I call BS

No, we didn't catch a rock in the windshield, but if we had...the owner of this gravel truck is clearly not responsible. I mean, the sign says stay back 200 feet, but you can only read it if you are within 20 feet. So, I call BS. Boys, take responsibility when you do something wrong to people. Just because you don't want to be held accountable doesn't mean you shouldn't be. It's hard, but you will be respected for doing the right thing instead of the easy thing.

Sweet potatoes

We went and did a little grocery shopping today. Somehow we ended up on the baby food aisle. My eyes caught the tiny jars and my mind went back to when the boys were babies. We used to spend a lot of time and money stocking up on those dadgum jars. Jake's favorite was sweet potatoes. He'd go through 6-10 jars a day. Between those and peaches, he was usually an orange faced little monster. Brady liked them too, but Jake...man that kid could eat some sweet potatoes.

The Sophisticates

After a little trip to Lowe's, we stopped by Jack in the Box for lunch. The boys weren't all that interested in their burgers. Then, we introduced knives and forks and the boys were suddenly ravenous. Crazy little dudes. Make anything into a challenge or game and you can get them to do just about anything.

Flying Cousins

We got to have Oscar and Max over today and the boys took full advantage. Baseball, movies, water table, drawing, playdoh, toy room, and...the kiddie pool. Oscar showed the boys exactly how it's done. That kid can flat-out fly.

Mmmmm...fake food

Some people are busy working the grill right now, we are making food out of playdoh. Cindy made the burger and fries. Jake made the ketchup. Awesomeness on a paper plate.

Memorial Day 2007

Thank you to all the men and women who have fought and died for this Country. Because of you, I am here. Because of you, I get to do anything I want to do, whenever I want to do it. I could have taken my kids to the lake today. I could have taken them to a movie. We could have gone to the zoo. Anything. Anywhere. Not today though. Today is your day. Today, we visited you and those like you. We went to say thank you. To show you that all you gave up wasn't for nothing. Your sacrifice will never be forgotten, especially not in this house. We won't forget, because we owe you everything. Thank you.

Pray for Ethan

Our little friend needs a few more prayers right now. So do his parents. Let God hear you.

Those were the days...

Seeing you boys sleeping in our room together this morning got me thinking about when you were babies. Me and your Mom would spend so much time staring at you two while you slept. When you were first born, it was such a process to get you guys to go to sleep that it was just awe inspiring to see you finally zonked out. I used to pack you guys in your car seat and take a drive for about 30 minutes every night to get you to sleep. For the first few months of your lives, you slept in your car seat. I was afraid to take you out and wake you up. When you got a little older, your Mom would do this rocking/swinging dance thing and then lay you down to sleep. Eventually, it morphed into us both of us standing in your room, one of us holding you, and both of us singing our nite-nite song to you. Man, those were such special times. Now we have our own routine and not that I don't love it but still...I miss laying my little boys down into their cribs and seeing them smile up at me with tired little eyes. I love you boys. Forever and ever. Goodnight.

Schoooool's Out. For. Summah.

Today we had quite the celebration for Cindy's last day of the school year. Jake's last day was Wednesday, K-6 Thursday, and staff's was today. Hoo-friggin-ray. When Cindy got home we zipped off straight to the movie theater to watch Shrek the Third. We all had a great time. Then we met up with Ma and Poppy for supper. After that, we walked over to Toy's R Us for a little browsing/bike riding. And now, we are having a sleepover in our room. We've got the blow up bed next to our bed, and we're watching Garfield. The boys couldn't be happier. What an awesome day.

Found in the garage...oh my

Dear Lord. Boys, this is me at 16. Acne, unusually bad haircut, and filled to the bursting point with "S". I took this picture of myself in a photography class. Heck, I even developed it myself. With such stunning ability it's amazing that I got a big fat F in that class...twice. Take a lesson from the kid in that picture. Study hard, wash your face, and for God's sake...get a haircut.

Thanks B, for the gamma radiation treatment.
HULK SMASH PUNY HUMANS!
(man I'm a geek)

Jake's first, last day

This morning I couldn't get a good read on how you were feeling about this being your last day of school. As it drew closer to time to go to school, you let me see. As we were walking out the door you had your head down, you ran over to your drawing desk and started drawing something. I thought you were stalling, and maybe you were. I yelled at you for trying to make us late. I didn't see what you were drawing until a few minutes ago. Is that how you felt? Kinda happy and sad all at once? You were signing your name to it, and I interrupted you. Sorry about that man. On the way to school you seemed to start feeling better. You and Brady talked and laughed a little. When we got there, you were quiet, but happy to see your friends and teachers. Don't worry buddy, you will see them soon, and you'll get to show B just how it all works. I am so proud of you kiddo.

This is how we roll...

