"School...Has...Begun!!"

I know it's like the worst day ever for kids, but for parents, it's time to rejoice! Emmy has begun 5th grade and Zach is now officially a kindergartener! He actually had a good week. No issues worth noting. None at all actually. Very proud of him. Emmy had a good week too. Glad to see all of the anxiety she had thinking this was going to be like last year went away. 4th grade was a lot like 1st grade for her. Not much fun and a teacher that didn't have much patience is not a good combination for her.

So how do we begin the first week of school? By a Chick Fil A breakfast of course!:




I think Zach likes his chicken minis!!


Me: "What's wrong Emmy? Don't you like your chicken minis?"
Emmy: "It's not chicken! It's goat!"
Me: "Goat!? I didn't even know that was an option!"
Emmy: "Bad option DAD!!"

After breakfast, we headed up to the school:


Hey, pretty good shot!


Zach found his seat and immediately noticed a table full of cool toys. Just like his dad ha ha.

Emmy didn't want us following her to her classroom and "embarassing" her...but we did it anyway:


Doesn't she look surprised!! I'm pretty sure she appreciated us checking on her.

The day before we went to Hawaiian Falls with her Girl Scout troop:



Awww...no, Zach didn't lose his bottom teeth...just biting on a grape. One of the disadvantages of the iPhone 3GS is no flash on the camera. Ah well.

Starting next week I'm amping up my workouts since I have some free time in the morning! Tuesdays and Thursdays the kids are having breakfast at school and I'm heading to the Y from 7:45 to 8:45. If I can keep this up along with my Saturday workouts then I may be able to do some positive things. Saturdays are about to be tricky with both kids starting baseball. Yeah, Emmy wants to play baseball! Awesome! Zach has one more season of t-ball to go then he'll be ready for the live pitching league. I knew making them watch all those Ranger games would pay off in the long run.

Zach has this funny song that he sang to me a while back, but now that it annoys him I thought I'd mention it. His friend Nicholas (whose parents have been great in inviting Zach over to play for like the whole Saturday) was cleaning up some toys in their pre-k class. Well, he found this doll, and before he put it up he held it like a baby and sang this song:

Night night baby, night night baby, night night baby...to you...
Night night baby, night night baby, night night baby...to you...

It's actually a very sweet song, but only one time has Zach been okay with me singing it to him before bed. Now he thinks he's being babied whenever I sing it and gets all bent out of shape, so I don't do it anymore. The truth is, part of me wants to baby him just a little bit longer before he becomes an actual boy and doesn't seem as sweet anymore. I was so determined to raise Emmy as a self-reliant person that I never really babied her much. Now I wish I had. It's a hard feeling knowing that part of your kids' lives are done with and now we must move on to more important things. When the day comes that I have grandkids, you better believe they'll get the royal deluxe treatment from me. I still read to Zach though, and Emmy will help out sometimes. She's such a great kid to have around. She may not always hang her towel up, or put her dirty clothes in her hamper, but she gets ready really great in the morning, and gets breakfast for herself and Zach whenever I'm running a little behind. She even went behind Zach to make sure he found his classroom okay! What a daughter. Makes me feel a little good to know that maybe I had something to do with it. Hopefully Zach will follow in the same path and stop screaming and crying and fighting every time he doesn't get his way or doesn't want to do something that's asked of him. But that's 5-year olds. I know now why parents buy something for their kid just to shut them up. They know it's wrong, but we do it anyway.

"One Great Movie!"

Yes, after months of speculation and wonder, I got to see Captain America with Jerramy last Friday night!! I've been waiting for this one ever since the comercials started, but didn't think I would be able to catch it in the theater...you know, the way God intended? Here's a YouTube clip if you're wondering what it's all about:


This doesn't do it justice! What I really enjoyed about this movie was that it doesn't matter what size you are or where you come from. If the drive and determination are strong enough, anything is possible. That is what I took away from it. Maybe I'll put it into use one of these days...

Really enjoying this iPhone! I don't think there's anything it can't do...except play Flash-enabled content...but I'll live if that never happens. Here are some pics I have taken recently with it:


Lake Arlington, once full to the brim of water and boaters, is now an empty shell of its' former self. Just shows what a four month rainless drought will do to a natural body of water. We did get a rainy day a couple of weeks ago...shocking!!


Hey, it's Zach as Captain America! What a timely picture. I hope he picks this one for Halloween.


This one was just taken last night. We got to meet Emily and Zach's teachers! Emily has Mrs. Fike, who seems like the nicest person. Funny how the nice ones usually end up being dragons in the classroom. Hopefully Emmy will have a great year. Zach's teacher's name is Mrs. Baty. No, not related to Ned Beatty (I checked). I didn't get to talk to her a whole lot, but Cari asked some questions I'm sure. God Bless the teacher who has to have Zach in her class. He's a good kid, but he's very...high-spirited. I wonder if he'll conform to the norm and get along with the other kids.

And finally...


