Eat Halloween Candy - Get Fat - Go on Biggest Loser

You know how you usually walk away from watching a tv show thinking that was good I'm glad I wasted an hour or two of my precious life watching that! Well, Rach and I experienced such thoughts last night after watching the Biggest Loser. What a time suck! You'd think we'd totally be into it now that it's almost the end of the season... Instead we are less into it and are thinking about stopping. I guess it could be on account that it's the same 'ol stuff that we've seen with past seasons - fat people get skinny, but most likely it's due to pointless anticipation buildup the show puts on waiting for someones wait to post on the board! And somehow through the seasons the contestants feel they have the right to give a speech. What's that about?! I don't care if you are proud or not...

We watched House too. Unlike previous episodes where predictability is inevitable, it brought a new interesting element that made it interesting again. So I could walk away from last nights tv experience a little bit more like I didn't waste my time. We are trying to keep up with the latest season of House by recording it on our DVR, but somehow we missed a week because our cable box has been acting stupid. Waiting for the DVD's will always be my preferred method of watching the dramas.

The kids are getting more and more independent. Always asking to do things themselves. I do it, I do it - all day long! Oz is getting really consistent now about letting us know when he needs to use the potty. We just bought a seat for Lacie so the toilet has a more enjoyable, retro fit inspiration. She's still trying to get used to it. Sean is still playing with his B-day toys. We bought him a toy train track. He's been wanting me to help him build a new track everyday it seems. He also loves his dart gun which is really hard to not get him to shoot people. Reminds me of me at that age. Sean came back from school one day with a craft and at the bottom it said, "Sean is scared of ET". We are guessing they asked him what he was scared of. I guess maybe it was a bad call on my part to show him that movie so early. Oh well. Hopefully it'll make him stronger. Lacie has learned for the past month now how to use the pedals on the trike which is too cute now to see her riding around everywhere.

Rach left for women's retreat last weekend and left me with the kids for 64 hours, 35minutes, and 16 seconds. Sounds like she had a lot of fun with all the awesome activities she planned for it such as: funny faces, ugly dress competition, and other stuff I can't remember. The kids lived off of Mac&Cheese, sandwiches, hotdogs/pizza, and cereal. I really think they were in heaven about that :-) Our Bible study group just started reading Love & Logic so we don't screw up our babies lives like our parents screwed us up... Anyway, reading the first chapter and putting it into practice really helped me with the kids all weekend. I felt more in control and the kids seemed happier. I can't wait to see what the rest of the book has in store for us.

Braceface Update :-{#}
Rach is off getting her braces tightened right now. Enjoying the pain that comes with beauty. I gather she's used to it though, being a girl and all who wears crappy shoes through the mall in the name of style.

Going back almost two weeks, Halloween was fun! Besides the fact that I lost our garage door opener while trick-or-treating, it was still fun. On Friday we had a costume competition at work where I got to see some really crazy costumes. Then Saturday night we went to a Halloween carnival/B-day party at Freestone. Finally, Sunday evening we watched the kids go door-to-door getting their candy that they inevitably would never get their hands on again. So I dressed up in my costume 3 times. That's record! Rach and the kids obviously did a Doctor Seuss theme while I was Wolverine.

Going door to door

Stuffing faces once we got home





Jan Brewer Supports the Term "Braceface"

What the!? This is wild! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkKWApOAG2g&feature=related
Think of all the benefits of getting things done twice as fast. I don't think I'd give them a license though. That's just two dangerous... or too dangerous, and they'd need two airbags. So many questions and things unanswered with something so rare! Like, I wonder what would happen if one had something happen to her head and died? Would half the body just go limp? If the stomach throws up, who gets to enjoy that? Who wipes? If I were a reporter these are the questions I'd be asking...

What is this about other foreign countries getting in on what laws are passed around here?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43199.html
I think they need to mind their own business! Why does Obama want to make U.S. law subordinate to international law? Seems ridiculous to me.

We watched the storm hit us pretty hard yesterday. I was listening to the news and they said power lines went down and there were a lot of broken windows everywhere. Today the storm is slamming the northern part of the state and there's even a tornado warning. Pshhhh tornado... in AZ? Crazy? Must be global warming! I asked my co-worker yesterday why he drove his bike to work because he's going to get all wet on his way home. He laughed at me and and wanted to bet me that by the time he left for work the rain would be done. :-) Let's just say I would've won that bet. He had to call a friend to pick him up haha. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/weather/2010/10/06/sot.az.hail.reporter.cnn?hpt=C2

I totally forgot to include in my previous posts that Rach is getting braces! She has the spacers in right now making way for the metal that'll be invading her mouth soon. After having the spacers for a week and half she is still having trouble eating everything. Braceface for at least two years! Crazy to picture! I better get my kisses in now before she doesn't want anything to do with that because of the pain.

