Hitting the road

We are off with Dad for a few days of fishing and down at Pop's house.

Y'all have fun.

Feeling a Little Sacrilegious?

Then jump on over to my post on ADHDaddy about our trip down the freeway this afternoon.

$5 for anyone who can fully explain what that guy was up to...

$20 Movie Review

The whole AtHomeFamily went to see Herbie: Fully Loaded this morning. The Princess slept through the last half of the show, but that is ok, since we did not have to pay to get her in. The Talker had a blast, but he just could not stay in his seat. That too, was OK since we were the only four people in the theater. The Boss Lady was impressed that they kept the story cute and clean.

And Me? I have spent the better part of the afternoon trying to figure out a way to convince the wife that we NEED a VW Bug.

Could have just posted a link to the old entry

I should have been more creative about the title of yesterday's post.

When I went back to last year's July Fourth post, I realized that I have once again plagarized myself.

Oh well, I guess I won't sue me. This time.

Having a Blast on the Fourth

Even though we have not been to our church in a month, we are about to head out for an early Fourth of July picnic and fireworks show that our church sponsors. A member of the church owns the pyrotechnics company so we get to have a real professional show and the crowd is relatively small, only a couple of thousand people, instead of 75,000 or more who will attend the city wide fireworks show on the Fourth.

We used to make a day of the city fireworks show. We would get there in the early afternoon and grab our same spot on a nice hill every year. Then we would just sit and visit all afternoon, while the throngs gathered around us. People we know would stop and ask us how we got our prime viewing spot year after year. As if the pile of books, sunscreen and $6 waterbottles didn't tell enough of the story. I would just grin as if I were someone special.

When The Talker's first Fourth of July rolled around, we realized that taking a six month old into the 100 degree heat for 10 hours would not be terribly smart. But they moved the show. And now there are no prime hills worth baking all day in the heat for anyways, just a big flat field. And who want to gloat about sitting in a field with everyone else all day?

OK, I admit it, I am a potty mouth

I am trying to be careful of what I say around the kids. Because it is SO attractive to hear your 3 year old son dropping curse words like a sailor. And yes, I have a long way to go. Damn it.

So along those lines, we have been reinforcing with The Talker that he needs to use "good words", not "bad words". In turn he often reminds me to watch what I say.

Tonight in the car, he said "Oh my gracious!" when he got excited. The Boss Lady and I were both impressed when he didn't say "Oh my God!"

We praised him for choosing his "good words". But maybe our cheering came a little to early. Because then the boy busted in with "See Mommy, I didn't say the damn it words, like daddy."

After The Boss Lady and I stopped laughing, I remembered that I still have some more work to do.

Baseball, Bats and Big White Dogs

Today we all hid from the 100 degree heat and took it pretty easy after a trip to the vet's office and Costco. This evening The AtHomeFam headed out to see part of the minor league baseball game. Since the dog is not yet used to sleeping in a crate or in the house, we knew we would not be at the ball game for too long. We left after the 5th inning and after a half hour on the outfield playscape. And on the way home we just happened to be passing one of to locations in town where Mexican Free-tailed Bats live. So we stopped for a while to watch the bats.

Super cool. Really squeaky. And big time stinky.

If you have never seen a million bats flying out from under a bridge on a summer night, come on down. The first week in August is prime time, because the pups start flying about then.

Introducing The New Big White Dog

Follow this link to see a picture of the new Great Pyrenees dog. This was the best picture I could get this morning. He is much more impressive in person.

He will be one year old next Saturday, July 9th. He weighs 82 pounds already. If he ends up nearly as big as his daddy, then he is going to be much bigger than Ben, our last Pyr. He is really mellow and super cool. Currently at the vet's this morning for shots and a routine check up.

All should be great this afternoon. Lots more house and yard clean up and dog proofing to be done.

We are Home

And tonight home feels real good. Cause there is a big stinky wet dog fresh from a flea bath sleeping in our living room.

Life is GOOD! And we are all grinning big. Especially The New Big White Dog. But that might be simply because he has never slept in an air conditioned house before.

Pictures and details to follow.

There is simply not enough hair floating around here...

Back when we had two dogs, there was a ton of hair drifting all over the house anytime the air conditioner would kick on. Gross? Probably so, but it did encourage us to sweep and mop a lot more often.

So we are leaving in a few minutes to go look at a dog. A one year old Great Pyrenees that is currently owned by one of the best Pyr breeders in the Texas. She says we might even be able to bring him home tonight.

So I started re-arranging the living room. We might need to set up a dog crate in there tonight. No, I did not mop. But I promise I will if I bring home 100 pounds of white fur attached to a great dog.

The Boss Lady Speaks - Totally Trashed Toobin' Time!

This is the first in a possibly never-to-be-repeated series of posts by The Boss Lady in her own words... Edited to make AtHomeDaddy look better, of course.


So, it's been a while (over 4 years, I think) since I was taken out on a date by my leading man. Don't get offended, I never asked him out either. We ditched the kids with his sister, his aunt, 4 cousins, 2 cats and 2 golden retrievers. We knew they would have fun.

Genius husband's idea: Toobin down the Comal River in Greune, TX. He dislikes swimming, but I love it. Basically, float on a tire tube and drink lots of Dr Pepper for a few hours. Lots of shade, a few quick rapids, lots of time to talk and relax.

Toobin in this particular area is a magnet for college kids (yes, we know we are FAR from young any more) who want to float around for hours with coolers of booze. But, being a Thursday, most of them were working for beer money so the place was empty.

It was beautiful.
It was relaxing.
It was calm.

We talked.
We flirted.
We laughed.
We smiled.

It was a way to remember that attraction that began 13 years ago.

There were a few rapid spots. They were fun. Mildly exciting and fast. Lots of high rocks and shallow spots (2-3 inches deep) where he would yell, "Butts Up!" It was a pretty good abdominal workout to figure out how to get your entire body higher than the top of the toob and still keep the thing floating forward.

We were very careful when we left to slather on the SPF 45. AtHomer even wore a T-shirt as we toobed. Several times along the route, we re-applied. There would be no sunburn for us.

But, there was this one set of raging rapids ahead. The river took a few curves together and made a long stretch of mild drop-offs. He got out ahead of me. He swears the floating cooler acted like a propeller and sped him up. The first section was fun and I perfected the whole-body-up while still floating technique. The second section was a little steeper, deeper and faster. Mike went down and waited for me at the lower bank. Arms raised up in victory the whole way.

Honestly, I couldn't have been more than 1 foot to the right of where he went down the rapids. The water was darker and not moving nearly as fast. After the first 2 feet, all bets were off. The area I was on got MUCH faster, steeper and the rocks were shallower. My toob was suddenly over my head and I was scraping bottom.

I am a good swimmer. I've never had fear of water in my life. But in those "rapids" (really slow-pids for anyone who knew a river and how they CAN run) I was terrified. I ran scenarios through my head of how to keep my eyes open, NOT crack my melon open and attempt (totally in vain) to not get too bunged up.

It was maybe 4-6 seconds before I regained control in the water. I reached a deep spot where the water calmed down.

Maybe it's a testament to my commitment to our family. Maybe it’s proof that I'm an idiot. Maybe it's a sign that I should have been an accountant or insurance agent. I kept tallying up our bills, my life insurance and hoping AtHomer knew how to find all our account information.

After that, all I wanted was to get out of that fast water and touch AtHomer. He's always been my ground wire. There he was, waiting on a bank with a strained calm expression on his face.

"That was ugly."

When I looked back at the little rapids, I could see my doom from the bottom. Isn't that the way it usually goes? When you're in the middle of a disaster of your own making, all you can see is the worst. A little piece of you knows you will be fine but you give in to the irrationality of the moment and panic.

We continued on our way and enjoyed the rest of the float. I have my Nanny's thin skin and I knew the cuts and abrasions all over my legs would look really nasty by morning. The only major damage was the 1/4 cubic inch of thick green something (rock? moss? fish?) under my fingernail.

All in all, a great day with a pretty good story. It wasn't until we got back to the kids that I realized there was a real problem. I walked in the door and all eyes widened. "Wow, you got some sun, huh?" I was fried. I looked like a lobster or was it tomato woman?

Being the guilty parents we were after ditching our kids for hours, we tried to make it an educational conversation with the Talker. "That is why we put on sunscreen. Mommy has a sunburn and it hurts very much."

The Talker fired back, "I don't have a sunburn. My skin is not hot. Oh, no! I have fire and lava all over my skin--I have a sunburn! I can't hug you, Mommy. Your skin is too hot. Don't make a mistake again, Mommy. I told you a million times, no sunburn in my eyes."

And the list could go on forever, kind of like this message.

AtHomer wanted to know if this was an attempt to blog. No thanks, I have no need to keep up with AtHomeDaddy.

I was just reliving my date and wanted to "talk" with you.

May you have a safe, relaxing, calm water day. Maybe you can laugh at me along the way.

With a smile,

The Boss Lady

Pops Visit

Pops came by the house yesterday afternoon, on his way home from a few weeks in the mountains. Pops is a good house guest. He arrived at 5pm and he was gone by 8am. Much unlike you slugs that come over and hang out for days on end...

We went out to eat and then Pops and I played with the truck for about an hour, while the kids played with Mommy in the backyard. While The Talker got ready for bed, I ran a couple of errands in the truck.

This morning, we are playing inside. It is 90 degrees and 30 bazillion percent humidity today, so we will be bonding with the air conditioning extensively. Quick run to the mall might be in order.

