Monday, July 31, 2006

No really... NEVER say NEVER

About 6 years ago, some couples at church were laughing at some joke that included the subject of a small, blue dog on tv named... well, "Blue". I was intrigued and asked about it. Well, they told me, "O when you have kids, you'll know and you'll be singing all the songs too." Absoultely not! Not me... no way! Well... six years and 2 kids later... I like Blue's Clues and find myself singing those silly songs.

I think that it's funny that Joel is getting into this. It's taken him a while, but now Joel is monologuing with the guy (Steve or Joe--and that's a soap opera for another day) and shouting out to him, "A clue! A Clue! RIGHT THERE!" Just like the little kid does on the tv. I found Joel today shouting out those things today (when there wasn't really a clue--but it looked like one) and Joel just kept shouting like, "HEY YOU DUMMY! IT'S RIGHT THERE!" I found myself laughing and just getting a kick out of it.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Now I would normally not be singing this to myself... nor would I be bragging about it, but I've had a wonderful birthday thanks to family and friends.

Last night, I went out with my parents, my brother, and Jeanise and the kids to Johnny Carinos. It was great! Ate until we were full and then went over to mom and dad's for cake and games. While the kids played with their toys in the floor, we played TURBO CRANIUM. Those of you who are Cranium fans... this was a nice upgrade to the game. More options of play and a little different rules. It was fun.

Today... our connections group surprised me with lunch at McDonalds. Remember as a kid always wanting to have your party at McD's? No? Well it was the thing to do where I was and I had my 5 years old party at McD's. It was a lot of fun. The kids played in the play area and the adults ate. Came home and relaxed... and then the family and Jeanise's parents went to Carrabbas. It was nice.

Now we're home and finally have the kids asleep. It was a wonderful day and I owe it all to my families! Thanks.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Getting there...

Got back Wednesday night from Tulsa. I went to the Oklahoma Coaches Clinic and went to the mandatory meetings as well as the occassional speaker. It was a nice trip but was glad to get home. It's kinda rough on a person when you're so used to being with your family and then leave them for 2 days. I also got to visit and stay the night with my friends Shane and Alice Coffman who now live up in Tulsa. Shane showed me his new congregation that he now works with as the Worship Minister. He's doing a really good job and he's doing something that he loves to do. Alice is has a job now too... but is looking for something a little more in her field (insurance).

Joel and Lindsay's cousin Trinity is here from NM. They just love playing together and it's funny to watch them play. Yesterday, Joel and Trinity were watering the garden for Grandpa Steve. I wouldn't be surprised if Joel becomes a gardner or a farmer. He loves to help is papa in the garden. And Trinity saw how exciting the water was and wanted to help too. It was really cute. If I can get a picture from Steve... I'll post it.

Well... today is trash day, so I'd better get going! I turn 34 on Sunday! I'm getting up there...

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Bring on the heat!

Well... we had 109 degree temps today. The back porch read 120 at 6:00 pm! Go figure... Have to mow my lawns in the early morning just to stay cool. I don't have a problem with that. The neighbors might, but they have to get to work, right? :-)

Well, I got to spend the day with both kids today and had a blast. Lindsay is on this wake up for an hour or so take an hour or 2 nap kick and it's kinda funny. Just when Jeanise and I were about to sit down for lunch, she woke up and stayed awake for about 3 hours before she got a bit cranky. She helped my sort a bit of laundry. She watched me shave. We played in the mirror for about 15 minutes and when I put her down in the floor of the bedroom, she crawled over to Joel's bat!


SHE'S GONNA BE A SOFTBALLER! Look at this grip and this stance! I didn't even teach it to her. SHE'S A NATURAL! I love it! (sorry mom...)

Have another early mowing morning tomorrow! Have to beat the heat!

Monday, July 17, 2006

Getting close to the end of a summer...

Well, we had a pretty good week last week. I'll try to be brief...