:-{#}

Park Fun

We had a huge mega storm today at work it was crazy! The power was flickering in and out and I thought I was going to get to go home early... Oh well, maybe next time!

Some pictures that Rach sent me today from when they went to the park...

Mommy pushes me because I love to swing!



Yummy lunch! Everybody loves mom's pasta salad!



Another picture mom?



Rach and I are going to go play some racquetball today when I get home from work. I'm going to make her a pro for sure! Racquetball is always fun no matter who you play with. The kids have been very good lately being dropped off to play in the gym's play area. We are very happy about this! We often wonder what would happen if we dropped them off at the gym and went to see a movie. We would never, it's tempting though because it's free babysitting.

Julie should be moving into her new house soon. I forgot which Sat. exactly so she better call me so I don't make other plans...

I think I'll stop here because my IE is bugging the crap out of me! I can't concentrate the way it's treating me today. 

Ouch! He stung me!

Hopefully we get some good storms here in sunny AZ! I thought the storms Sat evening was going to bring some cooler air in, but I guess not! It's been way too hot here for way too long!

Billy and Teanne had their son, Jaren Andrew Fenter last Thursday. Rach and I brought some dinner for them and visited. He reminded me of Austin when he was a new born with so much black hair. He was 6.5lbs and 21" long. Healthy baby. They have their hands full now with 4 kids!

One night I finished putting the kids down for bed by myself because Rach was out and Lacie kept yelling something over and over. I couldn't make out what it was. Lacie did it again the next night. I told Rach that she's been doing that now and not to worry, she'll stop. Rach listened, and laughed. She told me it was her singing the latest song she learned, "I'm squishing up my baby bumblebee...". The last part of the song is, "Ouch! He stung me!" So she was yelling out really loud, "Ouch! He stung me!" over and over and over... It really is pretty comical to listen to.



That's a lot of babies!



Rachael and I found 5 scorpions around our house last night! They are surrounding us! She spotted one in our garage after getting out of the van. I don't know how she spotted it because it blended in so well. I kept losing it standing 4 ft from it. It was a baby, so I'm glad we killed it. We found 3 more in their favorite corner. Their nest! I knew I wouldn't be able to kill more than one before the others got away so Rach and decided to spray them with Raid. They scurried off into their nest before I could see if they died or not. Maybe the others will get infected too. Maybe it'll be like bringing back a nasty plague killing off the entire deal! We found the last one under our citrus tree outside Oz's window. It was an adult for sure! Very big! Unfortunately, I missed it with my knife and it ran away! I'm beating myself up over that one because it's those big ones that make the babies.

So to continue about the disgusting story that I left so cleverly hanging from my previous post...

I have what you might call a bit of a toe picking problem. I sit watching tv as I pick at my toe nails. I never think ahead as I do this otherwise I'd put the trash by me, so I end up mostly making little piles of them on the floor or coffee table. Sometimes I get in a jam with mostly my second toe nail from the littlest and it starts going into the quick, or it's too deep into the cuticles that my fingers can't grip it anymore. I'm too lazy to get clippers (obviously! Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten into the predicament in the first place) so I go in after it with my teeth. I know, I know! You're thinking how gross! It doesn't happen often, geesh! This however is not the grossest part. One sunny afternoon in AZ (I'm guessing it was sunny because it's always freakin' hot and sunny here) I had picked and picked and accumulated a nice pile on our side table. I forgot all about it and had my back turned from it while I was talking to Rach. I can't remember the conversation, but I'm sure it was a good one to distract me from my nail stash. Anyway, we heard this choking and gaging behind me! I turned around to see Sean trying to eat my toe nails!!! LOL! I couldn't believe it! The poor kid. I think it was a good lesson. I haven't seen him eating any toe nails since...

My buddy at work just got finished telling me about his experience playing some co-ed kickball. It sounds like so much fun! I totally want to do that! I'd kick the rubber right off that ball! Wait...

Yummy in my Tummy!

McDonald's anyone??? The kids had fun this morning enjoying some pancakes with mommy.

