dusty bank account.
This tax refund (money that we should have had all along... but I don't
want to get into that) will be a great help. It will let me to buy
the music software that I've been wanting to get for a while, which
will enable me to record music at home on my keyboard and computer. It
will also help us pay off a good part of our new car that we got on the
last day of the year 2003. It is a Subaru Outback, and we love it.
Thea will be 13 months old tomorrow. She hasn't said any words yet,
but she still talks a lot and is as cute as ever. Tirah is getting
rounder. Baby Turtle kicks a little more now, or at least I can feel
the kicks more now.
We are starting to think about the next stage in our house renovations
for the summer. But more on that next time.
May the Lord bless you all! TTFN Ta Ta For Now. - Solomon.
March has arrived. In my family it is something of a birthday
month with my Grandma's birthday on the 2nd, my birthday on the 10th,
Caleb Genzlinger's birthday on the 14th (turning One), my Mom's
birthday on the 20th, and my sister Roxanne's birthday on the 26th.
March also brings the much anticipated promise of Spring. We can now
look forward to evening walks without a jacket, more light in the
morning and evening, and that wonderful smell of new life in the ground.
February was a bit of a rough month for us financially. I was sick
several days and missed work ( and therefore pay) in a month that is
already hard enough with it's nasty habit of being so short. Not only
is February a Dreary month, but it is also the eternal curse of all of
us Hourly Wage workers to earn less money, but still have to pay the
same monthly bills. This galactic unfairness is very frustrating to
me. Fortunately, things are looking up. Because of having Thea as a
dependent, and Tirah not having income, we are getting a very large tax
refund which will save our dusty bank account.
This tax refund (money that we should have had all along... but I don't
want to get into that) will be a great help. It will let me to buy
the music software that I've been wanting to get for a while, which
will enable me to record music at home on my keyboard and computer. It
will also help us pay off a good part of our new car that we got on the
last day of the year 2003. It is a Subaru Outback, and we love it.
Thea will be 13 months old tomorrow. She hasn't said any words yet,
but she still talks a lot and is as cute as ever. Tirah is getting
rounder. Baby Turtle kicks a little more now, or at least I can feel
the kicks more now.
We are starting to think about the next stage in our house renovations
for the summer. But more on that next time.
May the Lord bless you all! TTFN Ta Ta For Now. - Solomon.
Valentine's Day, February 2004
This just in. It seems that the Rover on Mars has picked up a signal
coming from one of the planets in the Alpha Centauri system. The
signal was relayed back to earth where it was deciphered into a
message. The message, as it turns out, is from an alien on that
planet! Our first contact with an alien life-form! This, as you can
imagine, is earth shattering news! NASA has delivered the message to
top government officials all over the world. This message will then be
broadcast to every man, woman, and child on our own dear earth.
I happened to get this news ahead of the scheduled broadcast, and so
you selected few individuals have the exclusive privilege of hearing
this extraterrestrial news first.
Now unfortunately I was unable to obtain the actual contents of the
message, but I was able to get a paraphrased summary of this
extraordinary alien narrative, which I will now relate to you:
It seems this alien has a wife, on his planet. As it turns out his
wife's name is Betsy. The message also tells us that they also
(coincidentally) celebrate Valentine's Day, although they celebrate it
on January 14th not in February. But because of the great distance
that this message has traveled, the news (yet again coincidentally) has
arrived with us on our own Valentine's Day. Now, to celebrate their
Valentine's Day, this alien (Fred, as it turns out) decided to name a
star after his wife as a thoughtful and romantic present. Strangely
enough, the star he picked to name after his wife (Betsy) was our own
dear sun! Now because this romantic gift is actually officially logged
into their alien astronomical charts and documents, in the interest of
galactic peace, they advise us to do the same. Therefore we are now to
refer to our own sun, from here on, as Betsy.
This, as you can probably imagine, will have a vast impact on our
culture. Sunrise and Sunset will now be known as Betsyrise and
Betsyset. The sun will no longer hide behind the clouds, but Betsy
will. In the summertime everyone will be wearing Betsyglasses and
enjoying the Betsyshine. At the beach everyone will be wearing
Betsyblock so that they don't get Betsyburned. Our morning eggs will
have to be cooked Betsy-side up. And we'll have to remind our children
to not look directly at Betsy. Our world will quickly become one of
the strangest places under the Betsy.
