Westhoff.Net

The Politics of the Tantrum and the Hissy Fit

2009-05-03T19:13:36Z

I'm enjoying the latest book by Jonah Goldberg, "Liberal Fascism." An excerpt:

"The exaltation of passion over reason, action over deliberation, is a naturally youthful impulse. Treating young people as equals, 'privileging' their opinions precisely because they lack experience and knowledge, is an inherently fascist tendency, because at it's heart lies the urge to throw off 'old ways' and 'old dogmas' in favor of what the Nazis called the 'idealism of the deed.' Youth politics--like populism generally--is the politics of the tantrum and the hissy fit."

Christmas Letter 2008

2008-12-15T17:43:26Z

I have decided to break with tradition this year and actually finish and publish the family Christmas letter. A quick check of Westhoff.net reveals that the last time our family went to press with a cheeky yuletide update was 2004. Gentle reader, I take full blame for this shameful travesty. Let's move on then shall we, and knock this out before I run out of diet soda. ]]> Luke is five and living proof that Missouri's inflexible primary school age requirement was not devised with the children of Rachel Rackham in mind.   As inevitably happens in these unfortunate cases, Luke has become an autodidact and can read pretty much any word of three or four letters in length. This will come in handy next year when the show me state has promised to officially teach him the alphabet in kindergarten.

In spite of the abuse Emma suffers at the hands of four brothers, she is tender, loving and unassuming. She is remarkably independent and unabashedly interested in the things she is interested in, which at this point is a synthesis of recycling, drawing and scissor-work we call "crafting." She tirelessly repurposes all variety of discarded paper, plastic and fabric into folksy three-dimensional works of art. She is particularly fond of making signs to help bring order to her seven-year-old world. All of her dresser drawers are labeled with construction paper and on the door to her room there is a sign inviting you to remove your shoes before entering. Next to her keyboard there is a sign welcoming all to "Actividy Corner," [sic] where the "Actividys are: music, dancing with music, reading, writing, drawing and poster making." Lest you feel presumptuous, the sign reassures that "anyone can play: best buds, brothers, Mom, Dad, me!" The standing invitation is Emma in a nutshell.

While his family has recognized Chase's genius for years, his struggle for official recognition has been long and painful. "Quest," the local "gifted and talented" program gave Chase the pink slip last year when his test scores narrowly missed the threshold. The news was devastating to Chase who carried all year the burden of feeling his brilliance was unappreciated by the local school board (the fact that his older brother was in the program galled as well). After attending one of Zachary's extra-curricular activities and seeing first-hand all the "cool stuff" the Quest caste got to do, Chase had had enough. Without telling his parents, he asked to see the guidance counselor the next day and demanded to be re-tested. If you know how shy Chase can be you will appreciate this moment as something akin to the scene in "A Christmas Story" when Ralphie looses it and destroys the neighborhood bully. Well, the teacher pulled Chase's file and it turns out that on review he had met Quest criteria after all--they let him into the program without making him retest.   He came home that day absolutely ecstatic, his nine-year-old self-confidence restored--a tidy lesson in perseverance and overcoming self-doubt.

Zachary, Chase and Emma have all taken up swimming three nights a week at the local University pool as part of the city swim team. It's been remarkable to watch their form and stamina improve over time.   The training came in handy the day after Thanksgiving when Mom entered everyone in a local fun-run and the Westhoff family swept the age category awards. No one was more surprised by their newfound cardiovascular fitness than the kids themselves.

Zachary, now twelve, has read every book known to man. That is hyperbole of course, but we are having trouble finding titles appropriate for his age. If you have a suggestion, please pass it along. In desperation recently he picked up a copy of George Orwell's 1984. The book is one of my favorites but contains some distinctly adult subject matter--I would have recommended Animal Farm first.    I let him proceed partly because I was curious as to whether or not he could endure the famously long passages of political monologue. He did, and finished the book in surprisingly short order. I asked him afterwards if he found parts of the book "disturbing." He said yes, and that was the extent of our discussion. Not one of those moments that is going to get me into the parenting hall of fame. Zachary has had an online presence for years via Westhoff.net but just days ago, and after much lobbying his Mom green-lit a spin-off blog of which he has full creative control. He welcomes your readership and feedback.

