The Boys of Simiskeyville

LDS Night at Minute Maid Park

2011-08-14T21:22:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, June 29, 2011 - Tonight was our annual Latter-day Saint Friends and Family Night at Minute Maid Park to watch the Houston Astros. It was co-sponsored by the Houston chapters of the BYU Management Society (of which I'm the current president) and the BYU Alumni Association. This year, we wanted to try something different. So I obtained permission from the Astros for us to have a Primary children's choir sing the National Anthem (in LDS lingo, it was a "multi-stake" group...meaning that the children came from about a dozen different congregations in the area). As a result, approximately 90 Primary children (ages 5-12) from the Katy, Richmond and Sugar Land areas of Houston had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity....but I'm certain that no one enjoyed it as much as I - and their parents - did.

Before the night ever happened, we already started talking about next year's event. It's going to be bigger and better. But nothing will ever change how special the first go-round was. Thanks to everyone who participated in the choir. And thanks to the more than 500 people who purchased tickets with our group. See you back at Minute Maid Park in 2012!

Pre-game with my two favorite baseball buddies.

On the big screen!

Waving to the crowd after a job well done! If you look closely, you can see me and the boys cheering the choir on along the right field warning track near the tunnel entrance (far right of the picture).

Our amazing choir director - Taggert Mayfield. A legend in his own time. He worked his tail off to make this thing happen. And, as with everything he does, he went way, way above and beyond - both in time and with his personal financial resources. Most of those kids and families will never know how he impacted that night or how lucky we were to have him. Thanks again, Tagg!

Corpus Retreat, Part One

2011-03-21T01:46:00.000-05:00

Wednesday-Thursday, August 11-12, 2010. This post is entirely generated out of the sheer missing of my boys. Because of joint custody and our 50-50 split, Amy and I rotate who gets the boys for Spring Break. I get even years, she gets odd. So they've been enjoying their break from school with her and her parents this past week. They've been having a good time, and I've enjoyed hearing about their adventures each night on the phone. But dang I miss them! I miss them after an HOUR, so I'm pulling my hair out after a WEEK (hey, no bald jokes!).

And since the weather has been beach-worthy lately, I've been spending a lot of time daydreaming about being on the sand with my kiddos. Which brought up the memory of a mini vacation that we took last August down to Corpus Christi (about 3 hours away) that I never blogged about. So here are the pics. It's mostly just a late-night therapy session for me to look through photos and relive a great memory. T-minus 14 hours until I see them again!

Beeju kissing his bed. Yes, kissing. Repeatedly. He loved this place. Loved everything about it. Now THAT's the kind of genuine reaction that lets you know they're enjoying themselves.

Nut opening his gift bag from the hotel. They had a great kids program...gift bags at check-in (treats, games, etc), cookies and milk delivered to the room in the evening, etc. It's 7 months later, and the boys still talk excitedly about this hotel.

View from the room. Very relaxing.

Another shot from the room. That's the USS Lexington, which we visited the next day (see below and the part two post).

Nut and his froggie enjoying the hot tub while Beeju swam.

Peanut vs Beeju in ping pong. Mostly just ping, actually. There wasn't much back and forth...too many killer serves.

One of the many games we played back in our room.

Peanut and his entourage of stuffed friends. Out like a light. Didn't even make it through the story we were reading.

Beeju and his entourage of stuffed friends. He was giddy all night. Made me so happy.

Rested and ready for the day!

With a Blue Angel.

Visiting the USS Lexington.

All aboard!

No real reason for a second shot of this. Except that I love their goofiness. And it cracks me up that Noah kept posing like that (one hand on his hip, the other in the air). No idea why. But I love it. Oh, and it kinda looks like Peanut has rabbit ears. Cute little Bunny.

Post continued...

Corpus Retreat, Part Deux

2011-03-21T01:00:00.000-05:00

Wednesday-Thursday, August 11-12, 2010. Continuation of our mini vacation to Corpus Christi...

Riding the shuttle to the ship. Sorry...can't take my eyes off that hot beard. It's more Ben Affleck than Brett Keisel, but it'll do.

Dang I love our flag. Always have. Chokes me up every time I see Old Glory. I literally can't pass her by without pausing. What a great country we live in. Perfect? Heck no. But there's no place like it. Where's my Lee Greenwood CD when I need it?

The boys putting on their best "brig faces."

Seeing all the old military garb made me miss both my Grandpas. Great men. Sure wish the boys had known them. Some day.

Beeju and his favorite plane on the deck. Obviously it was the one with the skull and crossbones. Duh.

Nut and his favorite plane on the deck.

Had to wait in a long line to get onto the ferry in Port Aransas because a couple of their boats were out of commission that day. So I had plenty of time to laugh at this sign. I mean, seriously...thank you, Captain Obvious.

Trying to ride the ferry, stare into the sun and take a reverse, one-handed pic of the three of us. Face it...my skills are legit.

It wouldn't be a trip to Corpus without a couple of hours playing on the beach. Only got a couple of quick shots here, because the photog was too busy playing the whole time.

Dude, check out those guns. My boy has been working out.

This pic doesn't do justice to the cool playground I found online for us to visit just before the long drive home.

Peanut.

Mr. Noah - always the monkey.

Come On Baby, Light My Fire...works

2011-03-07T00:26:00.001-06:00

Friday, September 10, 2010. One major benefit of the Houston Astros not being good recently is that the team occasionally runs some killer promos to sell tickets. On one particular homestand last September, they had an especially good deal. I got field box tickets 6 rows up from 1st base for $9. AND it was bobblehead night. AND it was dollar dog night. AND it was a Friday fireworks night. Jackpot. So of course I got tickets for me and the boys.

The game ended up going into extra innings (a two-run HR by the Dodgers won it in the 11th), but the boys were determined to stay and see the fireworks. So we didn't get home until almost 1:00a, but it was worth every minute. And what a way for Peanut to see his first game!

Brothers walking and talking on the way to Minute Maid Park. I'm sorry, but is that cute or what? Ridiculously cute. Seriously, I can't stop staring at it.

Saw Mickey on the way in to our seats. Peanut probably could've seen this and gone home and been happy. But little did he know the fun that was yet in store.

If you look closely, I'm pretty sure his shoes are on fire. Smokin' fast!

Curious George does NOT fool around when he runs. And yet, he still manages to smile the entire way. You just cannot possibly take the adorable out of that boy.

This shows you how close we were. For $9! (Those seats are normally $39.) And our section was only sparsely filled. In fact, we just about had our entire row to ourselves. Which allowed for my munchkins to wander up and down the row periodically to stretch their legs - a key benefit in any baseball game, but especially an extra inning affair.

Q: What's the only thing better for a young fan than cotton candy at a baseball game?

A: Having your own, so you don't have to share.

Talk about focused. He looks like Clubber Lang waiting for Rocky in Rocky III ("Dead meat."). This was a game where a shot of water would come out of that hole in the middle of the plate, and you had to try to hit it.

Look at that bat speed! He missed the water, but he's putting together a nice golf swing.

The first 10,000 fans got free harmonicas. I know, I had the same quizzical reaction at first. See below for why they handed them out.

So after the game finally ended, and while we waited for the retractable roof to open for the fireworks show, they attempted to set a new Guinness world record for "largest harmonica ensemble." Uh, ok. Whatever. So here we are doing our part to make history. It was an honor, really. And by that, I mean it helped to pass the time while we waited for the fireworks.

Pure enjoyment. And I'm just talking about me watching Sam watching fireworks.

Admiring the fireworks. First of all, I LOVE the joy on Noah's face - and the way he was nuzzling me and holding my arm. Second, check out those mad photo skills. Ladies and germs...the one-handed no looker!

Green Acres Is The Place To Be

2011-03-06T22:46:00.000-06:00

Saturday, October 23, 2010. This was our annual autumn visit to Dewberry Farm in Brookshire, TX - just a stone's throw from home (assuming you could throw a stone 20 miles). Great place to take the kids and spend an afternoon. We couldn't get enough and ended up shutting the place down at night this time. Lots of fun things to do. Plus, they sell food on sticks which is just a bonus.

It just wouldn't be a true Texan blog without a good farm post every now and again.

Brief pause in the action. I love this shot because of Sammy's facial expression. You have to click on it and blow it up for the full effect. Such a Nut.

A determined Nut at the duck races. You have to prime the pump so that the water comes out and creates a current for the rubber duckies to race down the row.

Moments before getting bounced to the moon.

Sno-cone break.

Getting ready for the pig races. I tried to get shots of the race itself, but those little squealers were FAST. Gave me nightmarish flashbacks to the javelinas that chased me on a Scout campout at Aransas Pass back in the day as a scrawny 12-year-old when my leader dropped me off near the entrance to hike in to camp by myself so I could pass off a requirement. I've never been the same since. Come up behind me and squeal and see how fast I run. Seriously...do it...I want to hear you squeal. Come on, chicken.

Noah's obviously thrilled to be taking this pic. But he still humored me. I love that about him.

