Look what the Easter Bunny left us...

The boys were excited for the ol' furfoot to come by this year. All this week it has been talk of bunnies and eggs and candy and par-tay's. Well, we got the bunny, egg, and candy part done this morning. Sleepy faces make for cool pictures.

After breakfast the boys got to hunt some eggs that wacky Easter Bunny hid on the baseball field. He cleverly took advantage of the fact that I didn't use the edger this week, to hide a ton of eggs in the tall grass along the walls. I almost messed it up for him by forgetting to shut the timer off for the sprinklers, but his eggs were fine, if a little damp.

Easter eggs

The dudes went all out with the eggs this year. What started out as a well choreographed dance between eggs and food coloring, soon turned in to a free-for-all. Painting with fingers beats dunking eggs in little cups anyway.

Monsters, Inc.

This was a dadgum great time. I don't wanna say it was better than the Wiggles, but...it was WAY better than the Wiggles. If it's coming to your city, by all means, sell some of your kids toys if you have to and get tickets to it. Jake and Brady had a blast.

Where's Waldo?

Again, with the stuffed animals. When will they outgrow these things? You wanna know the sad part? At least 3 of those are mine. Man I'm lame.

On to better things

The last post was a little dark, even for me. Sorry about that. It had to be done regardless.

Soooo, it's getting pretty dadgum hot around here. Hot enough to bust out the pool already. Of course, Brady would've gotten in the pool in December, but hypothermia isn't as much fun as he thinks it is. The guys had a great time splashin' it up and getting ten kinds of wrinkly. We even worked in a little barefoot baseball practice. This...is the good stuff.

I don't understand

We live in a big city with all the ups and downs that come with it. Lately it seems the downs have been outnumbering the ups. I can handle traffic. Once you learn the detours around it, it's really no big deal. Pollution, well it just isn't going anywhere and I am part of the problem so...whatever. Housing costs are outrageous, but they aren't as bad as some of our neighboring States. Schools, well they aren't bad as long as you live in the right area.

I can take all of these things and brush them off as if they aren't even there. What I can't take is the crime. Now, I'm not naive to the ways of people in large groups. Any time a few million people cluster together it's gonna get nasty. I realize that. I expect there to be burglaries and drug trafficking and a little organized crime thrown in for good measure. That I can handle. What brings me down and makes me want to move is the crime against children in this State.

It seems as though we don't go more than a day without hearing about some heinous crime committed upon a helpless child. Most of the time they are victimized by someone in their own family. Every time I hear about another child neglected, sold into prostitution, beaten, thrown away, molested, or killed, I lose a little faith in my fellow man. My soul turns black for a while. I want to rage against these people. Lock myself in a room with them and let my anger flow from my fists, feet, elbows, and knees. I want them to not exist. I don't believe in rehabilitation for these people. I don't buy it. It's a lie and everyone knows it.

I want to hide my sons from all this. Hold them in my arms and shield their eyes and hearts from what is around us. I want to move somewhere pure and clean and free from this scourge. Where is that though? Not here. Not there. That place doesn't exist on any map. There are bad people wherever you go. I have to somehow get them to do what I fail to do so often; find the good in every situation, focus on the good. To shield them from all of this tragedy would be doing a great disservice to them later in life. It's more wise to teach them how to handle their fears than to run from them. Yeah...it's all so easy.

Boys, I am trying my best to figure this World out one little piece at a time. I may not always have the answers, but don't ever hesitate to ask the questions. If I can't figure it out we can ask this guy I know. He lives up above the clouds. Cool robe. Beard. Lots of answers to impossible questions. Digs carpentry. You've seen pictures.

I love you guys. Forever.

That's what I'm talking about

Readin some Scooby Doo with my dudes. I'm not sure I could be any happier than that. I even have a killer goat' coming in. Little tip for when you are "of age" boys. Facial hair, while annoying and itchy, is free and fun to mess with when bored. Bank it.

Jake can READ!!