So we had some friends over for dinner last night and we were telling some stories about how disgusting we can be. A story happened to pop up in Rach's head about me and my toe nails...
Unfortunately, I'm out of time so I'll continue this tomorrow.

Hope everyone has enjoyed this beautiful day God gave us!

Rock Climbing Kids Eat Hot Wings Despite Anal Leakage

For all of you who read my blog, I apologize for disappointing you with my lack of posts for the past two months. I've either been too busy, lazy, or too malnourished to move my fingers - which usually isn't the case. A lot has happened these past two months that need addressing. But first I'd like to record some things that the kids have been saying/doing so I don't forget.

Go to your room! - Mom & Dad
No! I'm sad. - Lacie and Oz
No! I'm frustrated - Sean

Putting them in their car seat and they are telling us they want to buckle their seat belt themselves.
My seat, my seat - Lacie
I uckle up, I uckle up - Oz

I was playing my guitar belting out my vocals and I look over at Sean in the bath with a big smile on. I stop playing and he says...
That's really nice Dad - Sean
You really like my music? - Dad
Yeah, it's nice - Sean

Can you ask nicely please? - Dad & Mom
drink peesh - Lacie
may have drink please - Oz

Whenever I do something fun with one, the others comes running saying, "my turn, my turn, my turn" A couple nights ago Greg showed me a fun move that he does with Lauren called, body slam! I've only done it with Sean. I don't think Oz and Lace would like it very much right now. Anyway, for a body slam, you hold the child above your head over a couch, yell real loud, BODY SLAM, and letting them go for a nice little free fall.

We've been going through the books of the Bible with Sean and he's up to Ezra/Nehemiah. After 1st and 2nd Corinthians I have to prompt him for Ezra by saying, "And don't forget...", then he says Johnathan instead of Nehemiah. :-) Pretty funny. Oh and he doesn't say, "1st" for all the 1st and 2nd books like Samuel, Kings, and Corinthians. Trying to work on that.

We've been potty training Oz for the past few weeks and have had some recent successes with going number 2 in the potty. Yay! I can't wait to stop wiping butt! We are waiting a couple more months to start with Lacie. She doesn't go in the potty at all right now.

 

I can't think of anymore kids stuff right now. I'll try and remember for later posts.

We watched The Burbs with Eric and Katie from across the street. I started to fall asleep about half way through. It wasn't as funny as I had remembered, but Rach liked it. Katie fell asleep and I think Eric was distracted with his studying for his tests he's been doing. It was still fun watching a movie about neighbors with your neighbors.





This is why I'm glad I go climbing on fake rocks. 



I went rock climbing with Chris (co-worker) this past weekend. It was a lot of fun going with someone as competitive and strong. We found a wall that we could free climb and was so challenging that neither of us were having any luck. Well, I was determined and went for a rock with my foot that was at waist level and ended up ripping my shorts right at the crotch! It's okay though, I made it to the top and I've had the shorts for over 5 years. So I'm okay with it. There was one wall where it had an overhang and pretty much made our legs useless forcing us to hang from one rock to the next. We felt like real rock climbers in that moment... and that's all that matters!

Following the climbing Chris took me to a local place where I ate the hottest wings of my entire life. I think they were as hot or hotter than Native New Yorker's suicide wings. I felt like I was hyperventilating after 3! It didn't matter! With my awesome mental skillz I pushed through the pain like every person learning to ride a unicycle and ate the rest of them as quickly as I possibly could. The pain eventually subsided, at least for a few hours. Then my intestines hated me for the next 18 hours. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lhf9U5Wf3Q Needless to say, I'll never be doing that again.

Rachael's involved with another friends business in that she's doing a giveaway for her cookies. Rach said she loves doing giveaways. I'm really glad she's found something she loves to do.

http://eventfulcookiesaz.blogspot.com/

"We love him because he first loved us." - 1John 4:9-10

Poor Brothers Eat Yellow Popcorn While at the Gym

I'm eating Poor Brothers Jalapeno chips right now that I bought from the gas station, and they DO NOT taste like what I'm used to! I think the gas station I go to for snacks gets the reject Poor Brother chips. I wish there was a way for me to grab a chip and not get my hands all greasy. That stuff gets all over the keyboard and mouse! I wonder if I accumulate enough grease on the keyboard and mouse if I'll want to lick it.