Somehow, Nut always seems 3-4 inches too short for these things no matter where we go or how big or small the sign. But you gotta love the effort from Shorty.

Hot on the trail in the corn maze.

Riding in these things for an adult is mega-uncomfortable. It has the leg room of a dishwasher (even for a 6-year-old, as you can see). But riding around with these angels, do you really think I cared even the slightest? No. The answer is no.

Well Bowl Me Over!

2011-03-06T21:17:00.000-06:00

Monday, July 26, 2010 (and repeated frequently since). This was Noah and Sam's introduction to bowling. And boy was it a hit. We have subsequently spent many an hour at the alleys (and, since Christmas, on the Wii) rolling the rocks. These kids are naturals.

From his very first step, his approach was flawless. And despite running full speed, he never crosses the line. It's amazing, really.

Are you kidding me? This boy has PBA Champ written all over him. And you have no idea how much he loves bowling. Actually, look at the picture again...ok, now you have an idea.

Had to post a second shot, because one just wasn't enough.

Nut was determined to bowl just like big brother, including using the same ball - despite it weighing what seemed to be four times the weight of his little Peanut body.

Thank goodness for bumpers, because this boy had so much english on the ball that it was really more like spanglish. Whatever he was doing was working though, because he picked up split after split after split.

After the first game, Nut's arms started wearing down, so we brought in the iron maiden of bowling (except that it's not really a "medieval instrument of torture," but still, that makes it sound wicked cool). Even with the ramp, Jerry put some sweet spin on his rolls. Check out that left-hand follow-through.

They Were Indian Outlaws - Half Cherokee and Choctaw (er, Seminole)

2011-03-06T20:38:00.000-06:00

September 17-19, 2010.

Anytime BYU plays a sporting event within striking distance of Houston, there's a good chance I'll be there. Last September, I drove the 1,500 mile round trip to Tallahassee, FL to watch them play (or attempt to play) the Florida State Seminoles in football. (As a bonus, I got to drive through Chattahoochee, FL...where, I hear, it gets hotter than a....). I was also able to arrive in time Friday evening to attend the team's fireside (a tradition of Bronco's whenever they play a road game), which was really cool. It was there that I learned from the locals that you must always, always refer to the FSU colors as GARNET and gold - a lesson that was reiterated multiple times during our visit in Tallahassee.

My brother, Stan, and two of his kids (Colin and Jack) couldn't leave Houston until later, so they drove through the night and arrived just in time to wake me up in the morning and crash in my hotel room. After Stan caught a couple of zzz's, we headed over near campus to meet up for lunch with Cheri (my brother James' sister-in-law), her son Cody and her dad Roger who were all in town for Cody's campus visit and the football game. (Cheri posted those pics on Facebook, so I won't re-post here.)

Then came the football game. That blasted football game. The Cougs battled and scored 10 late points in the first half to close the gap to 13-10 heading into the break. Unfortunately, they didn't come out for the second half. Final score: 34-10. After another loss at TCU in October, BYU is now 0-5 in road games that I've been to. I'm starting to take it personally.

I'll think twice about going to another early season outdoor game in the hot, humid south. It was sweltering in Tallahassee! Well, ok, I'll think twice AFTER I go see the Cougs play Ole Miss in Oxford on Sept 3 and UT in Austin on Sept 10 this fall.

Here come the men in white.

The grand entrance of Chief Osceola and his horse, Renegade.

Just seconds before Jake Heaps threw a 4-yard TD pass to Cody Hoffman 14 seconds before halftime to make it 13-10 FSU....the peak of our excitement for the day.

Me and two of my stud nephews, Colin and Jack, staying in the shade during halftime. Dang, it was hot that day.

I'm pretty sure those were our hopes for a good season that were burning on the end of the statue in front of Doak Campbell Stadium after the game.

After the shelacking in Tallahassee, we wimpered over to stay the night with our Aunt Lynette, where we got to visit with her and some of our long, lost cousins (one of which, apparently, goes by "Booger.")

Very odd Ripley's Believe It or Not building in Florida. Had to do a double take.

Playing on the beautiful beach near Panama City (where my aunt lives).

New Beginnings

2011-03-06T19:19:00.000-06:00

Monday, August 23, 2010. Now that we're within a week of Spring Break, I guess I should post the pics from the first day of school. That's what social media is all about...real-time information. From 6+ months ago.

My little Curious George standing by his bin at his new pre-k/daycare.

Nutty excited for his first day of the school year.

Beeju armed and ready to nail first grade!

Sitting at his new desk. I love seeing his bottled up excitement and apprehension on the first day of school. So dang cute.

I've gotten to be pretty good at taking these one-handed self-shots. What I haven't yet figured out is how to photoshop out the glare from my sexy melon.

Hoop, There It Is

2011-03-06T18:48:00.000-06:00

Monday, July 26, 2010. If you ranked the things that the boys and I have spent the most free time on since last summer, at or near the top of that list would be our indoor ESPN SportsCenter. A friend from church called me one day and said that they had been cleaning out their garage and wondered if I wanted a sports set that was still in the unopened box that had been in their garage for years. Without more details than that, I skeptically said "sure." And thank goodness I did. Because that thing rocks the universe. We love it! It has provided hours and hours of entertainment and exercise - especially on those ridiculously hot Texas days (and during that horrendous Houston blizzard of 2011...). Thanks a bagillion to our friends for their generosity!

Peanut draining one. Back in July, they used to shoot from this normal distance. Now, they like to step back a ways and jack up the long ball "like Jimmer." So heads up if you're ever in a neighboring room. Or zip code.

Beeju bringing the heater. He's got some velocity and movement. And that's after only 3 months of getting regular "Roger Clemens" shots. And maybe a few rubdowns of "the cream" and "the clear."

Here's a wider angle view so you can see the full capabilities. When the black sleeve is down (like in these pics), you can play basketball, baseball and football. When you fold the sleeve down, you can play soccer, golf and hockey. There are dozens of options for different competitions, and it's all narrated by Stuart Scott (from the TV version of ESPN's SportsCenter). I still can't believe we own this bad boy.

Una Fiesta in South Padre

2011-03-06T18:13:00.001-06:00

November 26-27, 2010. Part of our 50-50 joint custody arrangement with the boys deals with us rotating certain holidays - one of which is Thanksgiving. So this past November, Amy got the boys that weekend. Because of that, I decided to head down to the South Padre Island Invitational to watch the BYU men's basketball team in a Friday-Saturday tournament. [For you non-Texans, South Padre Island is a popular Spring Break/winter home/beach resort town at the very southern tip of Texas.]

The tourney was extra fun to attend because (1) the gym (the South Padre Island Convention Center) was very intimate - probably smaller than my high school gym even and (2) BYU fans far outnumbered any of the other teams playing. The primary teams this year were BYU, St. Mary's, Texas Tech and South Florida. We got treated to two days of fantastic basketball (and one afternoon of nightmarish football when BYU blew their game against Utah...which we were watching in one of the restaurants down there on Friday in between games...but I digress). The Cougs won the tournament by defeating South Florida 77-75 in double overtime (on a last second shot by Noah Hartsock!) and St. Mary's 74-73 (thanks to a 3-pointer by Jimmer with 11 seconds left!). I was apparently caught on TV during my exuberance singing the fight song at the end of the championship game - a less than flattering moment caught by my friends, the Elliotts, which they then felt compelled to share on Facebook. (And which their son still laughs about when he sees me.)

Just a couple of pics from day 2 of the tourney...

This shows how close to the action I was in my front row seat (which I rarely sat down in). Which means I technically didn't have to yell that loud. But let's be clear...I did anyway.

Post-tournament award ceremony. Hartsock, Jax and Jimmer were all-tourney, and Jimmer was the MVP.

Me with the MVP (and soon-to-be National Player of the Year?!?) Jimmer Fredette.

Talk About Scary

2011-03-06T17:39:00.001-06:00

Halloween 2010. It was brought to my attention yesterday that a couple of friends who I hadn't seen since the mid-90's had stumbled onto my blog and been reading it. Which made me realize: shoot, if someone's actually reading this thing, I should get going and update it. So I'm going to try to crank out a series of posts from the last 6 months or so. Just highlights at this point. And in no chronological order.

It's hard to be a scary lion when you laugh and smile constantly. But that's why I love Peanut so much. It's almost impossible to keep him from grinning.

Beeju as Dracula. I couldn't find kid-sized vampire teeth, so he tried to mash in the adult ones. That was a hard costume for me. Next year, I'll do better. He was happy though, and that's what matters.

I never dress up for Halloween. And now you know why. But hey, the humor was at someone else's expense, so it wasn't all that painful. And let's be honest, it was dead on for James (one of my older brothers). In fact, someone who knows both of us saw me at our church Halloween party and (without seeing/reading my sign) made a comment about how I looked like the old pictures of James that she had seen. I rest my case. My only regret...posting this pic on Facebook. Really Ben? Really? I embarrass myself sometimes.

