A funny thing happened on the way to Kansas City...

First off I want to say that my wife is the most understanding person I know...aside from my folks who we pawned our kids off on for an extra day this weekend.

Steph's high school reunion has been on our planner for a few months now, and it happens tonight in the heart of downtown Kansas City at some trendy restaurant. A bunch of her girlfriends have been planning their reunion on facebook.com for a while, and I was looking forward to putting faces and names together, to go with all the stories that Steph tells me.

Thursday was going as planned until I got on a conference call, and it seems like a weird schedule of vacations, business travel and my willingness to do anything as an employee that could help the company landed me in Montana for the weekend and into Monday afternoon.

I called Steph and passed the news to her and she was excited. I was dumbfounded. She wanted to come with, and since we already had Grandma Penny and Grandpa Bob taking the boys and the Fasts looking after little Kolby it made total sense.

So we left yesterday, hiked around Devil's Tower, today we are hitting Yellstone NP (my company serves YNP and I have work to do in the park), we are also going to do some rock climbing in the area. Tomorrow morning we are climbing in the Bozeman area and I have to do a little work on Sunday, and then a bunch on Monday...then driving home.

Steph said she would rather hang out with me in the mountains and go rock climbing, hiking and do some shopping in Bozeman than go to some stuffy Kansas City reunion to listen to people brag about how great their life turned out.

I was totally ready to be MR. STEPHANIE DECKER/GLANZER for a weekend, but instead thanks to my super fun job, we get to tour around Montana....together this time. It's nice for me to travel with my wife for work...did I mention that our kids are back in SD? Boy we will miss them by Monday.

Passing of the Breck-Flu

You have heard of the the perils of the bird flu, the media has scared you with the swine flu...well, our friends and family experienced the Breck-Flu.

Here is how it went down...

Brecken was the initial human carrier, (we think he got this new strain of flu from a combination of handling dead animals, wiping his nose on his shirts, eating grapes off the floor, drinking water from our well, and a scrape on his knee he received while skateboarding).

Brecken passed the bug to Maxim, Maxim passed the bug to Kolby, Kolby passed the bug to Stephanie, Stephanie passed it to me, in the mean time we also knocked out Jerad and Angie Fast as they spent time at our house on Saturday night while Maxim was infected and in bed...in the mean time Grandma Penny and Grandpa Bob also got the 24 hour knock down from the Breck-Flu.

So to keep from anyone in our house getting sick again we are going to enforce a medical glove and mask policy for all visitors, or we will just use video conference to invite folks over from now on!

Thanks Brecken!

Saturday In Pictures

Here was our Saturday in pictures...except for the part where I worked for 7 hours on a retaining wall project in the yard.

Brats on the grill, perfect day at the lake.

Grandpa and his vaqueros taming the Old West.

Maxim riding all by himself. (notice the look of fear in Cookie's eyes)

Brecken and his "Buckle Bunny" Kolby getting her first riding lesson, and not really enjoying any of it.


Brecken and Grandpa driving the "tractor".

We capped it off with ice cream at Zesto...no pictures of that.

Wrapping Up May Birthdays

Today is the day we celebrate my cousin Jon's birthday...as I blogged about before May is a busy month for our family and extended family as far as birthday's are concerned.

Jon's, which is today, puts the end to our run which averaged about 2 per week.

So Happy Birthday to the guy that was basically the brother I never got from my parents. Jon and I have stories upon stories to tell our boys about things we did when we were young.

Here is one...I don't even know if Jon remembers this or not...we must have been about 10 or so, and I saw the Lone Ranger movie, and in the movie the Lone Ranger and Tonto cut their hands and shake hands to become blood brothers (long before the HIV epidemic). I always thought it would be cool to have a brother...Jon has 2 so this wouldn't have been a big deal to him...so my only alternative was to have a blood brother.

I don't remember the circumstances of how both of us were bleeding at the same time, (which probably happened more than once), but we both had little tiny cuts on our fingers and we mashed the tiny splattering of blood together to officially become brothers of blood.

So Happy Birthday to my Blood Brother...how's that for an obscure childhood memory?

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend as our friends from Sioux Falls came to the lake for a little Summer Kick Off party.

The kids lived on the trampoline and had a blast...I think 11pm was the average bedtime for all of them.

This picture below of Brecken pretty much sums up his Memorial Day Weekend...I have 4 or 5 pictures of him from the weekend and he has a soda in his hands in each picture. He has been cut off and is now going through withdrawal.

Maxim picked today's video...

Maxim loves Ben 10 Alien and he wanted to choose today's video post, he chose this video from youtube.

Someday I'll make him type something into the blog...sorry it's been a while. Lots of travel and a super fun holiday weekend.

My Little SDSU Cheerleader...and another birthday.

Steph sent me this picture of Kolby in her SDSU cheerleader outfit today...I'm in Nebraska and she broke my heart that I couldn't give her a big hug and kiss.

I'm not sure she'll be the cheerleader type, but with Brecken and Maxim for brothers she might be the cheerleader that is always the one to be thrown up into the air doing cool stunts...we just have to make sure that they don't practice with her until she is at least 10.

OH YEAH...and Happy Birthday Uncle Lynn!

Spray Paint + Brecken = Graffiti

I was marking the ground where we are going to build a retaining wall the other day, and must have left the neon yellow spray paint sitting on the steps.

On Thursday Steph was in Sioux Falls and I was on vacation to babysit the kids...Kolby was crying and needing to be fed, so I sent the boys outside for a few hours. I hadn't seen them run by any windows so I was a little bit nervous as to what they were up to.

Then like clockwork I saw Maxim and there was Brecken right behind him carrying the spray paint...and before I could figure out what he was doing with it, he started to paint the outdoor fire place.

I jumped up and yelled at them to stop, and lucky for me I caught him before he did any damage! I said, "Brecken, no, no, no, you don't play with the paint."

Then Maxim the consummate professional big brother said, "Yeah, dad I told him to quit painting everything."

So my walk around the house started. You know those Family Circus cartoons where they show the neighborhood and the path that Billy took to do something...well, we have that path in neon yellow.

