"The Six Day of Christmas?"

Seriously! Between my family and Cari's family, we're pretty numerous and equally as busy. So we have to find moments to celebrate the holidays when we can. Sometimes it seems like a runaway train! Here is a synopsis of what we have done this week:

Saturday night 12-20:

Mom and Keri came over Saturday night so we could have our own celebration since we don't normally see Mom on Christmas Day. It was a real fun time. They even brought dinner! Afterwards we had a few treats and opened some presents. Of course I taped the whole thing. Hey, I got a new toy and I'm gonna use it! I got some great Simpsons pajamas, a car washing kit for Zach and Emmy to use-I mean, for all of us to use ha ha. Plus we got some gift cards for some great places and Zach and Emmy got some great stuff too:


Simpsons pajamas...what'll they think of next!

Sunday afternoon 12-21:

We went to Grandma's house to get together with my dad and his family since they won't be there Christmas Day...again. I'm just assuming they'll never be there again. But they brought Boston Market for us and we had a nice time. I got some cool DS games and we got a Walmart gift card. Zach got the same pajamas my mom gave him but he needs them so we're keeping them:


Found that at Blockbuster one night and knew he would love it...and he did!

Sunday night 12-21:

Went to Aunt Glenda's for some ham! Everyone was actually there this time! Even cousin Josh. Miraculously he has upgraded his tent to a U-Haul so we're all pretty proud of him. After dinner we gathered around the table o' presents for our gift exchange game. You know, the one where you draw numbers and the higher the number the better. Emmy even wanted to play this year! I'm always impressed by her. She brought a target gift card and left with a giant pair of Dallas Maverick slippers! They're so cool looking. I may have to "borrow" them. Cari got some wine goblets that she assures me will look great on to pof our cupboards. And I got a gift card to Olive Garden! Emmy may want to "borrow" that one ha ha. Then, either before or after all that, Aunt Susie produced a tape of our Christmas Even back in 1984! Oh man was that tough to watch. Me and my bowl haircut. Of course, everyone else had one too ha ha. Man, brought back a lot of memories. Apparently my family put on a sketch of some sort and I disrupted everything by, "letting one go". What's funny is, I don't even remember doing that skit. Of course, I was only 10 at the time, but still...

Christmas Eve 12-24:

Went to church mass then went to the inlaws for some snacks and presents! What I had asked for I got! Some Tommy cologne, Dark Knight on DVD, and the prize: my very own Dallas Cowboys pullover fleece with pockets! I love it. Now all it has to do is get cold, which around here is easier said then done:


Pixos! Make anything with 'em! Emmy has enough Pixos to last her years.


Zach got some cool things too! But man...really trying to remember what they were. Too numerous to count!

Christmas Morning 12-25:

Ahh, the big day has arrived! And I do believe Zach and Emmy got everything under the sun!:


Girlcrush? Apparently it's a thing where girls can dye their hair. Oh joy. Glad we have that lol. Actually she tried it out and blue just might work for her on the day she interviews for the CEO position at Microsoft.


Hef? is that you? ha ha. I did get Cari a few things she had been wanting. A new 4GB MP3 player that plays videos and a new watch! I got a cool book featuring the country's most popular roadside attractions. Can't wait to look through it.

Christmas lunch 12-25:

Went to grandma and grandpa's house for a great lunch and a gift exchange Chinese style. We're so mean. We steal things from the smaller kids with no remorse or feeling. Emmy had a Bluetooth she had unwrapped and really lost it when it was stolen from her. We kept trying to explain to her she needed a cell phone to use it with and all she kept saying was "Well I can just use yours Mom!" Well, she wound up with a fondue set (our 3rd) and Cari and I wound up with a Target gift card. All in all, a fun time:


I'm to the right of the door on the porch. We took it outside since it decided to be 75 on Christmas!

Whew, what a week! Such a runaround it seems. I truly believe this was our best Christmas ever. We both have really good jobs, Zach is old enough to want to open presents instead of playing with things he already has. I have my new camcorder that i have been capturing all of this with. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all this footage. The software is making it very difficult to make a video CD, so...we shall see. I hope whoever reads this is creating memories of their own for this time of year. In the end, it will be all we take with us.

"Oh The Times...They are a-changin'..."