RailFair

This morning we went with a neighbor and his kids to RailFair. A good fun time hanging out with grown men who play trains a lot. Some of them even play with the really big trains.

The kids had a blast. The went into a caboose, onto a diesel engine (The steam engine is being restored) and they got to ride on a restored motorcar, a self-powered track service machine.

The most impressive part of the day was touring a privately owned train car that a family here in town recently donated to the steam after using it to travel throughout the US, Canada and Mexico in the 1970's and 1980's. They would have it pulled behind Amtrak trains as they went.

The kids were fascinated by the model train layouts, especially the G Guage, garden trains. They also really loved the DVD playing in the van on the ride out and back.

But the real highlight was the purchase of a little bit of decor for our yard. We are now the proud owners of a roadrunner made of welded railroad spikes and a steel creature made out of a shovel and some grass shears. Classy!

Pictures to follow, once I decide where they belong. Good art must be displayed properly, you know.

When the light don't go on in Austin

We loaded the kids and drove down to the university to see the tower in it's orange glow with a 30 story tall 1 lit up. But the team is coming home tomorrow, so they are waiting to light the tower until then.

We cruised The Drag and checked out the crowds honking and screaming in celebration. The kids had fun. The boy showed his big stuffed "Hook 'Em Horns hand" to the crowd while he was screaming along.

Disappointed to see the tower not lit orange, but we all had a good time.

Off to see the tower

UT Men's Baseball won a National Championship this afternoon, so we are taking the kids down to the university to watch the lighting of the tower tonight. Cool!

Ever drive through Austin and wonder what the tower lighting means? Check here for the newest lighting designs.

Another great reason to love this city. We have a big tower with lights, does you hometown?

NO? Then sit down.

Redneck Moving Day

Big Trash Day is coming! This is the one chance every seven months that we have to dispose of things larger than our city issued trash can. So The AtHomeFamily makes it a big event. There are lots of people who toss usable, but unwanted things out for big trash day. There are also lots of people who cruise the neighborhood and pick up usable items. Us? We try to have the one pile in the neighborhood in which no one can find anything useful.

Yes, we occasionally pick stuff up, too. Those white plastic lawn chairs. Never have bought any but we have three or four on the back patio, thanks to big trash day!

But this weekend I may have the mother lode for big trash, a shed. My old Arrow building is about worn out. And I am getting a new shed soon. So this afternoon I emptied and moved the shed. It was quiet a show. I balanced the shed on top of my garden wagon and strapped it down. Then the wife steered while I pulled the wagon backwards. Here is an artistic rendering of the move. We are leaving it sitting on the wagon until our neighbor decides if he wants it. If not, off to the pile it goes.

AtHomeDaddy's Toy Chop Shop

One of our favorite things about our neighborhood is the nearby park. It is a city park with a couple of playscapes and hiking trails. Nothing fancy in the amenities. But the neighbors make it pretty special.

One reason is the giant toy collection. Lots of toys live at the park. Everyone has brought toys that their kids no longer use. Sand buckets and trucks, shovels and riding toys are all there for the kids to play with. Keeps us from having to drag toys to the park all of the time and since they are "everyone's toys" it sometimes keeps the kids from feeling too possessive.

This morning we were at the park and I was doing my rounds as the un-official toy inspector. If a toy is broken into so many pieces that it can't possibly be played with anymore, or if it is dangerous, then it takes it's final trip, to the park trash can.

There are two identical riding cars at the park. One had the top roof pulled off, but it still worked fine. Except for the metal rod sticking out if it's side, where the roof was attached. The other car has had broken wheels for a while. During The Princess' naptime, the boy and I set about chopping the first car into pieces. Notice the rod, sticking out by the door, right at toddler's eye level?

Then we swapped for the broken parts on the other car, to make one good riding toy. It won't be as much fun as having both cars, but hopefully no one will put their eye out on this one.

Housebroken in the Summer Time

It is summer. We are rotting our brains at the pool, at the splash park and in front of the TV. The wife is only working half-days, so we are all enjoying a little change of routine.

And the best change of all, The Talker is now officially 1000% housebroken. Some would call it potty trained. Whatever. We all love it.

The End of the Heatwave

Air Repair Guy has come and gone. The house is cool now and it only cost $150 for him to be here 45 minutes. $200 an hour. Money well spent, since no one had a heatstroke watching The Doodlebops this morning.

And it is a lot better than the $900 per hour the locksmith could have been charging last night when I locked all of our keys in the house. $45 for the 3 minutes that it took him to pick the lock on the garage door. Yep, we live in freakin' Ft Knox. But at least it is cool in here.

She is Such a Comedian

The Princess knows comedy. She has become the queen of the all-time-bestest fake sneezes. They go something like this:

Ah Ah Ah AH AH AH AH choo - Which really builds and then leaves you wanting more, because she ends quietly.

Which is usually followed by:

Ah Ah Ah Ah CHOOO! - This is almost the opposite, she stays quiet until the big bang at the end.

Then there is the ever popular:

Ah CHOOO! - The quick-fire sneeze always makes 'em laugh.

But her favorite must be the random sneeze, which this morning in the grocery store was going like this:

AH CHOO! ah ah ah ah choo AH AH ah CHoo CHOO CHOO!- 15 minutes of that? Who would not laugh?

While she was really going, I started following people, just to see how long it would take them to notice. It never took more than a couple of good sneezes and they were always smiling or laughing back.

The fake sneeze, verbal slapstick perfected by a 14 month old comedic genius.

No, I was not stalking old ladies at the grocery store, our air conditioning is broken and it is HOT at home, so we have been out, running errands.

I Could Tell You

About our great afternoon and how much fun it was to spend time with the family. But I won't. I have been much too busy driving my truck, to know what is going on inside the house.

Skipping the Road Trip

The wife and kids headed out of town yesterday. They will be back this evening. Since it was a quick trip, I decided to stay home and knock out a few things on the To Do list.

Here is the list of things I planned to get done in 36 hours.

Laundry - Wash, dry, fold and put away all of the dirty clothes
Washing - The dishes and The Boss Lady's car
Waxing - Her car
Mowing - The backyard, weedeating too
Vacuuming - The entire house
Steam Cleaning - All of the bedroom carpets
Hanging - The Talker's curtain
Painting - The accent wall in the living room
Watching - A good movie
Listening - To the stereo, LOUD and late

What I actually accomplished is much more exciting. For me anyways.

But my list was not a complete waste. I did listen to the stereo loud, but not until this morning. I was sleeping off a late movie. A good one? Not really. I looked for something good in our collection, but the best I could come up with was, The Incredibles.

And besides, they aren't coming home for a few hours. I still might get my list finished...

Is it OK...

to brag about how late the baby slept, even though she woke The Boss Lady up really early? It is OK, since The Boss Lady had to get up and go to work anyways, right?

I hardly woke up, in case you are worried. And The Princess? She slept until a time that rhymes with Hive after Ben O' Flock

But the worst part of the morning? She slept right through her morning nap... Dang.

Dog Days of Summer, Part 10 - The Final Chapter

The furry cousins are now gone. We are going to spent the rest of the night letting The Talker throw Hot Wheels and plastic toys all over the house and yard. And he will be safe in the knowledge that they won't get eaten.

Dog sitting was a multi-purpose event for The AtHomeFamily. We wanted to watch the dogs because we miss having big furry creatures welcome us home. But also, we wanted The Talker to become more at ease with these guys. He has been sort of scared in the past, but that is all gone.

He loved having the girls stay over. The Princess is going to miss sharing her milk cup with the pups. The Boss Lady liked having the girls over, too. And me? I now remember how much work dogs really are, especially when they are this big.

So now, only one question remains, "When are we getting some of our own?"

Dog Days of Summer, Part 9

The dogs have been bad. They ate the bouncy ball-hop that The Talker keeps in the backyard. I am not happy with them, but I am really ticked at myself. When they arrived, I looked around the yard and decide that there was no way they could destroy this toy. It is big enough for an adult to sit on and made of really thick rubber. So it stayed in the yard.

And now it is dead. I hid the carcass from The Talker, buried it in the kitchen trash under veggies. He'll never look there for it.

If You are the Person

who found this site by googling "graduation caps made from Reeses Peanut butter cups", would you please explain?

At least it is not female deathbattle...

HalfAssedDaddy

The Boss Lady starts her summer school teaching assignment today. So she is working most of the summer. But only 6 hours a day, four days a week. So I plan on slacking off of my rigorous schedule for a while.

This morning the kids and I headed to the park to meet up with a group of SAHDs. But starting the half-done theme off right, I took The Princess in her pajamas and when we got there, I realized that the kids had no shoes. Or snack.

So The Talker got to play on the biggest slide he has ever seen (and one of the biggest I've ever seen - you know, one of those straight metal slides, with a straight stairwell leading 10' up, to the top of the slide)while I kept The Princess contained in a swing. Then we bailed, because it was the baby's naptime. And no way am I goofing that up, not even half-way.

Dog Days of Summer, Part 8

The furry cousins are here for a few more days. They have really settled into our house pretty well. Except for the pretty cat. They won't leave her alone for anything. She only comes out once a day to et a quick snack, but they seem to find her every time.

I am a little afraid for the dogs because I think she is getting fed up. And she is armed. No one has trimmed her claws in a while. I am sure that she could make them into puppy hamburger meat in no time.