Concrete steps, landscape timbers, sidewalks, grass, landscape rocks, a bench in the front of the house, and the thing that took the most beating was a little car that the kids can wheel around in...all of it, tagged by the great graffiti master Brecken.

He didn't hit the house or his sister, or anything real noticeable...so we got lucky. I have a feeling we might find a few other things that were tagged. I did notice this morning, when I was cleaning out the dog kennel, that my scoop shovel is now a lot easier to tell from other people's scoop shovels thanks to the yellow paint.

Some people write their names on their property, Brecken just color codes his property.

Another Birthday...Cassidy Bay.

Cassidy turns 14 today...that means she can somewhat drive a car in Kansas...in South Dakota I think she can test for a CDL to drive a semi...we make kids grow up a bit quicker in SD.

Happy Birthday and now you can get a Facebook page right?

Here is a little video of me basically being mean to Cassidy while we were on vacation over Christmas.

One thing folks might not know about Cassidy is that she is pretty quick with her tongue, and very funny...she keeps me on my toes and I like to mess with her.

I so want to fly on this guys planes.

I guess it was only a matter of time before someone realized that nobody pays any attention to their flight attendent's little manifesto prior to take off, so this guy gets it and I am sure everyone got the point.

Kindergarten Graduation

Maxim's kindergarten graduation ceremony was last night, held in conjunction with the spring concert. He wore the little cap and gown and everything...I'll post pictures later.

This morning when Steph went to wake him up for school, he thought she was joking. "I don't have school anymore mom, I graduated."

She tried to convince him that it was a ceremony and that he has school for another few days. He wouldn't buy it. I was still in bed, and he comes in and jumps on me and says, "Mommy says I have to go to school today...tell her I graduated."

I then explained to him that he has to go until Wednesday...he cried.

I dropped him off at the playground and he was surprised to see a bunch of kids at school, so he grabbed his backpack and said, "I guess I'll see you later."

Yeah Maxim, like the last week of school for a kindergartner is real tough...ice cream parties, field trips, recess...just wait until summer vacation starts, I have a job for you hauling landscaping rocks around our yard, that I want done before Memorial Day Weekend. Oh wait, it was kindergarten graduation not 8th grad graduation, I got ahead of myself there.

MAY this be birthday month...

I was talking to a good friend of mine yesterday, and I asked him his when his daughter's birthday was...he thought for a moment, whipped out his BlackBerry opened his calendar and then told me.

I was glad to know that I'm not the only one that needs a BlackBerry to remember important dates, like your wife and children's birthdays.

May is a busy month for our family as far as birthday's go. It starts with Roger and ends with Dr. Jon...Here is today's big celebration.

Happy b-day to my niece Avery!

Cinco De Rogero.

Happy Birthday to my father-in-law...59 again?

Here is a photo that I took of Roger last year...a man, a dog, on his land...and his shotgun is not pointed at his son-in-law.

The Blog About Bob.

My dad got blogged about by the President of his Alma Mater...read about it here.

He claims he's really famous now that he made the Tabor College blog site.

BPM

I heard this story on National Public Radio about a bird that dances to the actual beat of a song by the Backstreet Boys. If they speed it up, he speeds up his routine, and if they slow it down...he hears the tempo and slows down his routine. It made me wonder, if a plain and simple bird, a Cockatoo can keep the beat to a song, why can't all humans?

As a drummer I often watch how the music I'm playing moves people. I would say, as a general statement, that the majority of mid-western men can't keep a beat. I would also say that most women can instantly recoginize when they should clap or at what speed they should dance/or bob their head. Which makes me wonder why more girls don't play the drums...Kolby will be forced to play the drums...because if you remember from a post back in 2007 Maxim wants to play the flute.

I worry about Brecken playing the drums...I have a feeling it would end up being a rerun of Animal from the Muppet Show...anyway here is the video.

Sick of the swine flu.

Maybe I watch too much CNN, but I am already sick of hearing about the swine flu...I can listen to ESPN talk about A-Rod's steroid use for months, but if I hear one more story about the pig flu I'm going to start wearing a mask everywhere I go.

I actually don't think it is CNN's fault though, I trust that CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta is telling me things I really need to know about how to keep from being the first South Dakotan to acquire the latest fashion in mutated flu bugs.

Funny thing is...Jack Cafferty might agree with me, that the swine flu coverage is a little overblown at this point.

I actually blame my sickness of the new sickness on our local CBS affiliate, a couple of the reporters think they have their physician degree from the University of Phoenix Online, because the fire and brimstone that they have delivered over the last couple of days has me worried to leave the lake. Very similar to the way their meteorologist have you looking for shelter in the basement when it gets cloudy in July.

I have an idea, let the national networks worry about the swine flu, and the locals worry about flooding, local city government, and the Scotty Friesen Wedding coverage.

End of an Era.

Everyone knows my cousin Scott...he has the personality of a politician without all the bad traits. When he walks into a building, everyone knows him, or will by the end of the night. He's that kind of guy...everyone's friend.

Well, Scooter is getting married this weekend, and I couldn't be more proud of him. He kind of followed in my footsteps, too...as he is marrying a gal named "Steph".

So the clan will be together this weekend to celebrate, and I am sure Uncle Skipper has something planned, that is if his wife let's him pull his Shenanigans.

I wasn't sure the bachelor would ever settle down, and it almost took 40 years, but this is the big weekend. So when you hear the crowd cheering and engines revving on Saturday know that they are celebrating Scott and Steph's wedding vows.

I leave you with Scott's latest "gangsta picture" that he sent to me. Although he looks dangerous in the photograph....it is not really that gangster, to throw up a peace sign, in front of a Hallmark display at a Wal-Mart...but hey, were from the 605 what do you expect?

Been Watching You...

I know that as a father, your kids are watching everything you do, and usually right in the middle of everything you are trying to do. Most of the time that is OK, but this weekend I was setting some of the final tiles on the steps. (yes, there was still some tile to be set...notice I said FINAL)

Laying tile is kind of a "concentration type job" as once you set it, it is there for life, so you don't want to mess anything up, and it seems Brecken wanted to be there for the historic moment of Daddy finally finishing the tile.