When Wobbles Turn Into Holes

2010-09-28T22:35:00.000-05:00

Sunday, September 12, 2010. For weeks and weeks, Noah had a couple of loose teeth. The initial wobbles gradually morphed into bends which slowly became twists and turns. By the end, those darn teeth were doing moves that would make Olympic gymnasts jealous. Finally, during the wee hours of Sunday morning, while Beeju and his wobbly teeth slept soundly, tooth #1 bit the dust. When he first woke up, he didn't even notice. Watching his stunned reaction when it finally hit him was priceless. So we went into his room and searched through his sheets until we found the missing mouth jewelry.

That boy couldn't stop smiling all day long. And when the Tooth Fairy came the next night, it was like Christmas morning here. So much fun for Pops!

Since that time, tooth #2 has also fallen out - this time at Chick-fil-a. Here's to lots and lots of toothless grins for years to come!

Wobble, Wobble...

...Bend....Twist....Turn....

The proud owner of a hole in his mouth.

Sunny Side Up, Please

2010-09-27T16:15:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, September 8, 2010. The first graders at Noah's school started their year by putting on a Nursery Rhyme Parade. They each had to dress up as a character from the Nursery Rhyme of their choice. Because of Noah's affinity for a certain song he learned at the end of kindergarten, he naturally went for Humpty Dumpty (I tried to post the cute video of him and his class singing it, but the file was too big, and I don't know how to edit it down). It wasn't easy executing on the Mr. Egg idea, but we had a great time working on it together.

We basically just took a big box, cut off the top and bottom, rounded the top and bottom to make an egg shape, drew a face, gave him some striped shorts and then added a brick wall at the bottom. Although, it dawned on both of us the morning after that it looked more like an egg sitting inside the top of a chimney than an egg on a wall. Details, details. I also maybe should've put on suspender-like straps so that he could wear it on his shoulders instead of making arm holes for him to carry it. But it all worked out in the end. And I think my little Round Mound of Rebound thoroughly enjoyed being the best dang Humpty Dumpty that school had ever seen.

Smiling Dumpty

Monster Dumpty

Oh-No-I'm-Falling-Off-The-Wall Dumpty

Beaming Dumpty (in the parade)

Celebrating Freedom at Surfside

2010-08-02T20:37:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, July 6, 2010. Since both Amy and I had our July 4th holidays at work on Monday, I let her have the boys that day while I worked (Mondays are always mine with the boys), and then I took Tuesday off and spent it with the boys. The best part of taking Tuesday off was that Surfside Beach was almost entirely empty when me and the boys went. It was so nice to be there and have it not be crowded.

The painful lesson I learned: my arms aren't long enough to put sunscreen on my own back. After all afternoon in the sun, I came home with a super red 6x10 rectangular window of burnage on the upper half of my back. It hurt too much to laugh when it was red...but now that it's nice and tan, it cracks me up to see in the mirror. Next time, I'll have to bribe one of the boys to give me a hand.

Cowboy Sam ready to roll.

With a little coaching from big brother, he realized that boots might not be the best way to do the beach.

Nut flinging dirt in his own face. Such a Nutty.

The toeheads making their trek to the waves.

Standing triumphantly with the volcano we made.

First Baseball Game

2010-08-01T21:23:00.000-05:00

Thursday, June 24, 2010. Today, Noah's summer program field trip was to Minute Maid Park downtown to watch the Astros' afternoon game. Naturally, I could not possibly miss my boy's first ever baseball game. Just couldn't do it. So I met up with Beeju's group before the game and then spent the day with him. I didn't take a ton of pics...just enough to capture the day for posterity. After all, a boy's first baseball game is a big deal. He's now well on his way to being a man. Next step: learning to chew/spit sunflower seeds. We're working on it.

Proud Papa moment

For the first hour or so, he wouldn't let me get up. Every time I tried, he kept waving me back. He's almost never "clingy," but I kinda like it when he is. So cute. (Could've done without that blasted Cowboys hat in this pic.)

An even prouder Papa moment...seeing his boy air punching Astros players. Atta boy! Go Pirates!

Getting ready to race that giant mechanical baseball player behind him. Beeju smoked the dude.

This is a key place to have on your map if you're going to an Astros game with a youngun'. Not a bad play area. And it gives them a chance to stretch the legs and burn off some energy. Another pic below.

You can't take a 5 year old to a ballgame and not have cotton candy. What started as a gigantic mound o' sugar...

...quickly turned into an itsy bitsy corn-on-the-cob sized snack.

Washing it all down with a cold one. Game #1: success! Hopefully next time we'll get to see the Pirates.

The Birthday Mouse

2010-07-25T20:36:00.028-05:00

Monday, July 12, 2010. Today was Sam's 4th annual birthday extravaganza (warning: post may contain peanuts). I took the day off from work so that we could party hardy and truly make it an extravaganza and not just a regular ole ganza. Here's the downlow on how we got down.

1) Let Nut sleep in. He's not a morning Nut, and I often have to wake him up for school. (Whereas Beeju begs to let him set his alarm earlier and earlier so he can do his routine...work out, get dressed, eat, brush teeth, etc, etc.) So letting Peanut sleep in on his birthday only seemed right.

2) Breakfast from Shipley Donuts on a special Toy Story tablecloth. The Toy Story "zealots" always make Sammy laugh, and I'd go to any length to hear that sound.

3) Houston Zoo. A day at the Houston Zoo in July means sweating off the donut breakfast we had (plus some), but that's not such a bad thing, is it? And we still had a blast despite the heat. Today's visit was also unique, because the boys got to meet and pet several animals that we haven't seen before, including a python, a pancake tortoise (aptly named "IHOP") and a baby alligator (all 3 shown below).

4) Lunch at our favorite place - Jamba Juice. There's just nothing like an Orange Dream Machine after a morning in the sun. Or an afternoon in the sun. Or a day inside at work. Or a wintry Chicago day shoveling snow. Ok, basically I'm not picky...just give me my ODM. And the boys were cut from the same cloth, so it works out well.

5) Back home to catch our breath and watch Cars, a longtime favorite movie of Mr. Nut.

6) Dinner at Chick-fil-a. We were surprised to walk in and find Spiderman waiting for us in the lobby. The boys have never even seen a Spiderman movie or cartoon, but they were still super excited. Spiderman was kind enough to take pictures and talk to "Phineas" and "Jerry" to their little hearts' content. And on the way out, he let the birthday mouse climb up on his shoulder for a pic (see below). After she got off work, Amy joined us here for the rest of the evening.

7) Birthday cupcakes at Cupcake Cafe. If you live in the area and haven't tried it, put it on your list. Good stuff.

8) Presents and games at Chuck E. Cheese. This was the culmination of the extravaganza. It was really fun to have a birthday party with just the four of us - without the normal worry and stress of putting on a larger party. We gave Jerry various options, including ones with friends and stuff at the pool, etc. But he opted for the family trip to CEC. He should be a party planner, because we had a great time.

It was definitely one rockin' birthday celebration. I wouldn't trade anything about the day. I was in heaven getting to spend the day with my boys. And I'm so glad I got to spend the time with my little Birthday Mouse. Can't wait for him to turn 5 so we can do it all again. Happy birthday, Peanut! For some people, variety is the spice of life. You, my young Jerry, are all the spice I'll ever need. You make my life so rich and wonderful and amazing. I love you!

There's just something that gets me when I see a pic of one of my boys looking at the other. It's usually Peanut looking at his big brother. I love it so much.

Doing their monkey impersonations.

Aside from the cute pic of the boys with Spiderman, I love this shot because it's so Nutty...he loves to grab a handful of straws every time we go to Chick-fil-a for some reason. He doesn't do it at McDonald's or elsewhere. It just seems to be his CFA routine. I love those little details about each individual boy.

This pic and the one below just scream "grandpa" to me. His faces just crack me up.

Classic Nut.

Hugs from Beeju and a thank you from Nut after Jerry opened Noah's present.

Where we spent the majority of our night.

Hoop, there it is.

Outta This World!

2010-07-25T08:52:00.017-05:00

Friday, July 23, 2010. For Noah's last day of his summer program, he got to go on a field trip to Space Center Houston, and I got to go with him. We had a great time exploring and playing and learning. It was fun enough that I upgraded my one-day ticket to a one-year pass so that we can go back with Peanut soon. We also didn't get to see all of the Space Center, because we were limited on time, etc. Below are some of our adventures from the day.

Rock climbing activity where you had to race up and down and back and forth to touch the glowing space rocks as they randomly lit up in order to score points. Beeju "rocked" this one.

Just a portion of the gigantic space play area. Parents are welcome to go inside, which of course I did. What they don't tell you is how tight some of the quarters are and how flexible you need to be to make some of the turns and bends. Fortunately, I made it out alive...and had a blast inside.

Phineas and I battling at the entrance of the "Star Wars: Clone Wars" exhibit. I loved how Noah had his classmates pre-conditioned to refer to him as Phineas and me as Ferb (the main characters of his favorite show, for those of you not up on Disney shows).