It's official. Jakey can read. He's not quite up to obscure Russian literature yet, but he's gettin there. It's funny how one day they just wake up and put it all together. He has always loved books. Loved us reading them to him and if we weren't available, he'd just make up the words. He's been reading individual words for quite a while now, but never whole sentences. Last night, he just did it, and kept doing it, and hasn't stopped yet. I can't explain how proud I am of him.

Well, I can try.

See, I don't do a lot of things well. I can't dance. I can't sing. I can't solve higher math. I can't play any instruments. I can't get excited about reality TV. There's just all kinds of stuff I can't do well, or for that matter...at all.

However, I can read. I can read and read and read. I love it. I like reading anything. Even books about subjects I'm not even remotely interested in. I can't tell you how many cereal boxes I have read all six sides of in my life. Go ahead and check, there's stuff on the top and bottom.

I'm thrilled Jake is so interested in reading. There's so many great books out there for kids now. When we were kids, there wasn't that great of a selection. We did however have the greatest format in literature come along when I was little, "Choose Your Own Adventure". Man those where great. My favorite was the G.I. Joe series. I confess to skimming ahead to see if I was going to drown in the swamp or capture Cobra Commander. A guilty pleasure indeed. Now though, they have books about every possible interest a kid could have. Tons of 'em. Seems about 25% of bookstore shelves are filled with toddler through juvenile books. I love it.

So Jake, buddy, welcome to the world of books my man. I hope you stay as enthralled with reading as you are right now. You're such a cool kid.

Nappy

This is what goes on around here when I'm at work and Mommy and the boys are here enjoying spring break.

Shower time

We've had a bit of an issue with the tub in the master bath where we usually bathe the dudes. So, they got to use their bathroom. Imagine that. We've been here going on 6 months and much to my surprise, not only is there a tub in their bathroom, but a cool detachable shower head. What the heck? So, while we get the other tub fixed, they have learned to love taking what they call "a shower".

The Artist Examined

This is all Brady. His drawing. His description. I think it's abstract genius, but that could be too conservative.

"Whatever you do, don't cross the streams"

The boys finally did it. They whizzed in the toilet at the same time. I wondered how long it would take them to think of doing that. Jake came out of bathroom laughing his head off and said, "We crossed the streams." Ahhh further evidence that they watch too many movies.

No sleepy

Brady is in his bed.

Brady is out of his bed.

Brady is in the toy room.

Brady is in the bathroom.

Brady is in his bed.

Brady is standing by his door.

Brady is standing on his bed.

Brady is mad because we tell him to go to sleep.

Brady tries to go back to the bathroom.

Brady is directed to go back to bed.

Brady screams.

Brady sleeps.

Brady took a late afternoon nap today.

Feel for you bro

The boys caught my sickness last week despite my best attempts at self-quarantine. As will happen with little dude's and colds...they got ear infections. Fortunately, this is only their second bout each with earaches. Wouldn't you know it they both got it in the right ear. Fun stuff. Brady got a pretty bad case apparently. You never want a doctor to say, "WHOA", when examining one of your children. Kind of makes your stomach turn over. Jake is Jake and refuses to acknowledge the pain and gets angry when you ask him how his ears feel. So it goes.

The good news is they should be back to normal by next week and we can start enjoying these record temps the best way possible. In the pool.

JACK ARMY’s "A Day in the Life” of My FOB

A chaptered story told on many blogs starts here and continues here:

Chapter Five: Visitors

About once per month, one of the preventive medicine (PM) guys from brigade will visit our FOB. The first couple of visits were challenging because we had lots of areas that needed improvement. Lots of areas. If we were a restaurant, we would have been shut down fast! The team pulled together to knock out some of the easier projects to improve things and the FOB mayor put together several improvement projects that required hiring local nationals and purchasing supplies to get done. Slowly but surely, things have gotten better and PM visits aren’t any big deal at all.

The Air Force sent down a meteorologist to train up a few folks on how to take meteorological readings and send up accurate reports that would help them in weather prediction in the area. There are a few Air Force folks permanently attached to our team here, but we are used to them, so having the weatherman here was interesting. It is a very different war for them, that’s for sure.

