My wife and I have an arrangement: I take care of the older kids, taking on extra duty, and she sleeps upstairs with the baby. It’s extra work to keep the other kids off her back, but worth it to get a good night’s sleep. Of course, this only works if the mother can stay home with the child.

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And sleep I did. I think I slept for twelve hours straight, except one child fell out of the bunkbed, but all is well. Of course, I am in various parts of the house depending on my mood.

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This morning, there was a thick blanket of snow outside.

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I am serving Tamie breakfast, lunch and dinner in bed; caring to her every whim. The doula came by this morning to check on her, and helped her with the baby whilst she got cleaned up and presentable for the day.

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The Relief Society had people assigned to bring pre-prepared food every day, so we’re eating handsomely from all that. It’s really something else, how those sisters just quietly take care of business when a baby comes.

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So, I got all the older kids ready for church, easier every time. But the usual rig-marole to find socks. I cut one of my pairs of dress socks down to size for the three year old. And they are having swordfights with pencils in the car whilst I get my things gathered.

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Church was awesome as usual. A lot of congratulations. We finished up the book of Ether in the Book of Mormon in Sunday School. I realized that I am rarely present mentally during church. I’m usually making notes about what I’m going to do on Monday and the coming week. Maybe that’s not all bad– at least it helps me keep things straight; get a good perspective..

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After church, the kids played out in the snow, then I fixed them dinner (all re-heat stuff), and we watched Song of the South. You can find it on Youtube. After that we polished up a few items of prep-work for the next day, whistiling Zipitty Doodah.

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What else? It’s smooth sailing for the time being. It’s real. It’s actual. Everything is satisfactual.

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If god exists, then why does he let bad things happen to good people? Well, I’m not omniscient, so I can’t answer that completely, but I can tell you what I think. I find the question incredibly annoying, to be frank.

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The basic problem with the question is that is presumes that things are bad. Sometimes something that seems bad is actually good. For example: I’ve almost gone out of business twice. Each time it taught me something important and forced me to get my act together. Each time I was on my knees, and sometimes on my whole frontside! That was some good spiritual stretching!

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Now, I don’t think I’ve suffered as badly as some people. So, I can’t say I’d be so positive if I were to really get crushed. I hope I will keep the faith even in the worst of times.

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The proper judgment of whether something is good or bad also needs a proper perspective. An eternal perspective. When a child comes to the world, there is a sad farewell in the pre-mortal world as the soul comes to this vale of darkness to be tested and tempted. From our side, we welcome the newborn babe with joy and open arms. But when someone dies there is a lively homecoming in the spirit world, as the soul wakes up from this sleep and is taken into a community where he or she feels at home.

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My kids want to eat candy bars right before bed. I give them a glass of milk instead.

It reminds me of this passage from Matthew 7:

9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

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I’ve asked for wealth before. Worst possible thing I could have had. Instead I was given some poverty. It prepared me for better things, and more importantly, made me ever so grateful for what I have. The good Lord took away the hole in my head– the voracious hole of covetousness, wanting more and more worldly things. Now I have peace. I recognize the real wealth I have– a sterling wife, four healthy and tender children and a steady job. Thank goodness!

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What parent, if they could, would spare his child every shred of pain, disappointment, and heartache from this world? I know I wouldn’t. A life of unabated ease and success is the absolute worst thing that could happen to a soul. In fact, I even invent difficulties for my children in the form of chores.

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When I was 17 my mom came home from the wood mill and informed me that I had a full-time job there for the summer; swing shift. Best thing she ever did for me. It hardened my mind and my body. It was hard work beyond belief. I worked side by side with grizzled old-timer mill-hands hauling planks and working heavy saws. It also opened my eyes: get a good education and a good job!

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I also think that obedience to the commandments will get rid of about 60-80% of earthly problems. Sometimes the bad things are our own doing. I remember once I ate a whole cannister of ice cream and had a terrible gut-ache. I wailed to my wife, “make the bad man stop!” She looked at me sternly and said, “Shawn, you ARE the bad man!” Re: that my own worst enemy song.

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The other problem is that the question doesn’t address what God’s motivation might be. Heavenly Father is a parent with a plan; to try and test and prove the soul of each person. To see if they will be obedient. The Almighty will force no one to get closer to Him. He will open the way, but we must do what we can to be led along and follow his Pleasing Road step by step.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

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PS- For those new to the blog you should hear my usual disclaimer. I make no pretense at special goodness or rightness. I am just doing my best day by day. It is my belief that each person is entitled to connect with God as a good Father, each person is a celestial prince or princess; royalty of the highest and most noble order. To receive light and knowledge as one is ready to accept it.

So, as usual, I’m thinking of army concepts and I dusted off my Skaven book. This would be a really nice change of pace from flashy and flighty Elf armies that I normally play.

The major problem with the Skaven are A) that they are being re-done in 2009 it’s rumored, and B) the clanrat models, which you need a LOT of, are really very sad. I despise them. So, the plan is to put in Plague Monk models (which I love and come 20 to a box) as the clanrats. Other items will be converted from these models, as crew (eg Warp Cannon, Jezzails). They’re a fun army.

I also like playing with (and against) armies that are “mortal”, ie they take morale checks. It makes the game a little more exciting.

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I’m to a point where I really only want to play friendly games. Sometimes I find myself looking at an army book and trying to figure out the Killer Kombo, and I have to stop myself. That’s not the point at all. I mean, even if the trick army works, it’s not fun for my opponent. I’d rather play a draw than a massacre (even if it’s me doing the massacring). So, with that in mind I’ve started looking at units in terms of how fun they might be to play. I don’ think you can go far wrong with a poco de todo army.