He was crawling on me, and messing with my tools, and pretty much in the way. Steph noticed this and said, "Brecken will you help me with the laundry?" His little bottom lip pushed out and you could tell he was pretty hurt that daddy really didn't need his help. In a split second, this whole Rodney Atkins song went through my head, and I whispered in Brecken ear, "you tell mommy you can't, because you are busy helping daddy."

He stood up and said, "Mommy, I can't, I help daddy!"

I gave him some orders on how to help me, and he did them just like I asked. I went out to cut some tile, and didn't see him for a minute.

Then I saw what he was up to. He was asking for his "lizard hat" and a pencil...and a tape measure. It was one of those moments when you realize how important it is to be a good example to your kids.

Steph took a couple of pictures and it made my day to see my "little bear" doing everything I did.

For the record, I changed Kolby's diaper that day and fed her as well, and Maxim and I went out for a great kayak trip, and then fished for an hour or so while Brecken slept. This 3 kid thing is work.

Here is the "Watching You" song by Rodney Atkins.

Stage Presence

Maxim's school had their Spring Speech Festival on Friday, and Maxim did a version of "Hickory Dickory Dock". We worked on his delivery and I told him about stage presence, and how to work the crowd.

I think he nailed his performance, not sure where he got the "bow" from? Must have got that from the Decker side!

I was not the first fool in the water!

All this talk in the news about waterboarding has me itching to get my boat and wakeboard out on the water. Waterboarding has a dual meaning in our family...one lazy summer day my folks were out at the house and a boat went by pulling a wakeboarder and Grandpa Bob said, "that guy is waterboarding."

We got a good laugh, and every now and then Steph and I will talk about going "waterboarding".

On Tuesday night we enjoyed the first night of yard work. There was a bunch of guys fishing right by our dock and we were working on the lake side of the house. I was coming around the corner of the house, when Steph told me not to look at the lake. Of course I did. A couple guys were out there riding...I hope they had wetsuits on. We could actually hear them scream from about a half mile away when they would jump in the water for the first time.

Yard work now...Play In May!

Spellcheck?

Looks like the Washington Nationals are trying to watch their budget in these tough economic times as well...as they could only afford to put 8 letters on their jersey. Either that or the local Huron Newspaper did their proof reading.

Summer is here.

We put up the trampoline tonight...which means that winter is over.

That doesn't mean we won't get another snow, or 10 inches of rain in 2 hours, or a 70 mph wind storm, but it does mean we can lock the boys in the octagon for some cage fighting.

Kolby Cries For Her Daddy!

Steph has left me alone with Kolby 3 times now since she was whelped a couple months ago. Don't get me wrong this little girl is an ANGEL most of the time, except when it is time for daddy to be the sole-caregiver for her and her brothers.

Last night I got home from Pierre at 6:30, and Steph left for town soon after to pick up Maxim.

That left the ever-energetic Brecken and the soft and cuddly Kolby in the care of their extremely road-weary daddy.

Brecken proceeded to scream the words "Pizza Monster" like a madman while eating some pizza, and Kolby woke up soon after that hungry. I fed her and changed her and did everything you are supposed to do, but she started crying, and kept crying for almost 3 hours...until about 5 minutes before Steph got home.

She did this exact same thing a couple weeks ago...cried the whole time Steph was gone, and then quit about 10 minutes before she got home.

A friend of ours told me she cries for me, because I don't smell like Stephanie, and that I should wear or hold a shirt of Steph's while she is gone and I am trying to comfort her. I would be afraid to answer the phone if I was wearing my wife's shirt let alone if someone would happen to come to the door.

I'll deal with the crying...it can't last forever?

Happy Birthday - HO-DADDY!

Brecken turns 3 today...hard to believe the little Hulkster has only been 2 for one year. We think his terrible 2's lasted for about 2.5 years, and are still going.

We celebrated his birthday for 5 days...and he is still not tired.

Here is a picture of Grandma Penny and all of her boys (the one in the grey hat has the look in his eye doesn't he?).

Happy Easter.

Easter is the day when you want to dress your kids in spring clothes for church, but the weather says, "not quite yet".


Our family celebrated Easter by wearing flip flops to church...no shorts yet...sorry Grandma Reece, we will wear the cool shorts you bought the boys a little later in the month.


We also celebrated Brecken's 3rd Birthday this week...like 4 days worth of party!


Today was the big present and cake day...here are some photos from our Easter/Brecken Birthday Extravaganza!

YES...YOU ARE AT THE RIGHT SITE!!!

3 years of blogging on the same template, and I decided to change it up...nothing drastic, just a little spring cleaning.

Like Penny commented, if something is missing that you really liked on the site before, let me know and I'll bring it back.

I'm just here to serve.

School Lunch Program

I ate with Maxim at his school this afternoon. I forgot how much fun the lunch room is when you are in grade school.

Chicken strips, mashed potatoes, corn, pears, a bun and some typically-somewhat-warm 2% white milk, all for a couple bucks. (I think school lunch programs is what caused me to put ice in my milk...both Steph and I can't stand milk that isn't next to freezing.)

Maxim and his best friend Moses ate like champs, and I only had to tell them 4 or 5 times to settle down. I was leery of being "that dad" and going to school to eat with him, hoping he wouldn't be embarrassed, but we had a blast with all the kids at his table.

Here is the commemorative photo of the event...Moses and Maxim.

Kolby being Kolby.

A night as a waiter...

James Valley has a fund raiser event each year that is a dinner theatre format...think the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre in Minneapolis, but with farmers and house wives doing the acting. Which actually makes this dinner theatre better than the ones in big cities.

Steph and I volunteered to help as wait-staff for the last night of the event. We were assigned our 3 tables, and I was pleased to notice that one of our tables was Steph's family and a couple other families I know, and then my boy Chris H. and some other folks were at another, so I was in for a good night of fun...and my first ever waiter experience.