Visitors from the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) are great. They have so much to offer the folks in our area of operations and there is so much that needs to be done that when the PRT folks come, it’s a busy time. There are trips into town to visit the mayor, the business center, conduct agricultural seminars, discuss projects for water, sewage, electricity, etc. All good stuff, all stuff that makes life better in our area for the people that live here.

When visitors arrive, I try hard to either greet them at the airfield or to meet them at the TOC when they are dropped off. After welcoming them and giving them time to drop off their gear (helmets, armor, bags, etc.) I immediately give them an orientation tour of the FOB. The best way to do it is to walk up to the top of one of the bunkers. From there, I can easily point out where everything is located and discuss the hours of operation of most things, go over the do’s and don’ts of the FOB and answer their questions. The commander has received many compliments on our reception of visitors and that’s because we try hard to make them welcome and not just jam them into a CHU (containerized housing unit) and forget about them.

Some will get an operations brief or an intell brief, some are linking up with one of the specialized teams on the FOB, others are just stopping off for a couple of days to do some specific task or project. All of them, though, are bringing something to our team that enhances our ability to accomplish the mission. Therefore, they all get star treatment.

Cleanin Up

This is the toy chest that my Grandpa made for the boys. They love it. They put all their stuffed animals in it, and occasionally put themselves in it. Well, it had been a few days since they put all their buddies where they belong so I bribed them and this is the result I got. They usually just cram everything in there but I guess they decided to get a little creative and stack em as high as they could. No telling how long before one of them knocks it over, but it's pretty cool while it lasts.

At the carwash

I've had this fascination with automated car-washes since I was little. Pops used take me with him when he went and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever. Back then, it was kind of a new invention and I'm pretty sure it was the worst thing you could do to you car's finish, but still...cool.



I take the boys to one by our house that is just phenomenal. I'm not sure that's the right word to describe a car wash, but seriously man, this thing is worth every penny. It uses some kind of licorice-whip-looking brush to clean your car and it does a great job every time. Plus, the suds leave a refreshing cherry scent that lingers long after you pull away. Mmmm...fake food smell.




The boys love it for the most part. Brady gets freaked by the high-pressure water (hence the hands on eyes), but then he gets all into the soapy-brushy mode. Jake just loves the whole process. They both love watching the big air machine blow all the water off at the end.


Can't beat cheap entertainment.

8 years

Wow. 8 years ago huh? I can't believe it's been that long since that clear day in March 1999.

You know when I think back to that day I don't remember being nervous at all. That's a really strange thought isn't it? Me, not nervous. The biggest day of my life up till then and I was almost calm. Wait, no I was calm. I remember being excited, but more than that I was calm. Why was that?

There were a gozillion people there at the church. I didn't even notice them. It was a warm day and I was in an ill-fitting bulky tux. Still, the heat didn't get to me. A long Catholic ceremony filled with standing, kneeling, standing, kneeling, and uncomfortable silence. No big deal. What the heck? I should have been one of those dudes that ends up on America's Funniest Home Videos. I mean come on...

Now, with some perspective I can look back and see why I was so calm. Why nothing bothered me that should have and always does. Why I just existed in the moment there with you.

For the first time in my life I was totally sure of what I was doing. I wasn't scared for the future. I wasn't afraid of my decision. I was doing something undeniably right. A perfect choice. You where flawless that day. Just as you had been every day before that. I knew it. I felt it. And on that day, I felt flawless too. I wasn't, and God knows I am not now...but on that day, we both were.

Now, as much as we hoped and planned for from that day on, I wasn't prepared for all we would be blessed with now. Two sons. Two beautiful little boys who want nothing more than to be near one another. They tell us they love us and give us kisses and hugs without us asking for them. Sometimes we make mistakes as parents, just as they make mistakes, and we all forgive each other afterwards. We are learning as fast as they can teach us.