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In other news, I have started making a lot of flush trays. You’ll be hearing more about that soon.

Friday afternoon I got a call from my wife saying she was going into labor. She gave me a half hour to get home. So, I wrapped things up at the studio and headed to the house.

To make a long story short, we headed up to the birth home, and four hours later our fourth child, a girl, was born. Everything went as well as could possibly be hoped and both mother and child are doing well.

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As we gathered tonight for scriptures and prayer the following evening, it really felt like our family is complete. That little pink raisin is ever so adorable. She is squirming and trying to look at us.

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Her name is Willow.

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I’ll be waiting on Tamie hand and foot over the weekend, and then back in the saddle on Monday (a woman from the ward is coming over on Monday to help out). You may think that I want to be left alone, but that is not the case. I would be more at peace and have more time to spend at home if January were booked up. So, by all means “bug” me with orders/inquiries!

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PS- The pic makes it look just like she has three fingers! I assure you, there are four.

This should round out the Dark Elf line nicely.

I don’t even know where to start.

My good (and much missed) friend Jon painted a hydra and handlers for our D&D game. I have inducted it into my Dark Elves army– making a few modifications so it will fit into the paint scheme. That’s a piece with sentimental value! Not to mention that it’s chomps-ville for my hapless opponents.

I also managed to paint up a unit of Shades, we’ll see if they are any good. I have a unit of harpies (based on daemonettes) ready to be painted up, too.

On Saturday I went on an all-day daddy-daughter date with my nine-year-old. We bought some pokemon cards at the local game shop. We also went to the mall and wandered around and got some sushi. Good times. I really felt we were closer after that. I think I need to do it a lot more often.

I also dropped in on a local shop (Dragonskeep) I haven’t been to in many years. They have vastly improved their place. I was duly impressed.

If anyone is looking for a good shop in Utah Valley I recommend checking out Blakfyre Games in Orem (1600 North and State). They are a really professional operation; well-stocked, knowledgeable staff, and solid gaming area.

We dropped by the studio on our way back home to wrap up some loose ends.

It was the ward christmas party, which was an absolute delight in every way. Some kid wandered in from the neighborhood and swiped my daughter’s Pokemon cards out of her hand. I had to chase that punk a few laps around the building. How’s that for the spirit of Christmas? Blarg.

The cherry on top of the sundae was sitting at home, munching on some crunchberry cereal (generic captain crunch) and watching 30 Rock. Good times.

My wife looks like a fleshy round gourd with arms, legs and a head. Her feet are painfully swollen. Late at night I was massaging those down to a reasonable mass.

This morning (Sunday) I was in quite funk. My thoughts: you know what, no one appreciates my antics, I’m just going to keep my mouth shut, and watch the show. Time to take a bow and get off stage. And stop making eye contact with strangers. I’ve been doing some serious examination of my own soul and I think my character is full of holes as swiss cheese. I am really having a hard time properly taking stock. I think humans generally are pretty hard on themselves. Maybe that’s me, too.

So, I got the kids ready and headed to church, leaving my wife at home to rest. The kids were angelic as could be. I finally came out of my funk during Elder’s Quorum. I love that class. All men with roughly a similar age and situation, and anything is proper topic. A few claps on the back and I was golden.

Guess what? Other people better just get used to my peculiar stylings. Some people are uplifted, cheered up by my quirky sense of humor and love-everyone skip-through-the-tulips attitude.

I’m back baby!

I also have plans for a Warriors of Chaos army as follows:

2x mounted heroes
2x mounted sorcerors
10x warhounds
10x marauder horsemen
10x chaos knights
3x dragon ogres (already have these)
1x War Shrine (should be a fun scratch conversion)
1x Hellcannon

I am very, very worried about the new Chaos Warriors codex. Here’s why– people are starting to ask for seven wide movement trays. That means the killing power of units is so high that it’s better to have more models in the front rank than to have more ranks. I don’t like this trend. It’s very obnoxious and gets rid of part of the Warhammer Fantasy that makes it work.

But don’t get me wrong, I really like this list. There are a lot of fun things on there, a lot of possibilities and intriguing magic items. The Troll army has a lot of possibility, I know at least one person who has plans to do it.

One last thing. Tamie’s sister is a massage therapist and she came by tonight to give her a massage, which is likely to get things “moving”. We’re hoping for baby in the next few days. But who knows, it could be weeks.

Which reminds me, a tip for new parents. Sometimes kids get stopped up and a massage therapist can get them worked out. It’s a tremendous relief for the poor child. Sometimes they suffer so from constipation. Too much cheese will do it sometimes.

To an expecting father, soon to be with a child, I recommend the following: Have a list of possible things that could be distressing the poor baby. Go through them systematically. Sometimes the baby needs to cry herself to sleep. Sometimes. The problem is that men are “solvers” and get all bent out of shape when they don’t know how to resolve things. The list will help you keep your composure and keep you busy doing useful things. When the list runs out, just relax. You don’t have to fix everything!

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The baby has no other mode of communication than to cry. Just roll with it. If it is really getting on your nerves, take a little break and remind yourself that you don’t have to fix it. Pretend that the baby is talking to you in a different language. Talk nice back to the tender infant. Sometimes the baby is stressed because it senses you are stressed– she wants you to be calm.

Also babies are only crying like 3% of the time. Most of the time they are sleeping. Of course, that’s no comfort when it’s 3am!

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Oh, man, I can’t wait until the baby is here. A sweet little baby girl, smelling of baby powder, baby shampoo and clean diapers.