I was doing great, and hadn't ticked anyone off or spilled coffee, when I heard from a table behind me, "hey boy, get me some coffee...", or something to that effect.

"Hello, Verlie." I said in my best Jerry Seinfeld to Newman voice.

Looks like "VJ the Great" got his tickets a bit late and ended up in the back row, but in just the right place to give me a hard time all night long. For the record, his wife was a pleasure to be around as she always is, but Verlie must have forgotten this was a "high class event".

He hounded me all night, and even threatened to write bad things on the blog if I didn't take care of him, so for about 5 minutes I tried to do what he wanted, then I thought, "Wait, he complains about me all the time on this website anyway so why should I be nice to him?". So I spent the rest of the night giving him a hard time.

I finished the night without spilling a drop of coffee, water or anyone's food, so it was a success, and I think Verlie had a good time as well. Next year I will request a different area to serve, or maybe I will actually request Verlie's table.

Obama's first "_____gate".

I guess a little hug has led to the Obama's first international public relations problem...here is a little news story about "HUGGATE". Leave it to the Brits to get upset about something like this.

By the way, if the networks start using that word (huggate)...know that I just invented the word...they better give me credit.

Snow Day Boxing

What a better way to pass the time on a snowy morning than to let the boys work off a little steam with the boxing gloves. Maxim threw some good combinations, but Brecken has the height advantage! I know you are thinking he is shorter than Maxim, but think about where his punches land!

Here is a shot from the Rumble In The Jungle...Maxim's big straight right jab.

Transformers Do Exist

Maxim LOVES the Transformers movie and has quite a few toys...he also LOVES "Army Guys", which to him is anyone in camouflage.

Yesterday while working at the Emergency Management Center for the flooding that is happening in northeast S.D. I worked with a Sergeant in the Nat'l Guard. I thought the whole day that Maxim would be so fond of this "Army Guy" and think that it is cool that his dad was working with him.

So this morning I told Maxim that I was kind of a Rescue Hero yesterday. He said, "How?". So I told him that we were protecting people who's homes could possibly flood and that the "Army Guys" were in charge of protecting the company's transformers by putting sandbags around the ones that are on the ground and located in a flood plain.

All Maxim heard of my statement was "Army Guy" and "Transformer". He said, "Dad, there is no such thing as Transformers. They are just a pretend movie."

I spent the drive to town showing him transformers on power lines and the ones on the ground...I still think that he thinks they change into some sort of robot.

Baylor Soccer Team Beats SDSU In Last Second Shot

It is late, and I can't sleep, but YES, you read that right...I said Baylor Soccer.

Soccer is the only sport I know of, well, now put basketball in to that list, where the athletes would rather FAKE an injury than do all they can with their abilities to win a game. It is so common in soccer for a guy to go down and grab his ankle after getting "bumped" in the shoulder, that in the Premiership they have 2 guys that just run on the field with a stretcher and haul him off.

I think Baylor's Rachel Allison pulled a soccer trick last night, and it shows how un-tough she is. She went down in the 2nd half with a legit knee twist, she even cried on TV. Then she came out about 5 minutes later, apparently Mr. Miyagi was in the locker room and gave her the "Karate Kid" rehab and then slapped on a tape job on her boo-boo.

Fast forward - :23 seconds left in the game, Baylor is up by 1 and Ashley Muckenhirn fouled Allison to put the 50% free throw shooter at the line, BUT WAIT! Oh poor Rachel's knee was hurting too bad to shoot free throws, so they bring in Whitney Zachariason, who played only 78 minutes this whole year, and only has 15 points total, but is known as a good free throw shooter. She hit 1 and missed one, so we were still in it.

Long story short, we got beat on a last second shot, by the only Baylor player that had a good game, and the referees also called a game that didn't help SDSU at all...OK I'm super bitter tonight, but I felt like we had a chance.

All I have to say is, "Hey Rachel Allison, HOW'S YOUR KNEE?" Oh yeah, one last thing, the entire state of South Dakota saw you jumping up and down like a madman after your teammate hit the winning shot...then you forgot to limp back to the bench until about your 4th step...anyway good luck in soccer next year.

So I'm done ranting and venting now, and would like to congratulate SDSU on a great season and a great 1st run in the tourney. As Ron Burgundy would say, "You stay classy, SDSU!"

End Of The Rainbow

If you have ever wondered what is at the end of the rainbow, we found it the other day east of Iroquois, I guess the pot of gold is really just the Fast's house...who knew?

Gaslight Anthem

Many of you know that I love music, and lately I've really been into a band called The Gaslight Anthem. I caught them in concert on a whim during my travels last summer, and have since downloaded (legally) their latest album called "The '59 Sound".

It's funny how my music taste changes with the seasons...I listen to a little bit of country during pheasant season, a lot of rock and punk during the hockey season, Jack Johnson, Sublime and Bob Marley during the summer and in the spring, just about anything that has an upbeat feel to it...this spring it is the Gaslight Anthem. I have declared this will by my spring kick off album.

You know when a band plays a live song on Letterman they have made it, but when they do it this well you know they are a good band.

St. Patty's Day

I feel like the 3rd grader who's mom forgot it was St. Patrick's Day...I'm not sure why it's a big deal to wear green today, being as I'm not Irish. In fact, I should have probably worn orange since I'm a little bit English and a Protestant...but I wouldn't want to get car-bombed by the local radicals.

I actually thought St. Patty's was next week...that's how hectic my schedule has been lately...I'm a week behind in holiday celebrations.

Funny thing is, if you go back to March of 2008's posts...I wrote almost the exact same thing as I did this year...I guess for my readers I must be getting a bit boring and redundant.

Coming Clean On Self Haircuts.

Last night while Maxim and I were in Wal-Mart I noticed his hair was a complete mess in the front, which was to be expected because he was wearing a stocking hat all day at recess and then on the way to the store. I tried to fix it so he didn't look totally a mess, but couldn't get his head to cooperate. Maxim's hair has a lot of cowlicks so this is not out of the ordinary for him.

Then I noticed that his hair seemed a TON shorter in one spot than the rest of his head, I couldn't blame it on his hair stylist, since I share a bed with her, so I said, "Maxim, did you cut your own hair?"