Yes, we have some nice material stuff. We both know though that is all it will ever be. Just stuff. Stuff has never been what defines us and I am proud of that. Our family has defined us for 8 years. The first three years we just kinda learned the ropes. The next five we really learned what it was to be married. We have been pushed, shoved, down at the bottom, up at the top and back down again. We have cried together, laughed together, pushed away from each other, and pulled so close we couldn't tell where one stopped and the other began. So it goes. That is who we are. I am in love with who we are.

I like counting on you more than I should count on anyone. I know you won't be here forever but I like pretending you will be. You give me the freedom to fail. You know when to reign me in and when to let me go. You accept my insecurities yet you don't let me be bound by them. I am not your equal but you treat me as though I am. You are everything I am not.

Cindy. My wife. Then, now, and always. I loved you. I still love you. I will always love you.

Great advances in the field of bubbleology

Man these dudes don't know how good they have it. When I was a kid, there were maybe two kinds of bubblebath and one of them was also used to wash dishes. Then you had the bath colors that sure didn't smell non-toxic. But, we had fun anyway. Heck, I could turn the water a different color all by myself. Sure it involved a certain amount of personal indignity, but when you're little, who cares? Bathing in your own waste is a forbidden pleasure for the 5 and under set.

Ok..out of the gutter. Really, these guys just have a full on blast at bathtime. The bubbles, foams, water colors, toys, bowls, buckets, and rags, could all dissappear and I think these guys would still have just as much fun. I don't know how much longer these times will last but the end will come all too quickly to be sure. Boys, splash it up.

School of Rock

This is what they do. ALL THE TIME. It's super cute, but sometimes, I wish they knew all the words to the 1,000 songs they sing all day.

Workaday Joes

Smoochin' on the job.
(Yes, that is chocolate on their lips.)

This is where all their important "documents" go.

C3P0 got a little hung up at work.

Sick of being sick

I have a wonderfully bodacious chest cold. It's so awesome. When I cough I sound like an 85 year old man who has happily smoked for 75 tariffic years. But, if I'm very still and try and focus on not coughing I can keep it up for nearly 10 minutes. So, that's cool I guess.

What's not cool is not being able to do ANYTHING with my boys. I don't want them catching this nastiness so, no kisses, hugs, stories, high-fives, wrestling, hide-and-seek, chase, tag, sword-fights, board games, cuddles, walks, head pats, secrets, or general jackassery.

Aaarrrgghhh...cough, cough, cough..sonofaBLEEP!

Goodbye Wiggles

We had a good run. We were with you guys since 2002. Sold out shows, 1,649 DVDs, rumors of Jeff being a substance abuser, Murray's incredibly bad haircut, the birth of Anthony's child, and finally Greg's departure due to health reasons, and subsequent replacement by Sam Moran. What a run.

At the height of our relationship, we even dressed as you guys for Halloween, complete with a rented Big Red Car. Sure we endured the scrutiny of others, but we also basked in the glow of our children's' admiration. Toot-toot-chugga-chugga.

Alas, all good things must come to an end, or at least some sort of healthy conclusion. I mean, the boys are just growing older. Too old to be entertained my mere singing and dancing and costumed characters. No more Captain Feathersword. Wags the Dog. Henry the Octopus. Dorothy the Dinosaur. I weep for time gone too quickly.

So here's to you, our Wiggly friends. You made us laugh, made us sing, and made us forget reality for a little while. Thank you and goodbye.

"If do right, no can defense."

It's true. So, so true.

Goodnight

I just don't think I can say enough about how much I love to tuck the boys in at night. I get to hear what their innocent minds are coming up with right before they sleep. It's one of those times that makes me think Heaven is not beyond the clouds, it's right here. Lit by a nightlight.

Tonight, Brady went over all the people who love him, and tried to remember where he put his shoes. That's B. He said, "...and Mommy loves me, and Jake loves me, and you love me...and where are my new shoes?"

Jake and I had a discussion about the end of Return of the Jedi and how it's never too late to do the right thing. I don't know how he gets it, but he gets it. He said, "Even though Darth Vader is a bad guy he is still a Daddy and he loves his little boy and doesn't want him to get hurt by the Emperor so he makes a good choice and then he's a good guy, even though he dies."