Having lunch with Alex, James, Blake and John. Whose idea was it to have lunch outside for an hour in the middle of July in Houston?

Pops and his boy.

Taking a break from walking by relaxing in one of the movie theaters.

Noah was convinced that every astronaut that we saw there had been an actual astronaut who had died and then been put on display. That would be awesome.

Touching a moon rock.

The first Beeju in space.

Playing with the wind tunnel.

Manning the control center.

Noah and his friend, George. I love how it doesn't really matter to him where the rabbit ears go in a picture...just so long as they have them.

La Fiesta de Aqua

2010-07-24T22:36:00.015-05:00

Saturday, July 24, 2010. Our church family got together for a "Splash Party" this afternoon. We had all the typical activities and games and plenty of food. Any excuse to cool down on a July afternoon in Houston is welcome in my book. I was one of the few adults to come in my swimsuit. What's wrong with you clowns? You know who you are.

One of Nut's favorite activities was the game where he had to pour water on someone else's head (in this case, Spencer) until the bucket was full.

Uh, do you think Peanut was having a good time? How could anyone possibly look at this kid and not smile? Impossible.

One of Beeju's favorite activities was soaking Dad. At first he opted for a watergun. Then multiple waterguns. Then he discovered the more effective wringing-the-sponge-on-my-head technique. The beauty was that he (and all of his accomplices) thought they were "getting me"...but instead, it was a win-win because it kept me nice and cool on a hot Texas afternoon.

I could just stare all day....

....at this little mouse....

...blowing bubbles. I think I'm addicted.

Beeju and his cousin, Aaron, getting their bubbly on.

Beautiful form...love the follow through. The Pirates may be calling him up soon. Thankfully, he missed his close-range target this time.

Father's Day 2010

2010-07-22T23:09:00.020-05:00

Sunday, June 20, 2010. Now that my boys are getting a little older, Father's Day has quickly become one of my very favorite holidays. The best part is just getting quality together time and lots of hugs and kisses.

Below are pics of a few of the things the boys gave me this Father's Day. My favorite was the present Noah picked out and wrapped - a 6 pack of bottled water. It may seem random, but it was so thoughtful - he knows how much water I drink and wanted to get me something I really love. What a sweetheart!

My favorite activity was on that Friday when Nut's school put on a "Donuts for Dad" activity in the morning. I got to go and have donuts and juice with Sammy and then make a boat together out of a bar of soap, etc. It was so nice to spend some quality one-on-one time with Peanut. And he sent me home with a trophy he made (see the 2nd pic below) labeled "World's Best Dad" and full of Hershey's kisses.

My proudest moment of the weekend came when the boys (and the rest of the under-12 children at church) sang their Father's Day song to all the dads. My kiddos practiced for weeks and, even now, still occasionally break into song spontaneously. I got videos of each of them singing the song right after we got home from church (see below). Beeju was uncharacteristically shy and refrained from doing the hand motions. But Nut makes up for that. Both of them were just unbelievably cute. (I confess that it's taken me a really long time tonight to publish this post because I keep stopping to watch those videos...over and over and over and over.)

There's just no doubt that I'm the single luckiest papa ever. I could not possibly be any prouder of my boys. I spend every morning, noon and night thanking my God for the incredible blessing of being a father and for the two priceless jewels He has blessed me with. I love them sooooo much!

The First Leo and Some Miss Cleo

2009-12-06T19:22:00.006-06:00

Being away from my boys the last few days, I'm starting to feel the holiday blues. Outside from those who have to be apart for work, military service, etc, no mommy or daddy should ever have to spend time away from their children during the holidays. Especially when they're little. I miss them. I miss their energy and their smiles. I miss their excitement for all things Christmas. I miss their hugs and kisses. I miss feeling like a family.

Last night was our church congregation's annual Christmas party. Talk about feeling alone in a crowded room. It was beautifully done and lots of time went into making it a great event. But nothing can replace a papa's two little toeheads. I don't think I'll be going to those things alone anymore.

Not that being at home is much better. For example, in the past, our little family of four had stocking holders that spelled "N-O-E-L." When I was putting them up this year, it dawned on me that we're not a NOEL-sized group anymore. A real cheery holiday realization. So dad had to improvise. We now apparently pay homage to either the Little Einsteins or a certain Titanic actor. Take your pick.

Lest this post wallows in self-pity, let me loosen it up a little. Everytime I walk past the fireplace and see "L-E-O," I can't help but think of...Miss Cleo, of course. Is it just me, or does anyone else miss her? Well, have no fear. Below are some old school Miss Cleo soundboards. So many favorite lines. And such a soothing voice. Here's to you, Miss Cleo...Merry Christmas to you and yours. And Leo.

Goooood day to ya, dahlin. Can I get your first name and your birthday, please?

www.abcarcade.com/ms-cleo-soundboard.html

www.realmofdarkness.net/sounds/cleo/cleo-soundboard-3.htm

On Your Mark, Get Set...Yikes, I'm Not Ready

2009-11-24T23:52:00.000-06:00

Monday, August 24, 2009. While this isn't exactly "hot off the press," I couldn't NOT leave a post of Noah's first day of school. It seems like sooo long ago now. He's grown up a lot in the past three months since starting school. In a way, I couldn't be happier about that. And yet, there's part of me that wishes he could stay little forever.

The first day of school is obviously a big deal for the student. But it's also a huge day for parents. I didn't sleep much the night before, and I was counting the minutes until dismissal all that day. I'm so glad it went well and that he's loving school. Now if I could just get him to eat something other than peanut butter and honey sandwiches for dinner...

The sign outside Noah's classroom.

Standing in front of the school on day number one. Can't you just see the apprehension oozing out?

The old man and the rookie. About to enter a whole new world. Both of them. I now know what Nemo's dad felt like.

This kind of somber, sad face didn't make it any easier for Dad to leave his boy at school for the very first time. Thankfully, he has a really, really awesome teacher, and she made sure that sad face didn't stick around long.

I didn't want Noah having to deal with daycare on top of his first day of school. That's a long, tough day for a 5-year old. So I arranged to work from home that day and pick him up right at 2:45p. Here he is after school, starting to get his smile back.

Back home in his element, there was no more nervousness about school. Just being his old, silly self and enjoying a cold one.

Giving a shout-out to all of his new, soon-to-be kindergarten friends.

The first day of school was a big deal for the entire family. So here's Nutty celebrating the occasion with a popcicle too.

Gettin' His Float On

2009-11-22T22:36:00.004-06:00

Thursday, November 19, 2009. Turkey Float Parade Day. Noah's school does an annual event where the kindergarten students each make a turkey float (a potato decorated like a turkey and placed onto an upside down shoebox lid with a string for pulling). At precisely 8:30a, with dozens and dozens of parents lining one of the hallways and all of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students lining most of the rest of the hallways of the school, the kindergarten students begin a single-file procession through the halls with each of their individual floats. And since it just wouldn't be a parade without costumes, they each wore a vest made out of a brown paper sack and a hat made out of construction paper. Macy's aint got nothin' on this Turkey parade!

Besides getting to see Beeju happily displaying his turkey float for all to see, my favorite part of the event was how the school incorporated all of the students (non-kindergarteners too). I thought that was a really great idea. It was cool to see all of the older kids cheering on the kindergarteners and applauding as they brought the parade all the way back through the halls after the initial passby. Based on the reactions of the kindergarten classes, I think it really made them feel good. I know that Noah, for example, couldn't stop smiling. And there are few things that a Papa loves to see more than an ear-to-ear grin on his boy.

Wish I had a good shot of his turkey float. But alas, "Photographer" isn't exactly my middle name. (Incidentally, if it was, I would definitely opt to be called "Shooter" instead of Ben. I've always wanted to be Shooter. I've even got the finger-gun thing down. But I digress.) Here are pics of each of the two parade passes...dang, that kid is cute...

Give That Boy a Ribbon

2009-11-22T21:59:00.004-06:00

The other day, Noah came home from school wearing a blue ribbon on his jacket. He had come home with ribbons on a couple of times recently, but it was always a ribbon for saying no to drugs, etc. So I didn't look close enough to read the writing at first. But then he was complaining that the pin was hurting him, so when I went to take it off, I noticed what it said - "Student of the Month."

Apparently, he was nominated by his teacher for the Student of the Month award at his school. That's not at all surprising, because he is such a good kid and always EXTRA conscientious at school. But, at the same time, it was completely surprising, because I didn't know that such an award existed.

Needless to say, I'm soooo proud of my Beeju! He has some really great things in store in his future. It's just impossible for anyone to love their child anymore than I love that boy. He and Nutty make me so happy. Congrats on your award, Champ! Keep up the good work.

There's No Need to Fear....