Seems like in the past I always put what I wanted for Christmas ahead of what other people wanted. Which is natural I guess, right? It's good to put ourselves first every now and then. The problem occurs when we stay in that train of thought too long and other things that should come first get pushed to the side. But this Christmas has been kind of different. I hate to say this about money, but it really does make the world go round. We didn't have a lot of it last year due to me not working, but it was still a great Christmas. Now this year we have significantly more then last year, but we're not doing anything different. Still looking for bargains, still keeping in mind not to go overboard because, and this is a secret about kids you may not have heard, they lose interest in things very quickly. So why get them everything under the sun and it all be for naught? I recently let Emily in on a Santa secret, which is the Santa at the mall is not in fact the real Santa. She was like "Really?". I did explain however that they work for Santa and represent him in the different malls of the world. I would rather her hear that from me then overhear someone say something that isn't true, right?

I LOVE my new camcorder!! It creates a new file everytime you turn the camera off so if you want to play back a certain part you don't have to forage your way through hours of tape. Instead you scroll to the scene you want and hit play and presto! I wanted this more then anything else, but it wasn't really for me personally. It was more for capturing the kids while they are kids so they never forget how to be kids when they are older. There's a tape of me out there somewhere as a kid and it never fails to entertain me. We would set up the projector and make a little snack plate and all gather around and watch the silent images flicker and it was just a nice time. I used to be so cute. And now...ehh. I'm not so bad though. Even with my crooked nose.

I've really been getting into the whole Facebook thing. There's tons of people I haven't seen in forever that we can stay in touch at our own speed. Which for me is s-l-o-o-o-w ha ha. My thought is, if we were really that close we never would have lost touch in the first place. But maybe that's not entirely fair. Or accurate. If things never changed, would life be any fun? The human race is probably the only species around that is not able to be content with what is around them. We always need to be making little changes, rearranging things, and as that goes, so does what we like, what we don't like, what we are willing to tolerate and what we aren't. Every other species knows only how to survive, and in order to do that, they rely on habit, hence the saying 'creatures of habit'. If we were that way, we would all drive the same car, live in the same house, and eat the same thing for dinner, because we would be surviving, and nothing more. But, fortunately for us, God gave us the gift of free will. The ability to make choices about everything around us, and then to change our mind. For me personally, I find myself rearranging my garage shelves (at least in my mind) constantly. I want to make them more in order, more perfect. Sometimes it's just good to have that option. Creativity drives the world forward, not money. When I was poor I would tell myself "Hey, I don't need a nice car or a nice house, etc..." But deep down I wanted all of those things. I guess when we can't have something we try to convince ourselves that we never really wanted it anyway. Kind of like the fox who couldn't have the grapes. man, that Aesop had a story about everything lol.


Let this be your Christmas message to everyone.

"Numero 34 Babee!!"

Yes, the time has come for me to age another year but still retain my boyish charm. I had a hard time coming up with things that I wanted just for myself. I mean there were a few things I wanted, but I didn't think I had a chance to get. One item was the JVC 30GB camcorder. Wal-Mart had them on sale on Thanksgiving for $249.99. So Cari goes down there at 5am to try and get one, only to come back disappointed. Or so she told me. Turns out she WAS able to get one and had everyone bald-face lie to me and tell me she wasn't able to. But she did. And man did we need one! My other one was made in 1999 and has been picked up (and dropped) by Zach AND Emily at some point in their childhood and would just shut off if you did something crazy with it like hold it very still or move it around a little. But this one is sweet:


Look how small it is! I can't take it anywhere until I get a super duper camera bag for it. But couldn't it just fit in my pocket? Well, I could...biut then I'd have a pocketful of glass and buttons and not happiness. I've taped a little bit but haven't really delved into the seemingly limitless world of possibilities. But the time is coming.

My Healthmarkets team even decorated my cubicle:



Weren't they sweet. They even gave me a money tree with $9 on it. I bought a steak and egg burrito from Jack In The Box. Have you tried one of these? I'm hooked! It's marinated steak, scrambled eggs, hash browns, chesse and chipotle sauce all mixed into a giant flour tortilla. The sauce is what makes it so good. They forgot the sauce like three times in a row so now I ask for a side of it. A little spicy but I'm a tough guy.