I'm such an idiot when it comes to popcorn. I grew up with my Mom and Dad making popcorn the old school way in the popcorn maker while melting the butter on top. So you can tell which piece of popcorn is going to be good if it's yellow with butter. So now whenever I see yellow popcorn I think yummy... but I bite into it and I don't taste any butter! Whaaa! So I keep eating you know, hoping that I'm wrong and I'll get a nice bite, but it never happens! I wish there wasn't yellow popcorn unless it had a bunch of butter on it!

I was at the gym this morning and besides almost fainting twice after doing some squats I noticed something... There was a guy who put an extra 10lb plates on a machine that already had a 25 and 10lb plate on it. He did his workout and when finished he only put away the plates he put on - leaving the other plates on that were already there. What?!?! That's the problem with people today. Everybody does only the bare necessity and doesn't want to do anything extra! I know your thinking why should he clean up somebody elses mess? Sometimes in life to make things right you have to pickup the slack where others have either forgot or decided it wasn't worth it.

It was so cute when I got home from work yesterday. I'm approaching the garage door to the house and out pops Sean, "Daddy?! Oh I missed you! I'm so glad you're home!" How's that for a welcome home?! It gets better... I turn the corner to get in the house and Oz and Lacie start screaming daddy and hugging my legs. I swear, they get any bigger and I'll need to take a defensive stance so they don't knock me over.

Now Working Towards SB1070.1

Holy Cheese Fries! Mmmm that sounds good... I found out yesterday that we get free stuff for giving blood. They give you a number of points each time and you can go to their store to order stuff. I just ordered a pair of movie tickets for me and Billy, I mean Rach *cough* ... Totally Rad!

On a crappy note! I heard yesterday that our immigration bill (SB1070) got neutered by a one Judge, Susan Bolton.  She took out very necessary things that we need to control Mexico's take over of AZ! She might as well have said, policy over law, that we think it may interfere with the priorities of the Obama administration. Can you say legislating from the bench!? Doesn't lady justice wear a blindfold for a reason??? What was taken out you ask?

• The requirement that officers check a person’s immigration status during a lawful stop
• Arrest them if they suspect they are illegal immigrants
• The requirement that immigrants carry their papers at all times

I don't know how many exactly, but a lot of people were leaving AZ for LA or Mexico due to this bill passing. I thought it unfortunate... I mean nobody should have to pick up and leave home due to a new law passing. But one can only wonder what else they were expecting... can't stowaway forever right? I guess we now know why LA was boycotting AZ and didn't like the bill. They don't want more illegal aliens coming their way! And what's with all the aggressive protesting yesterday!? It really scared me to hear that the Sheriffs deputies couldn't handle the protesters and had to retreat back to their building.

Last thing I'm going to say about this is that all the money that's going into fighting over this bill could really be going into the pockets of needy citizens - for both gov's fed and state.

I wonder if she's going to go to ASU? Not unless she pays for it! ;-)

My wife sent me this pic with the caption:

I love you daddy.

That peach looks good...

I started working out again on Wed! Totally Awesome! I feel so buff right now! Like I'm going to grow into Hulk and get all green from the intense nitric oxide flowing through my blood. That's not possible though, because we all know it was a gamma bomb that turned Dr. Bruce Banner into The Hulk. Actually, I really feel very week and sore! Like my boobs and triceps are going to fall off!

I'll leave you with a quote from Charlie from 2.5 men - "Alan, there's something you should know about me. When I say "I understand", it doesn't mean I agree, it doesn't mean I understand, it doesn't even mean I'm listening."

Bitter Sweet Week

It's been a little while... And for good reason people! My life has been so busy and awesome, I knew this blog couldn't handle it!

We visited my parents in Alb. NM over the last weekend which was tons of fun! The drive there was kind of crazy with some intense storms, but due to my complete awesomeness we made it. The parents put us up at a hotel with a built in water park! Good thing too because it rained or sprinkled everyday it seemed like. Going to the water park...

The Zoo...

The Natural History museum...

And we had the grandparents watch the kids so we could go out. I can't find any blasted pics of the kids playing at the grandparents house!

I tried to meet up with Keith while in Alb. but he decided to move to Las Cruces which is too far to drive on such short notice. We'll meet again... someday... On the way home from Alb. we stopped in Payson for a while to soak up as much of the 80 degree weather as we could and also to try and prolong our vacation. We ate at a good BBQ and grill place where the kids had grilled cheese's and peaches. Lacie and Oz ate like cows but Sean wasn't too interested. I think because he knew we were getting ice-cream afterwards. I hate mind readers. Right next store was Scoops. An ice-cream shop where we visited last summer and liked it, so we were glad to be able to visit again and enjoy the creamy goodness that is ice again. Sean almost ate all his but Oz and Lacie didn't want any of theirs. So along with my bowl I shoved their bowls into my mouth too. It's been a long time since I've had that much ice-cream and felt the way I did. Looking back I'd probably do it again which is really the sad part.

