"Game On!"

Yes, spring time is here, and the sounds of summer are usually not far behind. Zach, after taking a year off from T-ball to play some soccer, has triumphantly returned back to the T to try his skills once again. From what I've seen so far, he hasn't missed a step. A few pix from Saturday's game:


Poetry in motion eh? Not to be biased or anything, but Zach really does have one of the best swings of any kid I've seen play.


He's still learning just what that glove is for. Catching the ball, I say. Weighing him down with no real purpose, he says ha ha.
After the game we loaded up the car and went to the YMCA to have Emmy's end of year soccer party! I say loaded up because we catered this thing proper! Hot dogs, nachos, fruit and vegetable trays, and Sam's cupcakes! of course everyone went swimming:


This one is kind of a neat one. It's almost as if Zach is being beamed back onto the Enterprise in mid jump! I love action shots that make people say "How'd he do that?"


Me: "Hey Emily, it looks like you have a giant beard of water!" Emily: "Well maybe that was my intention DAD!" Me: "Was it?" Emily: "No...just a coincidence..." Me: "Hey, we all wish we could have beards that full!"
And yes, Emily got a cool trophy:


As usual, Emmy's smiles are hit and miss. This one seems to fall in-between. At least she doesn't look annoyed lol.
After the party we went and drove around some of the neighborhoods that got damaged by some of the SIXTEEN tornadoes that managed to touch down between Texas and Oklahoma! Yeah, sixteen! Somehow our neighborhood managed to avoid them, but some of these houses weren't so lucky:




Something else, isn't it? Mother Nature is truly a large angry woman with too much free time.

Sunday morning we went to the Girl Scout office in Fort Worth to pick up Emily from her Diva camping trip! She got to go since she sold 1,000 boxes of cookies. Afterwards, we went to Rosa's for lunch. While we were there a certain little boy named Zachary wanted to play with his kid's meal toy...on the ground...instead of eating. So I asked him repeatedly to get off the floor and sit down, which he refused to do. So I took him to the bathroom and gave him a swat on his bottom. Well he cried, sure, but he was okay for the rest of the day. That night we sat on the couch together, man to little man, and I wanted to make sure he understood everything that went down. He looked down for the most part and nodded when I asked him if he understood. Why is it when we're kids we always think the parent enjoys spanking us...then when we are the ones doing it, it dawns on us that this isn't what it is at all. It's pretty agonizing knowing you were the reason they cried in their rooms for what seems like forever. I always make sure Zach and Emmy know that I love them and always think about them when they're not around. Time just zips by and kids never stay kids for long. Always getting older, bigger, more independent, until finally they're big people. So glad I live in the digital camera age where I can preserve these things and visit them anytime I want.

"We're Back!"

Yes, our wonderful anniversary trip to Shreveport has come to an end, but a day or so is usually all it takes to feel like you got away for a while. We actually won about $100.00 so it was a pretty good trip. I managed to take a few pix along the way:

We found this fried pie place on the way there, and man were they good. Can't you see how satisfied the large woman is?
When we got to DiamondJack's Hotel AND Casino, we checked in and they had this room service menu with all their prices:

$12 for an omelet!? What are they making it with, silver dollars!? Needless to say, we passed, and it's a good thing, because when we went to BoomTown later that night we got to play this giant slot machine and won...

Free buffet babee! If we had paid full price it would have been around $9.00. It wasn't bad, but not great, but for free it made it great. Jerramy sure took advantage of his:

Before you ask, yes, all of those plates were his. I wasn't much better, but at least I only used one plate at a time. Does that make me a hero? Well...
Before we went, though, we had to have an end of year party for Zach's soccer team! They managed to win a couple of games, and Zach really emerged as a serious soccer player. With the exception of one game where he kept trying to trip players by sliding into them on his knee, he showed an incredible amount of improvement. So, we went to the one place where a kid really CAN be a kid:

Chuck E Cheese! Didn't hear any complaints from any kids. Or adults. Or me! Good times...
Then Tuesday night Emily had her second cello recital! This one was in a junior high gymnasium so it was a lot bigger than the Little cafeteria she was in last time. As far as I can tell, she sounded really good. There were so many kids playing insturments it all sounded the same, but I know Emmy worked hard to learn the songs...

Here's a pretty good close-up...

...and here's a larger shot. I put this one on here cuz that girl on the right...you know, the one who seems to be smiling for a picture that someone else is taking? She was actually in tears for most of the concert, for reasons I can only assume were out of nervousness in front of a large crowd. I would have been okay if there was other kids my own age but man, if it was only me...yeah, I'd be a wreck too. I'm sure I did things like this as a kid, but search me for any pictures or video of it. Not anyone's fault I guess, but it would be kind of cool if I could re-live some of those things sometime. I really hope Heaven has some kind of time travel function built into its' mainframe.

"Easter Time...is Here..."

Yes, the time of year when we dye eggs, hide eggs, and consume enough candy to kill three elephants has arrived once again. Zach was so excited he decided to jump off the couch with his Paper Jamz:



And he wants to run for president...hmm...more on that later...