He got a sheepish smile on his face and said, "But it was bugging me, am I in trouble?" I couldn't stop laughing at him, "No, you are not in trouble, but we are going to take a picture and send it to mommy."

Apparently, in school, he got bored with a scissors and took a chunk of hair off the front. He's artistic, so it might be his first "expression" with his hairstyle. I laughed it off, and Steph got on him a little bit, but she laughed as well.

I didn't know what would possess him to cut his own hair, until a repressed memory came back into my head this morning. I too had cut my own hair at one time when I was about his age, but I blamed it on the barber, Ivan L.

I don't remember the whole story, but I had recently got a hair cut and was combing my hair and one piece kept flipping up in the back, so I got out a scissors and chopped it off, thinking I had solved the problem.

My mom noticed and asked me if I cut my hair, I said, "No" of course, because I thought I would get into trouble. She must have figured that Ivan the Barber did it and she said, "Well, we aren't going back to him." I kind of remember being bummed, because he had this cool suit of armor in his barber shop that I liked to look at.

Soon after that Ivan the Barber went out of the hair cutting business, and my 7 year old mind couldn't help but think I had something to do with the downfall of his Hair Cutting Empire.

Wow, I feel better now that I got that off my conscience. So mom when you read this...I'm sorry I lied to you, and Ivan if you read this blog, I'm sorry about ruining your business 20-some years ago.

Also, Ivan if you still have the suit of armor I would be willing to buy that from you, as a peace offering for single-handedly ruining your barber shop business.

Blowing things up.

This is what happens when you have long winters in South Dakota.

Back Home

I got to the house tonight around 9pm...well, now it's last night...all the kids were awake and happy to see daddy! So was Steph, they boys behaved and I swear Maxim grew an inch...Kolby actually grew about a pound.

She stayed awake for me long enough to see her eyes and hear her burp and cry a couple times. Thursday is back to a normal schedule for me, which will be nice.

Steph and I will be celebrating our 11th anniversary on Saturday so look out for a wild night on the streets of Huron...which lately have been more dangerous (per capita) than the streets of Long Beach!

Leaving California

I left for home this morning, had a great time at the conference and grabbed a few new ideas, also had a great time outside of the conference with some new friends.

I was invited to supper with some folks from Laguna Beach last night and I thought it was a great opportunity to take in the local scene of Laguna Beach...was it ever.

I was in a gated neighborhood where Kobe Bryant owns a home...an extra home. $22m buys you quite a view in Cali.

It's a nice eyeopener for me to see how good the simpler, quieter, slower life is in S.D.

Can't wait to wrestle the boys and hold my girls tonight.

LBC

It is 80 degrees where I'm at today...a 90+ difference from what it is doing back home. Steph called me and told me the temperature from her car thermometer and I couldn't believe it.

I'm in Long Beach for a conference and will spend the next 4 days in the sunshine, and in a hotel conference room. It's a nice break from the cold, but it would have been nice to bring the family along.

I know Uncle Skipper, I owe Steph a ton.

Kolby is 2 weeks old.

It is hard to believe that we have had Kolby at the house for 2 weeks now. She does a lot of sleeping and laying around. (not that I expected any different) Brecken finally likes her and is interested in what she is doing and what "jammies" she has on. Actually he calls her a "he" all the time...it's pretty funny when you try to correct him.

For the record Steph wanted me to go snowmobiling with my friends last weekend, it was a blast and will most likely be a yearly trip...if the snow cooperates. I didn't wreck the sled so it was a good trip, however I did just get a cortisone shot for the tendinitis I have in my right forearm. When your arm makes a noise when you move it, that is never a good thing.

Sledding in the hills.

It's late and we are driving back from the Black Hills, but I wanted to get an update on the site from the weekend of snowmobiling with the crew.

We had non-stop fun.

Here is Jamie F. running a little up hill.

Running Outside Pays Better.

Since I was at home for the last few days with our new little girl, I was away from my gym, and wasn't in my normal workout routine. So to change things up a bit I ran outside instead of on a treadmill. Runners know that running outside during the winter takes about as long to get ready for as it does to run the 5 miles.

I put on 2 base layers and my running suit and the full face fleece hat and headed outside. I always feel like I run harder outside and that is because of the change in grade, which is usually just a solid 2% when I am on the treadmill. So the payoff at the end of the day is always better when you run outside, not to mention the cool stuff you find beside the road.

I have never found anything at my feet while I run on a treadmill, I do get the pleasure of watching ESPN or CNN while I run, but in the Great Wide Open you see "stuff". Roadkill, tarp straps, old shoes, life jackets and clothes, it's crazy what ends up in ditches around a lake. Most of the stuff I never even think about touching, unless it's a screwdriver or a good pair of sunglasses. On Saturday, I found something and then actually looked around to see if there was anymore of it laying around. Right there on the side of the road a nice $20 bill. I didn't find any more money, but it made my run that much more enjoyable.

I bet more people would run or walk outside if they knew they had the chance of picking up a $20.

Now that I post this, I assume you will all comment about how you lost a $20 the other day out by Lake Byron...while you were running.

Brecken warmed up to Kolby.

Brecken was a little leery about his little sister coming into his life. He didn't really pay much attention to her for the first few days, but then again he's 2. He also battled an ear ache and a fever since Wednesday.

This morning Breck woke up with a great attitude and no signs of sickness, so he was ready for his first photographs with his little sister. (Father's Note: as soon as the camera was put back into it's case...Brecken said, "all done, mommy".)

Kolby Capri

Steph finally got her girl...3rd time is a charm right?

Kolby was born on Feb. 11 at 5:40 a.m.

She was 20" and 8.3 LBS.

HERE SHE IS.

And here is video of Brecken actually paying attention to Kolby.

Baby Girl

Kolby Capri was born this morning..she is eight pounds and twenty inches long. Steph is doing great.

T-minus this week and counting.

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith,
you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

-TOM PETTY-

Waiting for a child to be born would be a lot easier if you had a big Daktronics scoreboard to countdown the time until birth. (See what kind of program you can create for this Brent.)