2009-11-22T17:12:00.003-06:00

I promise to put up a post or two about the boys later tonight. But first, a quickie from church today. Some of you know that I currently work with the 14- and 15-year old young men. In class today, one of them was teaching the lesson. It was all about good versus evil, built around a number of examples he was using of heroes and villains. Most of them came from the scriptures - David vs. Goliath, Jesus vs. Satan, etc - and he did a terrific job. It was very well thought-out, and he really has a good grasp of the scriptures. So keep that in mind. There were just two brief moments that made me love the lesson even more.

1) As he was listing out various hero-villain combos on the white board, in the middle of all of the scriptural examples, he included Batman vs. The Joker. He didn't elaborate or comment, and he clearly wasn't looking for a laugh. He was very serious. And really, who can argue with Batman and The Joker?

2) After he had gone over his last hero-villain example, and as he was wrapping up the lesson, he commented that not only could people be heroes but animals too (which was a good point). And then this very serious comment: "You know, like Underdog." Again, not looking for a laugh. And not getting one, by the way. Except from me. In my head. Man, I love these young men.

So in honor of our furry protagonist, a couple of my favorite Underdog lines...

"Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog,

It's just little old me, Underdog."

And from when someone would complain about the damage he caused...

"I am a hero who never fails.

I cannot be bothered with such details."

He's crafty...and he's just my type!

2009-11-08T21:50:00.006-06:00

November 3 (pm) and November 4 (am) - I haven't posted anything in ages, so this is my attempt to get back on track. Just a couple of quick pics of Noah's first special homework assignment of his young career. His teacher wanted the kids and their families to work together on creatively decorating a turkey they were each given on construction paper.

I was both excited and nervous to work on this with him. First problem: uh, zippo legitimate craft supplies in my house. So the kids and I had to pitstop at a couple of stores to stock up. Second problem: Papa's a dude with very little craft creativity. I have few qualities that can seriously compete with my inability to sing on-key for "Most Obvious Void" in my talent spectrum. But my lack of art skills is one of them.

Fortunately, this was a kindergarten project. Papa can do kindergarten. So we pulled out whatever crafty type materials we could find, along with an eclectic mix of cotton balls, yarn, fishies, marshmallows, candy corn and straws. Next thing you know, we've got ourselves one bad mother turkey. Beeju's favorite part: giving the turkey eye ball legs and feet. He thought that was hysterical. Dad's favorite part: eating 10 marshmallows and 10 fishies for every one that made it onto the fowl. I refer to it as "product research."

I'm kinda diggin' this art stuff. Bring on the next project!

That is one proud little man holding his turkey. And that is one absurdly proud daddy holding the camera. Best part was the time together. The turkey just took care of itself.

An up-close of the glittery gobble gobble.

Camping Adventure

2009-09-26T12:06:00.005-05:00

September 25, 2009. So for a month or two, I've been telling the boys that we would go camping as soon as it cooled down (camping in this part of Texas during the summer is insane). When we finally got some cooler temps this week, we were all excited to plan our campout for this weekend. All week we had nice, cool nights. And wouldn't you know, as soon as it's time to put up the tent last night, we have an all-too-familiar muggy, sticky night. I had to bust out my camping fan (and shed some clothes) just to give us a little bit of relief in the tent. We also had to fight off quite a few skeeters. Nut definitely took the brunt of that battle...he's got the bites to show for it today.

But all in all, I wouldn't trade our camping adventure for anything. (Although, next time, I'll bring a book or my laptop or something to occupy me after the boys fall asleep.) When we woke up, they begged me to leave the tent up so we could sleep in there again tonight, so I take it they had a pretty good time too. Now, if we could just get some more fall weather, we can start planning our next campout.

Beeju doing his best wild animal impersonation, and Nut peeping through the window. Noah was eager to go exploring for some "nocturnals" - one of his passions. We only found a bullfrog, but that seemed to satisfy their need to see an animal.

Taking a breather after some intense rounds of "Chutes & Ladders" and "Candy Land."

Beeju cooling down with some refreshing chocolate milk.

Nut, Froggie, Mater and Lightning McQueen getting ready to zonk out. Night, night boys. Sleep tight. Papa loves you!!!

Almuerzo con Mi Nino

2009-09-25T11:12:00.006-05:00

September 25, 2009. I went and had lunch with Noah and his kindergarten class today for the first time. (I use the term "lunch" loosely since his class eats at 10:15 am.) Loved it! And unlike the Nazi-style elementary cafeteria at the Dallas school where my friends Marc and Jenn and their adorable kiddos are, this place was full of the energy and giggly conversations you would expect from a room full of 5 year olds. It was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to go back.

I especially loved getting a giant hug and kiss from my boy during the day. And as he was walking away, just before he went through the doors, he turned around and blew me a big kiss and waved like crazy. What a sweetheart! I just can't get enough of him.

He wanted to capture a "fish face" shot too, so here it is. Cute Beeju!

A few nights ago, I walked past the boys' room and could hear giggling coming from the closet. So I went to investigate and found this. Noah, perched in the top corner of the closet, trying desperately (and unsuccessfully) to not bust out laughing. Not sure what his pose is here, but it was something goofy. I took several more, but they just kept getting sillier and sillier. And the pics got blurrier and blurrier as I was laughing harder and harder. I tried to take a wide shot so you could see how high this is. The bar that those shirts are hanging on is about 6 1/2 to 7 feet high. I'm still not really sure how he got up there. I guess where there's a 5-year-old will, there's a way.

And Miles to Go Until I Work, And Miles to Go Until I Work

2009-09-22T22:03:00.002-05:00

So normally my 40 mile commute takes me 60-70 minutes each way. After 6 1/2 months of that, I've mostly gotten used to it. But when it took me well over an hour and a half the other day (thanks to a horrific backup on the Grand Parkway), I decided to add up some of the things that slow me down each day. Gee, you think these things have anything to do with why I can't do 40 miles any quicker than an hour?

1 railroad crossing
4 school zones
11 stop signs
35 traffic lights (almost all of which seem to have an affinity for red)

And, on rainy days, at least 50 bagillion drivers who seemingly have never, ever driven when it's wet outside. But I digress.

I'm thinking of chartering a helicopter. I wonder if the firm would approve putting a helipad on top of the building for me. Oooh, except that one of my former clients had an executive get his head lopped off by the company helicopter. Ouch. So on second thought, I'll just be sure to pack a snack and load up on some CDs for my drive in the morning.

Hey Pest Guy, You're Bugging Me

2009-09-18T22:12:00.005-05:00

(This post might not make as much sense to non-Mormons, but you'll still get the point.)

So today was my quarterly pest control service. The guy came and started by doing his thing around the outer perimeter of the house, in the yard, etc. Then he came inside to do an interior treatment. I was busy working, so he just went about his business.

Out of nowhere, he appears next to me, and we have the following exchange. Keep in mind, this was not a family member or a long-time friend or anyone that I had even spoken to for more than 30 seconds. This was the pest control guy. Who I had never met. The pest control guy. A stranger.

Pest: "So...you just got divorced?"
Me: (looking up from the computer, confused) "Uh, yeah. I did."
Pest: "So you got excommunicated, huh?"
Me: (genuinely shocked) "What?!? No. What makes you think that?"
Pest: (looking at me as if he caught me in a lie) "I saw the pictures of the temple in your closet."
Me: (thinking, "this pest control appointment has gotten very bizarre, very fast") "Actually, I just barely got those pictures framed and haven't had a chance to paint and prepare the wall they're going to be on."
Pest: (again with the "lie" look) "It's cool, man. Been there, done that. I was Mormon and got divorced too."

At which point, there's silence. I grabbed a pen and signed the pest control report he had laid on the counter. He walks out the back door and then turns around and says, "hang in there bro, hang in there." And off he went with his bug sprayer.

Huh?

Ambition

2009-09-17T20:57:00.004-05:00

Beeju's school had a parents-only event tonight. The first part was a meeting for everyone in the cafeteria to introduce us to all of the teachers and staff and have a brief presentation by the PTO chair. Then we all separated into our individual classrooms to have a presentation by the teacher. As a side note, Noah's teacher has so far been amazing! We are SO lucky to have such a great school with great teachers right in our neighborhood. I hope the boys never have to change elementary schools. But that's not the point of this post...

In Noah's classroom, there's a chart on the back wall entitled, "What we want to learn in kindergarten." Then going down the chart is each child's name and a brief phrase about what they want to learn. A lot of the answers were "Mary - how to read" or "John - how to tell time." One boy put "how to be a Power Ranger." My boy was a bit more aggressive with his goal. "Noah - how to drive daddy's and mommy's cars." Atta boy, Champ!

One of Noah's friends was a bit more content to let the teacher dictate whatever she wanted: "Tanner - stuff." I love kindergarten!

Preschool Graduation

2009-09-13T23:21:00.013-05:00

Thursday, May 14, 2009. This is going back in the vault a bit, but when we went to a birthday party for one of Noah's preschool classmates this weekend (a post on that to come), it reminded me that I never posted about his preschool graduation. So here it is.

