What you think does matter

One slip and I could Drown... I was watching the news and paying close attention to the weather guy. I wanted to know what were the chances of rain tomorrow. Don't get me wrong I know we need it - our main large lake in town needs at least 28 inches of rain to make it back to normal levels. Right now, it looks like at some spots of the lake you could walk across to the other side of the 3,000 acre lake. So again - I want it to rain, but there is a limit .... let me see, It may be too much rain if I need to build a bridge to check the mail box.

Swimming Pool - My private curse My kids love animals or should i say - learning about animals. they both like to read books and watch programs about animals. There was a time there for a while that all we ever saw on TV was the show "Animal Kingdom" and the show with Steve Erwin - "the crocodile hunter" - crikie..... The problem is, for as much as they love learning about animals - they are not fond of swimming with animals. You see with all the rain we've been having lately, the swimming pool has become a haven for frogs looking to reproduce. So even though the swimming pool is fun for the kids - it has become a living hell for me... If it rains too much the frogs try to take over the pool with their offspring [ tadpoles ] and if it doesn't - the bugs [ like mosquitoes ] try to use it as a breeding ground. So if I don't want my kids to get sick - I have to follow a ritual: 1- check the pool in the morning to see if clean, pumps working and enough chlor

Help, summer too long - kids are running out of things to do. dad needs help - call "rescue parents" quickly. He might not survive... It's amazing isn't - just because your their parent they expect you to keep them occupied and happy. What, when I was growing up all I had was the television set [ only 12 channels provided not the 150 channels kids get today ] and my brothers and sisters - which meant a lot of fighting... But my kids, no they want me to be active, play with them, keep them entertained - Somebody save me....

My Plans Fall APART..... You, you try to do your best. Make sure you give your family some “Good Quality Time”. You know, as a parent you plan a trip, an outing, a special Barbeque… that’s right, I barbeque… But this weekend, no amount of planning was going to work out as planned. The Canopy was up, the grill was out, the lawn mowed, the pool cleaned and the kids…. Well sleepy and tired. But my plans would go on. I prepared the meat, seasoned it, got the rice - “ FIRST TIME I COOKED RICE ”…. the corn, the green beans, lettuce you name it I had it. I had four cups of coffee before 10 am and still had to keep going to make my plans a success...... That’s when it fell apart: The kids woke up late, the wife didn’t want to get in the pool, and clouds rolled over head. Great - the rain was coming. To make it worst, Flor, Magda’s baby cousin had to go home by two - no one told me…. So I had to put the grill away cause it might rain, while I took the drive into town to take her home by 2 pm. .

You know as a parent, you concern yourself with a lot of things. You think - money may be tight but I want my kids to have fun. I can do without - but my kids shouldn't have too. So with this in mind, I tried to create a fun week end for the kids. I invited my wife's 15 year old cousin [ you know so it's not just the kids playing ]. I rented a movie, planned a barbeque for Saturday. I planned on waking up very early on Saturday to mow the lawn, clean up and get the pool cleaned - and ofcourse prepare the grill. i wanted to do it all - so my wife could also just enjoy the day. So What happened... Well, after my wife picked up her cousin - everything did not go as planned. No one watched the movie - to busy ... ended up watching my regular Friday night shows that I was willing to give up on [ lucky me ]. Then we went to bed - or so i thought... Apparently my daughter and my wife’s cousin decided to stay up till two in the morning watching TV - and they also decided to sleep

Look Dad I can Swim..... Ok, he can swim, of course he has a life vest and goggles on - but he has the right idea. It’s more like - hay Dad, I learned to hold my breath under water. But when your having fun… who cares, let him swim.

Reminiscing about the good times Do you ever get bored? Try to find something to do and you end up doing something funny, stupid or silly? Well I was looking over some photos today with Kiki and Isaac and I ran across an interesting photo of my son when he was just a wee baby boy. You see kiki was in school, the significant other working and my son was taking a nap. And like any proud dad I was watching my son sleep. Then it hit me, a funny but brilliant idea. You know, the kind the you get only once in a life time…… I decided to take a photo of him while he slept - but just a regular picture was not going to do. Take a look and tell me what you think ? ............ I wonder if I can make a new one now????