Emmy has finally completed her letter to Santa Claus! She really put a lot of work into it because she knows how much ol' Kris Kringle enjoys good penmanship:



I think that will be the best letter he gets all year.

On Dec 6 we went to Cari's Christmas Party. Talk about swanky. Country club, great dinner...felt like a date! Here are some of the gingerbread houses they had there:




Afterwards us and Branda and Jerramy went to the new Dave and Buster's they built in Arlington and had a lot of fun. They even got me a Chick Fil-A calendar and a $15 gift card! Plus I got a cordless screwdriver from the inlaws that I really wanted and needed since for some reason I never seem to have one when I need one! And we're having a birthday celebration with my mom next Sunday and my dad the Sunday after that, althought that's more of a Christmas get together too. Hopefully my wish list was received!!

"A Day With The Incredibles!"

That's right, due to Cari's winning ticket drawn at Kroger's Foodstore, we won tickets to Disney on Ice! Little did we know that those free tickets cost us over $100 in toys and snacks. The storyline was pretty creative actually. The Incredibles were planning a nice, quiet vacation to Disneyworld. Once they get there, they are selected as the Grand Marshalls of the nightly Parade of Lights. Before you know it, the bad guy from the movie (I forget his name) kidnaps Mickey and Minnie and with the help of Frozone, end up defeating him and freeing Mickey and Minnie. Here are a few pics:




It was really impressive. Zach's eyes didn't waiver from the ice all afternoon. Emmy was really into all of it as well. Apparently the skaters needed our help in order to free the captives. Really? Us?

"The Worst Gift Ever?"

This was the question posed to listeners of 1037 LiteFM the other night. I was driving home and people were calling in and telling stories of the worst gift they had ever received. I caught a few but the one that really took the cake was a gift from her inlaws: a VHS tape collection titled: "How To Save Your Marriage". OMG! In-laws got cajones' yes? I was blown away when I heard this. Why is it that some inlaws think your business is their business anyway? Marriage is hard enough without spectators watching at home and thinking, "I bet they really want to hear what I have to say about their life." Some day my Emmy will be married and I wonder if I will be a good father-in-law to her husband. What if she marries a slacker? What if everything about him is bad and Emmy just can't see it? Do I say something? I hate to instill 'complete mistrust towards all men' in her, but at the same time I want her to make great choices. I know she will.

I sent my wish list to a few people last week. Frankly it's becoming more difficult to pinpoint what I would like to get since God has blessed me with so much already. We're planning a vacation to New Mexico next spring which I could use frankly. Vacations are by far one of the most undervalued commodities in this world. People who don't take them find themselves waking up one morning burned out. Not me. I haven't gone out of town for a week in over 2 years. Hopefully that will all change in the coming years.

The worst gift I ever received? Ehh...I never consider any gift 'bad' per se, since the word gift means "from the heart"...I think it does anyway. I could be wrong. There have been some clothes I didn't care for, but that was a long time ago. People seem to know what I need to wear better then I do ha ha. Used to love getting, now I enjoy getting.

"The Girls Are Back In Town!...."

Well, from Azle to Arlington that is. Emmy and Cari came home from their luxurious weekend of relaxation and fun at the annual Girl Scout camping trip. And by luxorious, I mean they had a roof over their head and didn't have to go outside to use the can. When I picked them up Emmy wanted to stay longer and play and Cari couldn't get the car door open fast enough ha ha. It's a shame sometimes that things we loved to do when we were young are now work. I hope she had some fun though. Here are a few pix:


Emmy: "I didn't know we would be earning a badge in deerslaying..."
Girl Scout Leader: "Oh sure! Just look at Bambi burn!"
Rest of girls: (crying) "We killed Bambi!? Awwww...."
Girl Scout Leader: "Soup's on! Who wants white meat"


Cari: "So Emmy, how do you like your tofu S'More?"
Emmy: "Eww!! There's tofu in these things? What's tofu?"
Cari: "It's a mushroom-like substance that is supposed to be healthy for you!"
Emmy: "Ohhh...that isn't the answer I was looking for."


Girls: "Why do we have to hitchhike anyway?"
Girl Scout Leader: "Because we had to sell the van to pay for all that stuff we bought at the antique shop."
Girls: "And um...just how do you plan on getting that stuff home anyway?"
Girl Scout Leader: "Um...perhaps this plan should have been thought out a little better?"