But then I suppose it's all just some sort of elaborate revenge. After
all, Fred and Betsy have to deal with a sun named Alpha Centauri.
Happy Valentine's Day! - Solomon.
coming from one of the planets in the Alpha Centauri system. The
signal was relayed back to earth where it was deciphered into a
message. The message, as it turns out, is from an alien on that
planet! Our first contact with an alien life-form! This, as you can
imagine, is earth shattering news! NASA has delivered the message to
top government officials all over the world. This message will then be
broadcast to every man, woman, and child on our own dear earth.
I happened to get this news ahead of the scheduled broadcast, and so
you selected few individuals have the exclusive privilege of hearing
this extraterrestrial news first.
Now unfortunately I was unable to obtain the actual contents of the
message, but I was able to get a paraphrased summary of this
extraordinary alien narrative, which I will now relate to you:
It seems this alien has a wife, on his planet. As it turns out his
wife's name is Betsy. The message also tells us that they also
(coincidentally) celebrate Valentine's Day, although they celebrate it
on January 14th not in February. But because of the great distance
that this message has traveled, the news (yet again coincidentally) has
arrived with us on our own Valentine's Day. Now, to celebrate their
Valentine's Day, this alien (Fred, as it turns out) decided to name a
star after his wife as a thoughtful and romantic present. Strangely
enough, the star he picked to name after his wife (Betsy) was our own
dear sun! Now because this romantic gift is actually officially logged
into their alien astronomical charts and documents, in the interest of
galactic peace, they advise us to do the same. Therefore we are now to
refer to our own sun, from here on, as Betsy.
This, as you can probably imagine, will have a vast impact on our
culture. Sunrise and Sunset will now be known as Betsyrise and
Betsyset. The sun will no longer hide behind the clouds, but Betsy
will. In the summertime everyone will be wearing Betsyglasses and
enjoying the Betsyshine. At the beach everyone will be wearing
Betsyblock so that they don't get Betsyburned. Our morning eggs will
have to be cooked Betsy-side up. And we'll have to remind our children
to not look directly at Betsy. Our world will quickly become one of
the strangest places under the Betsy.
But then I suppose it's all just some sort of elaborate revenge. After
all, Fred and Betsy have to deal with a sun named Alpha Centauri.
Happy Valentine's Day! - Solomon.
Keal Family Letter, February 2004
Hello Family,
This is Solomon, and I am beginning a new resolution to stay more
connected with our extended family. It is my intention that you will
hence forth receive One Letter every month from the Solomon and Tirah
Keal family, which will be explicitly designed to inform and enlighten
you on the multiple complexities of our budding family life. And I
think that is plenty of "a-do" for now, so without any further use of
it, I will delve into the present joys, hopes, dreams, struggles,
achievements, diapers, anxieties, concerns, and stuff of ours.
Starting with the newest member of our family: Tirah is, as many of
you know, pregnant with our second child, and she is due sometime in
June. It's amazing how quickly one goes from being a first time parent
to being... not a first time parent. Um, or in other words: When
Tirah was pregnant with Thea you would hear this: "So, how far along
are you?" "Oh, 6 and 1/2 months give or take a week depending on when
you count from, you see some doctors count from..." Or "So, when
are you due?" "February 2nd." But now when we're asked how far
along we are, the answer is "Oh, about half way." Or if we're asked
when we're due? "Oh, sometime in June." Don't get me wrong, we
are still very excited, but we've sort of settled into more of a
"normalcy" that just wasn't there with our first pregnancy. Just the
other day I felt Turtle (the baby) kick for the first time, and believe
me, it was just as amazingly reassuring and real as the first time I
felt Thea kick. We're suspicious that this one is a boy. Of course
we have no real evidence to support this suspicion but it's fun to
guess anyway.