Exploiting my Children online ? ? ? ? Interesting, I was asked if I felt ok with Exploiting my children.. When I asked, what they meant by “exploiting my children” - they said : “You know, putting them out there on the internet for all the world to see. Don’t you think your exploiting them - by putting their life on display for people to see?” It was an interesting thought. And I could see why people would think that - they think it because they’ve seen what happens to child TV stars and lets not forget all the wacko’s out there. But let me explain a few things - at least from my personal life. My children are the world to me. They are the joy of my life and the air I breath. When my little girl was born I promised to be there for her, unlike my father who left when I was five. As she grew up I realized two things - one, time and age will erode my memory of all the good things I have done and do for my children. So I started keeping a journal and a large book of photos, mementos and co

Indiana Jones and the temple of Quietness I said it before I’ll say it again - I love video games. Especially if they give a bit of “Peace and Quiet” in the home. Oh, there is nothing more exciting than watching my kids play - that is, play quietly. Ofcourse since I’m a big fan of games myself - I play a little myself. And I have to say, if you want a nice clean game that will help your kids use those brain cells and enjoy themselves [ plus keep them quiet ] I suggest you get “ Lego Indiana Jones “ tribute game. This game is cool, especially if you’re a movie buff and an Indiana Jones fan. It pretty much takes you thru all three Indiana Jones movies - [ not last 4th installment ]. It’s great, you get the whip, you fight, jump, solve puzzles and ofcourse it has movie clips in Lego format. So cute. The only bad thing is, if you’re an avid player - or a junkie like me - you could easily go thru the entire game in about three days [ give or take a day - depends how good you are and

I love video games, no really. I love videos games, I’ve always been a fan. I could play for hours and when I was a kid - it was a normal thing for me to play all night in my pursuit to save the princess, destroy the evil monster or capture the prize. There were many a sleepless nights where just me, my game console and several cups of coffee was what I had in the wee hours of the night. I once played “Zelda” for three nights and three days straight. No sleep for me, I was going to save the princess - I did by the way. So what’s my point - Do you want to know why today’s parents love game consoles, why they are willing to pay three hundred dollars or more on a simple game console. Why they do not find it a waste of money to pay $129 dollars for a DS or other hand held game… let me give you a clue: Listen, do you hear that.. The silence .......... I was wondering why the house was so quite. The spouse was taking a nap and the kids - well, not a peep. I thought they were a sleep but when

Lazy Summer Days I remember when I was a kid I would stay up late watching TV and my mom may have liked it - but hey, there was no school to worry about the next day. Ofcourse my daughter has taken staying up late watching TV to a whole new level. She likes to watch George Lopez - but since they give it at 11 pm, it’s usually out of the question during school time. But the minute school was out she slowly got accustomed to first staying up that late and second - getting comfortable. She’s turned it into an art form - just take a look at the video below… it will explain it all ……

Happy Birthday - KIKI When my little girl was a bit younger - I tried to make her time exciting. She didn't have her brother back then and I sort of felt guilty that she had no one to play with. So I made sure I played with her and helped make play time fun. I would play McDonalds with her in her kitchen play set or create these elaborate treasure hunts for her to find a prize. I started doing it on her birthdays to make opening her present from me and mom more special, surprising and build up that excited expectation. After her brother was born, I sort of slowed down with the treasure hunt because - well, as she grew she acted [ let’s say ] less surprise. You know kids think their to grown up to do fun things they consider - kiddie like. But I try to teach her to stay a kid, enjoy it while it last because when you grow up - it gets harder to enjoy the simple things….. but this birthday I decided to surprise her with a mini-treasure hunt. first I tortured her - I gave her a birthd

The House of Mouse - NOT! I love Mickey Mouse, especially visiting the "House of Mouse" at Walt Disney World. It's been hard to take a trip to see Mickey Mouse because everything is so darn expensive. I feel bad because my son hasn't been to see Walt Disney world and he is already four - a perfect time to build memories. Ofcourse I bring this all up because we had a new visitor come to the house. yes, a furry little creature - a mouse, mice - what ever is the correct word to use. It scared the living daylight out of me. There I was sleeping in my bed when my daughter called saying there was a strange noise in her room [ probably thought it was a monster .. lol ] but it turned out to be the mouse. apparently my son had hidden some of "Generals" [ dog my wife was baby sitting for friend ] doggie treats around the house. For the next three nights i had to wake up to fears of my wife and children because the mouse was making noise crunching on doggie treats. Wh