This morning she was sitting on the safe side of the puppy gate, just daring them to stick a nose or an ear underneath. And I have to admit, I was a little anxious to see it myself.

Nothing like a little bloodsport to get the week off to a good start.

But they were smart enough to stay at paws distance. Instead, they got bored an went outside to chew up a dump trucks.

Running tally of damages, I think we are now even. The dogs are have officially erased the dog-dish-debt.

When is Our Summer Break?

Summers were a lot of fun when I was a kid. I liked 'em so much that I made a 15 year career out of summer time, by working at summer camps and kid's recreation programs that were busiest during the break from school. But being a SAHD has changed that a little.

I still love the fun stuff to do during summer, except swimming, I'm not much on swimming. Once I stayed home, The Boss Lady started working more summers. And now, this summer we are both trying to work a little. And I gotta say, I really like NOT working.

When The Boss and I were both full-timers at work, our schedules were almost opposites. When she was busiest, I was in my slower season. And in the summer, I worked like crazy while she napped and ate Bon Bons while watching As the World Turns. But even though I often worked a lot of summer hours, it was nice to come home while the sun was still up and have a little time to play with REAL dogs and to just hang out.

Am I a Bum? Probably. Lazy? Definitely. Lack of drive and motivation? You know it. And I like it that way, so go away. American Chopper is on. And my Bon Bons are melting.

Dog Days of Summer, Part 7

It's been a busy couple of days. The girls have kept us hopping, but all is well. The girls were home alone for several hours this morning and there is no new collateral damage to report.

The AtHomeFam took the girls for a walk last night. The pups really put on a show for the neighbors. They behaved really well and walked perfectly on their leashes. Lots of praises for 'em.

Dog Days of Summer, Part 6

Walks so far, 5. Short walks last night and this morning. Both were interrupted. Last night by playtime with neighbors, this morning, by a light rain. The dogs didn't seem to mind the sprinkles, but I remember the smell of two damp dogs in the house.

Collateral Damage We lost a beach ball and a pirate flag in the back yard. I guess the dogs are atheists or demon possessed. They ate a kid's book about the birth of Jesus. Another reason to get out of the rain. I don't want to be near these dogs when the lightening goes off.

Running tally of damages, I think we now owe them only $5.54. The dogs are quickly erasing the dog-dish-debt.

We Interrupt this Blog to bring you DSL

Kids? What kids?

Dogs? Our dog died. A few months back.

DSL? Yeah, that I got. The phone company turned it on today. And I have not left the computer all afternoon.

I hope The Boss Lady gets home soon. The kids are getting hungry and stinky and the dogs have to pee. But the back door and the bath tub are too far from the computer.

Did someone say "wireless network"?

Dog Days of Summer, Part 5

Walks so far, 3. Too freaking hot out there for man or beast. Maybe tonight.

Collateral Damage The Princess is getting her licks in. Pretty ceramic water bowl. Gone. Done. Busted. Whatever. I knew it would not last, but I have been too busy to move it to the floor. That might have kept it around for a few more days.

Running tally of damages, I think we now owe them $8.73.

Dog Days of Summer, Part 4

Walks so far, 3. The girls behaved pretty well, once I wrestled them into the halters. I think I got more of a workout before the walk than during.

Collateral Damage No new damage to report, except one pop-tart that disappeared off of the couch. Goodbye to The Talker's breakfast.

Dog Days of Summer, Part 3

Collateral Revenge The Princess is getting a little revenge. After her nap and a snack, I found her walking around in the family room with one of the pup's Kong toys in her mouth.

Ewww. Yuck.

Turns out that she is really great at fetching when I throw it back into the toy basket. She is much better at retrieving than the lazy golden retrievers.

Walks so far, 2. The ladies behaved very nicely on tonight's walk. I ran over someone's front paw with the jogging stroller and one dog escaped from the halter. Twice. It slipped down around her neck, so she thought she was still on lead. Score, AtHomeDaddy 2, Dogs 1

Dog Days of Summer, Part 2

Collateral Damage The Princess' hair brush. Not so much destroyed as just simply chewed on. But it won't be going anywhere near the baby's hair again. Pretty good chance that the baby's hair wasn't getting touched until mommy gets home in two days, anyways.

Also, a second plastic sandbox cup. Met a much worse fate than the other. Hopefully the dogs didn't eat any of the million pieces that it shattered into.

Running tally of damages, $1.37 cents.

Dog Days of Summer, Part 1

Fuzzface and Furbutt are here for nine days. You can keep up to date with all of the fun and excitement by checking for subsequent blog posts.

So far, only one semi-panicked call late last night to remind us to keep extension cords away from the pups.

No problem. We don't want the baby and the puppies sharing toys, now do we? The kids get the electrical cords, the dogs get the squeaky toys, check.

And did you know it is really hard to water plants with golden retrievers in the yard? Yep. Both mutts ended up wet, I ended up wet and the plants ended up dry. Maybe I'll try again tonight.

Walks so far, 1. They both heeled nicely until they saw a cat, then my arm almost separated from my body. Score, AtHomeDaddy 1, Dogs 1

Things I want to know. Whose idea were the breakable dog dishes? And do you really think they will make it through the week? Might as well get the broom and mop ready to pick up the pieces...

Collateral Damage One plastic cup, it was put out of it's misery as a sandbox toy in a hideous manner. Burial services for the ex-cup will be handled by the city recyling crew.

The Post that Started it All

AtHomeDaddy is a year old tomorrow. Not the man, he will just be crying like a baby.

The blog.

I don't know if I should sing or what, so here is a link to the first post.

What a year.

The Boss Lady is off to Tennis Camp

The wife is heading out in the morning for three days and two nights at Tennis Camp. She says she is attending a conference, but there has been a lot of talk about drinks, pool, hot tubs and stuff like that. I have not heard much talk about work things. And since they are going to a tennis resort, I assume she is off to Tennis Camp. Hopefully she won't be too tired when she gets back.

Three days and two nights alone with the kids? Sounds exciting enough, but I am a Super Stay at Homer, so as of tonight, we also have two one year old golden retrievers staying with us for a 9 days. Hopefully they won't chew up all of our tennis balls. The Boss Lady might want to practice her new skills when she gets home.

The AtHomeFam hit the splash park again this morning. The Talker and I had a blast playing in the water. It was made even sweeter because we were the first ones there. We had the place to ourselves for about ten minutes. The girls hung out and ate snack. Must hve been fun for all, though. After a quick trip to the grocery store, we all napped for several hours. Good Times.

And the long weekend ends...

now.

American Patriot and Sports Fan

A few minutes ago, while The Boss Lady was getting lunch ready in the kitchen and I was sharing news of my latest Ebay purchases with her, we lost track of the boy. He had been playing with playdough in the dining room, but he wasn't at the table anymore.

The Boss Lady and I found him standing silently beside the table. He would only whisper that "I'm just standing up". He would not say anything else.

Then I realized that 'The Star Spangled Banner' was playing on the local country radio station that was on in the living room. They play the national anthem everyday at noon, followed by 'The Eyes of Texas'.

Evidently, The Talker now requires that we all stand quietly at attention when it is on. And you won't get off easily after that. You better have your horns up and sing loud through 'The Eyes of Texas', or you'll have The Talker to deal with because this is Longhorn Country and he is here to defend it.

Splash Day!

The AtHomeFamily went to a new water park this morning to celebrate the start of The Boss Lady's Fridays off for the summer. This park is a water play area with giant sprinklers and water features that soak the kids while the water drains away. That way there is very little standing water, so the younger kids can get right in the middle of the action.

And action was everywhere this morning. The Princess was not too interested in playing in the water and at first neither was her brother. He warmed up to the idea and went crazy for an hour. The Princess ate snack for an hour.

She and I both think that snack trumps waterplay, everyday.

After water play we headed out to lunch at The Talker's favorite restaurant. The experience was much better than last time, when the boy barfed, I fell in it, I hurt my wrist and he got a popscicle and a change of clothes.

Moving into the 21st Century

The AtHomeFamily is a few years late to the party, but we are going DSL! And after all these years of dial-up, simply because we are cheap. Well, the phone company is offering DSL for $2 more a month, we gotta do it.

Yeah, I know the price goes up after a year...

Yeah, I know we will never be able to cancel after a year, because I will be spoiled...

But just think, now I'll be online all the time, so words of wisdom can flow much more freely here. Good god, someone call the phone company and tell them to stop the maddness...

The Balance of Power

is seriously out of whack around here. The boys, AtHomeDaddy, The Talker and Other Kat always maintained control in this house, thanks to Big White Dog. Since he died, females have shared the control of the house.

But last night my cousins, Beautiful and Gorgeous spent the night with their girl puppies. Fuzzface and Furrbutt. Four extra females in this house? The other boys and I are scared. The three of us are hiding in the bedroom today.

And we are taking the TV remote with us!

Huh?

Deep thoughts from The Talker, shared while we were out on the playscape, this afternoon...

"Does sister wear diapers and I don't like mangoes?"

It's Just so Sad...

when a nice young man like me goes absolutely insane. I damn near broke my glasses and my nose on the front door when we got home from the grocery store a few minutes ago. Made my nosebleed when I walked right into the locked and deadbolted frontdoor.

Heck, the doors at the grocery are electric and they open by themselves. Why shouldn't our front door, too?

And then there was the three seconds of trying to unlock the door, without setting down the napping baby or the hamburger meat. Does not sound like a long time, but it felt like forever. Especially since I was trying to unlock the front door with the van remote.