Wow, that sounds like a real fun time! Much more fun then me and Zach had. All we did was go to Jack In The Box Friday night and watch Wiggles movies...then Saturday we woke up and had pancakes and went to see my dad or "Greendad" as we prefer to call him. I wanted to take Zach to the Galleria to see the Christmas tree but wouldn't ya know it he fell asleep on the way home. So we did the next best thing: Stopped by Taco Bell, put him to bed, and played internet poker all night ha ha. But we had a great time together. I hope he turns out half as well as Emmy has.

Hey, my birthday is next week! The big 3-4!! What do I want? Well, I made a list but I don't remember what is on it. My dad wanted to know some things but I still haven't sent him a list yet. Would love the 'Boys to win a playoff game!! Maybe they'll win one this year just because it's what I asked for ha ha.

Here's a quiz I took recently:

You Are a Tootsie Roll Pop

It only takes three licks to get to your center!

What Kind of Candy Are You?

Who woulda thought? I always think of myself as a Twix bar...chewy outside, crunchy inside and sweet enough to give you a coronary! Ah well.

The lights are starting to come out and play now that it's Christmastime. Will have to take some good pics soon. Emmy wrote her letter to Santa. Very interesting. Will have that for you next time as well. I don't feel very good so I will end this by saying "Don't want what you don't have unless it will make you a better person."

"It's Thanksgiving Time...In The City..."

Okay, so that's not exactly how the song goes. But the time is here for one of my favourite holidays. The truth is, we should make a habit of giving thanks all year round for what we have instead of just one day of the year. For me, there are many things that I appreciate more each day. Here are a few:

1) My job.

Now more then ever! If you ever read the papers, we just laid off 220 people. Now granted, they were mostly from IT and underwriting. Just the fact that most of the layoffs came from IT lets us know how saturated this market is. It was great 15 years ago, but now…thin ice sometimes. It was also one year ago this week that the debacle at Aegon happened which will burn like a fire in me for the rest of my life. Not in a bad way though, but in a way that I will always take care of what I need to (and then some) in my work life. I think Healthmarkets is a way better company anyway simply because people around here have a sense of humour about things. No one ever laughed at Aegon. No one. Ever. Like a bunch of mindless automatons. But here we seem to be part of a large extended family.

2) My family

I tell Emmy that the four of us are like the wheels on a car: if one isn't right, the the car doesn't go. I told her last night that one of the things I am most proud of her for is her ability to express her feelings when she is bothered about something. Zach is learning how to do that as well, although he is much louder ha ha. She is excited because this is the weekend we put up the Christmas tree and write her letter to Santa Claus! Here is the letter she wrote last year:



Now I have a feeling this year she won't be asking for much of these things. She has grown up so much and has interests in just about everything it may be a challenge to get something great for her. I still don't know what I am going to get for Cari, although she keeps hinting at what she got me will be super duper. They have the camcorder I like at Walmart for $249 on "Black Friday" this week which we may (hopefully) acquire. But I love 'em all unconditionally.

I guess I'm thankful for other things too, but it's a lot of work trying to categorize everything sometimes. This shall be our best Christmas ever.

"Kind Of A Slow Week..."

Very rarely does THAT happen! But this week has been rather uneventful. Cari and Emmy are getting ready for the Girl Scouts' annual camping trip! And boy do I wish them luck. From what I hear it is quite cold outside right now, but fortunately they have cabins to sleep in. Zach and I are planning a couple of fun things as well.

I don't usually write poems but here is one I've been kicking around:

There was a gent.
His name was Brent*.
One day Brent decided to pitch a tent.
When asked why he chose to pitch a tent,
Brent explained that his money was spent.
Spent on the rent. Every last cent.
Living in a tent was a life well spent.
This idea you could say was heaven sent.

*The name "Brent" has been changed to protect the innocent.

You know...I wasn't planning on ending this with the word "innocent" but seeing as how it rhymes with the rest of the poem, I'm keeping it!