There was a very unfortunate event the Tues night before last... we found out from Ali that Ricky Partain had died. I walked into the bedroom after driving home from work to find Rach in tears. I immediately thought the worst. However, nothing could have prepared me for news this bad. I knew Rick for 9 years, since I started going to Trinity Baptist. He was a big influence in my life and helped me with many things. He was always joking and having so much fun with everyone. I mean, he taught me how to catch a fart in my hand and throw it! I wanted to start playing golf, but didn't have any clubs so he gave me my first clubs. They were really old, but nonetheless he was more than willing to give them to me. He knew I stunk at the game, but invited me to play anyway with him Sat mornings. I could go on and on... Say hi to Jesus for me Rick! I'll always miss you!

Pain!

I am sooooooooooooooo sore!!!! My boobies are starting to freak out! My triceps are only allowing me to type and my lats are getting worse! I’m in trouble! I think I pushed myself wayyyy too hard! This’ll be me in no time though right?

I think it’s hilarious how photo shopped the head looks.

No, I'm not gay. This is my wife of whom I'm very in love with!
 
 
Sorry, just felt compelled to offset the picture above. Oh and I'm way better looking in real life than what you see here.
 
 
 
 
 
Sean said, "Look Daddy look, I'm shaking my butt!" as he points to it. hahahahahaha
I watched him turn his back to me and attempt to shake it when really his entire body was shaking all weird.
 
Austin was watching Mickey Mouse and whenever Mickey asked if he could help him do something Austin would say no. Ornery little kid! I guess he's preparing to "just say no".
 
Lacie is really into hitting and throwing her attitude all around when she doesn't want to do something.

McDonald's Has Ring Worm!

Grossssss! We are pretty sure our daughter contracted the ring worm at McDonald's! Clean your play gyms Mc E D's! Geeeez!

Looks like someone took a big bite but she has another on her calf, that looks more connected all the way around.












At least they had fun eating and playing. I hope they don't need medication or feel uncomfortable from it. Sean was at school so Oz and Lacie got some good one on one time with Mommy and some special treats!

So we lost one of our star players to NY, so what! Who needs Amare Stoudemire anyway, right... ?  :'-|  I haven't heard or read what's going on with the Suns with respect to who else we might be picking up.

I guess the running of the bulls happened today and a few dudes got really messed up! I think it would be a rush, but even with my stealth like movements, it's still a death wish.

By Monday afternoon last weekend Rach and I were done! Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome weekend, we were just ready to have some alone time together. So we got a sitter and ate at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant and watched Grown Ups. It was a funny movie, but like every Adam Sandler movie it had it's moments where scenes weren't that funny and you just look at each other like, huh???

Work is getting more stressful. I definitely got 10 new gray hairs just from this morning. I hope the kids are nice to me tonight...

Children, Stay Away from the Vodka!

I knifed four scorpions last night! I must admit some were not a quick death but only because they made me kill them in an awkward position next to a bush on the wall. I hope next time they learn their lesson and start hanging out in the open on the ground.

Would you drink this? On the bottle in the fine print below it says, "Scorpion imparts a smoothness in Vodka." That's ridiculous! Scorpions are so rough and not smooth!


The fam is planning on going to the Children's Museum tonight. It'll be Sean and Rach's second time and the rest, our first time. I hope it's not lame! haha. No, it sounds like fun, so we'll have a blast!

Rach has some fun pictures of the kids for their 2nd B-day on her Facebook page if you haven't already seen them.

I guess Google is trying to be an ISP (Internet Service Provider) now. At least that's what the video was saying that I was watching. I watched it yesterday so I can't give you anything more, my cache has been wiped... sorry.

It's fourth of July weekend - BBQ it UP and watch the fireworks fly!
I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” -- Lee Greenwood

And for those that are not celebrating:
"The love that lasts the longest is the love that is never returned." --- William Somerset Maugham

Holy Cow!

A critter explosion the news said!!! Bugs everywhere! I meant to go scorpion hunting last night but forgot so now I know my destiny. I must go out tonight and become the scorpions arch enemy! The Spider! I won't be able to fling web or inject an acid type substance to break down your innards, but I will creep and crawl and smash your brains in!