When Brady gets shafted out of a lap seat for story time, he makes his own place to sit. That's what I'm talking about boys, always look to improve your position.

Seriously....we are OK

I realize now, after getting a phone call and a few emails, that my last post was bit too vague and cast kind of a dim light on our situation.

Trust me, we are OK. Thanks for the concern and well wishes, but I wasn't fishing for it. It's good to know though, that we have so many people in our corner. B, especially, your call was just what I needed man. You may not be my blood, but somehow we share brain matter. Thanks pal.

Really, all I intended the post to be was a little stage setting for whatever will or won't happen. So when the boys look back they will either say, "Ohhh...I get it" or "Man, Daddy was a tool", or both. We shall see.

On a dime

Boys...life, as it will do, threw us a curve ball. Normally, I would freak out and watch as the ball passed me by, tipping my hat to the pitcher before heading to the bench. Not this time. This time, I am going to dig in, put my weight on my back foot, wait for that sucker to break and then...we'll see. Maybe I will knock it out of the park, maybe I will strike out, but at least I will go down swinging.

Why all the baseball analogies? Well, that's what I know, and hopefully by the time you read this you will understand.

The thing is, whatever happens from here on out, I don't want you guys to worry about a thing. Whatever changes happen, good or bad, hopefully you don't notice any difference. Your Mom and I love you with all our hearts, from here to the stars, and around the moon. That will never change. You boys keep smiling those sweet smiles, laughing at life and all it's silliness, and loving each other the way you do. You are everything in the world to me. I would give up all that I am and could ever be, to make you happy.

Thank you boys for constantly reminding me what is truly important in life. I love you.

Jake Speaks

When he heard some dude on TV say, "You can't drink alcohol", Jake said, "You can't drink alcohol, you gotta drink in the hall."

Jake, you are one of a kind dear sir.

Another "Uncle Ron Moment"

As I was reading Daddy's post about the prayers the boys say every night, it reminded me of something. Every night when I tuck Jake in, he says goodnight to two special people before he lays his head down. It goes something like this:

"Goodnight Uncle G, I know where you are. I love you Uncle G, I know where you are." (Which started out as "Goodnight/I love you Uncle G wherever you are, when Uncle G was in Iraq).

-and-

"Goodnight Uncle Ron, goodnight Uncle Ron, sing me a song, goodnight Uncle Ron. Stop laughing at me (because he is convinced Uncle Ron thinks this repetition in hilarious), GOODNIGHT UNCLE RON!"

So, last night we were getting the boys up to their rooms for a couple of quick books before bed. Daddy was making sure Brady had all of his necessary creams and ointments on, and I was picking up a few things left in the hallway. Jake was waiting in his bed saying, "Come on Mommy! Time to read this book!" over and over. We were all finally ready to snuggle in Jake's bed together and read, when I walked into Jake's room and found him sitting quietly on his bed having a moment to himself. I said, "Alright Buddy, I think we're all ready now!" He looked up at me as though he hadn't realized I walked in and smiled up at me and said, "OK, I was just saying a prayer to Jesus to tell him to take care of my Uncle Ron." With tears in my eyes, I kissed him on the forehead and told him what a good boy he is. And then my whole family climbed into Jake's bed and enjoyed a few moments of reading, laughing, and snuggling before bedtime. I am so blessed.

Prayers at bedtime

As soon as the boys could start talking a little bit, we started saying prayers at bedtime. It's always been such a nice little moment to share with each of them. If I forget, and I sometimes do, they always remember. "We didn't say our prayers". I plan to continue doing it every night until they physically stop me from climbing in their bed, snuggling up and saying prayers. At that point I will just stand over them with a baseball bat and say prayers. Who knows, that day may come so I want to get this down now.

Jake's and Brady's prayer with Daddy

Dear God
Please take care
of everyone we love
Amen

It's short and simple, but effective. We end with a couple smooches and a, "See you in the morning." When someone needs a little extra prayer we will throw their name up to God for good measure.

And sometimes....only sometimes, because they are rarely super bad during the day, but when they are, I tell them something I half stole from a Winnie the Pooh book. After I tell them how what they did was wrong and how I expect them to behave better the next day, I say this;

Remember,
no matter what you do,
or what anybody does to you,
I will always love you.
Forever.

Boys, these are the most special days of my life, and the most precious nights I could ever hope for. I love you.

Wee little Urinals

Seriously, I know it's gross and all but is there anything cuter, relatively speaking, than a set of miniature urinals? My word, I want one of these for the house. These are in Cindy's school and I have seen them before, but yesterday when Brady had to take a spritz, I really saw them in all their glory. Mr. Price, Mr. Pfister...take a bow. Beautiful.

Partyin' with the preschoolers

Jake had his end of the year pizza party last night. The boys have been talking about it for weeks now. They kept asking us everyday when it was, and our answer was never good enough.

