"How Patriotic!"

Yes, it is that time of year when Emmy and her 4th grade pals sing about the good ol' US of A!! There were slow jams...fast jams...and a slide show! A few pix:


Emily: "Oh GAW how long is this song anyways?"
Girl on right: "Oh hush! There's only 75 more verses to sing!"
Emily: "How many were there to begin with?"
Girl on right: "76!"


Hey, how many people can have silly expressions at the same time? The answer...seven, apparently.

Young Zachary got a new bed!!


Aww...he's all tuckered out...from what? Going to pre-k I guess...?


Just kidding! Have you ever seen a more adorable young man? Besides moi of course...

Emmy has been selling Girl Scout cookies like some kind of...tornado! She's almost at 700! Her goal is 1,000. Of course, 1,200 would get her two paid weeks at Girl Scout camp. Plus, she can get a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge too. Lots of fun things. She is a natural salesman I must say. She doesn't even have to try and the cookies sell themselves. I wonder how much credit she should get ha ha.

Cousin Tony helped me move our new bed this morning! Well, not new, but new to us. Mom gave us her king size bed since she doesn't need two. It was our Christmas present! And there is nothing more that we need! Ours makes so much noise that it's almost impossible for one of us to get up and not wake the other. We should have just returned the box spring when we heard its loud screech when we bought it, but being the consummate procrastinators, we didn't. Ah well. Makes this one seem that much nicer by comparison.

We now have Netflix for our Wii! Any movie (almost) at any time! Pretty sweet.

"Our Camera...Is..."

...lost! We believe it fell out of my pocket at Pancho's Mexican Buffet. When I went ack up there to see if anyone had found it of course everyone claimed ignorance. Fortunately I had gotten all the pictures off of it except for some really great ones I took of Zach at the park while Emmy and Cari were selling Girl Scout cookies. I guess I will take him back up there and try to recreate them as best I can. Something tells me he won't mind one bit going back there lol.

Good thing Emmy got a camera for Christmas!! She said we could borrow it until we get one. Isn't she nice? Her grandparents took them on a trip to San Antonio a couple of weeks ago and she took some great pix! Here are a few:


A loose cannon on a bolted-down cannon ha ha.


This one is pretty cool in that it gets the state flag just right against the capital building.


Koi! Lots of koi!

Cari and I went and saw Black Swan last Sunday. Here is a trailer!:



Darn creepy. What people will do to achieve their goals...is it worth it? My goal has always been to live comfortably and not stress over anything. Took till I was 33 but I managed to swing it for now. Of course, things change, sometimes overnight, and we're expected to keep up or get buried. I guess that's one good thing about having God in your corner. He tends to keep you focused on what's really important and not get caught up in earthly matters that have to impact on our ultimate goal: Heaven. I'd like to think I'm on the right path. Then I think maybe I'm not so much. Hopefully if not I'll see a sign somewhere.

"Six Years? Already?"

Well, not for another 5 days, but who's counting, right? Besides me I mean.

In a way this little site of mine has become a sort of time machine into the past. Life just rushes past us so fast but never seeming that fast and maybe I'm not willing to let the great things that happen get lost in a sea of fuzzy memories. So I kept a detailed log of things we did and experiences we shared. Here are a few:

Would a good father dress his daughter like this? (April 2nd 2005)


The answer is a resounding "Heck no!!" If you ever wondered what a 3-year old girl would wear if she was given the freedom to pick out her own clothes, here it is! From the turquoise hat to the purple striped pants to the red shirt, Emily has given us a glimpse into the future of what she'll want to wear in public.

Emmy and I still laugh about this one.

"Gone Baptizin' " May 12 2006


I think I first mentioned baptizing these kids like 3 months ago? Finally we got it done on April 30 which also happens to be my grandma's birthday. She turned...78 I think? Yeah, that's it. Isn't that terrible?


Afterwards we all went to this place called Birra Poretti's which has a super breakfast buffet complete with eggs benedict, fruit, waffles, and even pizza...yes, pizza. Unfortunately, I couldn't eat any of it due to a wicked stomach virus that had me literally walking on air so as not to upset the tum-tum. Felt great the next day! Cari promised me she would take me there again one of these days though.


So nice to be able to have a boy to keep our wonderful name going. To be the MAN...a good role for me. Plus, I had my own reasons for wanting a boy. Teach him some sensitivity, to express his feelings, to cry when he wants to or needs to...and to always take care of his family, should he have one someday.