Between early morning seminary, marching & concert band and cross-country running, Dunn has been pretty much as busy as a high school freshman can be. In a controversial (to his mother) move he choose German over Spanish and is otherwise taking all the honors classes available to him and getting straight A's. Last summer Dunn went to "Speed and Power" sports camp in Provo. There he learned the real purpose of BYU (i.e., to consolidate all cute Mormon babes into a single location). Needless to say, he is looking forward to returning for cross-country camp next summer.   Dunn has really taken off as a distance runner, putting in almost 50 miles a week in the off-season and earning a varsity letter as a freshman. That is impressive when you consider that his father didn't letter until he was...come to think of it, his father never lettered (though he was a well-respected member of his high school soccer team's comedic bench troupe--they even let him be in the team picture). Dunn is looking forward to the spring track season where he will likely be running the mile and two mile. I went 13.5 miles with him on a training run last week and he averaged a sub-seven minute pace. I was riding my bike and had trouble keeping up on the hills. To his credit, Dunn felt bad for the old man and apologized multiple times for putting his father though such a humiliating beat-down.

Every day that passes brings Rachel one day closer to that undiscovered country, the day when all of her kids will be in school [sound of angels singing]! She has served tirelessly this year as classroom volunteer, Weight Watcher's group leader, adult Sunday school teacher, Cubmaster, and general pillar of the community. Her athletic career suffered a minor setback as she was sidelined for eight months with heel pain, which forced her to rediscover swimming as a primary means of exercise. She can easily whoop any member of the family in a 25, 50 or 100-meter race (beyond 100 meters no-one can properly be considered to be "racing" her).

While I returned from Baghdad a year and a half ago the Global War on Terror continues to put a strain on military families and we are no exception. Chronic staffing shortages and deployments mean that I spend a lot more time stressed over work than I would like. My commitment to the Army will be up in the spring of 2010, when I anticipate going off active duty (while continuing to serve as a reservist). Our plan is to move somewhere in the mountain west: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Northern California or Nevada. Boise and Spokane are high on the list, but we're wide open to suggestions as we're really just beginning the search. Offers to let us freeload at your place as we job-search are encouraged, particularly if you live in a picturesque medium-sized city or town with outstanding schools, running trails and easy access to great skiing.

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes to all of you!

The Westhoffs

P.S. Thanks again to Aunt Debby for the photos.

P.P.S. Yes, the facebook links are a brazen attempt to lure the uninitiated into the fold. If you're having trouble with the links, Rachel has also posted the pictures of the kids on her blog.

Facebooked

2008-11-28T02:04:40Z

Westhoff.net will never die, though it certainly seems to be in hibernation. If you're interested in my goings on of late, feel free to sign up at Facebook and become my "Facebook Friend." It's kind of addicting.

hi

2008-07-07T18:26:55Z

i just wanted to say hi i am having a great time in utah

so be safe in watever you are doing

Dunn's in debt.

2008-06-19T22:19:57Z

Hello everyone. I have had quite a boring day here in Rolla Missouri. And I don't want all of you mothers out there saying, "Well if your SO bored why don't you just get of the couch and help me clean up this place!", because that would not fit the situation. In fact I did clean the house, but sadly to say it wasn't all out of love for my amazing mother.

But my life isn't all boringness. Soon a new family is moving in that has a kid about my age. I'm pretty excited about that. Yesterday I went to a YM/YW pool party. Tomorrow I'm going to the movies with the same bunch. And on Saturday we are having a party for are sunday school class over at our teachers house. I'm excited about all that but whats really going to be fun is scout camp coming up next week. Don't think I'm that nerdy, because I'm not. Its a high adventure camp so were spending the entire time on the lake of the Ozarks and like repelling.

So thats about it. Thank you to all those who have been on the sight and at least making comments. I think a few posts would be nice to. And yes this will be my last post for a week or so.

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Taum Sauk Mountain

2008-06-15T21:35:17Z

Happy Father's Day everyone. I'm doing some tinkering on the back-end of the website and thought I'd use some pictures from a hike we did last fall as a "test post." This particular hike was significant as the entire family was able to summit Taum Sauk mountain, the highest point in all of Missouri!

]]> "Taum Sauk Mountain" isn't really a mountain at all of course. Even so, we had to see it. "Show me" indeed! Here we are standing on the tippy top. No oxygen required.

