Miss Smarty Pants

This morning on the way to school, Tamara tells me she is excited because one of her friends is having a bowling birthday party. I asked her when and she said "at the bowling alley." I said, "no not where, when." She replied, "I don't know, don't you know when they have bowling parties?" I said no and left it at that. Then from the back seat with a questioning voice I hear, "Do you ever try thinking?" I wasn't sure who she was talking to so I replied, "Huh?" To which she replied, "Thinking, did you ever try it. Maybe you should think sometimes." If she had not been sincere and really didn't mean any harm behind it I probably would have whooped her for that one (and if I hadn't been trying really hard not to laugh where she could see me.) Don't know what I'm going to do with that child. I guess I better start "thinking!"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Me and my girls are about to head out to Waco to visit Pam's dad. Probably won't write anything until after then so everyone be safe and don't eat too much! Oh by the way... 32 Days until CHRISTMAS!!

Slow Down

I remember the first time she wanted to make her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I was unsure of how she would do, but besides the peanut butter and jelly all over the counter, she did awesome. MaKayla has always enjoyed cooking. When she was little her favorite show was Emeril Live! She would walk around the house yelling BAM! For one Christmas she even got an Emeril cooking set with an apron and everything. So really it shouldn't be a surprise that at the ripe age of 7 she wanted to cook supper. The other day she said, "Dad, I want to learn how to cook." I said "okay what do you want to cook." She replied, "spaghetti." Okay, so today we went to HEB and bought the ingredients. I wrote down what she needed and she picked it all out, from the flavor of the sauce, type of noodles, bread, cheese, everything. Then we came home and laid out all the ingredients and I stood back and watched my baby girl cook her first meal. I touched nothing, I only instructed the whole time. She was a complete pro, acting as if she has been cooking her whole life, (mainly because in her mind she has rehearsed this moment for years). Everything turned out wonderful, she made spaghetti with sausage and meat sauce, bow tie noodles, and buttery garlic toast. As I was watching her stir, her spaghetti sauce and noodles on the stove, I kept seeing this small curly haired curl smearing peanut butter and jelly all over the world and sometimes getting a little on a piece of bread too. Where in the world did that little girl go?











I Knew There Was A Catch!

Today I had a really big paper to write for my sports psychology class. I have really been dreading writing it because it had to be pretty extensive somewhere in the range of 6-7 pages, which isn't too bad if it's something you want to write but an assignment like this is something else. So anyway, today I sat down around 9:30 with my notes in hand ready to write. I wrote and I wrote, I researched along the way and attacked that paper like a man on a mission. Before I knew what happened 3 1/2 hours had passed and I had wrote 9 pages (oops!). There, I was done, that was easy, nothing is ever that easy but I guess today is my lucky day.....but wait, there was a catch. After picking up the girls from school I come home to pick up because some friends are coming over. I go in our closet to turn on the light and nothing. I change the bulb, still nothing! Okay I can handle this, I ran to the store to pick up a new light fixture, put it in and badda bing there was light. Alright, it's still my lucky day....but wait, there was a catch. After fixing the light I come to the kitchen to get a drink and see the sink backed up. This has been an on going problem for the last couple of years. I always blame my wife for it but I'm pretty sure it's just because the pipes are 50 years old. Anyway, I whip out the ole plunger and attack that sink like a fat man on a hot dog. I'm tearing that sink up, giving it all I got, jumping up and down...nothing, still blocked. So I run back to the store pick up some Drano and pour it in the sink. I wait the required 15 min come back and the sink is drained, HA! I ran water in it to see if I had done my job and whadda ya know, it backed up again. So I poured more Drano down the sink and left to go pick up some pizza. I believe it was at this time I made a statement like, "Could something else please go wrong!" Well, my wish was granted. I came home from picking up the pizza to find water all under my carport, all I could do was laugh. As of now, I have pulled out my dishwasher, cut a hole in the wall, found a hole in my pipes, a clog that won't come unclogged and to top it off I found evidence of mice living behind my dishwasher....but wait, there's a catch. I QUIT! I'm going to bed it will all have to wait until tomorrow, perhaps tomorrow is my lucky day.

UH OH!

39 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!
(I'm even getting worried about it now!)

Music

Okay so I added music to my blog. I chose songs that pretty much represent me, or how I feel. I don't know about it yet, I personally can't read and listen to music at the same time but thought it might ad another dimension into "who I am." Let me know what you think.

A Day Of Firsts

This weekend I took MaKayla on a quail hunt with a buddy and me. She was all wound up and ready to go, despite all the warnings I gave of how much running and walking we would do. The morning came and I woke her up @ 5:30 a.m. and she hopped up and got ready faster than I did, you could see the excitement in her face. The lease is about 40min. away and you could tell how restless she was on the way down. When we arrived we put on her snake guards (which nearly covered her whole leg) and away we went, we drove and walked and walked and drove not seeing anything. Then out of nowhere we found the mother load. Birds were jumping off the ground from everywhere, shots rang out like firecrackers on the fourth of July and we ran and ran chasing those little birds. In the midst of of all this running, we ran across a 4ft. rattlesnake basking in the sun. After a little fun with our slithery friend, it was time for him to take a dirt nap, and that was that. After a while of this shooting and excitement my little hunter was given out. She decided she would sit back at the truck and kill ants with her knife while we ran around. About every 10 min I'd run back over and check on her and make sure everything was okay. She was quietly whittling a stick then using it as a spear to kill ants (who says you need a boy). Around 3:00 we finally had all the hunting we could take and decided it was time to go home. She was pooped and ready to go, but kept on talking about how much fun we had. On the way home we saw an Al-sups and had to stop in for a coke and chimichanga. I told her she had to try a chimichanga. She asked what it was, and I told her "honestly I don't know but its really good." She got one and the rest is history. My baby has now become a chimichangaholic. She went on and on about how good they were and kept asking "but Dad what's in them?" I kept telling her, "I don't know and we probably don't want to know just eat and be happy." So there it was, at the ripe age of 7 my baby went on her first quail hunt, saw her first live rattlesnake up close (then saw it die), and experienced the crown jewel of the quick-stop, the "chimichanga!" What a day!