Our man Tony Romo is back from the bench and ready to lead us to Super Bowl victory!! Okay, that's a little presumptious I guess. But man, to get back to the big show and throw down with whoever the AFC has to offer would be great. I guess I'm on the Tony Romo bandwagon. I really enjoy watching him do his thing. In fact, I even bought this in hopes that he will sign it one day:


Would you believe it is darn near impossible to find these things here in DALLAS?? Oh sure, we have a million Shaun Alexander ones around but just try to find a Cowboy in the mix. How would you describe Tony's demeanor in this picture? What's that? Can't quite see his face? Here's a close-up:


My guess would be "Suav-ee..."

They finally started playing Christmas music on 103.7 Lite FM!! Now my holiday season can begin! We even found a couple of presents already. Not that all I care about is getting presents. I do enjoy finding a present that people are not expecting when I get that chance. And now the highs are in the low 60's and the lows are in the 30's. Get your hot chocolate ready.

On a final note, if you're wondering what that poem was all about, it has to do with someone who used to be one of my closest friends and is now a shadow of his former self. I blamed myself for a long time about us growing apart and did everything I could to be a better friend to him. I would call him on his birthday and any other chance I got and not once did he ever answer, so I would leave messages. Cari actually got me past all of that by helping me understand that this was his problem and not mine. Ever since then my self-esteem has finally risen to where it needs to be. I love my life. Everyone should.

"One Great Day!!"

This was, literally, one of the most fun days I have had in a while. The temperature was a perfect 70 degrees, and our company picnic at Six Flags meant that there were hardly any lines for all of the rides, so we zipped in and zipped out as we pleased. I rode a few things too. I say this because I'm a bit of a coward when it comes to the big, bigger rides. Even the Sombrero freaks me out a little, and I've been riding that for 25 years! We stopped by Johnny Rocket's Hamburgers for lunch (on the house) and man they took care of us! Which was good because we were starving:



Zach: "Hey man...these fries are like totally far out..."
Me: "Who are you, George Carlin?"
Zach: "Who?"
Me: "I must remember to mention pop culture references that you're familiar with...which is what, Barney and the Wiggles?"
Zach: "You know it daddio."

Okay, time for a ride! One ride that kids and parents can enjoy is the antique cars on the track. Emmy shuttled me and Zach around while Cari and Emmy's friend Amanda followed us. here we are waiting in line (the one of the like three lines we had to wait in):


Emmy: "Hey Dad, how fast are these cars going?"
Me: "Lemme check the radar gun...six...six miles an hour. Just watch that rubber burn"
Zach: "Where did you get a radar gun anyway?"
Employee in the background: "Vanilla Ice Ice Baby...oh yeah..."

Part of the fun of coming to Six Flags is meeting all the Looney Tunes characters! Here we see Sylvester the Cat posing for a picture:


Zach: "Hey Dad, this giant cat makes a great backscratcher!"
Me: "Stop rubbing up against the entertainers son."
Emmy: "Can I stop smiling yet? My cheeks are throbbing!"
Sylvester: "Seriously man, get your kid off me before he wears a hole in my suit."

Then we went up the giant red tower that oversees the park, the district and most of the county. Even though the outside was sealed off with chain link fence, we all felt a little nervous being so high up...except for this guy:


Zach: "Hey Dad, what would happen if I drop this leaf down on the park?"
Me: "Well, it would pick up so much speed that it would go right through someone's arm if timed right."
Zach: "So you're saying I shouldn't drop this then?"
Me: "I didn't say that."

One of our favourite rides is the parachutes which take you up, up, up so high and then softly drop you back down to Earth. But for me, I think I had a panic attack up there. Seriously! I was terrified for my life as I was dangling up there with nothing protecting me but the bucket seat:


Seriously...it's real high up.

What trip would be complete without a visit to some of the fine patrons who attempt to fleece us from thy gold by displaying their wares in such a manner that it would be a crime to not pay for them:


Now this one I wouldn't mind having around.


Zach: "Dad, why is Bugs Bunny wearing a Batman grandmaster hat?"
Me: "Well...um..."
Zach: "Nice work there. I'm so much more educated now."