Look at this kid... looking at it like Holy Cow! That thing is big!

I really would like to know what's going through Austin's head.


I was trying to sleep this morning when Sean came in at 5:00 or so with his cake toy that my parents gave Austin and Lacie for their B-day. The cake tower is basically like the blocks you stack up one on top of the other to make a tower, except that the cake pieces are made of this hard plastic and can get loud. Especially when it's 5:30 in the morning and all you want to do is sleep! I must've told him to be quiet over 10 times! I told him to leave and play with it in the living room. Big mistake! He was making more noise out there so I had to get out of bed and tell him to be quiet otherwise he would've woken up Oz and Lacie. I wanted to say some very choice words at that moment but my better parent in me told me to expel it later in a different way... Well, he came back in to my room with the cake tower and so I took it and put it next to me saying now you can't have it at all. I know, hurtful and probably not necessary, but I was too frustrated/tired to think straight. So now I had a kid on the verge of tears and all he could think about was getting his cake back.  He inched closer and closer to it saying over and over, "It's my cake okay? My cake back please". At this point my alarm went off, which was unnecessary by now and so I gave up, gave it back, and got up.

I've been playing tennis a lot more, but think I've injured my shoulder. I'm hoping it'll work itself out as I play on and strengthen the muscles used to play.

2nd Birthday for Oz and Lacie!!!

Freak me out! I was woken up this morning by a little finger poking me in the back. I rolled over and saw Sean laying in Rach's place. What the?! Although welcomed, is scared me. Rachael left early this morning for boot camp and Sean normally comes in to cuddle with her. So I got to spend some time with Sean this morning that doesn't usually happen. Sean likes to hoard up his toys in bed covers. So Rachael sent me this picture

This is what Rach found in our bed when she went to take a nap. He's like a little pack rat. All the ice-cream cones have bubbles in them. I think he's set.

We celebrated Austin and Lacie's 2nd B-day this past weekend! We had both families and friends at our place. Rach did a great job of putting it together with some goodie bags, extra toys laying around for the kids, food, and tons and tons fruit. They got lots of great gifts! By the time we were done opening everything the room was a disaster area! I'll have to post some pictures later when we get them loaded on the computer. It was fun to see Ali's daughter Ada and Billy's kids again. It's crazy how fast they grow up. I never really knew the level of amazement when someone like my Grandma would say that to me. Now I know... We opened presents, ate cup-cakes and just let the kids have fun outside in the pool. Rach made these cool cookie cupcakes where she put a Mickey Mouse cookie on top of the cup cake encircled by oreos.

I've been playing a lot more tennis. I played last Sat morning expecting to get crushed, but it turned out to be really competitive and was a lot of fun - I won, in case you were wondering. Gary, the guy I played, called me and asked me to sub in for him at his league for tonight. So I'm excited about that. Hope I don't screw it up because if I remember correctly if I win I can get him a point or two.

Autozone Deceived Me

I was deceived twice by the same place! I went to Autozone to get some oil and I figured it out that it would be cheaper to get the 5qt jug of oil than to by 5 of the little bottles. It was even cheaper because a $5 off coupon was hanging on the bottle. I thought score! Mostly because I was saving money but also because I was using a coupon, I never use a coupon! The guy rang me up but the $5 off didn't work. There was another coupon for $3 off behind it and that worked. Regardless of the money saved and the fact that I would've bought the jug w/o the coupon, I still felt taken. Then yesterday I had to buy a new battery for the van. The guy at Autozone (I know! Why did I go back? Because it's really close to the house, leave me alone!) pulled the battery off the shelf and attached were the felt battery protector things for the terminals. So as he rang up the battery he asked if I wanted to buy them for an extra $3. Immediately the $3 off coupon popped in my head. Now it's like the coupon didn't even exist. I asked, "So they don't come with the battery?" "Nope" "So you're just going to rip off my battery huh?" "Yep" So I said no I don't want 'em. They weren't making any more money off me!

Rachael has decided to start this boot camp deal early in the morning, inspired by P90X and how she couldn't stand how boring and annoying the workouts are. She likes being up and getting stuff done in the morning, but like the rest of us has a really hard time getting up. Making me proud she got up this morning (I'm not sure, but I think it was 4:30), first of many I hope, and did the workout. She said it was intense. Unfortunately, she has to drive 15-20 min to get to the place, which can be an obstacle later when you are trying to motivate yourself to keep doing it.