Heck, the doors on the van are electric and they unlock at the push of a button. Why shouldn't our front door, too?

Even though I have lost my freaking mind, I am still good! I got the baby out of her shoes and into her bed, the meat in the fridge, the toddler on the pot and into his bed and I did not get a drop of blood on the carpet.

But now I can't find my keys and the rest of the groceries are locked in the van....

Park Run

The kids and I went to a park hang with a bunch of Stay at home dads this morning. We were trying to beat morning naptime, so we got there early. Lots of moms were milling about after a Strollercise class. The lone dad with two kids must have scared them a little. Several moms were hovering near The Princess, because she was climbing all over the playscape

Then they started looking all over the park like they were searching for someone. Ooops, it was me. One of the moms picked up The Princess and brought her to the largest group of dads. "Anyone's kid?"

I could not help but answer "Yep, someone's..."

Turns out they were worried because no one was standing right with the baby while she was climbing. She could have fallen

But she hadn't.

After the mommy huffed off, The Princess went right back to her climbing expedition and I tried to make it more obvious that I was watching her. She then proceeded to fall of of the playscape! Twice.

Ooops, guess I shouldn't have been watching.

The Princess Speaks

And she has a lot to say, so you people better listen up. After all, she is a princess, she could have you thrown in the dungeon or she could keep you up all night talking to her brother.

This morning The Princess has moved up to two word sentences. "More Cookie" is the current favorite, but "Hi Daddy" gets an honorable mention.

Everyone is in a good mood this morning, because we all got some sleep. The shared bedroom experiment is now over. The Talker wanted to stay up at night making noise and playing with his sis, and she was really having fun waking up at 2 am, 4am, 5am and 6am to see if brother wanted to play. So The Boss Lady started moving furniture yesterday afternoon. And everyone slept great in their OWN bedrooms.

Too bad. I really liked the arrangement, but I realized that the kids were not really playing in the toy room - once again The Talker's Domain. That was my goal, to give them a place to play, without being in the middle of the family room.

The worst part about the toys coming back into the living room? The kids have a new box of Duplo blocks, like 250 of 'em. And I bet I step on all of them tonight.

Graduation, Maturation, Consternation and Headache-ization

It's been a busy week around here. Highlights:

Beautiful's High School graduation ceremony. Very cool getting to hang with the family and it was cool getting to see her cruising across the stage. Though I feared for the ROTC boy that escorted her, good thing Lil' Sarge was really cute or he might have gotten a swift kick in the medals. The popcorn was stale, though.

Of course, sitting there, I really felt old. After my high school graduation, I came down for a visit and sat with Beautiful in an wingback chair through naptime. Somewhere in all of this clutter there is a great picture of that moment. Now, I don't think she naps anymore, and I think their cat finally finished off the blue wingback.

I am going on my third day straight of a migrane, so everyone is in a great mood around here. The princess has the right idea, she is napping the morning away. The Talker is playing with playdough and The Boss Lady is starting her Memorial Day weekend with a laundry folding festival.

Me? I am trying to remember where the BB gun is, so I can shoot out all of the lightbulbs in this house. Whose idea was it to put 300 watts of halogen glow in the dining room anyways?

I'm So Misunderstood...

Justa Dad brought something to my attention yesterday, but I have not had time to sit down and correct my last post. I am not going back to work any more than the few nights that I started earlier in the month.

Yesterday, I said "By coincidence, today is AtHomeDaddy's last full day with the kids until early August." But I should have said "By coincidence, today is AtHomeDaddy's last full day ALONE with the kids until early August.". One word. A lot of meaning.

But it is not really true, either. The Boss Lady has a conference in June, so she will be gone for three days. The kids and I will really get to bond then. Just to keep us from getting bored, we are going to board The Mutt Cousins, our cousin's one year old Golden Retrievers for a week, starting the day she leaves. So after The Boss Lady gets home from her trip, I might beg to go back to work.

But probably not. Likely I'll just be begging for a dog.

Last Full Day

Today is The Boss Lady's last full day of the school year. She sends the kids home at noon on Thursday. And a big bonus, she does not work Fridays again, until early August. The other days, she mainly works half-days.

By coincidence, today is AtHomeDaddy's last full day with the kids until early August. Marrying a teacher was one of the smartest things I ever done did. Gotta love long summer breaks. Even if it is unpaid time off.

But, marrying THIS teacher was THE smartest thing I ever done did. Thanks for another great year, Boss Lady.

Too Tired to Blog

Watching three kids at once? Wow. Cousin C came over yesterday to play with the kids. And all I can say is that you people who have more kids than adults in the house should be commended, or committed.

Some days watching two kids can really kick me in the butt. Three? Wore me out. Can't. Go. On. Must Rest.

Ready, Set, GO!

The kid count is going up by one around here. NO! The Boss Lady isn't pregnant. She would beat you up for saying that.

For the first half of this week, Cousin C will be hanging out with us. So I will be hanging out with a 1 year old, a 2 year old and a 3 year old. Two of them are in diapers. Two of them talk. Two of them are boys. Two of them are picky eaters.

So my job seems to be pretty straight forward. Just figure out what one of the kids needs at any time and do the opposite for the other two. Right?

Game, Set, Loud Kid

This morning The Talker asked to go to "a new park". I assumed he meant that he wanted to add some variety to our park rotation, so we headed out to a neighborhood park that we have driven by several times. We have never stopped to play, so I guessed this qualified as a new park.

We were the only ones there for a while. The kids were having fun, going from the big kid's playscape, to the swings and then to the toddler 'scape. The park sits right next to a bunch of tennis courts, where little old ladies were playing.

The Talker started banging on a metal pipe with a stick and I was impressed, because he was keeping a good rhythm. Then I realized that play had stopped on the court, and the four ladies were looking our way. As I went to ask the boy to stop, The Princess started to walk off of one of the elevated platforms, so I had to dive over to catch her. All the while, The Talker kept up the drumming.

When I walked back over to quiet the boy, I realized the tennis players were packing up and moving to a court farther from the play area. I guess they thought I was not going to do anything about the noise. But none of them complained, they just moved on.

And of course, as soon as they cleared the court, The Talker stopped beating on the pipe and went to play with some other kids.

AtHomeDaddy - Habitat Builder

The kids love the playscape that Bob and I build in December. When I was planning it, I read an article that cautioned not to spend too much money on a play structure, because it would not be used as often as the parent hopes and the parks would always have better stuff. I can see the logic of the argument, but it has not proven true with our playscape.

The Talker would live out there, if we would let him. The Princess, too. Of course, she would be climbing the sides and hanging from the swingset crossbar if we would let her, too.

Unfortunately, they are not the only ones who have taken a liking to the 'scape. Turns out the underside of the elevated deck is an awesome wasp hangout. Tonight, I found a nest as large as my fist, right over the sandbox.

After evacuating the kids, I fought the wasps to a draw. No one, meaning ME, got stung, and I managed to knock the nest off of the playscape with a jet stream of water. Hopefully it will take them a few days to regroup.

Right Back at Ya, Kid

The Talker is a good napper, still. Three and a half years old and some days he takes a three or four hour nap in the afternoon. Always, at least two hours. After he finally settles down.

Yesterday afternoon, I was trying to get him to calm down and take his nap. I lay down beside him and just listened, while he chatted and wiggled. I was getting tired and started thinking he might not nap. But just when I was most frustrated, he busted out with a gem.

"Daddy, your name is Mike."

"Yep."

"Daddy Mike, you are my favorite guy. Good night. Good Night to my favorite guy, Daddy."

So he was off the hook and I got up, before I fell asleep. Once I was gone, he fell asleep quickly and napped until The Boss Lady got home.

It's Good to be Back...

Within 20 minutes of getting my hands on the computer tonight, I had the system crashed and begging for mercy! The problem only took 3 people and 30 minutes to correct. So my first hour back at work cost the city 2 hours in payroll.

Yep, they hired me for my expertise. And I delivered.

But I wonder why they told me not to come back until next Tuesday night?

AtHomeDaddy, Productive Member of Society

That is what my new business card will read.

As of this evening, AtHomeDaddy is going back to work. Oh, don't worry, I'll still be home all day loafing around in my pajamas and eating all of the kids snacks, while they watch endless hours of television. But I am going to pick up a few hours at my old job.

Actually, it won't be exactly my old job. I am going in to help with some software that I used to know how to run. But that was almost three years ago. Don't know how much help I will really be, but they pay by the hour. So it will take me a few evenings to figure out the software again. Let's call it 'Paid Training'.

I will also have to manage the other stuff that pops up around a recreation center. Phone calls, customer concerns, trying to keep the scheduled activities on track. This is a lot of what I used to do, except I was usually there during the busiest part of the day. Now, I'll be there after between 6 and 10, a few nights a week. And I might be the only one around at times.

Let's see? Paid by the hour to sit at a computer in an almost empty building? With silence all around? Yeah buddy, sign me up for a couple of extra shifts...

Sleepy Time

The AtHomeFamily are a bunch of weird sleepers. Actually, The Princess and I are the weirdest ones. The others like to sleep. A LOT.

This week she started waking up between 6:15 AM and 6:45AM. She still takes two naps a day and BELIEVE me, I am not complaining about that. But she is waking up early and taking her first nap earlier, too. Today, she was back in the bed before 9:30. And still down. Probably will be for an hour more. And then back down at 1:30 for the afternoon nap.