A slightly blurry shot of Noah receiving his "diploma" from one of his teachers. This was my favorite part of the entire night. When each child walked out, the school director would say, "John Smith, future ________" and then fill in the blank with what the child wanted to be when he/she grew up. As you might guess, there were lots of doctors, nurses, teachers, firemen, etc. When Noah's turn finally came near the end, she announced, "Noah Simiskey, future daddy." At which point, the entire crowd let out an "ahhhhhhh" and my heart just about burst with pride. How on earth did I get so lucky?!? I definitely don't deserve to have such adorable and loving boys. But I'll take it!!

A slightly better pic of my man in his robe with his diploma.

Beeju (silly face and all) with his teachers. They were so, so great! I have a class photo on the fireplace mantle, and Noah often likes to say good morning to Ms. Jolie and Ms. Adrianna when he wakes up. Everytime we drive down to Pecan Grove, he asks if we can detour over to his old school.

Beeju and his best friend, Jake. I'm only posting this because I know that Noah likes to look at the pics on my blog, and he'll want to see Jake.

Papa getting his first tickles/squeezes in post-ceremony. This was the brief after-party in his classroom.

The pic of Beeju on the wall outside of his class.

The after-after-party - Jamba Juice and another "crazy pose" by the graduate. For a couple of months, just about everytime a camera came out, Noah would strike a silly pose. I have a couple from graduation that I didn't post here of him doing it on stage. And if you watch the video below, he busts one out at the very end of the performance. He might not have stayed in the "crazy pose phase" so long if I hadn't died laughing every time he did it. I wish I had a tenth of the charisma and personality that this kid has.

This is Noah's class performing "Twist and Shout." The video is a couple of minutes long but worth a viewing. My favorite parts: (1) Beeju's studly pointing at the girls on either side of him during the lyrics "you know you look so good" about 15 seconds in, (2) his air guitar performance starting about 56 seconds in, and (3) his "crazy pose" at the very end when the music stops. Classic Beeju! The guys also performed "My Girl" later on which was another hit with the crowd.

Ok, ok, I know...this was PRESCHOOL graduation. But still. I'm dang proud of my "future daddy." It was a big adjustment for him going to school this year, but he did so great. I just couldn't be a prouder papa than when I look at my boys and see how great they are and how much potential they have. They each have very, very special destinies ahead of them.

Congratulations on your big night, Beeju! I love you!

Everything in Its Place

2009-09-13T22:54:00.005-05:00

Noah and Sam (especially Noah) have always like to organize things. For a long time, Beeju would ask me if he could mess up his room, just so he could have the satisfaction and joy of cleaning it up. And he often will just mill about the house looking for a mess to clean up or something to vacuum. Normally, he was a very sensible and good system for putting things away, stacking them up, etc. But occasionally, the "system" is only known to them. I wish I had more pictures to illustrate this, because it happens all the time. But these were the only ones I could find.

For some reason, they felt like my normal, orderly line of shoes wasn't "proper." So they reorganized my closet for me and stacked my shoes in various spots, including on top of these paint cans.

This was how they organized their Cars paraphernalia.
My kiddos even like to have order when they eat. What a Nut!

Big Boy Beeju Turns Five

2009-08-23T21:28:00.007-05:00

Pool Party: Saturday, August 8, 2009.

Actual Birthday: Sunday, August 9, 2009.

Celebration at Papa's House: Monday, August 10, 2009.

Darn it. I was just looking through my pics to decide which ones to post and realized that I hardly took any. Blast! Well, I'll post two from his birthday and then a couple of other random shots.

Uh, is somebody excited to open his presents??

There aren't many things better in the world than to watch a young child opening a present, discovering what the present is and just being full of glee and happiness.

Here's the "old guy" taking a rest from jumping on Uncle James and Aunt Shelley's trampoline. He's not as young and vibrant as he was back when he was 4. This guy has always, always been a jumper. Even before he could really walk, he would jump, jump, jump around the apartment back in Chicago. He loves the (hideous) red couch in my front room because it's "bouncy like a trampoline." Beds, couches, floors...it doesn't matter. Just as long as he can jump.

One of the presents that Beeju got was a long alphabet puzzle. Now one of his favorite games to play is having me mix up and hide the puzzle pieces to see if he can find them and put them all together. This shot is him measuring himself to see "how many letters" tall he is.

There is nobody on this earth that I would rather sit and hang out with than my Beeju. He's my best friend. Whether in person or on the phone, we can chat endlessly about this and that and everything in between. Happy birthday, Champ! I love you like crazy and can't wait 'til our next conversation.

Little Nutty Turns Three

2009-08-23T20:50:00.014-05:00

Pool Party: Saturday, July 11, 2009.

Actual Birthday: Sunday, July 12, 2009.

Celebration at Papa's House: Monday, July 13, 2009.

I haven't much been in the blog posting mood the last 6 weeks or so, but it's time to try to get back on schedule.

The calm before the storm. This is before the boys came over. The pic on the card is my poorman's rendition of a mack truck like on the movie Cars. Nut and Beeju have both been obsessed with that show for months now. So I made the "Sam Mack" for the card's cover.

Cute little guy was out of his mind with excitement as soon as he walked in the door and noticed presents and a card waiting for him. Here he is peeking inside his card while I scrambled to get a pic or two before the mayhem of present opening began.

After looking at his card, Nutty wouldn't put it down. That boy opened all of his presents one-handed. And as you'll see below, he wasn't about to let go of it anytime soon.

Here's Puzzle #1 finally completed. Nutty's still proudly guarding his card.

After you put the two gigantic puzzles together, you take them apart in a certain order and stack the pieces on top of each other to make this 3-D image of Lightning McQueen. Nutty had moved on to greener pastures at this point (those puzzles took a while!), but Big Brother was enthralled.

This was a few hours later. Nutty was still holding tight to his card. At his insistence, it eventually made it into bed with him. Talk about melting a Papa's heart. My love for that boy knows no bounds. Happy birthday, Sam! Daddy loves you thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much!!

God Speed

2009-07-13T00:21:00.003-05:00

Today I said goodbye to one of the dearest friends I've ever had. Well, it's not goodbye yet, because he hasn't officially left. But I know he's leaving next month. And as of this morning, he is no longer my bishop (pastor). There's no way for me to adequately bid him farewell. What he has meant to me is absolutely immeasurable. As I've said before, he is my Captain Moroni. I would go to the end of the world at the drop of a hat for him. He has been such a rock of support, especially during the trials of the past 12 months. He truly has the Light of Christ and is a man of God.

He and I have shared countless experiences together, many of which are too special to talk about in a casual setting. I will treasure every single one of those for the rest of my life. He's my brother and my friend, and I love him with all my heart. I've struggled mightily to deal with his pending departure (this blog post is another attempt to try to deal with it), but I'm excited for him and his family to go on this new adventure.

My prayer for him and his family comes from the Old Testament (Numbers 6:24-26)...

24 The Lord bless thee, and keep thee
25 The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee
26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

God speed, Josh! I will miss you dearly, my friend!

Yankee Doodle Dandy

2009-07-12T23:00:00.017-05:00

I love July 4th. Aside from being a fun, relaxing holiday, I've always been very patriotic with tender feelings for this great country. I remember being a really young boy in Lake Jackson and getting quite upset that one of the banks in town was flying a U.S. flag that was tattered. So I wrote a letter to the editor of the Brazosport Facts to voice my frustration. The letter was published and within a day or two, the bank had changed out the flag for a new one.

Apart from satisfying my desire to see more respect for the flag, that taught me an important lesson about being involved in the community and voicing your opinion for good. I've never said this to anyone, but one of my great regrets is never having served in the armed forces. It's something I thought about doing many times, but I never did it. Those brave men and women are true heroes, and I wish so bad that I had the courage to do what they do day in and day out.

Another random patriotic memory that just came to mind. I was at a National Boy Scout Camp in Virginia/D.C. during a couple of weeks in the summer of 1989. One night, GHW Bush came and spoke to us and before he spoke, Lee Greenwood put on a mini live concert. Of course the highlight was him singing "God Bless the U.S.A." That song always gets me. But hearing it live just before getting a visit from the sitting president was phenomenal. Talk about getting goosebumps.

Alright, enough rambling from Grandpa Sausage. On to the pics.

"Uncle Sam" in all his glory. Sporting a hat and star-on-a-stick that he made at school for their parade and proudly wearing his firework jammies. Which is a little ironic given his feelings about fireworks (see below).

Stopping off at Buc-ee's on the way to the beach for some Independence Day rays. Pictured in between Nut and Beeju is my nephew Charlie. My brother, Stan, and his kids (including Charlie but minus Sarah) and two of James and Shelley's boys - Aaron and Daniel - filled out our party.

Nut building a sand castle with cousin Jack. That's Daniel looking on. He was nursing a foot after stepping on something in the Gulf.

Buried boy #1. It took three times as long as it should to do this because Mr. Chuckles kept dying laughing which kept breaking up the sand. Not that I minded...that laugh is so contagious and relaxing.