Zach: "Hey Dad, will you buy me some great Wiggles merchandise?"
Me: "Are you crazy!? Do you know how much money I've spent on you kids today?"
Zach: "Hey man...I thought your company was picking up the tab on that."
Me: "Oh yeah...well...what I meant to say is, if the company wasn't paying for all of it, do you know how much this would be costing me?"
Zach: "Pretty low Dad...pretty low..."
Me: "Ahh, forget it, have the shopkeeper tally it up!"
Zach: "Shopkeeper? Tally? What are you, 80?"

I even jumped on the carousel and rode a horse...for a little while...Cari advised me I was making it creak due to my portliness. Man, you never heard a plastic (or wooden) horse breathe a sigh of relief then when I dismounted.


When I was a kid we never went to Six Flags much. Maybe once a year. Maybe less. It's like $60 for a ticket and $10 to park, so you end up spending $70 and haven't even gotten into the park yet. Our meals were free but they would have been $11 each. For a burger! Wasn't even kobe beef either. Not that I know what that tastes like. I just heard it was pretty good.

Mom is watching the kids this weekend! Cari and I wanna go to a movie but not sure which one. I do know that Thanksgiving weekend me and my bro-in law and his son are going to see Quantam Solace!! Ever since Pierce Brosnan took over the movies got so much better. That's how young I am ha ha.

Christmas is coming closer...closer...closer.

Flasback: Halloween 2008

After it was brought to my attention that I had forgotten to include shots of our jackolanterns, I created this post just for that! This was my pumpkin:



And this is the one that Emmy made:


And here they are in their costumes. Zach is Captain Feathersword and Emmy is an evil queen!

All in all, it was a great Halloween!

"They Say It's Your Birthday!!..."

Well, it's my birthday too yeah! Well, not mine...but Zachary has turned three!! And man, not a moment too soon. The terrible twos were about to do me in! We had a great time at the carousel at the Parks Mall, although I forgot to jump on a horse and ride around! Ah well. The horse is probably thanking me for sparing him his backbone ha ha. And, since Halloween falls on the same day, I threw in some Halloween pictures as well! So here they are:


Waitresses: "Gotta dance like a chicken, gotta dance like a chicken, bawk bawk bawk bawk!"
Zach: "Help me...someone help me...I'll pay you! I got a check for $30 for my birthday! I'll sign it over!"
Me: "Aw, come on chief...only fifteen more years until we're legally able to kick you out of the house. Then you'll miss these days."
Zach: "I highly doubt that."


Emmy: "Hey Dad, how come we didn't get something like this for our front yard?"
Me: "Um, because we're not sick, demented people? Hello??"
Zach: "I highly doubt that."


Me: "Boy guys, those chiropractic visits sure are paying off! I've never seen you stand so straight."
Keri: "Can't...feel...spine..."
Dad: "Can't...sit...down..."
Me: "Troopers...all of you."

Dad's birthday was 10-7. Finally gave him his present! He liked it I guess. Here's a picture of him with the card I got him:


Dad: "Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm a schizophrenic, and so am I."
Me: "Ah heh heh..."
Dad: "Did you steal that line from What About Bob?"
Me: "Um...yeah...I'm ashamed."


Greg: "I think we're lost mates."
Anthony: "No no Greg...we're here for Zach's birthday party!"
Jeff: "He looks like he's going to eat us!"
Murray: "Sounds like I'm going to need my guitar for this, guys!"


Me: "Okay Zach, blow out the candles and make a wish!"
(Zach blows out candles)
Me: "So did your wish come true?"
Zach: "Well, no...you're still here Dad! Ha ha ha ha!!"
Me: "Oh man is that an old joke...ugh."


Mom: "Hey everyone, wanna see my Maxwell Smart impression? Missed it by...THAT much!"
Dad: "Um, yeah, that's great..."

Last Thursday we had our bonus party and as it turns out, I won the pie-eating contest! I had chosen a no sugar added peach pie for two reasons really. One, too much sugar will clog you up and you'll shut yourself down before you ever really get started. Two, I needed a fruit pie (cream pies are too hard to eat fast) and peaches are among the lesser-sweet fruits out there. I went into this blind, gluttonous free-for-all and somehow managed to keep it all down without getting my trash-bag smock dirty! Was one great time. I won $30 too! Then...while my body was handling a pound of peach pie, they had this bucket of spaghetti and jell-o and they put different coloured balls and what colour you drew decided what prize you won. There was $5, $10, a day off with pay, an hour off with pay...and the big one...one blue ball worth $20. Can ya believe I drew that one too? Quite a productive little afternoon.