Me? I just end up staying awake until 1 AM most nights. It is when the house is quiet and I likes me some quiet with the stereo playing. It should not surprise me that I am tired at 6:45 when the kids start getting up. But it does. Every morning.

Treehouse Pictures

A few days back I posted about the new treehouse.

It took a couple of days to get them posted, due to a digital camera mishap, but here are a couple of pictures. Treehouse Picture. And Another.

And an aside note, if you plan* on leaving your digital camera outside on the picnic table during a huge thunderstorm, you might want to consider the Canon PowerShot A300. Ours handled a 6 hour storm that left a 2 inch puddle in the middle of the patio. After drying on the window sill for 36 hours, it works like a champ.

* AtHomeDaddy wants you to know that your results may vary and that you should not PLAN to be as dumb as I am. Mine comes naturally. You might hurt yourself. And break your camera.

Please wear proper protection when playing with electronics in the rain.

Don't Let it Happen Again

I agreed earlier in the week to help a guy, that I met online, with his truck. So today I headed over to lend him and a couple of his buddies a hand. Turn out he is like 17. But he knows way more about cars than I will in ANOTHER 17 years.

It was all good though. I had a good time and learned a few things about these old trucks. That is, until the buddy's girlfriend asked me if I was the 17 year old's dad.

DAMN.

And the day started so good with tearing down an old truck. Who knew it would end with tearing down an old man's ego.

For the record

Over on ADHDaddy, I griped about The Talker getting passed for a freebie a while back.

All is well with the universe now. Different night, same seats, same gimme ball, different ball tossers, better ending. They threw one right to him. Bounced out of his hands. A 10 year old next to him scooped it up. And handed it back.

COOL!

I promise I would not have complained had the 10 year old kept the ball. That would have been the breaks for The Talker not making the grab.

The Talker thanked that dude. Several times

Fireworks, Baseballs and Christmas Trees

The AtHomeFam went to the baseball game tonight, to watch the Round Rock Express get some revenge for last night's loss.

On the way to the game, The Talker was reminding us about his new favorite player, The Tacoma catcher. I blogged about him last night.

The Talker told us that "The catcher is nice, he gave me a ball. Tonight the catcher is gonna throw me a Christmas tree and toys. Daddy, you are gonna help me catch it and carry it home." I did not even know what to think about this revelation. But I was ducking and watching for hurled pine trees all night.

And after the game, when the fireworks were done, The Talker asked us "Where's my tree? I liked the fireworks, they were messy and I ate them all up."

Huh?

Very Superstitious? Not Us...

The local paper has an article about paraskevidekatriaphobia, the fear of Friday the 13th. FYI, I will copy the text to the bottom of this post, since I hate having to sign up as a member to get free web content off of news sites...

We are not afraid around here. The Talker was born on Friday the 13th, as was Bro, a cousin and my Great Uncle. And they all turned out OK. The Talker will have Friday the 13th birthdays when he is 4 (2006), 10 (2012), 15 (2017), 21 (2023) and 32 (2034). Turning 21 on Friday the 13th? I doubt if I will want to know all of the details of that party. But I bet it will be more exciting than a celebration with camp co-workers in Stephenville, Texas and having to work with 100 kids doing summer camp leather crafts the next morning...

There's nothing wrong with avoiding black cats or feeling uneasy today (just don't forget to knock on wood)
By Katherine Boose, A.M. Jamison, Cassandra Scott

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Friday, May 13, 2005

Welcome to Friday the 13th, the unfortunate combination of an unlucky day and unlucky number. If you have paraskevidekatria-phobia, or fear of Friday the 13th, you're probably still under the covers and not reading this.

Friday the 13th is just one of the more popular superstitions that permeates our culture and has remained with us through generations.

"I have two daughters adopted from China. I find I'm passing along my mother's -- and probably her great-great-great grandmother's -- superstitions to them," says Austinite Janelle Buchanan.

Charlie Rose Kuhn knows all about superstitions, thanks to her mother, Mary, who learned them from Charlie's late grandfather. "It is one of those things that you don't want to go against for some reason," says the 14-year-old from Florence.

Superstitions are like customs, says Tad Tuleja, a scholar in cultural anthropology and author of "Curious Customs" ($7.99, Galahad Books). "It's like comfort food -- (superstitions are) comfort gestures."

And they give people a sense of control over life's dangers. "We know intellectually that it won't make a difference, but it's just what you do," says Tuleja, who teaches expository writing at the University of Oklahoma.

Buchanan agrees.

"I am a well-educated -- I hold a master's degree -- well-traveled, well-read 52-year-old woman who leads a fairly sophisticated life. I know those old superstitions have no basis in reality; still, they have a place in my world."

Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to offset Friday the 13th. "Otherwise Friday the 13th would lose its power," Tuleja says.

The good news, though, is that if you can make it through today, you will have no more such days to endure in 2005. To help get you through, we've rounded up some of the most popular superstitions as well as some more unusual ones from readers.


If you see a comb on the ground, step on it. If you get a Reese's peanut butter cup in a double wrapper, rejoice.

Haven't heard of these superstitions? Neither had we, until we asked readers to share their favorite superstitions. Here are some of our favorites. And for Pete's sake, don't rename your dog.

The power of touch


I believe in people giving "the ojo" when they admire something you have. For example, if someone were to admire my necklace, I make them touch it, or if they admire my purse, they must touch it in order to keep something bad from happening. There have been times when the person didn't touch the item and the clasp broke on a necklace, or the purse strap broke.

-- Silvia Seelig, 43

A nose for visitors


My family is very superstitious.

* If a broom falls over, it means someone is coming to see you.

* If your nose itches, it means that someone is coming -- the right nostril for a female visitor and the left for a male visitor.

* If you name a dog and then change the dog's name, it will die.

* And if your farm animals wear bells, it will keep the demons away. All our goats wear bells.

-- Charlie Rose Kuhn, 14

Don't forget your buckeye


I grew up in northwest Arkansas, where superstitions ruled.

* Always stop a rocking chair from rocking when you get up from it.

* If you break a mirror, the only way to take off the curse is to bury the pieces during the dark phase of the moon.

* If rain falls while the sun shines, it will rain at the same time tomorrow.

* If you have to go back to your house to retrieve something you've forgotten, you must sit down for a second or two before leaving again.

* Carrying a buckeye in your pocket protects you from bad health in general and rheumatism in particular. This one was followed only by men, for some reason.

* It's not safe to consume milk and fried fish at the same meal.

* Laugh before breakfast, and you'll cry before supper.

-- Janelle Buchanan, 52

Bad luck out of the tap

In my home, we did the "knock on wood" routine so often that the cabinets needed repainting every six months. My mother enforced a litany of rituals to avoid bad luck:

* Drop a comb; step on it before picking it up.

* Don't drink directly from a tap.

* To avoid poverty, at midnight on New Year's Eve, you had to shake a handful of silver coins. Fortunately, coins contained real silver back then.

-- Hank Zeybel, 71

Find a penny . . .


I am typically not the superstitious type; however, I do have a couple of superstitions about money that I cannot break.

If I see any coin on the ground, I have to stop and pick it up and recite the phrase, "Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck." My 4-year-old daughter has learned the verse, and she follows the same routine. Of course, she puts the penny in her piggy bank.

-- Marrika Malley, 33

Don't forget your 'bread and butter'

My great-grandmother was a veritable fountain of information on the topic, and her superstitions have been passed down to me through the women in the family. Somehow, I feel a compulsive need to avoid the bad luck associated with some events.

* When two people are walking, they should always try not to separate to go around an object. If they do, they both have to say, "bread and butter." I have no idea why.

* If you break a mirror, you'll have seven years of bad luck, but if one piece is triangular, it cancels it out.

* Having a ladybug on your person is a sign of good luck.

* Getting two wrappers on a Reese's cup is good luck, although I think I might have made that one up as a child.

-- Alison Copeland, 26

Never on an empty stomach


I am the seventh of eight children. We were all at the breakfast table before we started off for the day. I recall all of us wanting to discuss our dreams at the table. My mother would not permit us to relate the dream before breakfast unless it was good news. The superstition was that if the story was told on an empty stomach, it could come true. I still hold myself to that superstition.

-- Zita Wanda Wright, 72

Leave your broom behind


I was raised with the following "beliefs":

* Never let a tall, inert thing (pole, fence, etc.) pass between you and a friend when you are walking together: It will break your love/friendship.

* Never give a knife as a gift -- it will cut the friendship.

* Never give a mirror as a gift -- it will make the recipient vain.

* Never take a broom from one house to another -- you carry the bad luck it swept up with you.

-- Sarretta McCaslin, 43

Hats off the bed


The following superstitions were passed down to me by my father. I still follow them today.

* Always leave a house or building through the same door you entered.

* It is bad luck to put a hat on the bed.

-- Bertha Baker, 71

Itchy left hand? Yay!


I have plenty of superstitions:

* If my right hand itches, I'll meet someone new. If my left hand itches, I'm coming into money.

* If someone dreams that I died, it's going to be a lucky day. Quick! Buy a lottery ticket.

-- Cindy Roosken, fortysomething

Global jinxes


The superstitions in this country are common in other parts of the world, too. The following are some of the very common ones:

* Always plant seeds before noon.

* If you allow spider webs to gather in abundance, there will be a death in the family.

* It is not appropriate to say that someone's child is big, beautiful, etc., as some people have evil eyes and make them sick.