Sean has a little bag of toys filled with little bottles of bubbles and things. There's a hole in it so he keeps losing things in it. It was really annoying trying to get him ready for bed and he kept losing stuff saying, "Where is she?" Then I would say, "Don't say, where is she, say, where is it?" I must have said that at least 10 times. It's funny how they make everything a he or she. You can also notice the processing power in their little brains. For example: they set their brains to saying, "Hold you mommy." all day long. It's fast and automatic. So when I get home they know they need to say, "Hold you daddy." So I wait as they say to me, "Hold you mom ummm aa hold you daddy."

If it were to hail here in AZ right now being 111 degrees, how many feet would it travel before it melted?

Grandma Grandpa and Emily = Sunbirds

Let's get together yeah yeah yeahhhh... With family in town who knows what will happen! There were crazy parties with so much alcohol I don't think anybody was sober the entire weekend! Well, in many other families this may have been the case, but ours does not indulge in such activities. It's as useless as playing a harmonica I guess. There was much done over the coarse of 4 days. We tried to do as much as we could in hot Arizona. Almost everybody who reads this was a part of what happened, so I won't go into too much monotonous detail. I'll just list a few items we did to jog the old noodle for when we're older: swimming, video games, movies, BBQ, card games, AZ science center, church, fixed car, killed scorpions, cheered for USA in world cup, Rach and Joe had a date night, B-day celebrations, Father's Day celebration, smores, eating, eating, eating...

For Father's day I got Mario Kart for the Wii. Which we all enjoyed, except for Brandon and Greg. Grandpa got a DVD set about the planet earth, some pistachios and some other stuff I'm sure but can't mention because I wasn't paying attention. He couldn't enjoy the nuts due to him ruining his dentures while bobbing for apples at his 60th B-day party. Actually, he got a stomach bug for all of Sunday. Who knows why. I have a few theories: mentally turning 60 the body wanted to revolt, he never really got a stomach bug and just wanted to sleep all day in the recliner (I ruled this one out as soon as he threw up), or he got a bad hop from the Bud Light he drank. It's a wonder people who drink beer are still alive with all those bad hops around!

Let us list the ways in which Grandpa did not fair very well physically during this vacation: stomach bug mentioned earlier, pulling shoulder out, and tweaking back mentioned below.

It was great to see my niece, Lauren have fun with my kids. I got to hear her say, you're crazy Brandon in her sweat voice. Sean had tons of fun at the science center. His favorite were the noodles hanging from the ceiling. The kids had fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa. It kind of made me feel old to hear my son wake up this morning and say, Hi Grandpa to my dad in the living room. Grandma and Grandpa walked almost a mile with all the kids to the field with the soccer goals - without strollers!. It blew my mind! I knew the kids could handle it, but Grandma and Grandpa??? God is good they made it back to us :-)

Rachael, Grandpa, and I also made it to that field earlier in the week where we played tag. It seemed like Sean never stopped running. I was "it" and started chasing Grandpa. Grandpa decided to get tricky and swerve out of my way. He hurt his back. Thankfully it wasn't that bad. We ran into a puppy Great Dane on the way home. Austin loved him and wanted to do nothing but pet him. Lacie didn't want anything to do with it. I can see Austin coming home with a lizard or something and scaring Lacie half to death with it. I can also see him coming home with a dog or cat and having Mom force me to keep it.

Grandpa + Me + Sean + Oz = 3 men (which is better than 2.5 men)

Holy Mother! Well, this mother isn't holy, that's for sure! I heard from Mac and Gaydos (just looked up how to spell Gaydos... who knew half of it was gay) that a women from Surprise AZ didn't want her two kids anymore (11 and 6 years old). She was going to take off and leave the kids behind. She claims she just wanted to leave and have fun. Naturally the kids got scared and called the police. The police along with CPS came to take the kids but before leaving the 11 yr old boy wanted a hug from mom. Instead of reciprocating the hug, the mom punched the kid in the stomach! How cruel! Nothing like showing the police how much you don't want the kids like punching one of them in the stomach! If the mother was willing to do this in front of the police, I can't imagine what other hell they were subjected to. I know, yesterdays news, but it's against my policies as a big shot blogger to give updated news, sorry.

