Surface: Wowzer!!!

Check this out...Microsoft's "Surface".

Amazing Grace

The Lost Shoe

Oh Say Can You See.....

Happy Memorial Day!

Flock Test

Micah Laney is testing out the new Flock browser. It intrigued me, so I'm testing it out as well. It's fully integrated with Flickr and/or Photobucket. The browser has a toolbar across the top showing me my Flickr pictures. I hit Ctrl+B, which opens up a blog entry, and I start typing. I can also just grab one of my Flickr pictures and drop it into the blog entry. I have to say...it's pretty bodacious.

In weekend news, Emma and I went to Josh & Margo's farm for breakfast this morning. As always, it was a fantastic meal...100% country style. We met their new cow, baby goats, and ducks. We also encountered a big black snake, which Josh obliterated with a hoe. Yeah...I got a photo of it.

After naps, the whole fam went to Veteran's Park / Lake Fayetteville. Emma really likes the lake and the playground. Belle was just happy to get out of the house. That's it for my test. I like it. And there was much rejoicing.

technorati tags:Family

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Dancing & Waving

Happy Things for B

Brooklyn (or "B" which has become her new nickname) has a cold and it is very sad. She is so snotty and hates to have her nose wiped. If only she could blow it. She has been a bit cranky, so I have been trying to think of things that make her especially happy. These are the top 10 things I turn to when we need to turn crying into laughing:

1. Emma (she can do anything and B will laugh)
   
2. Belle (our dog)
3. squeaky noises of any kind
4. stuffed animals
5. Me dancing (that could make anyone laugh)
6. A bath
   
7. zirbirting her feet
8. John making funny faces
9. peek a boo
10. the lion roar on one of her toys

B got this toy for Christmas, but we have been saving it until she could sit up on her own. She loves it and so does Emma.

Our Dates

John had to work VERY long hours this past week. All of his girls missed him very much, especially Emma. She asked for him every night and called for him when she wasn't getting her way from me. Her behavior changes when he is not around. Not necessarily because he is the disciplinarian (I am), but because she senses that we are not complete without him with us.

John asked Emma to go on a date with him this morning to get doughnuts. She was so excited for doughnuts and to be with John. I love their dates!

Brooklyn and I had our own date at home. She was in major need of a bath, so that was first on the agenda. She loves bath time. I walked into the bathroom with her and as we got closer to the tub, she started squeeling and babbling. I love that she is starting to recognize things!! B is down for a nap now. When she wakes up, the whole family is going over to Kurt and Georgia's for a law school graduation party for Kurt. Way to go Kurt!!!

Where do you think the Veggie Tales live?

Emma, Brooklyn and I were driving down Joyce yesterday on our way to the bank. We were about to pass Family Bookstore and Emma said, "Hey Mom, that is where the Veggie Tales live."

A Better Day

Emma and I had a long day yesterday of not getting along all that well. My last words to Emma last night were, "Let's have a better day tomorrow, okay?" She nodded her head.

Normally our wake up call is Emma standing next to our bed saying over and over again, "I need milk!" I guess she remembered our conversation last night because John and I received a sweet wake-up call this morning. She went to John's side of the bed and said in the sweetest voice, "Daddy, I see a rainbow on the brown chair. Please, come and look. There is a rainbow. And, I need milk. " (She wouldn't be Emma if she didn't end the sentence in need of something) I went in the living room with her and there on the brown chair was a little rainbow from the sun shining through the window. By the time I found the camera, the rainbow was gone. Thus, no picture.

It is amazing how a sweet "hello" in the morning can change your day. The rainbow also reminded me to enjoy the small things in life. I love seeing things through the eyes of a child.

Flags at Sunset

More Sweet Tea for Melinda

Ok, everyone and their dog and their dog's worms are going to be up in arms over Melinda getting kicked off American Idol tonight. In my opinion, it's the best thing for everyone. Here's why:

Melinda is extremely established, both with her performance on AI and her history / connections in Nashville. She'll be off and running with a recording contract before her plane lands in Nashville.

Blake doesn't need to win American Idol, and I don't think he wants to win it all. If you haven't noticed, he's a bit eclectic in his musical tastes / styles. It doesn't really fit well with the AI image, which makes it even more impressive he's in the finale. If he wins, he's bound to produce a crappy album that is watered down by the AI producers and studio. So he loses in the long run if he wins it all. Probably best if he wins second.

Jordin stands to profit the most from winning. She's young, and needs the contract and advice from more experienced people, which she'll get automatically from winning. Besides, she's much more diverse in her singing styles / talent than either Blake or Melinda and can easily make any album to the AI producers want and make it work for her.

Good "Clean" Fun

Things Needed:

1. Water
2. Sink, pool, or water table
3. Dish soap
4. Dirty things that need washing
5. rag, old toothbrush, paintbrushes or anything that you can scrub things with

When we were in Little Rock last time, my Mom and Emma played at the kitchen sink for literally an hour. (maybe more) I took note of this activity for future use at home.
Today, I realized that the food and dishes that Emma uses in her kitchen were probably pretty nasty from kid's mouths, hands, etc.....Today, we dumped all the kitchen stuff in our sink and Emma got them all clean. This was quite entertaining for her. She stood at the sink for an hour. Literally.
I am teaching her young while she thinks cleaning is fun. Don't tell!