I am almost completely sick of answering the question, "No baby yet?". I can't imagine how sick of it Stephanie is. I actually came into work about 20 minutes later than usual yesterday just to mess with people...leaving them wondering if we were at the hospital.

Sunday morning in church I ran the sound system, so we were not sitting in our usual area...my phone started vibrating and I looked a the caller ID and it was Grandpa Bob wondering if we were at the hospital...that's how crazy this has become.

I think the most frustrating thing for Steph is that the boys both came about 2 weeks early, and this one is nipping on it's actual due date...Happy Valentine's Day?

Bubble Boys

Couldn't Believe This Was On YouTube.

This is a blooper from KELO - TV from a few years back...it shows the importance of having the right video cued up to run when you are talking about "laying someone to rest"...I'm sure Prez Bush 1's mom was not a coyote...but it's funny none the less.

Still Waiting.

Don't worry you haven't missed the news...there is no baby yet...it will be posted here shortly after it happens.

It's funny how women get all giddy about someone else having a baby, we get at least 4 phone calls a night from Steph's girlfriends, and some very obscure folks whom I really don't talk to on a regular basis...all wondering if the baby has come yet.

That's how men are different, guys don't call each other asking about babies...we might ask in passing, but never the context of the call. I held a 15 minute conversation with a close friend today and all we talked about was wakeboarding and other dude-stuff for 14 minutes and 30 seconds...the other :30 was about how we were still waiting for the baby.

This is the week???

So Baby3 should be here this week sometime...it hasn't hit me until last night when I walked in to the nursery that we have no clue if we get another boy or if we will have pink dryer lint in our future.

I'm assuming that if it is a boy we won't have to paint much, but if it is a girl we will have to change the green and brown paint, to something more "girly", and change out the horse and cowboy pictures to princesses and unicorns.

I guess I know what I am doing on Saturday if the baby comes mid-week.

SDSU Women are turning into Gonzaga?!?!

Every year when March Madness starts there is a team or 2 that throw up this great Cinderella story and go way further in the tournament than people ever expected. I know you remember Gonzaga in 1999, Kent State in 2002, Davidson in 2008, George Mason in 2006, and 1983 North Carolina State with Jimmy V running like a mad man on the court after they won.

Not all Cinderella's make the championship game, but what they do for their schools is remarkable...after George Mason made their run in 2006, 2007's enrollment went up like 20% or something like that. Gonzaga experienced the same phenomena, and now they are almost expected to make the men's tournament every year.

Well, we are still waiting for the SDSU men's basketball team to catch up with the football and women's basketball program (last nights win did help), but the nation is starting to notice what is happening in Brookings with the women's program.

The New York Times did a story on the women's team and you can read it here by clicking.

Brecken LOVES Angie.

I am pretty sure that Brecken loves me, his mommy, his grandpas and grandmas, but I also think he has his first crush on a girl. An older girl at that, and married, to one of my best friends.

"ANNNNGIE'S HOUSE!?!?!" that's what he has said for the last 3 mornings as soon as he wakes up.

On Monday he woke up super cranky, whining and screaming...and he wasn't even out of bed yet. Steph said 5 words, and it was Christmas Day for him. "We're going to Angie's house."

He popped up, smiled and started jumping on the bed. He spent the morning there with Steph and Angie's youngest girl...doing who knows what, I'm sure making a mess of their playroom as usual.

Tuesday night we were headed back over to the Fast's for the evening, Brecken was singing praises to Angie the whole way over, and screamed the whole way home. Then this morning he woke up and I'm pretty sure walked up to Steph and said, "go to Annnngie's". He did get to see Angie as Steph and the girl's went out to eat for lunch...so he got his fix today.

Angie eats it up, and I think with 3 girls running her house it is nice to have a boy-fix every now and then, but I worry that Jared (Angie's husband) might be getting jealous of all the attention that the little guy gets, and he will put an end to Brecken's desire to go live with Angie.

This is about right...

A buddy sent this to me yesterday. He thinks he's funny, and unfortunately it's pretty true.

(note the cup of coffee that the crazy parent threw at the referee...pretty sure some folks have been tempted to give me an early shower of hot liquids)

Another Video Post...but worth it.

Don't know if you caught the Winter X Games on ESPN this weekend, but here is the insane highlight of the week. Maxim and Brecken were trying to figure out how much speed they needed to huck a snowmobile off the deck, over the trees and then barrel roll it 2 times and land cleanly on the frozen lake below...they are so not getting a snowmobile.

Gotta Love TV Shopping Channels...

Candy Cigs.

Last night we picked up the bunk bed in Mitchell for the boys, and on the way home Brecken had to go potty, so we stopped at a gas station called the Country Pumper (Or the Country Dumper as our family knows it) and Brecken did his job.

He was proud and when he goes potty in the potty chair at home he gets a handful of M&M's. So he thought that if you go potty at a gas station you get candy too, and I couldn't say no.

FLASHBACK: Does anyone from Huron remember Skeezicks Grocery? (Not sure on the spelling) Well they had the best array of candy, and every once in a while Sally and I would get to take our bikes down to that marvelous house of candy...I usually got the same thing, a couple packs of baseball or football cards and some candy cigarettes. I actually like the taste of candy cigs, and every once in a while when I would find a box I would buy them as a joke. I hadn't seen them in years...until last night.

So Brecken is looking at candy, and he sees this box with a cowboy on the front...great marketing to attract his attention...so I say why not and we grab a couple boxes of the sweet flavorful sticks of pure sugar.

Steph was less than impressed, but I talked her into snapping a picture of Breck and his new favorite candy. ROUND-UP CANDY CIGARETTES!

I'm Back!

HEY EVERYONE I'M BACK.

I finally got the snow out of the driveway on Saturday night, but not before getting barely stuck in a super hard drift about 30 feet from my garage! (and yes I did have it in 4-wheel drive!) Thanks to the neighbors for the quick pull to get me out. I think I could have pulled it out on my mountain bike!