Thea just turned One Year Old today (February 2nd)! She is our
little bundle of joy! She is capable of standing up on her own if she
can hold onto something like a coffee table, or the side of the couch,
or Papa's face when Papa is lying on the floor. She is learning to
eat more and more grown-up food, and desiring more and more of the
exact food that Mama and Papa are eating (not the same kind of food,
but the food that I'm about to put into my mouth). One of her
favorites is scrabbled eggs or "Eggy" as we call it. It even seems
like she sometimes tries to say "Eggy" when she knows we're making eggs
for her. Her sounds are becoming much more complex and always the
cutest thing ever to fall across our ears. She also likes chicken
(and yes, in Thea's case, the chicken did come before the egg.) We
used to grind up the chicken in a baby food grinder, but now, with two
teeth on top and two teeth on the bottom, she is capable of chewing
almost anything (except for maybe a sirloin steak, but she would
certainly give it her best shot) Thea just recently figured out how
to climb up stairs, but not down stairs yet. Some of her favorite
things include: eyelashes, lights, CD Player buttons, baths, a big
stuffed Panda bear, pulling out drawers, and laughing.
Tirah is frustrated with her present, pregnant size, but she is ever
and always the most beautiful woman in the world. In her free time
(which neither of us have very much of) she enjoys reading, listening
to books on tape, helping my Mom with a Pre-School music class,
quilting, cross-stitching, visiting with friends and family, organizing
our photos on the computer, doing so much to help me around the house,
and of course date nights with me. We've made it a habit, which we
think is essential to the health of our marriage, to go on regular date
nights, at this point they are weekly. We love going to movies, or to
dinner, or to coffee, or even just window shopping. We consider the
expense a worthy use of our money and we budget for it.
Tirah and I have a regular weekly evening schedule. After I get home
from work, I spend as much time with Thea as I can, before she goes to
bed, simultaneously giving Tirah a break. We eat dinner, and then I
put Thea to bed, usually around seven. After that we have a different
thing planned for every night. Monday nights are "cave" nights for
me. A time for me to do whatever I want for a couple of hours, just by
myself. I usually read or look at things on the internet. Again,
something we think is important to the health of a marriage. It's a
nice little break from the responsibilities of being a husband and
father which then gives me the energy to get back into it. Tuesday
and Thursday nights are music nights for me. Wednesday night is
family night, when Tirah and I do something together all night.
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays remained unplanned (unplannable). At
around 10, we check e-mail, and then read from a nightly rotation of
books. These books include the Word, a book of the Writings
(presently Heaven and Hell, the New Century Edition), some other
spiritual book (presently the Doctrine of the Wife by Leon James) and
for the time being we've thrown in a Bradley birthing book to prepare
for Turtle's birth. Then we try to be in bed by 11 o'clock. We
find, (especially I find) that it's nice to have everything that we
Want to do scheduled into our life, so that we never feel like we never
get to do what we want to do.
Lastly, before I have to go, a little about me. I currently work for
Brandon Junge, a carpenter contractor in the church here in Kempton.
That's my job, and I enjoy aspects of it, but it's not what I really
want to be doing. I really want to be doing something with music.
Thus the Tuesday and Thursday nights that are devoted to music. I am
working to become a Songwriter by profession. This is a job in which I
could be writing music for a living, and conceivably working from home.
I learn something new every day about the music industry, and though
it may take quite some time to build up the recognition needed to make
a living, I am making progress. But more about this later, it is past
10 o'clock and I must be going. Until next month.... Solomon,
over and out.
This is Solomon, and I am beginning a new resolution to stay more
connected with our extended family. It is my intention that you will
hence forth receive One Letter every month from the Solomon and Tirah
Keal family, which will be explicitly designed to inform and enlighten
you on the multiple complexities of our budding family life. And I
think that is plenty of "a-do" for now, so without any further use of
it, I will delve into the present joys, hopes, dreams, struggles,
achievements, diapers, anxieties, concerns, and stuff of ours.