Last Monday and Tuesday I was fortunate to listen to a great coach at a basketball coaches clinic at OC. His name is Jerry Kraus and he is from Gonzaga Univ. He is a great teacher of the game and I really enjoyed listening to him.

Thursday night... I had my first girls BB parent meeting. I wasn't sure how many people would come out, since I only got in touch with about 5 people directly and had to leave messages on the other 20 or so girls' numbers. BUT! About 60 people showed! That was cool. About 17 girls and their parents came and we had a great meeting. I think that things are going to go well this year. I've got a great group of players and supportive parents.

Friday and Saturday we went up to Newton, KS and saw my grandma and other family members that I haven't seen in a while. It was a good trip and it was good for the kids to see grandma. It didn't take Joel long to warm up to Grandma and it was just awesome to see Joel exploring grandma's house... kinda' like every grandkid did when they would visit. It was neat.

Yesterday (Sunday) we just hung out at home or Steve and Lisa's because it was so hot! 100+! And that's the way it's going to be for the next 7+ days! AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to OKLAHOMA!

Have a great week!

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Here comes another one...

Ah the summer! This summer hasn't been one of your 'typical' Oklahoma summers as far as the weather goes... been rather mild... upper 80's to the upper 90's usually. But August is just right around the corner and that's when mother nature turns up her oven on us, but we'll see.

About 3 weeks ago I had a drive to complete a project. I was at my parents and went into my dad's office for something and on his wall is a really nice golf-ball display case of all the various courses that he's played at or been to. It is really nice and it holds quite a few golf balls... say around 70-80 or so. I have one too that I got for Xmas or a birthday a long while back ago and it's been full and has about 12 balls sitting on top of it. Needless to say, I needed a new one. Well, long story short (yea right... me and short stories) I decided to build myself one. I took wood shop in junior high and loved to build things... but today's educational system is really eliminating wood shop (sad). So using my 1980's knowledge and my keen sence of what I wanted it to look like, I drew out my plan of the case. I priced the wood that I wanted at Home Depot (have to support my stock) and purchased what I wanted for about $30... which is a lot cheaper than buying a case in a store. It took me about 4 days, but I did it! It holds 80 golf-balls... it's a cherry finish (I even did a finish on it) and put some green felt on the backing to make it look like it was done professionally. Anyway, here's the final product.




I'll cut this off for now... but will return with the 'one that got a way' tomorrow!

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

We're back...

Well... we made it back safely and are glad to be sleeping in our beds again. They like that familarity (sp?--too lazy to use the spell checker, forgive me) and that their things are close by. They both traveled very well. Joel went the whole 3 1/2 hours without a nap and Lindsay was talking to the tv for the first 45 minutes of the trip. It was funny. We went thru 1 thunderstorm on the way up... and then about 15 minutes later... all hail broke loose. YEP... HAIL! That was interesting. Little pea size hail raining down on the car. Strangely though... almost every motorist pulled over on the side of the road during the storm. I'm thinking, "I wanna get out of here! not just stay and get pelted!" Needless to say, the hail lasted about 5 minutes and we were clear. No damage to the Honda, though... that's good.

Well... it's about time to watch fireworks on TV.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Done it... and got the t-shirt

We arrived in Ft. Worth to visit several of Jeanise's relatives on Sunday after church. We've had a really good visit and it's always sad to leave and go back home. On the otherhand too... it's good to return to 'home.' Ya' know?

The trip has been a good one as far as the kids go. Joel has always been a really good traveller and Lindsay did real well on this trip. She slept, watched a couple of movies... but watched her big brother A LOT! It's so funny seeing how much she watches Joel. She just loves her brother! That's a good thing. Joel is really sweet to her too. How do you teach that? You may ask? Well... I DON'T KNOW! Guess when you show your kids love they'll return it in their lives. That's really neat.

Well... gotta run and visit. Catch you all when we arrive!