My family will make you sick!

Saturday, all morning and early afternoon spent at a family reunion. Saturday late afternoon at the park. Saturday evening, spent at the outdoor musical with some of the same family from the reunion.

Sunday, barf.

Everywhere.

Coincidence? I think not.

So now, a note to the extended family. You people make my daughter sick!

The pediatric nurse says this stomach bug can run it's course in a couple of days or take it's time over the course of 10 days. And a side note - the wife leaves town for 3 days in about 36 hours.

Thanks guys. I'll return the favor sometime.

Soon!

Beauty and the Blogging

Here I sit at Zilker Park, waiting for the summer outdoor musical. Zilker Hillside Theater is the best spot in the entire universe to watch a sing-along play, especially if they can keep the kiddos content.

Tonight's musical should fit that bill nicely. Beauty and the Beast.

The play starts in a couple of hours, so the rest of the fam is over at the playscape. And I get the fun of baby-sitting our blanket, so that no one steals our choice spot.

More live blogging later, if the connection holds out.

I think it is only fair.

After I banished the kids from their toys this morning, I set about doing other cool AtHomeDaddy stuff. I started some laundry, I started a load of dishes and I decided to tackle the annual scrubbing of the microwave.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwww. Yuck! It took me almost half an hour and the thing still isn't spotless. After I gave up, I scrubbed the top of the stove. It could use a little more elbow grease (or sandblasting) on those stubborn stains, too.

Seeing that I cook a meal or two around here, and that microwave and stove top were that nasty, I think I should punish myself by not allowing myself in the kitchen for a while.

Lego Madness

The Talker has just felt the drop of The Hammer. He is off the Legos for a while. Because my foot hurts.

His room was such a disaster that it required the two of us almost 30 minutes of straightening just to make it halfway decent looking in there. The room still isn't totally picked up. And he is already onto playing with other toys, but losing his Lego privileges seems to have already made a little bit of an impact.

It all started when I reached to help pick something up. And I stepped, bare-footed, on some half built and now smashed, pointy and sharp Lego contraption buried under the other junk.

After I quit crying about my foot I bellowed "ALL Legos are getting put away! NOW! Parts, pieces, projects buildings, cars, people, animals, boats, planes, trains, farms, towns, cities, cops, robbers, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and all their respective cohorts and any other Lego stuff that I forgot about are going into the Lego box on the top shelf of your closet for storage until further notice!"

The boy took the bad news like a champ. He started putting every Lego in the box and he did it without much complaint. Which goes a long way towards getting them back sooner...

But I almost cracked up when, as he was packing up, he set a stack of Lego magazines in the box. "Here Dad, these are about Legos, so I guess they go in, too."

Which got me thinking, should the blockade apply to his Lego Indiana Jones and Star Wars video games, also?


Just for the record, The Princess, she is off Polly Pockets and all of her associated critters. Not because they hurt your feet, but because The Princess threw a gigantic fit while helping with the cleaning of her room.

Plus, Polly Pockets are created by the devil and they annoy the heck out of me.

7:45 in the morning

And the kids are both still asleep.


So there!

Weekend Recap

The Boss Lady's summer ended this morning when she was at work before 7 A.M. By default, my summer break ended when the kids woke up at 7:05 this morning. Summer Break is righteous, but a Principal's summer break, not so much.

Saturday we headed down to the coast. Where I gathered a nice crop of sunburn because I am an idiot. The kids collected some cool sea shells since The Boss Lady was smart enough to slather them and herself with sunscreen because she is not an idiot.

The kids had a blast playing in the sand and surf. I had fun sitting back with a cold one, after my microwaving was complete.




Yeah boy! That is 7 six-packs of the good stuff, right there! Why only seven? Because that is all there was to be found in the entire town. I even went back to the grocery store on our way out for one last check.

To celebrate a successful road trip, and to give myself a good reason to work up a thirst, I started adding a pergola-style slatted wood roof to the kid's playscape. For now I am going to leave it open like this, to discourage wasps from nesting up there. If it does not give enough shade, then I will consider a solid roof next time.

The wood came from a neighbor's deck that is being torn down. After cleaning it up of old screws and knocking to worst of the old stain off with the power washer, I think it looks pretty cool. Kind of like a clubhouse that kids would build if they had access to power tools and a neighbor who was trashing his deck.


The kids were able to play out there until 11, so I guess it is giving enough shade for playtime.