So you all think you are naming our next child? There were some pretty good names in the list, some ridiculous as you would expect. This whole naming your child thing is taking on a life of it's own. It would be a lot less stressful if we only had one gender of names to pick. I honestly don't know if we will have it narrowed down to 1 boy and 1 girl name before it is born.

Finally a photo of the boys...I made them go outside on that day it was -45 degrees and -60 with the windchill. I kind of wanted to celebrate the day! (kidding)

Steph's First Post.

So we have a few baby names for our yet to be born baby. We don't know what we are having and it is another headache that Tom has given me. We should have found out, that way I could be buying a bunch of pink stuff or getting some blue stuff. Since we don't know we haven't settled on a name yet.

Skipper is out for a boy as that one is take in Tom's family, and Walt wouldn't work beside Maxim and Brecken. We have the girl's name narrowed down to a few, but are still open to suggestions.

If you have any please post them in the comments area.

Tom is not allowed to post anymore to this blog until he gets the driveway blown out again, so you might not see him until April...so until then I have taken over this blog!

My Snow Removal Budget Is Tapped.

The City of Huron tapped it's 2008 snow removal budget with about a month and a half left in 2008, and it was kind of the joke around town that the budget consisted of 4 tanks of gas, 4 dozen donuts and 14 cups of coffee.

This year isn't epic as far as snowfall, but I am getting sick of getting the driveways clean and then the next morning there is 2" of fluffy...I move that only to have it blow back in the next day when the 40 mph winds kick in.

In the past I think I have filled my snow blower 2 or 3 times a year...this year I am on my 5th tank of gas, and from the looks of things I'll go through another tank tonight!

Wonder if I have to change the oil after 3,000 miles on my snow blower?

Click here for a link to what it looks like outside today.

4X4 works...when you use it.

Remember the days of rear-wheel drive cars?

It seems like the cars produced now are all-wheel drive, on-demand 4-wheel drive or front-wheel drive. The only brand new car with rear wheel drives are sports cars.

Most every family in South Dakota probably has a 4-wheel drive car in the garage...if you don't you probably have a front wheel drive. You have to with the snow and ice we get around here. That brings me to a story that happened on Wednesday night.

Grandpa Bob picked up Maxim from school and took him to the bank, I think it is kind of a Grandpa "show and tell" thing. He gets to show off his grandson. On their way home dad took a "back entrance" to the house and while avoiding an overgrown tree limb he hung a front tire on a snowbank and his rear tires were on pure ice. He tried to rock it out, but he and Maxim ended up hoofing it to the house. (It was only a 2 block walk.)

When I got to their house dad informed me that I had to pull him out, so we drove the Yukon over to the spot and hooked up a chain. I was actually surprised that he was stuck with a 4-wheel drive pick-up in such a little snow pile. I barely pulled him and he popped out. On the short drive back to the house I wondered if the Yukon's auto 4-wheel drive even kicked in.

We got to the garage and I mentioned that I barely even put tension on the chain...he said, "Yeah, it probably would have helped if I would have put the pick-up in 4-wheel drive!" The whole time he was stuck he was trying to get out with only the 2 back wheels spinning on ice.

NOW I MUST ALSO COME CLEAN...I razzed him about it for a while, then dropped it because I remember my own misfortune only 3 weeks prior. We were loaded up and ready to head to town and the windshield was covered with a fine misting of ice, so I tried the lazy man's scrape of spraying some wiper fluid on it and just driving it.

I made it about 400 yards before I ran smack into a huge drift that blew into our road the night before. About a half hour later I got the Expedition unstuck...with the help of the little Subaru!

Winter driving tip #1 and #2: Scrape your windows and make sure your 4-wheel drive is engaged before you declare yourself stuck!

NHL's Winter Classic at Wrigley.

The NHL's Winter Classic was played at Wrigley this year...my 2 favorite things...hockey and Wrigley Field together. It was a good game too.

Here is a quicktime video of the rink set up.

Mite Hockey Festival

We spent the weekend as hockey parents, as Maxim played in his first tournament. It was entertaining to say the least. My team on average is 2 years younger than all the other teams we played...so we didn't exactly compete. As a coach it is frustrating getting beat 11 to 1 on average. Even though they don't put the score on the board, the kids know it and I know it.

Today in our final game we beat an Aberdeen team 4 to 1 or something like that...when we got into the locker room one of the boys shook up a Mountain Dew and started spraying it like it was champagne and we had just won the Stanley Cup. It ended our weekend on a positive note.

Maxim improved each game...he went from skating in the pack of kids to really trying to get the puck and a couple of times he carried it for a while, then some big 8-year-old from Sioux Falls took it away from him. He had fun and that's what mattered.

I spent the rest of the afternoon today behind the snow blower moving the 4 foot high drift in our extra parking spots...and then watching the Vikings blow it. I wonder if Coach Childress goes into the locker room and asks all the players if they had fun out there and then gives them a pep talk about the score not mattering? It works for me!

Simple.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Messing With Cassidy.

I spent most of my Christmas messing with my niece Cassidy...she is a quick-tongued teenager now and I enjoyed my time with her and Carson. Here was one of our moments where she wanted to wash out my mouth with soap.

Merry Christmas from the boys.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas all you loyal LOL readers.

The presents have been opened and the boys are playing with the 4 year old PlayStation2 and the Wii sits here, brand new games and all, with no friends to play with him...irony.

The weather down South is warm...I'm wearing shorts today...might even run outside after the main event this afternoon. Celtics vs. Lakers! I have a few side bets with co-workers on my Celtics.

We spent yesterday walking around Branson's Landing...it reminded Steph and I of Phoenix...very upscale and cool shopping area with things for the kids to do. We ate at my favorite restaurant last night, Joe's Crab Shack. B-rad, Cassidy and I made a mess with some crab and Brecken only spilled one drink, so the meal was successful.

It has been nice just hanging out with my sister's family, Cassidy is 6' tall and weighs about 50lbs., Carson, Maxim and Brecken have already earned us a phone call from the Guest Services about our noise level.