Buried boy #2. Sam started out enjoying the sand burying. For about 3 seconds. Then it was just a chore for him to endure. So we rushed through it as fast as possible, got him to stay there long enough to snap a pic and then he was outtie. Looks like he's sleeping here, but I think he was trying to keep the sand out of his eyes.

Beeju was TERRIFIED of the fireworks again this year. So he begged me to let him sleep in my bed. Here's the Little Man with his Monkey (partially buried), blanket and another frequent guest - someone he calls his "baby sister" (he really wants a baby sister, can you tell? Heart-breaking because I really want one for him too.). BTW, her name is "Natalie."

When big brother's excited or happy or sad, more than likely, little brother is excited or happy or sad too. So of course Nut grew terrified of the fireworks too. His entourage just included the usual suspects - Froggie and blanket.

In the time it took me to brush my teeth, Beeju was out like a light.

And when big brother is out like a light, little brother isn't far behind. I love fireworks. But I love me some cuddle time with my two boys way more. Happy 4th, boys! Happy 4th, America! God bless this great country!

Haircuts

2009-07-12T22:33:00.008-05:00

Over the last month or so, I had gotten way behind on giving the boys a haircut. So we finally remedied that recently. With the absurd heat we've had this summer, this should help cool them off a "hair." And if nothing else, they were excited to get our standard post-haircut celebratory treat: a sucker. I love how kids at this age can get so thrilled with something that costs a dime. And I super love their adorable shaved heads.

No real reason for having two of these, except that one just isn't enough of that ridiculously cute smile. Oh how I love my Nut.

El Locito

Someone needs to freeze time. I don't want my Beeju growing up anymore. Papa's enjoying this age too much to have it go away yet.

The aftermath

En Fuego

2009-07-05T21:27:00.003-05:00

Out of the blue, Beeju just said (with a lot of concern in his voice), "Dad, is our church burning down?" I learned a long time ago not to be too surprised by any questions from a 4 year old, but that one caught me off guard a little. So I said, "No, Champ, our church isn't burning down. Why do you say that?" He responds, "When you were talking to Mama on the phone earlier, you said there was a fire on the side of it." Ahhh, and then it all makes sense. We went to a "fireside" at the church this evening. Hence the deep question. I'm happy to report that no burning took place tonight.

That reminds me of another random Beeju question. We were in the car driving to the beach a couple of months ago when Beeju says, "Dad, who lives on Mars?" After a brief pause, I said, "I don't think anyone lives on Mars, Champ." To which he immediately responded with an incredulous, "Oh come onnnnnnn, Dad! SOMEONE lives on Mars." Can't really argue with that kind of logic. So I didn't even try.

Forced Humility

2009-07-05T20:02:00.006-05:00

After an activity at church tonight, a young boy came up to me and we had the following exchange:

Him: "I take it Daniel didn't come tonight." (Daniel's one of my nephews.)

Me: (After figuring out what on earth he was talking about) "Oh, I think you're looking for Daniel's dad. He's right over there." (pointing to my brother, James)

Him: (looking back and forth between James and me...confused)

Me: "We're brothers."

Him: "Oh."

Me: (trying to be somewhat funny...although we all know it's sooo true) "I'm the better looking one."

Him: (with a very serious look and after closely evaluating the two options) "Not exactly."

Me: (I thought to myself a la the vintage Bruce Lee movies with the bad English dubbing..."We shall meet again, young friend. And next time, you won't be so lucky.")

Papa's Day 2009

2009-06-28T19:20:00.012-05:00

Father's Day - June 21, 2009. Thankfully, it was my weekend with the kiddos, so I got to celebrate the day doing what I love best - being a daddy. Highlights included hearing Beeju and the rest of the Primary kids sing a pair of Father's Day songs during Church and getting some fun presents from the boys (a couple of items are pictured below...not pictured are the otter pop, colored pictures, card, etc). Happy Papa's Day to me!

Three hot guys. No, literally, we were sweating. For those of you non-Texans, it has been b-l-a-z-i-n-g here the last month or so. This was around 7:30p, and it was still hotter than a horse. But that was secondary to spending a fun evening at the park with Champ and Nutty. And Beeju's monkey. And Nut's "Bob Cutlass" and "Darrel Cartrip" (for you Cars fans).

Nut's handiwork from school. That dude owns me with his ridiculous cuteness.

Beeju originals. For those of you uncultured saps with an untrained eye, the creation on the right is a "ferocious cactus." Duh.

This is an oldie but a goodie. It's from our President's Day (aka "Stanford D-Day Eve") Chuck E Cheese outing back in February. Outrageous fun! Which helped me through the next day or two or fifty of total chaos.

Finger Exercises

2009-06-28T17:54:00.008-05:00

Lately, the boys have been into learning and dialing my phone number. A lot. Yesterday, I was away from the house for 2-3 hours running some errands. When I got back, I had a voicemail. Er, rather, 11 voicemails. All from Beeju. And every one of them was fun to listen to. Sometimes he would be genuinely surprised ("Huh?!? Dad...is that you?"). Other times he was frustrated ("Daddy says he'll call me back. Again! Why does he keep saying that?"). I guess I need to teach him my cell phone number.

Of course, before I had even listened to all the messages, he called again. We chatted and chatted and chatted. Then, as is usual, he passed the phone to Peanut. And, in standard little brother protocol, Sammy says, "I want to dial your phone number too." So he hangs up and dials my number so we can talk. About 30 minutes later, the phone rang again. And so the day went.

By late afternoon, Noah was insisting that I come over. Of course I would be all over that. But one cannot invite one's self over. In the end, we met up at the boys' favorite place - Jamba Juice. We had our usual Orange Dream Machines and then the boys talked Amy into letting them come over and spend the night at my place. I felt bad for her, because it's her weekend. But it's hard to tell a puppy-dog-eyed little boy that he can't spend the night with his daddy.

I love that my boys want to talk to me so much. I hope that never changes. I know there will likely be lean years when they're teenagers. But I hope they always know how important they are to me and how much I love our chats. Whether something good happens or something bad happens or nothing much at all happens, I hope they'll always want to dial Papa's number and tell him all about it.

In parting, here are two random shots of the boys....

Nutty doing his favorite thing these days...a puzzle.

Beeju pretending to have fallen asleep while getting in his jammies. Of course, Mr. Silly can't keep a straight face for long. You can already see his pursed lips trying to keep the laughs in. 2 seconds later, he was busting up. P.S. Nice swimmer's tan going on, Little Man.

Beach Rule #1

2009-06-14T18:05:00.015-05:00

Monday, May 25. Memorial Day. Several weeks prior, without thinking of the ramifications, Papa made an exuberant, spur-of-the-moment promise to take the boys to the beach. The next available opportunity: Memorial Day. When Daddy has a day off from work, the boys call it "Special Monday" or "Special Friday" or whatever. And we were determined to make this a really "special Monday." Along with tens of thousands of other residents of the greater Gulf Coast area. Yeah, I didn't think this one through very well. The beach on Memorial Day? That's almost a cardinal sin. Should've picked a non-descript Saturday. But I wasn't about to break a promise to my towheads.

So we packed up and headed down to Surfside for the day, along with two of my brothers - Stan and James - and their families, and Grandpa. James' wife, Shelley, took a bunch more pics, but she's been distracted with other things (oldest daughter graduating, etc) and hasn't sent them to me. And inexplicably, she is STILL without a Facebook profile or blog to post them on.

All packed up and ready to roll. Special Monday, here we come!

The initial reaction was one of uncertainty. After all, this was their first beach trip ever. "Uh, so what do we do now, Dad?"

And whenever there's a moment of uncertainty, the default reaction is: silliness from boy #1 and a look of "what the heck are you doin" from the more subdued boy #2.

Here's Beeju building an entire "sand city" just like his favourite British duo - Charlie and Lola - from the Disney Playhouse series. Working hard...

...or hardly working? Nut opted for more of the "chill" beach adventure. Though by the end, he warmed up to the water thing and had fun "splashing" in the waves (as long as he could cling tightly to Daddy and not actually touch the water).

Taking a breather to enjoy some Gatorade and shade.

Not sure which was more tiring for Peanut...our crazy fun day at the beach or the hours of sitting in traffic there and back. Thank goodness for built-in car DVD players. What a cute Nut. Both boys did amazing all day. Traffic or not, it really was a "Special Monday."

Water Follies, El Tercero

2009-06-14T17:48:00.010-05:00

Saturday, May 23, 2009. The community pool finally opened for the summer. Phew! Not many pictures to show here, though. I was too busy enjoying the water. After all, Papa couldn't fit in the "womb" or in the "crib" from the prior two weeks, so this was week one for me and I couldn't be bothered with manning the camera. Suffice it to say, we had a good time. And bonus: the HOA provided free ice cream, which we gladly enjoyed. Maybe a couple of times.