Does your woman ever ask you personal questions that you know the answer to but you were thinking about something else and to switch gears caused a delayed answer? Because your answer was delayed it answered 'Yes' to their question without you uttering a single word. In the future, from now on, pretend you didn't hear them so as to give ample time to hone in and prepare your answer. This also gives you the advantage. Allow me to explain. If the woman repeats the answer word for word with the same voice inflection as she did previously, then the answer can be treated with a simple, 'No, looks great kind of thing'. However, if she rephrases the question or has to further explain the question with the word, 'because', then you better drop what you're doing and answer with as much sincerity as possible! Crush any insecurity like an anvil on an ant! I would say that I should write my own book, but I don’t read other peoples books so why should I expect them to read mine?

This morning Sean ran around me and hit my butt and said, "Got your butt." I wonder which kid in class taught him that? Many more of those moments to come I'm sure. Austin's favorite things to do: eat, watch TV, blow bubbles, sit at the table and wait for more food, read, and play with Sean. Lacie's favorite things to do: run around the house looking for Mom or Dad and saying hi, read, ride bikes, color, cuddling on the couch, blow bubbles. Sean's favorite things to do: Play with his toy fishing pole, swimming, blow bubbles, watch movies, throw balls or play with the tennis racket and ball.

Ice-Cream, You scream, We All...

Holy Geeeez! Don't ever get Virgin Mobile if you plan on cancelling your account with them in your lifetime! Rach spent over an hour and a half trying to just get transferred to the right dept. She finally gave up. They kept dropping her call 6 straight times every time they tried to transfer her. So the male in me said, I can fix this. I got dropped 4 times before I had the a manager transfer me and got me through to the right department. No where on their website is there a place to cancel, and the automated guy, Alex of whom I became good friends with, did not have a disable service option. Took up my whole night Wed, I was ticked! I wanted to shoot my potato gun at every help desk person I got through to.

On a lighter note. We decided that hearing Sean say, "Tomorrow, ice-cream and gym". Had gone on long enough without actually giving him ice-cream. So we went to Golden Spoon. We usually go to the gym first then ice-cream, that's why he says gym. I know, I know, a bit counter productive, but what can you do when you have kids? Last night we decided to skip the gym and just go straight to the good stuff. It was crazy that Sean really did want to go to the gym first and threw a little fit about it. What kid would rather go to the gym than have ice-cream? He's going to be an All-Star I know it! Nevertheless, we all had a fun time. Last night was the first time since Lacie was a baby that Mommy was able to comb her hair without her completely freaking out. It helped that she was playing with a fun toy, but still, pretty cool.

Rach and I, are trying to plan a vacation get-away. We've thought about Rocky Point and just going north for the weekend just the two of us. It's hard planning something you only get to do once a year. You really want to make sure you do it right. Unfortunately, it also raises your expectations for the entire experience. I guess those who only get the mattress mambo once a year must feel the same...

Pizza and Ice-Cream Equals Satisfied Sean and Oz

A little birdie told me (Katie) that Greg (brother-in-law) was working out hardcore! I think that's awesome! Keep it up man! Someday you'll be as strong as me, but it's not likely with my platinum, iron, gold, silver, uranium chest, arms, and back.

I've started playing tennis again. Soccer is done for the summer, so I must fill my sports void! I played last Saturday and it left me pretty sore for a good couple of days. Took me a good hour to get my swing back after not playing for 6 months. I hope I stick with it and we don't have another baby to get me off my game. Too late!!! hhaha just kidding. Nope, no more babies for me!

Things have gotten pretty busy this week for Rach and the cookies. She's workin' hard trying o get an order of onsie cookies out the door and get to making a few dozen other cookies. We recently moved our computer to our room to make room for a kid place in the den. We lost our Internet connection because this, bummer man! It's getting fixed, no worries. I'm hoping we can make our living room where all the kid stuff is now a place for a foosball table, maybe a ping-pong table, or maybe a poker table. Well, whatever is going to go there will be better than all the toys everywhere.

It's so cute how out of nowhere Sean will say, "Ice-cream tomorrow." Like he's trying to brain wash us so we don't forget. He had a hard time being dropped off at preschool today. We got to the door to his classroom and he quickly backed up and started to cry saying, "back a car". I still don't know what caused him to freak out. Luckily they were serving pancakes, one of his favorites. I guess Rachael told Austin that he needed to save room in his belly for pizza for when daddy got home. So he kept yelling out pizza! And would sit at the table and wait even though I was a good 20 min from getting home. It's so funny how he sits at the table and waits for food. Kind of like a dog staring at an empty bowl I guess. I'm not comparing Oz to a dog though. That's not right.