-- Rex Arseculeratne, 74

Left shoe first


When I was 5 or 6, my grandad told me to always put my left shoe on first, then the right, or else I would have bad luck all day long. I am now 68 and still follow this axiom because . . . Well, it doesn't cost me anything, and who wants to take a chance on having bad luck?

-- Larry Drake, 68

The Talker's Favorite Baller

The boy now has a favorite baseball player. Ryan Christianson, Catcher for the Tacoma Raniers. Yeah, wrong team...

But tonight The Talker caught a ball that Christianson threw into the stands at the end of the 4th inning. This is much cooler than the ball he found after batting practice a couple of weeks ago. He talked about "the nice catcher" the whole ride home.

Everybody had a good time on Thirst Thursday, ($1 sodas and $2 Shiner Bock) so we are headed back out to the stadium tomorrow night, for Fireworks Friday.

AtHomeDaddy and Son, Treehouse Builders

The Talker has been dreaming of a treehouse. Sadly, the only tree we have that is worthy of a treehouse is in the front yard. That would not automatically stop us from building a treehouse, but it was severely damaged in a storm a few years ago.

Before that, it was treehouse perfect, Now, I don't want to stress the tree anymore, so there is only a disc swing in the remaining half-an-oak-tree.

Besides, the kids have a fort, a play deck/stage on the side retaining wall and a playscape, complete with a huge elevated deck. But none of that matters. During The Princess' naptime, we got busy building a treehouse.

Technically it is a house beside a tree. OK, truthfully, I took the abandoned compost bin that I built four years ago and added a roof and a floor. Complete it with a small potted tree sitting in front, adding some secrecy and we have an almost instant treehouse.

The Talker helped hammer in the roof and floor. He is very proud of his treehouse. He must be a better carpenter than me. Let's hope... He jeered me when I bent a nail on the floor. "Here Daddy, try that one again..."

Let Me Sing You a Lullaby

This morning we went to play at a park close to our house. The SAHDs group was meeting there and we know most of the neighbors who play there, too. Did not want to miss a chance to play with lots of kids, only 1/2 a mile from home,even more so at $2.30 a gallon.

We played for 90 minutes and headed out when The Princess was sitting under the playscape, rubbing her head. This is the international sign for 'I am tired and I want a nap, so get me outta here!"

While walking back to the car, she put her head on my shoulder and got a head start on naptime. I was singing 'You are My Sunshine' to help her get to sleep.

The Talker first told me that I had to stop singing because "that song is for when it is dark". I kept singing, he kept protesting. His final argument won.

"Daddy, stop. You make people sick and sleepy when you sing."

Mission Accomplished

The grocery store that we shop at 99% of the time has a kid's program. When the kids shop with you, they get to collect points from a crane game. They can save the points for free snacks and small stuff like toothbrushes that they get at the store, or they can save for bigger items like beach towels and t shirts. For these they mail in the points. Just yesterday, The Talker mailed in 150 points for a blue visor.

The Talker got a little stuffed dog a couple of weeks ago for 20 points. He asked me last week if The Princess could have one also. No Problem. We have a bowl in the kitchen with several hundred points, waiting for something cool.

Turns out, these dogs are the most popular beagles in town. We tried two stores yesterday. Both were out of dogs. So we got free cereal with those points. This morning, we had to make a milk run. For all of that cereal. So we hit another store.

As I am buying the milk, I realize I left the point stickers at home. Luckily, they put points on the store brand kid's snacks, too. So we buy two boxes of crackers, to get enough points. Silly? Yes, but we hardly ever come to this store.

Then we headed over to the customer service desk, where they have the Max beagles in stock! Yeah for sister! On the way out of the store, we collected 5 more points out of the crane game. Yeah for us!

We are Here

No, AtHomeDaddy did not fall into Matagorda Bay and float away. Not that I did not think about trying it a few times...

Just nothing exciting to report. Everyone is finally healthy. Now we just need to get the sleep schedule back in order. The kids have started waking up at 6:15 AM. Not good. AtHomeDaddy needs him some sleep.

The fishing was less than thrilling this trip. Not that I gave up. I landed five fish on Thursday night. Kept two speckled seatrout, one was 16 inches long and the other was almost 26 inches long. Cool! The state limits keepers to 15" - 25", but you can take one larger speck per day. It is always a big thrill to catch an oversized fish, regardless of species. I also threw back a stingray, that someone had already cut the tail off, and a couple of small hardhead catfish. We will be dining on the specks one night this week.

The rest of the weekend, the fish won, except that big flounder that was on my dinner plate at the restaurant. The family had a good time cruising the sea wall and checking out the playgrounds in town. All in all, a good trip.

Except for the drive home, that is... Let's just call it The Talker's ride from Hell. I would give details, but The Boss Lady and I have vowed to never speak of the drive again.

Got a Goose?

This morning, The AtHomeTrio went in search of a part for our double jogging stroller. I have my doubts that this part will be easy to find, since this stroll was bought a year ago, as a closeout item, from an EBay store. I thought I would hit a few bike shops, since most of them around here sell jogging strollers, too.

When we were getting in the car, The Talker asked me where we were headed. I told him that we were going to try and get parts for our jogger and but that it might turn out to be a wild goose chase. When we came out of the first bike shop, he asked me, "Daddy, did we get the goose?"

No son, we did not get the goose. Maybe they have a goose at the next bike shop.

Off to Feed the Fishies

We are heading out about 1:00 Thursday afternoon. Going down to Pop's Place to do a little fishing and a lot of hiding from diapers, potty training and excessive amounts of time spent bonding with The Talker, in the bathroom. Two days, no hassles.

I hope the wife has a good weekend. And the kids? I hope they all have a great time planned with Pops.

I plan to be on the end of a fishing pole by 6 pm. I just might stay there until Saturday evening. Might even bait the hook. But only if I decide to get hassled by some fish.

ER Runs for Fun

Believe me, I thought of lots of worse titles, but NONE anymore acceptable...

The Talker got to take his first trip to the Emergency Room last night. He was finally getting dehydrated. He held out pretty good, considering he has been sick since Friday night. He went almost all day Tuesday without eating or drinking.

So, after it was all over, he did not get:

Any shots
Any catheters
Any IVs
Any suckers
Any X rays
Any milk since Friday afternoon
Any eye shields glued to his face
Any stickers

He did get:

A medication for nausea
To pretend the doctor did not really exist
To see a helicopter
A blue PowerAde
To stay up until 1:15 am
To sleep until 9:00 am

And best of all - The ER doctor told him that he would make "an excellent POW. Because The Talker would NEVER cooperate with the enemy."

Blog or get off the pot

Not much time for blogging lately. The Princess was sick Thursday afternoon, until Friday evening. The Talker took over late Friday night. The Boss Lady and I both felt awful Saturday evening. I felt OK Sunday. The Boss Lady is just getting back to normal today. I started feeling bad again last night. Hopefully I'll be over it in 24 hours, like the ladies of the house.

And The Talker is still down for the count. I don't think he has ever been sick four days in a row.

Except the first week of his life. He was being watched very closely for jaundice. He had blood tests daily and got to sleep inside of a lightbox with eye protection glued to his face. Now THAT was a heck of a way to say Welcome to the family!

At least the stomach flu does not require anyone to glue something to your face.

I've Been Working on the Eyes of Texas

Growing up in a college town must mess with kids minds a little bit. The Talker will argue until you give in, that the song I've Been Working on the Railroad is just the wrong way to sing The Eyes of Texas, the Alma Mater of The University of Texas at Austin.

It should prove interesting when he argues with his elementary music teacher, in a few years. Until then, he will be the kid yelling "Get your horns up!" every time they play the 'Hook 'Em Horns' song.

The Talker was blessed a daddy that can't carry a tune in a bucket. But the boy he really loves music. So this morning we have been playing over at the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services, Kid's Pages. The MIDI files are a hit with the 3 year old crowd!

They even have The Eyes of Texas. It is just listed in the wrong spot. If you want to hear it, go look under I've Been Working on the Railroad.

One Dollar Movie Review

Last night, The Boss Lady and I rented Finding Neverland. Good movie, especially if you are in need of a Great Pyrenees fix. My only problem with this movie: they implied the dog was a Newfoundland, but The Boss Lady and I are pretty sure it isn't. It was a badger marked pyr.

Ben never would dance but Bill used to dance with me. And just like in the movie, kids thought it was great. Adults were usually amazed to see a dog standing upright, almost 6 feet tall. Bill nearly looked me in the eye when he would dance.

So after all was said and done, I don't know if the movie was any good. But the dog was awesome.

Road Trip

The AtHomeFamily is heading out of town this afternoon. The wife and kids will be hanging out with The Mother of the Bride. Hopefully everyone will have fun.

Me? Hiding from diapers and whining and kids and family at a car swap meet in Ft Worth. This weekend is about a man and his truck.

Have fun. I know I will.

Bye Bye Freezer

Our deep freeze is dying a slow and painful death. Luckily, it made it through the really important task of keeping milk frozen for the baby. It only thawed itself out once or twice during that time. We lost some food back then, but found it soon enough, so the milk was able to go into the neighbor's freezer until ours decided to run again. It is a lot of fun going to the neighbor to ask to borrow a bottle of breast milk, let tell you...

The other day, we lost about $30 worth of meat and ice cream. It was a bummer, but at least the baby is weaned. The freezer is an old energy hog, so we decided it could go out on the curb during the next big trash day. Unfortunately, at the end of June.