No, Emmy does not fit in these carts anymore. Yes, she defied all laws of physics and got in there anyway.

125 days until my Christmas vacation!!! And man, it cannot go by fast enough. Eleven days in a row to take me into 2012. I forget about it from time to time and then when I remember I get a giddy surge of adrenaline. Good times.

Cari's birthday is coming up! The big 3-5! I should plan something really cool for her...but what?

"They're Back!!"

Yes, Zach and Emmy have returned from their little trips last week! As much as we love them, sometimes a little break can be a good thing. Emmy went to New York but Zach got to go to his cousin Canyon's house for a couple of days! At first he didn't want to go, but once he got there he had a blast:





He even caught a fish!! Hopefully it was catch and release. Knowing Becky, I bet it was. Cool car! It's just a little nicer than my Sentra...(sigh).

Emmy had a great time in New York. How is it my kids travel more than I do? That'll change one of these days. But for now...:


I thought for sure Emmy would try to pose just like the Statue Of Liberty in at least one picture. Ah well.


There's a better shot of Lady Liberty!! Simply awe-inspring.


Great aerial shot! I wonderwhat that big orange building is...Chrysler? Maybe...my geography sucks.

Both of them are finishing their week at Camp Thurman today! Man, for $250 a kid you'd think they could air condition that place. But no, it's all outdoors. But they get to swim twice a day, so...wish I could do that.

School begins in TEN DAYS!! I know the kids aren't looking forward to it, but Cari and I sure am. No more daycare for Zach which means $400 a month comes back to us. I hope it doesn't just dissipate in a sea of bills. Hopefully we will see that start to add up at some point, pay everything off, and start looking for a new house!

Here's some YouTube clips I found recently:


Another Dr Smoov masterpiece! The way Wheeljack tells the Dinobots "Shut up! Shut up!" literally had me on the floor laughing.


Now I don't really care for the song...biggest piece of s^%$ that stations play, in my opinion...but when the Transformers are jiving along to it, it takes on a whole new meaning.


Man this was the crown jewel of the 2011 Mavericks championship run. 20 3-pointers!! 20!! You don't see shooting like that anywhere, ever! What a great time for the city of Dallas.

"I'll be There For You..."

...cuz you're there for me tooo....

If you've never seen any episodes of Friends, and I really can't imagine anyone falling into this category, then you have truly deprived yourself of some of the funniest material to ever hit NBC's airwaves. I have seen every episode numerous times, and yet I alwayskeep them recorded on my DVR at home. I'm even working on downloading all ten seasons so I can watch them on my new iPhone! Yes, I have joined the ranks of millions of others and now have the 3G iPhone. The speed isn't great, but it certainly comes in handy when there's no WiFi. Now I will use my iPod strictly for movies and keep everything else on the phone. Good times.




OMG, the bloopers are just as funny as the show itself. Now I can while away the hours at work thanks to YouTube!

Last Saturday we got to go to the circus!! Keri got some awesome suite tickets so we got to enjoy it in style. No riff raff sitting next to us screaming and getting drunk. I hadn't been in like 15 or 20 years so it was pretty cool. Zoomed in as best I could with Emmy's camera:


Okay, this guy is just crazy...if only the tigers grasped the concept that outnumbering a human means your freedom...


"The Mighty Meetal"...? That's the best name he could come up with? I think he lifted like 800 lbs there...maybe 400...


Seven motorcycles in a cage...yeah, that's how I wanna spend my afternoon...hoping I don't die.


Elephant #1: "Why are we balancing on these things anyway? What are they paying us to do this anyways?"
Elephant #2: "Um...in peanuts...we get paid in peanuts...get it?"
Elephant #3: "Oh that's such an old joke!"
Elephant #4: "No, I think he's serious...there's like a ton of peanuts in our dressing room."
Elephant #1: "Screw this, there's a Spaghetti Warehouse down the street."


These guys were just plain nuts. Talented...but nuts.

Afterwards we took the elephant's advice and headed to Spaghetti Warehouse to finish the last leg of Emmy's birthday! Cari and I shared this "Italian Feast for Two". Well, they brought it out, and it could have fed four people easily. needless to say, we brought a decent meal home. meanwhile, Emmy got some cool presents:


Cash! She got like $65! Who knows what it'll be spent on. She wants a laptop and her own iPhone. Does she need them? Of course not. She must be the only girl who wants something she doesn't truly need, ya know?

Emmy has been in New York since Wednesday! Her and Ethan got to go since they passed their TAKS test. Hopefully she's taking pictures like crazy. Zach got to spend a couple of days with his cousin Canyon so Cari and I had some time to ourselves. Always welcome it seems. Zach came back yesterday and of course, laid in our bed for a while. He just leaps right up there like it's his. It's okay though. I rarely let Emmy lay in there for fear she wouldn't want to sleep anywhere else. Now I wish I had. But it doesn't look like she's bothered a whole lot by it. And a kid who keeps their cool is a blessing.