Starting with the newest member of our family: Tirah is, as many of
you know, pregnant with our second child, and she is due sometime in
June. It's amazing how quickly one goes from being a first time parent
to being... not a first time parent. Um, or in other words: When
Tirah was pregnant with Thea you would hear this: "So, how far along
are you?" "Oh, 6 and 1/2 months give or take a week depending on when
you count from, you see some doctors count from..." Or "So, when
are you due?" "February 2nd." But now when we're asked how far
along we are, the answer is "Oh, about half way." Or if we're asked
when we're due? "Oh, sometime in June." Don't get me wrong, we
are still very excited, but we've sort of settled into more of a
"normalcy" that just wasn't there with our first pregnancy. Just the
other day I felt Turtle (the baby) kick for the first time, and believe
me, it was just as amazingly reassuring and real as the first time I
felt Thea kick. We're suspicious that this one is a boy. Of course
we have no real evidence to support this suspicion but it's fun to
guess anyway.
Thea just turned One Year Old today (February 2nd)! She is our
little bundle of joy! She is capable of standing up on her own if she
can hold onto something like a coffee table, or the side of the couch,
or Papa's face when Papa is lying on the floor. She is learning to
eat more and more grown-up food, and desiring more and more of the
exact food that Mama and Papa are eating (not the same kind of food,
but the food that I'm about to put into my mouth). One of her
favorites is scrabbled eggs or "Eggy" as we call it. It even seems
like she sometimes tries to say "Eggy" when she knows we're making eggs
for her. Her sounds are becoming much more complex and always the
cutest thing ever to fall across our ears. She also likes chicken
(and yes, in Thea's case, the chicken did come before the egg.) We
used to grind up the chicken in a baby food grinder, but now, with two
teeth on top and two teeth on the bottom, she is capable of chewing
almost anything (except for maybe a sirloin steak, but she would
certainly give it her best shot) Thea just recently figured out how
to climb up stairs, but not down stairs yet. Some of her favorite
things include: eyelashes, lights, CD Player buttons, baths, a big
stuffed Panda bear, pulling out drawers, and laughing.
Tirah is frustrated with her present, pregnant size, but she is ever
and always the most beautiful woman in the world. In her free time
(which neither of us have very much of) she enjoys reading, listening
to books on tape, helping my Mom with a Pre-School music class,
quilting, cross-stitching, visiting with friends and family, organizing
our photos on the computer, doing so much to help me around the house,
and of course date nights with me. We've made it a habit, which we
think is essential to the health of our marriage, to go on regular date
nights, at this point they are weekly. We love going to movies, or to
dinner, or to coffee, or even just window shopping. We consider the
expense a worthy use of our money and we budget for it.
Tirah and I have a regular weekly evening schedule. After I get home
from work, I spend as much time with Thea as I can, before she goes to
bed, simultaneously giving Tirah a break. We eat dinner, and then I
put Thea to bed, usually around seven. After that we have a different
thing planned for every night. Monday nights are "cave" nights for
me. A time for me to do whatever I want for a couple of hours, just by
myself. I usually read or look at things on the internet. Again,
something we think is important to the health of a marriage. It's a
nice little break from the responsibilities of being a husband and
father which then gives me the energy to get back into it. Tuesday
and Thursday nights are music nights for me. Wednesday night is
family night, when Tirah and I do something together all night.
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays remained unplanned (unplannable). At
around 10, we check e-mail, and then read from a nightly rotation of
books. These books include the Word, a book of the Writings
(presently Heaven and Hell, the New Century Edition), some other
spiritual book (presently the Doctrine of the Wife by Leon James) and
for the time being we've thrown in a Bradley birthing book to prepare
for Turtle's birth. Then we try to be in bed by 11 o'clock. We
find, (especially I find) that it's nice to have everything that we
Want to do scheduled into our life, so that we never feel like we never
get to do what we want to do.
Lastly, before I have to go, a little about me. I currently work for
Brandon Junge, a carpenter contractor in the church here in Kempton.
That's my job, and I enjoy aspects of it, but it's not what I really
want to be doing. I really want to be doing something with music.
Thus the Tuesday and Thursday nights that are devoted to music. I am
working to become a Songwriter by profession. This is a job in which I
could be writing music for a living, and conceivably working from home.
I learn something new every day about the music industry, and though
it may take quite some time to build up the recognition needed to make
a living, I am making progress. But more about this later, it is past
10 o'clock and I must be going. Until next month.... Solomon,
over and out.
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