Since we got off early Friday, I went to the YMCA where they were having an underwater egg hunt! Isn't that creative? You had to find 2,500 eggs in order to win a small bag of goodies. I think it was worth it. I didn't get there in time to see Zach but Emmy sure worked hard:


I love this shot. It's like she's caught in a whirlpool. It's hard taking a picture of something when it's underwater for a minute and above water for 5 seconds ha ha.

Sunday morning the kids woke up to find someone had hid lots of eggs around the house as well as a gift basket on the couch!:


The Muppet movie! We went and saw it this summer and we all agreed it was really good. Now we can watch it anytime we want. Plus, I hooked up our new TV to the surround speakers so now we can watch shows and movies proper. That and play Donkey Kong Country Returns. That game is maddeningly addictive but frustrating also. It's the game to hate to love to play. Zach and Emmy also got these bobbleheads that you could draw on and put stickers on and they seemed to like those

Then we went to the church service and man it was a packed house. You'd think Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez were singing a duet there or something. The choir did sing their usual rendition of "Roll That Stone Away" which, if you've never heard it, it may be on Youtube somewhere. Very chilling song but also a very moving one.

After that we went to Cari's parent's house for brunch and of course, the Easter Egg hunt! Between all 3 families there were probbaly 150 eggs out there and you can bet all of them were found:


Zach: "Ooh, look what I found!!"
Dylan: "What are those, jellybeans?"
Zach: "Nope...bath soaps that look identical to jelly beans!"
Dylan: "Hmm...probably best you don't eat them then."


Emily: "My basket broke! Can we go out and buy another one?"
Me: "Mmm...not sure if anyone is selling them this time of year."
Emily: "Really? No stores anywhere? On Easter? You sure you're not saying that cuz you don't want to go anywhere?"
Me: "Um...nope...not for that particular reason!"

Then of course came the silly string:


At least I HOPE that was silly string. If it was super glue would we really know the difference?


John: "Oh man, this may as well be water and vinegar cuz I just got douch`ed!"
Me: "Um, sure, whatever you say...that IS silly string, right?"
John: "What's silly string?"
Me: "Eewwww..."


And of course, what Easter would be complete without a nice family shot! Cari posted this on her Facebook wall and got like 30 "likes"! We even all match. Was completely unplanned.

Honestly I do not remember what I did for Easter when I was a kid. I saw a home movie where we were at Grandma's house and my sister was surprised I didn't remember going there every year. Usually I remember things like that. Very strange. All I really want is for Zach and Emmy to remember as many fun times as possible and carry that into their adulthood when it finally arrives. And man is it coming up. Even though it's years away, time has a way of just showing up and saying "Deal With Me."

"Disney On Ice!"

Yes, the event we had planned since last October has finally come around! Keri scored the suite at the AAC to see various Disney characters skate around. Man, I never felt more manly in my whole life watching that. But first, Emmy had a soccer game!:


Me: "Hey Emily, how are you making that ball float?"
Emmy: "Levitation dad! You should try it sometime!"
Me: "Um...isn't that impossible?"
Emmy: "Oh yeah, it sure is! I'd better stop! I'm breaking the law!"
Me: "What law is that?"
Emmy: "The law of gravity! HA HA HA!"
Me: "Good golly...that joke is older than I am!"


What's funny about this picture is that everyone in it posed for me!

Then Sunday, Zach Emmy and me made the drive out to Dallas and met Mom, Dad, Katherine and Caroline and saw the show! Cari had to coach a soccer game and couldn't make it. Well, instead of seeing some of the more many Disney characters like Lightning McQueen or Buzz Lightyear, we got to see...

"The Princess And The Frog"


Two people dressed up as frogs? Now that's entertainment.

"Cinderella"


Giant mice helping a chambermaid get hooked up? Now that's entertainment.

"Tangled"


This shot I like. The ice picked up the surroundling light really well.


Zach looks a little too happy wearing that crown. I must have a talk with him about this.

Afterwards we had a great meal at Spaghetti Warehouse! Keri spilled her wine and we spent the rest of the time joking about how the table was all wet and sticky even though it had been cleaned up. Ahh, us Overalls love to tease until somebody cries.

On the way home I finally found some bluebonnets and had a camera! I made Zach and Emmy get out and sit amongst the flowers so I could get some cool pictures.:


This one might be my favourite. Sure the kids got bug bites and chiggers, but hey...good picture.


I thought this was a cool picture. Zach might just be a chip off ye olde block and enjoy taking pictures of everything that inspires him.

The night before we had bought something at Best Buy but it fizzled for some reason. So when we got back into town we met Cari @ Best Buy and got a new one. A new what?


A new TV babee! We are now part of the majority that can watch HDTV so now the scores on televised sports don't disappear into the corner of our old TV. Of course, now we have an entertainment center in our living room. I'll try to get that into the garage at some point. Dad said if I give him the money for the wood he'd build me a tower for the stereo and cable box and VCR. 24" wide by 72" tall with a cherry finish? Score!

Was a really nice weekend. We're trying to plan a 'suprise party' for Grandma for her birthday. Number 84! Goodness. Time just rolls along and ages us. Nothing we can do about it. Accept it I guess. Maybe I don't want to.