Then to top it all off I got to kiss a beautiful woman and tell her I love her before she went to sleep. How did your night wrap up?

Anyone...anyone....

Below you will find the most recent response to the flower situation. Anyone want to take a chance and use that code? Maybe you get your flowers and maybe you don't, but hey...


Dear GORDON,


I sincerely apologize for your recent unhappy experience with our company. Complaints of this nature are taken very seriously and I personally assure you, I take full responsibility for our actions.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM® is committed to providing world-class service to our customers. We guarantee your satisfaction and will take the necessary steps to correct your situation. For over 30 years, we have helped people connect to the important people in their lives. I ask now that you give us the opportunity to earn back your trust.

If you do choose to give our company another chance, I have attached a savings pass for $15. To redeem your savings pass, please enter P9Z4-0533N-2315 in the savings pass field at checkout. While the savings pass does not make up for your experience, I do hope that you give us another chance.


Kind Regards,

Chris McCann
President

For future reference

This is one of those posts that I will most certainly use to embarrass the dudes in front of their girlfriends. Over and over. Until only I find it funny.

What do your kids do when they come home from a hard day of doing...whatever? Grab a snack. Watch a little tube. Talk about their day. Play in the backyard. Read some books. Sound familiar? Yeah, me too.

Except my kids do all those things AFTER they strip down to their underwear.

Try as we might we can't stop them from doing it. Brady is a little easier to stop, but Jake...he ain't havin' it. He can't be himself until there's nothing between him and God but a pair of drawers. When I tell them they have to get dressed to go play in the backyard they both look at me like, "What's your hangup bro?".

Ahhh..10 years from now. Aha. Ahaha. MWAHAHA!

Say a prayer

Even if you don't believe in anything other than the sun, moon and stars...say a prayer for this little guy. Ethan Powell.

Smush Eggs

Almost every morning, Jake and Brady ask for the same thing for breakfast...smush eggs. What everyone else in the world calls fried or "sunny side up", they call smush eggs. I'm reasonably sure it's because they like to smush up the yolk and eat it first. No matter how many times I try and tell them to just ask for fried eggs, they look at me like I'm a complete moron and say," You mean smush eggs Daddy?"

Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. Dorks.

Quotable

Heard from Jake's mouth directed at his Mommy after he had finished his Dilly-bar at DQ last night;

"Can I try the rest of yours Mommy?"

Oh and "try the rest" he did. He turned a Dilly-bar into a Dilly-stick.

Classy move buddy. I learn something from you every day.

Attack of the Robots!

Kevin the Spider-Robot by Brady

Shrek the Robot by Jake

Chalk it up to bad luck

Well, we had our first injury on the field.

Jake tagged Brady in the grill with his baseball bat. It was all just a bad accident. Poor guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Jake was freaking out, Brady was bleeding...and freaking out. Plus, we had a good friend over and his daughter started freaking out. So, that little game wrapped up pretty darn quickly.

We zoomed off to the ER and played the waiting game. Brady is a lot tougher than me and only cried when the pain got real bad. He even took a little nap. Then Ma and Poppy came up and sat with Jakey while Cindy and I took B back to get looked at. We waited some more, and some more...and then a cool doc came in and checked the B man out. Cindy and I both got ready for some screaming and crying, but then the strangest thing happened. Brady just laid back like nothing was going on. The doc checked the gash inside his lip, checked his teeth to make sure they were good and then, that was it. No stitches. Awesome. He even gave him a grape Popsicle. Tough guys like Popsicles.

So, for the next few days, Brady will be eating a lot of ice cream and other less flavorful stuff. He should be just fine. Cindy and I may need psychotherapy but, we'll be fine too. Oh and Jake..he's just relieved Brady is OK and that our stock of ice cream is about to triple.

PS. Thanks to Ma and Poppy for the post-ER wrap party at Dairy Queen. Dadgum good way to cap off a cruddy night. Thanks for being there.