The HOA also handed out water guns to all the kids. Here are the boys loading up for their next assault on Pappy. Another reason for not having the camera out much.

Inexplicably, Sammy turned his back on his ice cream. In a moment of weakness, the photog made quick work of the scraps. Thankfully, there's no photo evidence of that hasty pummeling. Poor cones...never saw what was coming.

Water Follies, Part Deux

2009-06-14T17:13:00.023-05:00

Papa wasn't about to let summer get jump-started with such a whimper (see the previous post). So the following week, when the community pool still wasn't open yet, we stepped 'er up with a "massive" new pool. Still not big enough for Old Man Sausage, but the purple "crib" sure beat the "womb" from last week. Let the water follies continue!

Excited to finally have a little room to stretch out and get wet.

They opted to supplement their pool time with some old-fashioned sprinkler fun. That Nutty sure is fleet-footed for a two year old.

Beeju quickly developed a routine. Step one: soak the front.

Step two: soak the back.

Step three: run like the wind.

Step four: prepare for takeoff.

Step five: airborne!

Step six: the descent. Wheels down.

Step seven: touchdown!

A near miss during today's follies. Phew. I was going to say that it looks closer than it really was, but no, it really was that close. Air Beeju was almost grounded from future flights.

Water Follies, Part 1

2009-06-03T23:51:00.009-05:00

I'm still catching up on the last month or so. This entry goes back to May 9.

This was exactly two weeks before our community pool opened for the summer. And yet, if you know southeast Texas at all, that's about 2 months later than we would like. So by May 9, we were craving some water. Any water. Unfortunately, Papa only had the mini (mini!) blow-up Froggie pool from when the boys were much smaller. But at the boys' insistance, I blew 'er up. Following is the pitiful scene. The next couple of posts will build on the water theme.

The initial excitement lasted for about 30 seconds. Until they realized the "pool" was the size of a large womb.

Upon that realization, they required additional things to keep them interested. Hence the bath toys from inside.

Noah requested that later that day we go to Target to buy a pool "this big." Which, ironically, was about the size of the Froggie. But I knew what he meant.

Since there wasn't much room to play inside the womb, they opted to help Papa water the lawn. If only I had about 60 of these little guys, I wouldn't have to deal with the dreaded sprinkler every other day.

Short blurb of the wild and crazy pool party. This is how desperate we were for some water.

Mother's Day 2009

2009-06-03T00:18:00.007-05:00

Amy was working parts of Saturday and Sunday that weekend, so the boys were at my place. Fortunately, she agreed to come over Sunday evening so that we could celebrate her with a party. The three of us boys spent quite a lot of time planning it out and shopping for a week or two ahead of time. Then there were a couple of hours of set up after church that Sunday. I loved watching how excited Noah and Sam were to surprise Mama.

The festivities began with Beeju, Nutty and me hiding in various spots in the kitchen when she arrived, then jumping out and yelling "surprise!" and spraying her with silly string. (Sure, silly string isn't the typical "happy mother's day" gift, but it was all Noah's idea and he really wanted it to enhance the surprise, which I'm pretty sure it did.) Then we sat down for a dinner I put together - lasagna, salad, french bread, etc.

After dinner, it was on to the good stuff - cards, candy and the main attraction: a scavenger hunt for her presents. The boys had picked out a number of hiding spots, for which I wrote clues. Her first clue was hidden in one of the balloons we had blown up. Then she had to go from one hidden clue to the next to eventually find her hidden gifts. It was a lot of fun to plan out and even more fun to watch the boys get increasingly excited as she went through everything. We wrapped up the festivities with cupcakes that the boys helped me make.

Unfortunately, the party wound down by having to say goodbye to my family and watching them drive off. The worst part of every week. But it sure was fun while it lasted. Happy Mother's Day, Ames! I'm glad you came over. Wish you would've stayed.

The welcoming scene (pre-silly string)

Mama reading one of her cards with an excited onlooker

About to pop the balloon with the first clue

Think, think, thinking about one of the clues

Looking inside one of the boys' favorite books for another clue

Getting warmer...

A little warmer...

Warmer...

Warmer! (yes, that clue was in the dryer...)

First present found!

Beeju picked the wrapping and bow himself, because Mama's favorite colors are green and pink.

Nut congratulated her not with a hug...

...but with one of his tackles. (Go Steelers!)

Putting the finishing touches on Mother's Day 2009.

Dang "PAPA-razzo." Put the camera down, Dad. Enough is enough.

Los Hermanitos Simiskey

2009-05-31T23:42:00.012-05:00

I would really, really (really!) love to have a little girl to pamper. There's just something about baby girls that is so pure and sweet and heavenly. That dream has obviously been deferred (though hopefully not permanently). But let me tell you, I totally adore having two boys. Seeing the brothers interact and watching them look out for each other is so fun. There are definitely plenty of times when they tussle over a toy or push each other's buttons. But man, if someone else picks on one of them or slights them in any way, the unaffected party instantly comes to the defense of the other. I love how they are constantly aware of the other and will protect each other as much as possible. They love being together and always comment to me about the cute or funny things the other is doing.

Here are a few brotherly pics...

What's a good collection of photos without a tub shot to be used for future posterity?

Showing off the hats they made at preschool.

Getting ready for some swimming action. (I love how Beeju often has his pants about an inch and a half too high. He's gonna make a great grandpa someday.)

On one of our weekly "campouts" in the Great Indoors. We love our campouts and the pre-campout "explorations" around the house with our flashlights looking for wild animals. Apparently Papa was gone a little too long this night and lost his spot in the "tent."

Waiting for Mama to get home from her weekend getaway trip to New York back in February. They insisted on getting three sets of flowers instead of one, which I was happy to oblige on. Unfortunately, they didn't quite work the magic we were all hoping for. On a side note, 12 hours after this picture was taken, my office building had been seized by the FBI and I had been placed under a gag order. Ah, February. Not a great month for Papa Sausage. But a cute picture, right?

Getting to Know Peanut

2009-05-31T22:34:00.005-05:00

Sammy is a happy boy. That pretty well sums up my little Peanut. He's had a smile on his face from the start. If you're ever having a bad day, you just need a little dose of this guy. He'll cheer you up instantly. Just the thought of him while I'm at work makes me smile ear to ear. Some day, when I grow up, I want to be just like him. I love him endlessly. Undoubtedly, it is souls like him who give us hope for the future.

He's also the most grateful person I know. He thanks me for everything - for saying "sure" when he asks for a drink, for getting him a drink, for taking his sippy when he's done, etc. I'll literally get a dozen "thank yous" an hour from him. And every one is totally and completely sincere. Even when he was super sick, exhaused and sprawled out on the tile floor a few weekends back, he just kept saying, "thank you, Daddy, thank you" every time he saw me cleaning up vomit or changing his clothes or laying next to him. Nothing makes Papa's heart melt like that little voice expressing his gratitude to me.

Say hi to my Nut. Captain of the grin and apple of my eye.

Getting to Know Beeju

2009-05-31T21:07:00.008-05:00

For those of you who haven't been around Noah much, let me tell you something about him. He has the most incredibly tender heart. He may very well be the sweetest person I've ever known. (But then, one of the other "top 5 sweetest people" on my list is a convicted murderer, so maybe my judgment isn't the best, but that's not the point.) He also loves his Mama and Papa as much as any child in history. I simply cannot adequately express my love for that boy. I daydream about our time together all day and would go to the ends of the world to spare his tender heart from any pain. He is going to make one outstanding and caring daddy some day. I hope I can be half the man he's going to grow up to be.

One of my favorite things about him is that he loves to do exactly what I'm doing. For example, he insists that I wake him up when I'm getting ready for work, and it's time for breakfast. He'll be genuinely disappointed if I just let him sleep. Then, of course, he wants to eat whatever I'm eating - vitamins and all. If I eat standing up, he'll eat standing up right by my side. If I eat sitting down, he'll do the same in the chair next to me. When I stop to take a drink, he stops and takes a drink. You get the idea. Then, when we're done eating and I go to finish getting ready, he'll cozy up on the couch, and I'll put on one of his favorite shows for him. Here's a glimpse of Mini Me in all his cozy glory. Then a few other random shots of my favorite 4-year-old.

Say hi to my Beeju. Mister Silly and master of my universe.

Gulp...Here Goes Nothing

2009-05-31T20:48:00.008-05:00

Yeah, so I know nothing about actually posting entries on a blog, managing the formatting, etc. But what the heck...I'm gonna let 'er rip. The only reason I'm doing this anyway is to post pictures and updates about my boys for those family and friends who are always asking me about them. And, for my benefit, I want to have a place to "journal" about them and keep track of pictures, etc.

To start, I'll go back in time a month or so to catch up on a few things. I'll probably do weekly updates after that.

If you're looking for updates about me, keep looking. I'll probably have very little to say about myself here. You can find me on Facebook, and I think that's enough Ben for one World Wide Web.

So if you're ready, it's away we go....but first, a quick shot of the protagonists. Might be the last you see of the author...