"They Say It's Your Birthday!..." Oct 27 2006


Detroit is down 3-1 in the World Series. Can they win it? Probably not. No one on that team other then Pudge Rodriguez has much postseason experience. But hey, they gave it a shot right? I remember the Simpsons episode where Mr. Burns brought in major leaguers to win his softball game vs. Shelbyville, one of them being Darryl Strawberry. Later, Homer complains that Darryl is "bigger then me, faster then me, and already has more friends around the plant then I do." to which Bart says "You're the one who told me I could do anything if I just put my mind to it!" to which Homer replies "No matter how good you are at something, there's always about a million people better than you." Bart then says "Gotcha, can't win, don't try". That's not a good thing to teach your kids...if it was then nothing would have been accomplished.


This was always one of my favourite Simpsons episodes. Had it taped for years. At various points in my life I did stop trying. Didn't really know what I was supposed to be doing, ya know? I know other people feel the same way sometimes. I never had a strong desire to be rich or anything, but just to live comfortably. Who know where I'd be right now if Cari hadn't come along. I always tell her she saved me. She says, "I know..." and laughs. As long as she knows.

"Labour Day 2008!" Sept 2 2008


Zach: "This can's been empty for about an hour. I'd sure love another one. But, what are ya gonna do?"


OH MY GOSH this kid takes some cute pictures. Ever since I came across Snarkyville I have really enjoyed putting funny captions to pictures. Zach makes it easy.

I'd love to keep going, but I've really got to go to the bathroom. Kids are in San Antonio with Cari's parents this weekend! Working out this morning then cleaning up the house while Cari is at my grandma's 83rd birthday party / tea party THEN tonight we're going to Winstar Casino!! My first time going here. Wish me luck!

"Brrrrrrr!!!!!"

And by that, I mean on January 1st of 2011 Emmy went down to the YMCA outdoor pool to do the annual "Polar Bear Plunge". Channel 5 was even there reporting it! We never saw ourselves on TV but we were on their website. A few pix:


Oh man it was like 30 degrees that morning! She sure doesn't look like she's having a good time...but she probably did.


Here she is getting out FAST. So fast that she was the first one out but the last one in ha ha.


Me: "So Emmy, what was it like to jump in freezing water like that?"
Emmy: "Well, if I were a guy I probably would be sterile!"
Me: "Um...well, let's just be glad it was you and not me!"

Moivng on...

Zach got a bathtub shaving set for Christmas! Here he is testing it out:





He hurt his eye on Christmas Eve bumping into Emmy while he was playing with something and she was playing Boppit Bounce! So despite what you heard, he was not in a boxing match.

Going to the zoo this weekend to get Emmy's Girl Scout cookies! Yes, it is that time of year where our free time is spent selling cookies to anyone and everyone. Hopefully we won't have any incidents like we had a couple of years ago. Zach, Emmy and I were walking around the neighborhood and we came to this older man's house. Well, Zach proceeds to take every box out of our wagon and put it on his porch. Then he asked the question he always asks after he eats a Thin Mint:

"You wanna smell my breath?"

Well, it didn't help that Emmy is cracking up laughing while I'm trying to get Zach to stop taking cookies out of the wagon. Meanwhile, the man is dumbfounded at what he happened to open his door to. Ahhh, good times...

So school started Monday, but not for Zach! I forgot to check his schedule and make plans for him, but eventually Cari came home and worked from home. Zach asked, "I wish I could come to work with you Daddy" and it about melted my heart. I told him, "Well, there wouldn't be any place for you to sit" and he says, "Well, i could just sit on your lap!" Gaw I love him so much.

Zach read his first book last night! It was a "Winnie The Pooh" and Friends ABCs. Of course, each word was accompanied by its own picture so it wasn't that tough, but I sure am proud of him for getting as far as he did at age five. So glad he gets his advanced reading from his big sister. We even recorded it on his Winnie The Pooh and Friends tape recorder he got for his birthday! Apparently we're forcing Winnie on him lately ha ha. He never fails to amaze me with what he says and does. I try to enjoy and remember these days as they appear to be fleeting as he grows up. One time Emmy and I were at Gameworks. She was about 6 and kept asking me to take her to game after game and just looked at me like I hung the moon. Can't believe she's going to be 10 next year, She still wants me to do fun things with her but she has so many more interests now and there's never enough time. Ever. Whenever you hear someone say that don't think they're exaggerating.