Jake had a special surprise for us that he couldn't wait to show us. His teachers made him a portfolio from day one until this last week. It's filled with pictures of all his accomplishments and little notes. Just look at that smile on his face. Super, super cool. You've really come a long way my man. From that shy little boy I dropped off, to the confident little leader you are today. Great job Son. Me and your Mommy love you so much.

Welcome little man!

That little slugger is my new cousin Brody. Welcome to this big ballgame my man. Take it easy on your parents, they are health care professionals, but I used to feed your Dad authentic mud pies so he may not be "all there" all the time. Your Mom, well she married him so something has to be wrong with her. Oh well, at least they have done one thing exactly right though. They made you.

Mommy's Day

Thank you to my terrific husband and my two wonderful boys for a great Mother's Day. Spending the entire weekend together was just what I needed. I am truly blessed to be the Mommy to these two boys. My heart is full.

And special thanks to my own Mom for showing me what a great Mom and Grandma should be.

Ahem...you win.

So , I threw down a challenge. In the process of trying to draw my comic strip, I realized that not honing my drawing skills since high school left me just short of terrible. Next week though, I will turn out something so magnificent, so grand, so wonderful, so...well, just something. Brandon, for real dude. Hobby turns into second job turns into first job. Simply awesome.

Click it.

Caution & The Bean

Happy Mother's Day Cindy

For over four years I have watched you become the Mother I always knew you would be. You are patient, loving, intuitive, nurturing, and enthusiastic. The boys look at you as if you are the sun, moon and stars. You may not notice it, but I am watching you all the time, trying to pick up on how to do what you do. You don't think you are perfect, but the boys think you are. I do too.

A few examples of their love for you:

-Brady will ask me no less than 5 times a day when you are coming home. He can't wait to get his "Mommy cuddles".

-Jake would marry you right now if I would just get out of the way.

-They both enjoy the novelty of a "Daddy bath" but they always get waaayyy more excited when it's your turn. It's not even close.

-Jake gets up early sometimes just to try and say goodbye to you. As much as our boys love their sleep, that's really saying something.

-At nitetime, the boys cannot go to sleep until they have told you at least 10 times that they love you.


These are but a few examples to show that Jake and Brady are madly in love with their Mommy. Happy Mother's Day. We love you.

Back Home

I came back home today after a short trip. I would say it was business trip, but my work was too much fun to be actual "business". Even with all the fun stuff going on, it would have been much more fun to have my family with me. I couldn't stop thinking about my boys or my wife. There were times I would actually turn to talk to them, to tell them something funny, only to realize they were back in Arizona. I had dreams about reading to the boys, tickling them, giving them a bath. I had one dream about Cindy and I just sitting on the patio together, watching the boys play.

Thanks for letting me go and do what I needed to do. Now, I can get back to all the things I love to do.

Balloons For Uncle Ron

My boys never cease to impress me with their sensitivity and kindness. One of the sweetest things I have ever seen two little boys do, is let their balloons go up to heaven for their Uncle Ron. Let me back up a little and tell you how this started...

Last summer, we took the boys to Disneyland. After talking about it for what seemed like FOREVER, and the boys seeing commercials about Disneyland on TV, Jake had his mind set that the one thing he really wanted to get when we went, was a Disneyland balloon. I figured once he saw all of the incredible toys and souvenirs available, he would quickly change his mind and forget about the balloon. The boys brought their own money and Daddy and I had planned to give them some to spend too. When we asked Jake what he really wanted, he replied, "A purple Mickey balloon." So both boys got an $8 helium balloon which stayed in our hotel room for the entire trip. On the day we were leaving, the balloons were still flying high. I asked Jake if he would like to bring it down to the lobby and give his balloon to another little boy or girl. Right away he replied, "No, I want to let my balloon go to heaven for Uncle Ron. I think he would like this balloon." Brady thought that was an excellent idea, so that's just what we did. We all went out on our balcony and the boys let their balloons go. They watched them until they couldn't see them anymore, talking about how much Uncle Ron will like those balloons.

From that day on, anytime we go to a restaurant where they give away balloons, or any kind of festive celebration, my boys ask for a balloon, with the sole intention to let it go immediately for Uncle Ron. The picture on this post is from their great-grandpa's 93rd birthday in February. There are absolutely no words to express what good that does for my heart, as their very proud Mommy, and niece and goddaughter of Uncle Ron. I know Uncle Ron is up there with a huge bouquet of balloons by now, just smiling at these two little angels here on Earth. Thank you, boys, for being YOU! Mommy loves you very much!

More quotage

At least two to three times a week I hear this kind of thing from the bathroom;

"Daddy!"

"What buddy?"

"My poop is green!"

"OK pal, sounds interesting. Thanks for the update."

Little boys are gross.