"I wanna be Jake"

Last night, I was tuckin B into bed when he gave me a dose of cuteness.




"Daddy, I love Jake."
"I know Bubba, I love him too. What do you love about him?"
"I want to be Jake."
"OK, you want to be just like Jake?"
"No, I want to be him."
"That's so nice buddy."
"I want to take his face, and put it on my face, and be him."
"Oh, well why do you want to be him?"
"Cuz he's cute."
"Well, you're cute too bub."
"No, I'm silly. He's cute. I want to be cute."
"No, you're both cute and both silly. You're both silly-cute."

-Tickles and Giggles-

"Well, have a good night's sleep buddy, I love you."
"Love you too Daddy. See you in the morning."

Kindness Award

Way to go Jake. You were "a kind and helpful friend" at school yesterday so you got this cool certificate AND an even cooler certificate for free pizza. I would have a picture of it, but we cashed the sucker in last night for supper. It was for Eatza Pizza, which otherwise we would never go to, but found surprisingly good anyway. So, maybe it'll get thrown into the rotation every once in a while. All because you were so nice at school. Pretty cool pal.

Brady is "The Man"

Brady had his preschool screening today. Apparently he blew the doors off the place. Our little man is now officially a big dude. He'll be going to preschool next year. We haven't decided yet if Jake will still be there with him, but either way...it's just super cool.

We always thought he was a smart little fella, but I think we also forgot that he just turned 3. I know I expected him to do well, but the lady said he did exceptionally well. Which of course is a direct reflection on me, as I am one of the World's foremost sources of intelligenceresness. It's a word. A word I just made up. Smart people can do that.

Anywho, way to go B. You are my ray of sunshine kiddo. I'm so proud of you and I can't wait to see how well you do next year in school. Now, if we can just work on the whole addiction to all things wet, you'll be aces.

I love you pal.

Deep Dark Secret #2

It's that time again. Time to make my spouse uncomfortable and possibly alienate someone I love. Dah-Duh-Daaaahhh!

Deep Dark Secret #2

Ever since I saw the movie "Footloose" I have had a desire to get footloose with my bad self. I mean really, it doesn't get any more absurd than the premise of that movie, but something inside me longs to break into a dance routine in the middle of rural America. Break those chains that tie me down...by gettin down. Maybe it was the Kenny Loggins. It seems like he wrote the soundtrack to every over-the-top-silly movie in the 80's that I love. Movies, scenes, and songs that spoke to my soul.

Take the scene where they play chicken with tractors. I mean come on dude. He gets his shoelace stuck in the pedal? Everyone thinks he's the man, when really he is just the benefactor of being fashionably irresponsible. He couldn't jump off...priceless. Or when he teaches the overgrown farmboy to dance on the bleachers. Just, wow. What about the scene where he dances around the factory and suddenly gets a little gymnastics routine in...who knew? Then, ol' boy organizes an illegal prom, gets the girl, beats up her ex-boyfriend, and dances the night away. He sure showed that Bible thumpin' John Lithgow where to stick his "no dancin' in my town" rule. Showed us all.

Alas, I was born with a physique that better allows me to put a hurtin on someone, rather than put on a dance recital. As my wife can attest, I am neither light, nor light on my feet. But still...a man can dream. Of Kevin Bacon. What? Huh? Who?

So there you go dudes. More ammo.

The Natural

I swear I didn't teach him this. He learned it from watching "The Sandlot", before I could teach him. See, you CAN learn something useful from the TV.

Customer Disservice

Hello Gordon,


Thank you for shopping with 1-800-FLOWERS.COM.


We apologize that your order (deleted) was not delivered as you requested(Oh really). We have canceled your order, and issued a full credit of $70.54 back to your credit card(Super). The credit will appear on your credit card within 3-5 business days(How convenient). We look forward to serving your gifting needs in the future.(Not bloody likely)


If you have any other questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at the address listed below(Yeah, but there is only a 5% chance you will get a reply). You can also contact us at our customer satisfaction number, 1-800-468-1141(Again, the 5% rule applies).