Also this weekend, while we were out of town and a friend was keeping up with the dog, our neighbor finally decided to trash the old fence. He got the old wood out of the way and is supposed to start installing posts this evening.

The plan is to finish up on Saturday. A little long for a fence project, but still quicker than the cable company.

At least it isn't crotch rot!

Chaco Foot - What happens to your nice purty feet when you aren't smart enough to put sunscreen on UNDER the Chaco Sandal straps.


Yep. It hurts.

But not as bad as my knees. Sunburn on a nuclear level up there.

A little long in the tooth?

What's the Tooth Fairy paying out these days? A nickel? A half a saw buck?

I guess it is time for The Boss Lady to take on a part time job. Because The Talker just popped out his first tooth.

TiredDaddy

Between helping out with sports and games at Vacation Bible School 3 hours a day, a funeral yesterday, trying to keep 3 yards mowed this week, a migraine that kicked my fat ass yesterday and trying to find a little time to sleep, it has already been a long week.

Friday we have VBS twice! The church is having a carnival for the end of Vacation Bible School Friday afternoon. That I am supposed to help with. At the same time I am supposed to be across town helping with another event. Saturday I have a lunch time commitment but after thatn we are heading to the coast for a couple of days. That should be a nice change of pace.

If I live that long. Now, who hid my pillow.

Calling all AtHomers!

I know there are a few other Stay at Home Dads who stop by the blog once in a while. And if you haven't heard, Aaron Rochlen, Ph.D. and Associate Professor down the road at our hometown university, is at it again.

In the past he has researched "men’s gender role socialization, help-seeking behaviors, and non-traditional work and family roles." Now he is beginning a new study, looking into several areas that are important to Full-time Fathers like:

"1) Evaluating reasons for becoming a stay-at-home father and how this relates to adjustment

2) Looking at plans and perceptions about re-entering the workforce

3) Finding out more about how different factors relate to stigma and reactions from others."

Anyways, you know you want to help. You know you ought to help. Doc Aaron is a good guy. If not, he would do his research on Stay at Home Cows over at Texas A&M.

So if you are a Stay at Homer, like all of the coolest guys you know, then follow the link to add your insights. Just do it. Because Doc Aaron, unlike you children, will listen to you.

http://www.hostedsurvey.com/takesurvey.asp?c=SAHF1

Vacation? What's that?

The Boss Lady only has a week left of her summer vacation. I am starting to think this was the vacation that wasn't meant to be. So far, sickness, the weather and the government have all conspired against us this year.

The Boss Lady was sick most of the last two weeks. Made more fun by the fact that her primary care doc's office was shuttered for his vacation. When the doc finally called in prescription several days after her initial inquiry, The Boss was feeling really bad. Add to that the ER visit that came up the next morning when it became obvious that she was having an allergic reaction to the phoned-in prescription and it all made for a ton of of excitement.

Also, it has just been dang hot. And dry. Which makes kids and AtHomeDaddy whiny. There just aren't enough pools in the entire town to keep away the summer blahs when it is so dang hot. So we have watched a lot of Disney movies. Which makes kids happy but AtHomeDaddy whiny.

Tomorrow The Boss Lady has jury duty and the kids have another Vacation Bible school. Me? I think I'll be hiding from the heat and Walt Disney.

Someone go turn down the AC, OK?

We were originally planning to go down to Matagorda this weekend for some fun in the sand and surf. I balked when another event conflicted on the family calendar. Now that I have seen the weather report for this week, I don't really think I want to stay in town all weekend. I think we will all be heading down to the coast to see who can conspire against our vacation down there.

Lawnmower not included

FOF, you got some good eyes.

The real reasons I did not take full pictures of Marge yesterday had less to do with not wanting to reveal The Talker's glorious decorating scheme and more to do with the following:

1. It was dang hot out there when I went to take the pictures.
2. The decorations were not totally finished
3. And the bed of the truck was still full of junk. Like my mower.

This morning, after I gave The Boss Lady's car a quick wash and wax (just FYI a quick wash and wax IS technically possible on a 2001 VW Bug) The Talker and I finished up with Marge. She is now parade ready.





We are off to the neighborhood parade and to paraphrase The Simpson's, we will celebrate America's Independence by blowing up a small piece of it! Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th and don't blow your hands off with your illegal fireworks.


And for those of you who don't follow TruckinDaddy, Marge's blog, here is a flashback to July 4th, 2004. When she was still on the farm.