Then The Boss Lady heard about Austin's Refrigerator and Freezer Recycling Program. Instead of letting it go to the landfill, where they do some recycling of the compressors, the electric company will recycle 98% of the materials. Plus, we get $35 to put towards a new, more energy efficient model. Gotta love living in a city that is environmentally conscious. That is, compared to most other areas of Texas.

The only problem, we have to make sure the freezer is running today, when they pick it up. So far, so good. I plugged it yesterday after letting it rest for a few days, and it is keeping cold. Just a few more hours, baby, you can do it.

That was NASTY

How can a little 13 month old girl blow out a diaper so bad that it requires a shower and a complete change of clothes for she and I, both, AND change of bed linens, including the mattress pad? AND a scrubbing of the walls, dresser and baby bed with bleach wipes?

Next up? Burning the clothes we had on before THE EVENT.

The good news? I think she feels better and I KNOW she smells better.

Baseball Night

The boy and I went to a baseball game last night. The Boss Lady had to work late, so she took the girl with her. We left really early for the ball game, so that we could play on the playscape in the outfield.

The Express have really figured out how to get families to the ball park. They have a pool, sand volleyball courts, a basketball courts, a huge playscape and several bouncers and a rock climbing wall - all in the outfield - so families can keep the kids entertained during the game.

The Talker does fine during the game, as long as we go find Spike, at some point during the game. Last night was even better, though, because he made a haul. The Talker got Spike's autograph on his ball glove. He got to hang out with Uncle Lemon. He got a foul ball (from batting practice, but it was still a REAL baseball)! And eventually, he got a gimme baseball, too!

Ages that Just Don't Work

The Talker likes to play with all of the kids in the neighborhood. He is 3 1/2 years old. The kids he wants to play with most are 4 1/2 to 6 years old. They used to play pretty well together. But I am becoming convinced that there are some ages where kids need to wear shirts saying "Does Not Play Well With Others". I am just not sure which kids should wear the shirt first.

The Talker plays rough. He likes to play chase and tackle and games that involve falling down. I know that turns off some kids. And we keep him reigned in pretty tight when the others don't want to play the same way. But it usually works OK, since the neighborhood is full of boys who are just as active.

Except most of the boys are older. And they don't want to play with a younger kid. Especially when there are other options. That leaves our boy trying to keep up as the other kids play games that don't involve a 3 1/2 year old tornado.

For the time being, The Boss Lady and I are trying to figure out if it is really just a matter of age. Hopefully so, and hopefully it will get better in time. For now, The AtHomeFamily is taking a hiatus from the evening neighborhood playtime.

The Voices I Hear

While The Princess is napping and The Talker is eating snack on the JOllie Squishy Bug, I thought I would share a few things that I have heard The Talker say this morning..

"Miss Peggy lives at Mommy's school. Not with the cows."

When I found him standing in the kitchen and staring at the refrigerator, "I am waiting in line for my juice."

"C'mon Buzz Lightyear, lets go scootering."

"Daddy let's go outside and hunt lady bugs."

"Oh NO! I can't hunt lady bugs, I don't have a doodie gun."

"Oh look, the reindeer are eating all the ladybugs!"

Birthday Party Car Night

Busy weekend for the AtHomeFamily. We all attended a birthday party for a 4 year old friend of The Talker's this morning. The family arranged for a bouncer. But we should have paid them for letting our kids bounce. They took 3 hour naps this afternoon. And I got 3 hours of truck time!

This evening we went out to a "Cruise In Night" in the parking lot of the Home Depot near The Boss Lady's school. These guys come from all over town to show off their cars (and a few trucks). Tonight's attendees included a red Ferrarri, a 53 Ford Ranchero, a family of 5 that brought his and hers Vipers (hers had a toddler's car seat built into the center console) several old Chevy trucks (two were 1968s), lots of Corvettes, one really awesome rat-rod (that had no windows at all and vice grips for a gear shift lever), a couple of 57 Chevy's and a late 50's Ford Skyliner (a hardtop convertible- very cool!)

The Talker was pretty impressed with the cars, but somehow he still ended up playing in the sheds on display in the Home Depot parking lot. I guess when you are 3, no car is as cool as a barn with a ladder to the 2nd floor loft. Besides, when he was playing in the barn, he was NOT still throwing gravel at a row of 1960's Camaro's.

Fire Truck Park

I am constantly amazed by The Talker's ability to remember details and names. He will ask us something about a child, like "What color was Evan's shirt?"

My usual responses include, "Who?" "Dunno." Or the ever popular, "Do we know an Evan?"

"You remember the boy at the park, with the blue spiderman shirt that has firetruck shoes on his feets and his mommy told him to come back and he walked down the trail to see the ducks and his mommy got mad and he got in time out because he was in trouble and his mommy said you can't wear the blue spiderman shirt if you don't listen to me. You remember that, daddy?"

"Oh yeah, him. Wasn't that like two months ago?"

"Yeah daddy. It was blue and had spiderman on it and..."

This morning, the boy was trying his hardest to get little sister to go to The Fire Truck Park. This is the largest park in the area and it has an antique fire truck in the middle of the playscape. The Talker convinced me and The Princess that this was the best idea in the world. Ever.

We were the 3rd car in the parking lot at 9:35 this morning. Beautiful! Now the kids can actually play without getting lost in a crowd of kids on field trips from school. Or not. Five minutes after we got there, the busses started pulling up. 650 kids and 30 minutes later, we left to go play on the smaller playscape at the recreation center, on the other side of the park.

The kids had a good time at both parks. But AtHomeDaddy got one last lecture on the way to the recreation center. The boy remembered last time, six weeks ago, when he lost sight of me and thought he was lost. Forever. He wanted to make sure there would be no repeat, ever.

"Daddy, remember when we went to the recreation center and you left me and I was sad and you gave me candy and I was happy and we left and I was sad again? Can I have some candy?"

The Mattress Game

This evening at dinner, I asked The Talker what he wanted to do once we were finished eating. I fully expected him to answer either, "Let's watch the Buzz Lightyear show" or "Let's go play with our friends". However, I was not prepared for his actual answer, "Let's play the mattress game!"

Huh? What? He then continued, "Let's get it out and blow it up and bounce". Oh, NOW I get it. The Boss Lady was still lost and confused, though. One point for daddy.

A while back we pilfered a self-inflatable mattress from The Queen Mother. It was brand new and as far as blow-up mattresses go, a really nice one. Mom paid a lot for it. Then we stole it. But it is OK, because she has replaced it already.

The Talker likes to use this mattress as an indoor trampoline. Anytime we have overnight guests, he ends up jumping as early as possible, the next morning. So tonight, we played the mattress game for half an hour before bath and bedtime. And I don't know about the kids, but my legs are sore.

Hopefully they are worn out enough that they will need to sleep in tomorrow morning. Because I know I will.

Trading Spaces

Running the vacuum can be a very time consuming chore around here. Yesterday, I wanted to clean the kids bedrooms a little, so I recruited some helpers, The Talker and The Princess, and we got to work.

Since the ultimate goal was to get the carpets clean, we needed to move the furniture. Since we were moving everything around, I decided to try something the The Boss Lady and I have discussed for a while.

The Talker and The Princess are now sharing a bedroom. We are doing this on a trial basis. Depending on how they nap and sleep at night, we might not be able to keep the rooms set up like this. Yesterday, at naptime, it did not look promising. But last night they slept like angels.

The bonus is that now we can get some of the toys out of the living room, since the kids have a play room set-up in what was The Talker's bedroom. I was hopeful that all of the toys would fit in there, but the room is small, so for now, the train table remains in the living room. Maybe someday Paige Davis will come by and help me get that out of the living room, too.

Shop Time

I have only ventured out in the woodshop a few times since The Princess was born. I don't think I have started (or finished) any projects in almost a year.

The Boss Lady has to go to work in a couple of hours, so I need to hang close to the house while she gets ready. But I really wanted to get away for a while. So I hid out in the garage and started working on a new wooden truck design. What else would it be? A 1968 Chevy Longbed, Stepside, of course.

I drew up some basic plans a couple of months ago, but this morning I actually put the saw to the wood for a while. I got a rough body and rear fenders cut out.

Maybe I'll have it finished before The Princess' second birthday.

Just for grins and bragging rights, here is a picture of a Hummer (aka The Homer) that I built last year for The Talker. And here is a tractor/trailer I built a while back.

PLAYDATE!

The Talker has been looking forward to going to his friend's house for two months. Tennis Boy lives in the neighborhood, and they met while paying at the park. His mom is a tennis pro and he is evidently pretty good. Whatever that means, when you are talking about a three and a half year old kid.

Every time we drive by, The Talker reminds me that "Someday we will have a playdate at Tennis Boy's house." Tennis Boy's mom and I set a playdate for today at 10 am. We got a late start over and by 10:15, they were walking down the street.

We went, we played, the playdate moved to our backyard, so The Princess could nap, and we played some more. Two hours and no tears. A very successful first playdate. The next playdate is already scheduled to start at our house, 9:30, next Wednesday morning.

Wanna come play at my house?

The Payoff Pitch

The AtHomeTrio went on their own road trip last night. We went to the ballpark and finally got to see a winning effort. The Princess had fun, but she wanted nothing of sitting in my lap. She only wanted to sit in her own seat, on top of the diaper bag. The Talker was his usual self, entertaining the crown with his dancing and cheering. At one point he got bored with his sister and me, so he went and sat down beside the people in front of us. He even stayed down there after he turned and told the guy "Your not Uncle Lemon."