The day after the dog was gone... Well the sleepy long days of summer have arrived. The first day after the Dog was gone - my kids did what every kid does durring the summer - Slept in ... I can't blame them, I know some people might say - thats lazy or teaching your kids to be lazy... But thats the point. They are kids. I say let them enjoy it. They going to grow up. And I teach them and train them to do a lot of things. heck my duaghter has been working on a mathbook for the last four days. shes been practicing her math skills and this is a book i used in collegde. Did you know that if you wanted to find the answer to any math questin that dealt with dividing a number by five - all you had to do is multi by the number by two and you have your answer.... This is what shes doing - learn strong math skills. So why would i argue about her waking up late. as long as she washes the dishes, cleans her room and helps around the house and ofcourse does some learning during the summer - &q

General is His name.... Well the day came, general [ the dog we were caring for our friends ] is gone, yesterday was his last day. And while I know everyone knows I wont miss him [ no I did not hate him - just to much unwanted work caring for pets and kids ]. I will say this - I was surprised. I expected my kids to whimper and cry. To shout and pout about general leaving - but they didn't. in fact they almost seemed happy about it. ??? maybe it's because my daughter wont have to wake up at six thirty in the morning to walk him. or because my wife wont have to clean up after him. or maybe it's because my son lost his fear around the dog and the dog became - you know, part of the furniture as he lost interest in touching and petting and following that dog around the house. I do know this.. I will not miss the screams of my children fighting over who can sit closest to the dog. So to say my farewell to my four legged little friend - I wrote a song.... Oh happy days are here ag

I just have to laugh , no really. I don’t think my wife did it intentionally but it is ironic. Let me explain - - My sister-in-law came over yesterday and she noticed a red Elmo child seat by the coach. Being the overly excited ELMO fan she grabbed the seat up in her arms and jokingly hugged, kissed and exclaimed how cute and lovely the seat was… My wife just stood quite. Then my sister stopped and embarrassingly said - “you know, this smells funny…” she took a good sniff and said “hey, this smells !” and my wife with a straight face said “ I’m sorry, that chair belongs to the Dog .....”. Ofcourse my sister-in-law dropped the chair quickly and went running..... OH, I wish I had the camera with me, it would have made a great video. But hey - that will teach her, next time she will stop and think before she acts. The dog probably thought it was rude of her to grab his chair - but then again he probably was surprise to see a human sniffing his chair. . . .....

You ever notice - you give your children all the things you never had as a child. You buy game consoles, swing sets, a backyard [ God I lived in a apartment complex - I didn't know people had back yards....]. you have all day cartoon chanels, DVD's coming out of the wazu and board games, radios, and things you can't even mention [ toys invented for this yougn generation ] - you have the internet, social sites dedicated to children. You buy them paint, chalh boards, dry erase boards, remote control cars you name it and what do they say.... dad, I'm bored. There's nothing to do ????????

Summer is Hot ! As I stated in last post, Summer doesn't officially begin until school is out. Well, this is the second day of no school and my air conditioner went out. Well - it didn't break down, but it was badly leaking to the point where water was dripping down thru the ceiling. No it wasn't a flood, but enough to wet the floor with about a cup of water. To make it worse - the leak was right above a light fixture in the kitchen - I didn't want an electrical fire so off went the "air conditioner"... I haven't experienced this much hot air since we went camping last march for spring break. And the hot air wasn't from the heat but from my family. My wife was complaining, my daughter was hot - and my son was sweaty but didn't complain. All this and I had to play the supportive "It's not so bad" role. Not that it help calm the family down. You would think that it was 100 degrees in the house. The funny thing is - that these are the sa

Today is the first official day of Summer here at my house... Why, becuase it's the first day of "NO SCHOOL" for my duaghter. Just take a sneak peek at what we did when she woke up around 9:30 in the morning. Normally she has to get up at 6 am to get ready for school. I thought that it was going to be easier to watch my son now during the summer becuase my duaghter was home and she could help me when needed... but i can't even get her to make me a cup of coffee.... so much for help.....

Chasing cheese down a hill - interesting. You know, when I was trying to figure out what me and the kids could do for fun this long three day week end - chasing cheese down a hill was not one of my ideas. May 27 - The wind and rain didn't stop thousands of people watching the annual cheese roll in Gloucestershire, England. Competitors from around the world flocked to Gloucestershire to take part in a sporting event with a difference, the giant cheese roll. As the cheese rolled down the hill, dozens of people ran, slipped and tumbled after it. Paramedics were on the scene to assist the injured and mud-covered competitors. Cheese rolling is thought to date back centuries. During rationing between 1941 and 1954, the wheel of cheese had to be substituted with a wooden circle containing a token piece of cheese inside.