Hiccups

I don't know what to think of my youngest daughter. Today when I picked her up from school she had a bad case of the hiccups. I told her to hold her breathe and count to ten and after our fifth try, we got them to go away. It was at this time she asked, "Dad, is it okay if I have a boyfriend who has the hiccups too?" I said "Why, who has hiccups that is your boyfriend?" To which she replied matter of factly, "Incidentally it's Carson." Not too sure where she got that word but I'm moving her to a monastery, the sooner the better. GEEZ!!

SHE'S BACK!

After months of griping at Pam, she finally found her username and password and is going to start blogging again. YEAH!! Everyone check out her blog from time to time, hopefully she'll get on the ball soon.
Watching You Breathe
By: Adam Lewis

Every night while you are sleeping
I sneak in and watch you breathe
Inhale and exhale like a quiet symphony.
Since the day we brought you home
I’ve done this every night
To say a little prayer for you
And make sure everything’s alright.
I try so hard not to wake you
As I tip toe through your room
But as I trip and stumble over toys and clothes
That is sometimes hard to do.
I thank God that he has blessed me
With two such wonderful girls
And I know my life would be empty
Without you in my world.
So sleep tight little angels
I wish you such sweet dreams
As all of mine are coming true
While I sit and watch you breathe.

By The Way...

46 Days until CHRISTMAS!!!
45 by the time most of you will read this :)
First I would like to thank everyone for their prayers for Tamara. She is at home now and doing great. Laughing, playing and acting pretty much like herself. It is crazy how one minute she is perfectly healthy and the next she has pneumonia, but that is the way it is. Prayer is an awesome thing, and I know that everyone not only prayed for Tamara but for Pam and me as well. I never felt worried or overly concerned at the hospital, just complete confidence that everything was in God's hands and would be okay, and that is not like me so I know that prayers helped.

Have you ever in your life thought you were being faithful yet seeing no rewards for your faithfulness? I do this a lot. I tell God, "hey, I am not a bad guy, I go to church, I serve you, I pay my tithes, where are my blessings?" (Its usually at this time that I look around me and shut up) Anyhow, mine and Pam's entire marriage has been an uphill climb. Nothing has ever come easy for us and it has only made us stronger. Finances have always been a struggle for us, having just one income while she was in school, now while I'm in school. Somehow we have always had enough. Maybe not for the things that we want, but for the things that we need. We pay our tithes faithfully and sometimes when you don't make a lot that's really hard to do, but we have committed that to God (after all it is his anyway). Lately I have been down a little about our finances. Things have been kind of tight trying to pay off bills here and there and get to a point where we have a little more freedom. The other day I was praying and was discouraged and I said something to the affect of "God we pay our tithes, why are we still struggling so much, a little help would be nice." Well I got home today and I had a check in the mail from UTPB for $1000 for a grant that I didn't apply for yet had been awarded and I get the same grant in the spring as well. What's so cool about this is my other grant pays for my tuition and books so this is all extra. An extra $2000. Wow, God really is faithful to those who are faithful to him. It's not always in our timing but it's always when the timing is best for us.

Wow

My baby girl has been horribly sick today. I don't know that I have ever seen either of my children this sick. It is a scary and helpless feeling as you watch your child whimpering and throwing up, knowing there is nothing you can do to help. Even though I am the protector she looks for to keep her safe from all the bad stuff, nothing I could do would help her right now. On top of her being sick I have a really big biology exam tomorrow and I had intended spending the entire day studying instead I have been in the Dr. office all day. I'm now trying to get back in that studying mode. Before I could do that though I was having a little down time and just contemplating the day and my emotions, wishing it was me lying there in her bed hurting instead of her. Right then out of nowhere it came to me that, that is exactly what Jesus did. He knew the hurt and pain we would be in and the suffering we would endure, so he took it all from us. Wow! There are no words to describe how much I wish I could take my baby's spot right now, and there are no words to describe how unbelievably grateful I am that my Father took mine.

That Was Close

So last night we went to the "Night of Lights" carnival at church and had an awesome time. Way too much candy and Frito pies. Anyhow, at one point during the night Tamara wanted to go ride the ponies (for the hundredth time) so I went and stood in line with her. Well we finally got up to the front and when we got there, there were two little ponies ready to ride, as we are about to give the person our tickets I hear this mom and son talking behind me, this was the conversation.

Son: I don't want that one
Mom: That's all they have
Son: But I don't want that one
Mom: Well honey they both have nuts so I guess you're just going to have to wait.
(at this point I'm kind of cocking my head to the side to see what these little ponies are packin and hoping Tamara wasn't seeing the same thing)
Son: I don't want to wait!
Mom: Well all they have is Baby Ruth and Payday and they both have nuts so you'll just have to wait.

WHEW!!! I thought me and Tamara were going to have to go into an anatomy lesson right there in the pony line. I just hope the ponies names weren't Baby Ruth and Payday :)

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