Pre Fathers Day, Day

2008-06-15T01:40:05Z

Well today the Westhoff family had quite a few adventures. Most of them were for the better, but the interesting stuff was for the worst (now you have to read!). We woke up this wonderful Saturday morning as if it was just a regular Saturday morning. And it was. The only difference was that this Saturday morning we were heading over to the Fort (Fort Leonard Wood) to go swimming at the pool there. This pool is well known for its high dive. Its definitely the favorite part of the pool for every one. Sept Lukie, who was having a great time learning to swim.]]>

After swimming at the pool we all went to the Commissary to get a few groceries. Here we were rewarded with our favorite kind of sherbet, as shown below.

Before all this happened we had stopped at our local Wal-Mart (our hero) to pick up some lunch for our day at the pool. Here we also picked up Zach's glasses. I don't feel like I need to write the whole shebang but yes Zach does need glasses now. His left eye is having some seeing issues. Heres a picture of him. Pretty handsome huh!

This next part was my favorite part of the day (which may surprise you). Well I'm sure you all remember reading about my repelling adventures a few days ago. Well today I finally got the chance to do it again. THIS time Zach, Chase, and Emma wanted to do it to. So I made them there harnesses and helped them climb the tree. With a few freak outs they all conquered their fears and safely returned to the ground. I was very proud of them all. Emma exclaimed she wanted to go again but she wanted to repel down a different tree that wasn't so ant infested. I thought that was a reasonable complaint for a little girl and I wanted to make her happy. So I climbed up another tree, and set up the repelling system again. Once I got my gloves down I tested it out my self. And trust me when I say that is a GOOD thing! As soon as I was almost perpendicular to the tree, I suddenly fell to the earth. I'm telling the truth when I say I fell a full 25 feet (measured it). I didn't scream at all the whole way down. To tell the truth, all I could really think of at the time was "OH CRAP!" So a good 25 feet later (trust me I measured it) I hit the earth with a big THUMP and a very distinct moan (a moan pointing out my own stupidity more than my pain. For instance, "Ohhh I'm sooo stupid"). The funny thing is that Chase, Emma, and Luke were watching me the whole time. And the first thing I heard was a very cool, but excited, "Whoa". To Chase it must have looked like I had just done some "tight" trick of some "sick" jump. Luke was the first to point out I was bleeding and asked if I needed a band aid. I said I was fine but Emma persisted on being a good sister and went to get me one any ways. When she was back with the band-aid I was already in the tree trying to figure out how I fell. It turned out that my rope had slipped off the branch I was using. A very stupid and preventable mistake. All I had to do was wrap the rope around the tree once and I wouldn't have fallen.

I am defiantly lucky to walk away with only a scraped elbow, a bruised tricep, and a very sore rear end. But its ok. Bear Grylls has fallen many a time.

Boy vs. Wild

2008-06-12T23:45:00Z

You may have heard of the survival show "Man vs. Wild". That is my favorite show of all time. Its a show that demonstrates different survival tactics in all sorts of different terrains. Bear Grylls (the guy in the show) may not be by him self the whole time. But he does teach me a lot of useful skills. For instance: how to climb (trees, rocks, really big rocks), make fire (in various ways), catch fish, trap game, and how to not puke when eating large grubs... Though I haven't really got the hang of that one... Any way in one of his shows he made himself a repelling harness out of vine in order to climb down a 40 foot water fall. It looked simple enough, so I figured I had nothing better to do that climb up a tree and repel down it. With a rope I found in my garage and using a technique I got off a television show. ]]> bit of excitement in each day. So I got a rope and found a tree, climbed up and flung my self off it. And it worked (and when I say that I don't mean gravity)! It was surprisingly simple and AMAZINGLY comfortable! So comfortable in fact, that I did it twice more. I got my dad to take pictures of my adventure so take a look.

Here I'm putting on the harness I had just tied together, need to make sure it fits!

Preparing the rope. Gotta be able to get up the tree in order to climb down it!

All I got to do now is climb the tree. Which is all part of the fun in my book.

There you go! Dunn pulling a Bear Grylls! Though I don't think he had the luxury of leather gloves...

See Me Run

2008-06-09T21:33:42Z

As all of you may have heard, I have made a lot of progress on my running skills since my last entry dedicated to running (actually it was my fathers, if you'd like to read that search for See Dunn Run). You may remember that great mile marker for me that day.That was the day I made it into the plural mile club. I ran 2 whole miles! Well ever since then (I was about ten... now I'm fourteen) I have made running not only a hobby of mine but also my sport. I am not afraid to "express my greatness" (bragging), so for those of you with low self esteem, please stop reading this article.