We left in the 6th inning, which might explain the win. But, we were there long enough to see Danny Klassen hit a Grand Slam Homerun! The first I have ever seen. The Talker was dancing in the aisle.

So now, AtHomeDaddy's record for the season stands at 1-3. The team's season record, 3-4. And the big payoff of the night? Keep the kids up to 9:45 and The Talker sleeps until 8. The Princess? Dunno? Still asleep and it is now, 8:45! I'd rather have that than a grand slam, any day!

Road Trip

The Boss Lady is going out of town tomorrow. She and several of her teachers are traveling a couple of hours away to visit a school that is very similar to theirs. They get to compare notes with someone else and see new approaches to dealing with common problems.

Me? I'll be holding down the fort for 36 hours, solo. I think the kids and I might sneak out to the baseball game Wednesday night for a few innings.

But, counting tonight, I have been to three games this season and they have lost all of those. They won all but one of the others. So, maybe the team will pay us to stay away. Then, the kids and I can go to a movie or to the indoor playground.

Do You Know the Difference Between 350 Degrees and 450?

Yes, technically the answer is 100 degrees. But in AtHomeDaddy Land, the answer might as well be, burned brownies.

I was trying to bake some brownies for The Boss Lady's birthday dinner. While I was feeding The Princess AND cooking The Talker's lunch. And two out of three ain't bad, right? I got the kids fed and down for nap. And then I noticed the smell.

Brownies burn very well in a convection oven. Especially if you accidentally add 100 degrees to the temperature setting on the oven. Dang, and I was being SO smart. I remembered to take off some bake time, since I was using the convection system.

If only I had read the directions closer. Or at all. Then The Boss Lady would have brownies tonight for her birthday dinner. Now I guess it'll be Ritz crackers with strawberry icing on top. Just like last year. That makes it a tradition, right?

Happy Birthday, Boss Lady. Hopefully the kitchen won't still stink when you get home.

The END of the Weekend is Near

The AtHomeFamily has made use of the local highway system this weekend. Saturday morning we headed downtown to the Kars and Kids Car Show. Thunderstorms and bad weather were predicted, so there were not too many kars (or kids). It was still an awesome time. I'll post some pictures over at TruckinDaddy, soon.

Today, after church, we headed out to watch the local minor league, triple-A baseball team, Round Rock Express. It was hot, the Express lost and we left early. Definitely not a total loss, though. The kids got free baseball gloves for attending, and since it was a Sunday game, the team has family activities outside of the stadium before first pitch.

The Talker got to ride a horse and he got to slide on an inflatable slide lots of times. The inflatable obstacle course almost proved too tough, but he finally climbed over a big wall and finished the entire thing with only a little help from dad.

We were supposed to do "Mommy" things this weekend. After all, it is The Boss Lady's Birthday, Monday. Lucky for me, The Boss Lady enjoyed getting to do lots of family things this weekend, even if they were things that The Talker and I picked.

But we finally did "Mommy" stuff, when we went out to dinner tonight, with Uncle Lemon, My So Called Aunt and their children, Beautiful and Gorgeous. Our kids were well behaved. Theirs? They acted better than 1 year old Golden Retriever puppies. And since their puppies are really nice dogs, that is saying a lot.

The Boss Lady is going out of town Wednesday and will be gone for 36 hours. Should get exciting around here, about mid-week.

The Weekend is Near

This morning started a little early for The Boss Lady. At 3 am The Princess was running a fever. Since she is teething, just had shots, and is prone to urinary tract infections, The Boss Lady called our Pediatrician. This morning, we all headed down to The Pediatrician's office. The Talker and I skipped out on the fun and went to the park across the street. We chased ducks. We climbed trees. We played on the playscape. We won this morning.

They? The girls got to sit in the waiting room, waiting to get a 'sample' so they could test for another urinary tract infection. No urinary tract infection!

And no, I still have not folded the clothes. Yes, the pile is getting bigger, and yes I had to shove a lot of clothes out of the way so I could sit down on the couch. And yes, I dressed the children right out of the pile this morning. But that just means fewer clothes to fold tonight, right?

I should be folding clothes...

but I decided to post some more recent pictures instead. Enjoy.

Here is a picture of The Princess at the park, taken about two months ago.

This one was taken during our Saturday Easter Egg hunt. That's my girl. Who cares about eggs when there is a truck to play with!

The Talker got to drive a lot of tractors at the fair, three weeks ago.

Try as we might, getting both in the same picture is a real trick. This was from about a month ago.

And here, you can check them out in their Easter best.

One of these days I'll actually update the kid's webpages, but this will have to do for now.

Late to the Party

The Boss Lady and I have not rented a movie in a long time. Blockbuster once reported us to a credit agency for a $3 late fee. And that pretty much did it for us.

But now, our grocery store has installed an automated DVD machine. You scroll the titles, pick one and it charges your credit card $1 a day. After 14 days, they charge your card $25 and you own that movie. Great. Now if they will ad some self-checkout lines, I will finally shop in peace. And I won't have to deal with the creepy 132 year old checkout woman.

Last night, needing mindless entertainment, we rented Dodgeball. Watching Rip Torn chunk wrenches at people from his wheelchair is well worth the dollar. Maybe it was not worth the $25 keeper fee, though. I had it back at the store before 10am.

Tonight's Feature Presentation, Friday Night Lights.

Amen, Brother

Russ, over at The Daily Yak, has a post up, about his wife and her recently hectic schedule.

Even though our schedule is not really crazy right now, I can sure share the sentiment. And by linking to his, I don't have to type all of the mushy stuff. Thanks, Russ.

But mainly, Thanks, to The Boss Lady.

I Once Hated the Time Change

But The Princess is still asleep, and The Talker has only been up for 35 minutes! Gotta love those legislative geniuses that gave us Day Light Savings Time!

The kids both had doctor's appointments yesterday. Once they FINALLY woke up, we rushed around getting dressed and out of the house. The Talker evidently has really big tonsils. And they only get bigger until the kid is 7 or 8. If they stay in that long. We shall see.

And the doc's advice about the boy's raspy voice? "Try not to let him talk loud, or yell" He is getting nodules on his vocal cords because he is always whooping and hollering when he plays. Keeping him quiet? Not a chance. Not even if we gagged him and kept a pillowcase over his head.

And The Princess? She got her one year shots. Plus one shot that we missed because of a urinary tract infection, at nine-months. Handled them like a queen! She cried for less than 30 seconds. And her moron daddy had left the pacifier at home.

She napped on the way home, so we went to the neighborhood park. Lots of kids and moms out there, so The Princess got lots of sympathy for her three band-aids on her legs.

The Boss Lady has gotten to come home from work early the last couple of days. So she has had time to play with the kids outside, before dark. Makes life gooder for all of us. Especially since it is not dark until about 10 minutes before bedtime, right now.

Having a Ball on Her Birthday

The AtHomeFamily is out of babies. We only have toddlers around here. The Princess turns ONE, today.

And continuing a tradition we started on The Talker's first birthday, she got a giant rubber ball for her birthday. You know the kind that they stick in 8 foot tall wire bins at Target or the grocery store.

Yep, that's it. And you know what? The Talker still has his big red ball, two and a half years later. And he still plays with it. Tell me another toy that still gets played with almost daily, two years later, and maybe we won't be so cheap on the kid's next birthdays...

We are going to hit all of the cool places on her birthday. Target. The mall. The grocery store. Since we all went to the auto parts store last night, I guess we will skip that. Maybe next year!

Insert your own rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" , here...

Birthday Party Success

The Princess will be 1 year old in a few days. So we had a birthday party for her this morning, after church. It was a small party with a few neighbors and several of the kid's cousins. The kids all had a blast, and there were only a few tears shed.

The mommies talked about stuff that daddies don't care to discuss in public. The daddies talked about the truck. What a great party. Even if most of the dads almost got in trouble, because we were outside looking at the truck, instead of watching the opening of the presents.

But it is all good. Because there are cupcakes left for breakfast!

The Busy Before the Storm

The inlaws have landed. There are at least three hotels within two miles of here. Lucky for me, they are using those accommodations.

Since they were only here for a while today, and The Mother of the Bride brought three of our nieces down with her, I spent the morning (after a little truck time) getting the yard ready. I got all of the mowing, edging, weed-eating, and blowing the clippings off of the driveway and patio done before lunch.

It would have taken all day, but I went out in jeans and a sweatshirt. By 11, it was almost 80 degrees and I was overdressed. Nothing like dehydration to make me mow faster!

Hang Out Day

Recently The Talker has decided he likes "hanging out here", or playing at home for those of you not schooled in cool-kid three-year-old speak.

So today, we hung out. We played animals, with his hundred or so little plastic animals. We played cowboys with the red and yellow and blue cowboy men and Indians. We played with the Fisher Price Little People. We read books.

All good stuff. And a good day to be inside, since the wind was blowing 25 miles per hour almost all day long. I did not really want to risk going out there anyways. Neither of the kids weighs much. They might have taken flight in the breeze, today.
Except for that quick trip to get Krispy Kreme doughnuts, this morning. The boy and I were hungry and we found $10 laying by the computer. That trip was work the fly-away risk. But otherwise, it was a great day to play inside.

A little blogkeeping

I have updated my blogroll list. I deleted a couple of sites and I finally found one that was MIA.

A big "sorry, bud" goes out to Eccentric Father. Turns out I posted it to ADHDaddy by mistake.