Mother's Day Weekend

I realize my posting has been pretty infrequent lately. Thankfully, Allison has been posting some great stuff to keep y'all entertained and to keep our online diary up-to-date. Between work and traveling, I really haven't had much time or energy to devote to blogging. Hopefully, that will change soon. Hopefully.

To all women out there: Happy Mother's Day! You're either a potential mother, a "I want to be a mom" mom, or a full throttle mom. Regardless of kid status, Happy Mother's Day. All women deserve to be recognized on this day, just because they're pretty impressive all around, not just in mothering. It should be called "Woman's Day". To recap the last several days will be difficult. Mainly the brevity part will be difficult. But here it goes:

Thursday
Allison went to a prayer meeting and to run some errands. I got a double-date with my girls. We took the opportunity to make a Mother's Day card for Allison. A big hand-made card with a picture (all the girls) and cut-outs of Emma and Brooklyn's hands on it. And a nice little poem written across the top (that I admittedly did NOT create...). Late bedtime for all, but the card was pretty great!

Friday
Allison and Emma went to Grace Hannon's (cousin) 11th birthday party. Only girls invited. Swimming / slumber party at the Embassy Suites in Rogers. I can only imagine. I stayed with Brooklyn at the house. Emma & Allison had a great time. Again, I can only imagine that scene.

Saturday
Did minor stuff around the house: yard work, miscellaneous cleaning, etc. Saturday afternoon, I went to help Brett & Jayme Walker move into their new house. Fun facts about the Walkers: Brett has a recent physical injury that hindered his moving abilities. Jayme is pregnant. They had a big group help move the big furniture on Friday night, and Benton (Brett's brother) and I helped move in all the boxes and miscellaneous stuff on Saturday. It was actually pretty fun, despite the work load-to-labor ratio.

Sunday (Mother's Day)
I got up early with Brooklyn and Emma. When Allison awoke, we gave her her card and hugs. Emma, Belle, and I went to Starbucks to pick up some breakfast (White Chocolate Mocha's & Blueberry muffins). Then to church and back home for lunch & naps. Allison ran some errands during nap time. Emma crashed quick & easy. Brooklyn screamed. For an hour. I gave up and got her out of her crib. We played and watch golf on TV for a while. After Emma's nap, we loaded up and went to Gator Golf to play some Putt-Putt. Strange request from the wife. I also beat her for the first time in our 10 years of dating/marriage. And I beat her badly. I was GREAT! We then headed to Catfish Hole for dinner and back home for bedtime. It was a great day!

An Addition

After today, I must add on to the "couch" list from my previous post.
8. A boat (an orange spatula is our wheel and helps us go faster to get away from the snakes)
9. A waterfall

Great Tent Maker = Daddy

A Long Weekend

I am not sure how to sum up our trip to Arlington this past weekend. For starters, it was long. We left Fayetteville at 9:30 Friday morning and did not arrive at our hotel in Arlington until 6:30 that evening. A normal trip would have taken about 6-6 1/2 hours. We did stop at Walmart in McAlester for about an hour and a half so that was a big chunk of time. The other delays were for potty breaks, feeding Brooklyn, traffic, etc.....Emma did great and Brooklyn did pretty good. B is not a great sleeper in the car, so she was worn out from lack of sleep and being stuck in her car seat for entirely to long.

Our main purpose in going to Arlington was for my sweet friend, Holly. She got married this weekend and I didn't want to miss it. She is my dear friend and one of my roommates from Baylor. An added bonus was that my other good friend and roommate from Baylor had twins last Monday. She lives in Arlington too so I got to see her and her cute babies, Jack and Lucy. Those two things were the highlight of the trip and made it worth the long hours in the car.

We drove into Ft. Worth and ended up walking around the Botanical Gardens. It was so pretty! John had a great time taking pictures of all the landscape + a few pictures of the girls and me. We went back to Arlington and ate dinner at Moni's, which is a little Italian place we had eaten at before. They have INCREDIBLE rolls that you dip in alfredo sauce. Yes, horrible for you, but OH, so yummy!

On Sunday, we started out about 9:00 and made it back here by 5:00. We made better time, but still not great. Emma was so delirious at the end of the trip that she was making up words to Amazing Grace. It was a hoot!

Not Just a "Couch"

Over the past few weeks our couch has turned into much more than your typical couch. Emma's imagination has made it into:

1. A swimming pool
2. An airplane
3. A dump truck
4. A bathtub
5. A tent
6. A hideaway from monsters and spiders
7. A bed for her and her animal friends

This morning the couch is a swimming pool. What fun would a swimming pool be without a swimsuit? See picture!

Bad Timing & Chicken Minis

I picked a really bad time to quit dipping. Arguably, there is no "bad" time to quit...but then there is. Right now, work is crazy. 15 hour days working on checkout modulars. Crazy stress. It isn't helping my work efficiency when my head keeps saying "Hey! Go get a can and then quit after modulars are finished". This runs through my head about 1-2 times per minute. Not good when you're making decisions that sway a Title's sales by millions of dollars. Thankfully, I'm still holding strong after 2 weeks of not dipping! 3 1/2 months to go until I'm typing my posts on an iMac!

In other news, I love Chick-fil-A's Chicken Minis. Chicken nuggets stuffed into a heavily-buttered Sister Schubert roll. It's pretty much the best food God ever came up with next to Apple Pie.