When Cross Country season ended I found my self the coolest dude imaginable! I was more fit and stronger than pretty much every one in my class. I was able to bench more than (of course I still can) the school quarter back and pretty much all the others on the team. Of course there were the few big ones that could bench more but they were few and far away. They weren't even benching that much more than me. I can bench 155 and they were doing 175.

Ok let me get back to my running skills. I was at the top of my game. The prime of my life (so far) and had women dripping off of me by the bucket full (lol small buckets). Well I thought I was "to cool for school" and didn't do a very good job at keeping up my game. I did alright with working out every night but I didn't run as often as I should have. When track season came around the corner I was definitely not as prepared as I would have liked to be. I will admit I did much better in cross country than I did in track. I was still the best distance runner in the school (but of course ANYONE can do that). I even got first when we were running the 100 meter. But I seemed to be lacking in my mile skills when I compared my self to kids at other schools. I ended up with ONE medal out of about four or five meets. My fastest mile time was 5:33. I only got fourth with that.

So now its summer time and I have no competition but the heat and my own fear of pain. But there's good news to those adoring fans of mine! I have been able to recover from that fattening DC trip of mine and have been running at least four times a week. Today I ran the farthest I've ever ran (which explains me naming this entry similarly to that of the one made four years ago... Feel me?). 7 and a half miles! Don't get to excited because it doesn't stop there. I plan on running farther and farther as I go along. And remember you crazy marathon runners. I'm running faster than you. So sh!

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Summer School

2008-06-09T01:33:29Z

This month Zach and I are doing summer school. Our class is called hip-hop healthy. Emma has a cooking class called: "BAM cooking for cool kids." Well there you go.

Six and a Half Bikes

2008-06-09T00:27:36Z

Rachel and I have been saying for years how great it would be if all of our family had bikes so that we could go on rides together. A couple of months ago we started applying resources towards that goal and we are pleased to announce that we are living our dream--we are Missouri's newest biker gang. Quite impressive, as you can see from the following picture. That's no small investment in bike-transporting equipment I might add, particularly since I had to get the trailer hitch installed for just that purpose.

Yesterday we made our maiden voyage, i.e. our first real destination ride. We chose the Katy trail for our three hour tour, Missouri's St. Louis to Kansas city "rails to trails" park.

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We started in high spirits, though Chase did express early concern that "this trail sucks." He eventually accepted the fact that we were not there to tackle gnarly single track and seemed to enjoy himself.

The Katy trail is well suited to a family ride with small children and the section we travelled was scenic enough with lush greenery and stunning views of the brown Missouri river and the occasional tire floating by.

Unfortunately we got a bit of a late start and it was into the 90's and quite humid before we even started. In truth, part of my agenda had been to get us acclimated to the heat, knowing that it's only going to get hotter and if we're going to play outside this summer we'd best get used to it. The kids did well. It was particularly rough on Emma, though she was a trooper and held in there until the last four miles or so when she started to decompensate.

Her constant sobbing proved useful however in that I was able to monitor her hydration status via the copious tears, snot and slobber--quite reassuring as we'd not brought nearly enough water. She finished in the end, no worse for the wear and 12.8 miles the wiser. I'm sure she'll look back on it someday and thank me someday for taking her on the trip, but for now she insists that it was "the worst day of my life." Indeed!

The Wizards Apprentice

2008-06-05T22:53:28Z

betterwisapprent.mp3 This is me playing my saxophone. A long while back. Like in the fall.

The Rolla Weekly

2008-06-05T22:16:44Z

Well this week has been rather exciting. I have done something basically every day. On Sunday I took my friend Shay to steak conference and we sat with Joryn (a friend from church that both Shay and I are very well acquainted with) for the entire two hour session. If you're wondering what shay is doing at stake conference (Shay is a friend from school) its because she has been coming to church with me and Joryn for the past month now. Pretty exciting! She seems to get along with the young women in the ward there very well and enjoys the activities they do on Wednesdays.
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Me

2008-06-03T13:36:32Z

Well the last time I made a post about my life and the things I liked was like four years ago. Allot of things have changed since then. For instance, instead of being ten, I'm now fourteen. Though a lot of things have changed since then.
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To all Westhoff-dom.

2008-06-02T21:57:04Z

Since this thing is functioning properly you guys should all kinda morph back onto it so that instead of checking out every ones separate blogs i can get on here and see everything at once. And my father worked very hard on this and it would be a shame to see his work go to waste.