Sincerely,(B to the S yall)


Toni Smith
Sales and Service Specialist
Custservice@1800flowers.com

Mommy had a bad day

So here is something to cheer her up.

Note to self

No more late afternoon naps for Brady. It's 11:19 PM and he's singing "I'm a believer" (the Shrek version) in his bed at the top of his lungs. Good thing Jake sleeps like a rock.

Valentine's Par-tay

Jake had his Valentine's party at preschool today. So, just like the party animals we are, me and B tagged along for the festivities. Mommy even got to come down when she had a break from her class. We had a great time and it was over with all too quickly. I love that place.

Oh and yeah...I made the frog. 3.5 seconds later, Jake and Brady dissected it. Sweet.

Another day on flower watch...

Thank you 1-800-FLOWERS. I really had nothing better to do today than to wait around on you to deliver Valentine's Day...again. It was fun calling your customer service number at 1-800-716-4851 and getting a recorded message telling me that your company was too busy to take my call so you were disconnecting the line. Even though I paid you $70 for flowers, FLOWERS!, that doesn't warrant a human being to talk to me. Cool.

You're on the list. The one that rhymes with hit and starts with an S. Big time.

also...From the Doodlepad

An original work by Brady entitled "The Hairy TV"

From the Doodlepad

An original by Jake entitled "The Ghost"

1-800-FLOWERS

Now, I'm not in the business of delivering flowers so I shouldn't be expected to deliver flowers on time at any time of the year, for any reason. However, they ARE in the business of delivering flowers on time, at any time of the year, for any reason. Well, I guess somebody didn't get the memo about Valentine's Day being kind of a busy day for flower sales and delivery.

I was gonna be Mr. Bigshot and get all due praise for such a show of affection for coming through with these beautiful tulips, delivered right to Cindy's classroom. I waited around all day for the call to come from my beautiful wife, all shocked and emotional about my surprise gift. And I waited. And waited. And then she came home without any flowers in hands. Son-of-a.......

So here's the thing. I understand it's a busy time of year for them. However, shouldn't they compensate for that like every other company does when they count on making their sales goals in just a few days a year? Arrrrggh!

Anywho, happy Valentine's Day baby. It's the thought that counts right? Love You.

Deep Dark Secrets

I'm gonna do something now that I've been thinking about doing for a long time. Every once in a while I'm going to write about things that I've never told many people about heck maybe nobody. That way the boys will be able to laugh at me as I laugh at them for the rest of the stuff on here.

Deep Dark Secret #1

Sometimes, when I am alone, I talk to myself with a British accent. Sometimes Australian, but more often British. Not talking so much as narrating my activity. I don't know why I do it, only that I've been doing it since I was a kid. I'm reasonably sure no one has ever heard me, but I'm not so sure that would stop me.

So there. You've got that on me.

You are not invited...

Yeah you. The blurry little creature in the middle of the picture. We don't want you here. There is no place in baseball for your kind. I didn't build it for you, and your little buddies to come explore. I don't mind if you go next door or even out into the vast desert around us, but you aren't welcome here. Maybe this will help. I have a little piece of paper in my truck that certifies me to do one thing. A license in fact. What one thing you ask? Kill you. I have a license to kill you. You and all your friends. Think about it.

Strength beyond reason

Cindy is pretty stout. I mean, she's small and petite of frame and all but she can throw down when she has too. The boys got to see that side of her tonight.

She has been craving ice-cream for some time now. Not the stuff in the store, but an honest to goodness ice-cream experience at an honest to goodness ice-cream parlor. Years ago there were Swensen's restaurants everywhere here. What made them special was that their menu consisted of ice cream and maybe a few sandwiches. Although I don't know anybody that ever ate real "food" there. You went for the cream. You sat in a wooden booth and looked at menu with beautiful photographs and descriptions of every kind of ice-cream creation imaginable. The best part of the ice cream for me, wasn't even the cream, but the triangular wafer they stuck in the top. That's just me, and I like me some wafers. Mmmmmm.