Going to Six Flags on Saturday! Company is paying for all of it, plus they're closing the park down just for us, which hopefully means no long lines for anything. Not like I ride much anyway. Just the log ride, really. I always enjoy the log ride. It's like being in the forest but not really. Because animals live in the forest. Ones that might eat you if you give them a chance.

"One Fun Trip To Waxahachie!"

Where!?

Yes, it is a little out of the way town a little south of us, but they have one of our favourite places to eat. Talkin' 'bout the Catfish Plantation where we have come here on Halloween for the last few years in hopes of creating traditions for Zach and Emmy that they will remember forever. Of course they get a little scared still, which kids need sometimes. Here are a few pics:


Tracy(thinking): "Wow, Jay is the best ventriloquist I've ever seen...the way he talks with his hand and I never see his lips move...I can't look away..."
Jay: "And so kids, that is why Mr. Handy says it is so important to stay in school..."
Tracy: "Yea!!! Bravo!!"


Zach: "Hey Dad, who's the scariest person in here?"
Me: "Well, in my opinion, it's the guy in the mirror behind you...or is that a statue? Either way he gives me the creeps!"
Zach: "I think he just needs to use the bathroom."


Emmy: "This witch is superscary Dad!! Why do you insist on making me stand next to it while you get the 'perfect picture'?"
Me: "Because I'm too scared to get next to it! See how useful you are?"
Emmy: "Yeah, I'M USEFUL...you are not!"
Me: "Hey now...watch it before I make you hug that thing."
Emmy: "I'll be good."


Me: "Okay Jack, smile like your life depends on it...and in many ways it does."
Jack: "What?"
Dylan: "Oh wow!! They have chicken strips on the kid's menu!"
Me: "Um, yeah, cuz no kid's menu ever has chicken strips ever."


Ooh, spooky...


So this is where Dracula is buried eh? It seems to me we've tried to kill him in the movies over and over and he keeps resurrecting himself. Maybe this...isn't...where he is actually buried.

Having our bonus party tomorrow!! Finally I can see what my hours of hard work are worth. Okay, hours of work. At least we get to get off the phone at 3:45. I went to one in April and it was pretty fun. But this time, I've been entered in a pie-eating contest. I only agreed to do this because I thought we could use our hands, but now that may not even be. I don't want to just use my face. I embarrass easily ya know. But this check should be about $800 give or take. And then Friday I'm leaving @ 3:30 to officially kick off Halloween weekend. I tell ya, I wish Halloween fell on a Friday every year. Some of my happiest memories were getting together with some friends and walking the neighborhood all by ourselves and doing what amounted to begging for candy. Now I'm a dad and I get to relive all of that with my kids. The first Halloween I can remember I was going to a daycare and they had this party (as all daycares do now I suppose) and my mom wanted me to wear a white sheet around me like a ghost and I didn't want to because I thought I would look like a girl in a dress. How I remember these things is beyond me. I was about 5 I think.

Zach turns three on Friday!! Will have pix from his party next week. We're going to the Parks Mall and having a carousel party! Perfect for kids of all ages...and me lol. Man, this kid cannot turn three fast enough. Terrible twos do not do him justice. What's funny is in the last couple of weeks he seems to have turned a corner and not been such a handful. He's been going to sleep better, sleeping all night better, and since we took him off pull-ups he has hardly had any accidents, even while sleeping at night.

Tonight we are carving our pumpkins! I wanted to do it sooner but the term "better late then never" has become our family motto. So much going on sometimes. But we're at a pretty good place in our lives right now. Emmy just keeps amazing all of us with how well she is doing in school and that she is enjoying going again. One thing ya gotta love about kids is their resiliency. If they only knew how many things could go on with their lives they might freak out ha ha. Fortunately she has parents who can keep her in line and at the same time teach her how to take care of her business.


Zach: "Hey Dad, my head is really stuck in this thing...I think I'm blacking out..."
Me: "I tell ya...part of me wants to go help you and the other part of me wants to get this picture."
Zach: "(sigh) Nevermind, I know which part is going to win there."
Me: "Obi-Wan has taught you well..."