OK. What was I talking about?

Yeah, well we where going to go out tonight and track down some high-quality cream. And then the dudes had a slight to severe attack of "the meanies". Someone hit, slapped, punched, kicked, or otherwise personally insulted the other one and then the victim became the aggressor. So, rather than reward them for bad behavior she showed us all true strength and cancelled the trip. Whoa.

I certainly don't have the will power to do what she did. For the right price or more importantly the right food, I can be persuaded to look the other way pretty darn easily. So, as her reward I am now off to buy a little consolation cream. No, it's not as good as what we had in mind, but good parenting is it's own reward. Uh-huh.

Good job babe.

Jake's Monster

This is Jake's scary monster. Several times a day he will sneak up to me and shove this picture in my face to try and scare me. It's very disturbing and I have soiled myself at least twice. Send help.

That's what I'm talking about

Me and Isaac Hanson baby! I mean I have always felt drawn to his music but who knew? The rest yeah..pretty much dead on. Me and JT...not only similar faces, almost exact body doubles. But what's up with Andrew Carnegie? I know I'm gettin old and all, but come on. Although he was an extremely wealthy old fella...hmmmm. I'll take that.

Encarnacion

Is it bad that the boys know this song word for word? Probably.

Just so you know

I love you boys. That's all.

Oh Brady

Sorry to pick on you kiddo, but...I have to. You and Jake were in the other room drawing pictures today. I went in to check on you two and I smelled something funny. A plastic burning kinda funny, and that's not funny at all. My first thought was that mommy left her super-duper hair iron thingy on and the bathroom was on fire....nope. Humidifier malfunction? Nope. Thermostat gone bad? Nope. The smell was coming from downstairs not upstairs. On my way down the stairs...I saw it. The hanging light fixture by the door. Smoking. Smoldering. I ran and turned the light off, got a chair, and oh, looky what we have here. Your favorite little puppy dog melted to the light bulbs inside. I know it's YOUR fault because immediately you say, "It was an accident." Right. Sure it was.

So, basically we are out two lightbulbs and one little puppy dog. That and I am one step closer to the looney bin. No more throwing toys dude.

Brady's new trick

Brady is an odd child. A very cute, and loveable little skamp. But an odd child. Here's something he just came up with. He was doing this for his own amusement, and not ours...per the usual. I don't know if you can tell, but he's got one finger in his ear, and the other in his mouth trying to make them reach each other. Brady, that's wierd, but it's dadgum hilarious.

Yeah, I'm an old man

Turned 30 today. Woo-hoo! Hoo-ray! Whatever. I don't feel any different, but three times today people asked me how it feels to be 30 as if I should feel different somehow. I'm just glad that I made 30. 200 years ago I would have grandchildren and been lucky to live another 10 years at age 30. So, thats something.

All BS aside, I had a really great birthday. The boys came and jumped in bed and woke me up this morning. They just need half an excuse to come jump on me when I'm all the way asleep. They led me downstairs for my present and cards. I got a sweet sign for the field and a new grill. Later, we had an awesome party and played some ball on the field. My nephew Oscar hit about 25 dingers and Jake got himself one too. Just awesome. The kids all had a great time, and that's really what I wanted more than anything. Thanks everybody.

Better, much better

Stayed up really late watching a movie with the boys. They both cuddled up with me the whole time. The house smells like cake and cookies for the party tomorrow. Bound, bound, bound and rebound.

Off day

Somedays I just feel like I haven't done a good job as a parent. Today is one of those days. It's not that the boys were particularly unruly. They were out of control of course, but nothing too dramatic. I'm trying to fend off a cold and so I've been a little out of sorts. Maybe that's it. Or maybe that's just an excuse. Today, I didn't bring my A game and time just flew by too quickly. I need to pay more attention to them and not get so wrapped up in everything else. I need to include them in small projects around the house more, even if they make it take longer. It's better to be doing something slowly together than doing something effeciently by myself.

No worries, there is always tomorrow.