We are going to eat some shrimp and grab a movie tonight...then maybe some time in the pool and hot tub.

From our family, Merry Christmas and hope you have a peaceful holiday season...mine has been super...my phone only rang 2 times for work related reasons in the last 48 hours. I did get 145 e-mails in the last 3 days.

Blogging from the road...

We are almost to Branson, MO to spend Christmas with Brad and Sally...about 30 miles ago I finally let my dad drive...we went through every sort of cruddy weather in the first 10 hours of the trip and the rain/snow/ice/wind finally let up enough that I thought Bob could drive.

Funny how your roles change through out life...it's not like he's not a bad driver, I just feel more in control if I am driving and I don't want him to have to be stressed out about bad weather.

The boys are doing fine on their first real long trip in a while...but why wouldn't they? The Expedition is like a rolling living room...they have a DVD player, a PlayStation2 all the books you could want. If Sally and I would have traveled like that we would have not gotten into as many fights.

It is better traveling like this than it was as a kid...I like having a laptop with Internet access in a car and a MP3 player with 10,000 songs loaded up. Makes life easier and more entertaining, than seeing how many times you could smack your sister in the arm before your dad would threaten to "pull this car over and start smacking bottoms!"

Well the GPS is telling us there is only 38 miles left to get to our destination...another one of my favorite little tech tools...I haven't looked at a map in about 2 years! We will post a Christmas Picture of the family in Branson.

Enjoy your Christmas.

Show Cancelled.

So we didn't go to prison last night...weather was bad down South.

I'm sure there was a prison riot after they heard we weren't playing...like straight out of the old Sean Penn flick Bad Boys. It actually didn't break my heart, because I am super busy, and I got to spend the night with family.

I'm going to prison tonight.

Tonight I'll be doing hard time at Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield...then about 3 hours later I get set free. The band I play in is doing a concert for a prison ministry. We will play about 13 songs for the inmates.

Should be pretty cool, although I'm not sure if this is a good sign of our band's future success. Our first show was a hit, about 200 people were forced to listen to us as they attended an event to benefit a local family...we had twenty-five 8-year-olds dancing in front of the stage and about the same number of 80-year-olds covering their ears in the back of the room.

I think Johnny Cash played Folsom Prison at the height of his first round of popularity...I don't want to say we have peaked, but I'll keep you posted on our next gig...if it's a birthday party, I'll know we are failing.

NHL Players Are Real People

Joe Sakic is a popular name among folks who even somewhat follow the National Hockey League. The Colorado Avalanche team Captain jacked up 3 of his fingers while running a snow blower.

You might find that funny, and anybody who runs a snow blower probably knows exactly what he did to hurt his hand. (Can you say wet, heavy snow and a blocked chute?) What I find amazing about this, is that Joe Sakic is a multi-millionaire professional athlete...and he clears his own driveway of snow. Find a guy in the NFL/NBA or MLB that does that? There might be a handful of Midwesterners in those leagues that do their own "chores", but it would be a small contingency.

So while NFLers are out there shooting themselves in the leg at nightclubs...the NHL guys are running snow blowers and mowing their own yards...another reason why I love hockey.

Read the Joe Sakic Story HERE...

Gopher Killers

Leave it to a handful of South Dakota farm girls to wreak havoc on some Gophers...Great win for State!

Read the story here...SDSU women knock off Gophers

Cowboy Brecken.

Big Sky

I went in church this morning...on the mountain...Big Sky, Montana.

If you ski or snowboard, rock climb, mountain bike or hike you know what I am talking about. It is a feeling of being keenly alive, into the wild, in the awesome creation of God. I think God made mountains to remind men how little they are and to give us a place to open our spirits to his awesomeness.

As far as the snowboarding, it was a blast for the first runs of the year. The snow wasn't deep, and all the runs are not open, but it is early season Big Sky beauty.

I got done and headed straight to the hotel hot tub...I have a feeling I will be a little tired on Monday. Well worth the pain.

Drumming Workout

A few of my musically-inclined friends and I have put together a band and we are playing a couple "shows" in December. One is at the Denalli Voss Benefit next weekend, we are looking at that as kind of our warm-up for our big show at Mike Durfee Prison. That's right just like Johnny Cash...we are playing a prison to start our career as a band! Hey, it took Johnny years to make it to the Folsom Prison.

My dad has organized a ministry at the prison for a few years and I went down one other time to play my congas for a "praise band" type of thing. Very grassroots, inmates right in front of you singing along to some popular old churchy songs.

This time my dad asked my buddy Jeremy to put together a band and play for their Christmas-time meeting. So he put together about 13 or 14 songs that we all kind of know and so far we think we have a nice little 5 piece band. Jeremy is amazing on vocals and guitar and his wife plays the keys and sings as well. Joe, a buddy of ours, plays bass like the way I wish I could play bass...and Jim, another guy that plays at church is going to join in the fun with the acoustic...Travis W. is our sound guy and we will make him help carry gear.

Last night we had our first practice...we played for about 3 hours pretty intensely. I have been playing the drums quite a bit in the last 3 years, but mostly just tame, church music that I play as loud and fast as the music leader and sound guy will let me. This new project is way harder than anything you would find in the halls of our church...still not really that hard. We play music by Kutless, Sanctus Real, Natalie Grant and Tree63 if you are familiar with them. So it is intense music and strong fast drumming...so I did that for 3 hours last night...I am sad to say...I AM SORE THIS MORNING. My shoulders and arms feel like I chopped wood for 3 days. It was a blast though, as I haven't had that much playing the drums since the time I sat in with a high school band during the girl's basketball tournament...and that was like 6 years ago!

It will be fun to see if the inmates enjoy the music and the message...I might video tape some songs and post them to the blog...or I might not...depending on how good we sound!

Denalli Voss Benefit

I made this for an up-coming benefit for a local couple who's child has a very rare disease. Her story was in the Plainsman over the Holiday weekend...read it here. (I actually hesitated posting the link to give the Plainsman credit for the story since I know who wrote it, who took the picture...they did do a nice job on the layout though!)

Please consider coming to the benefit or donating items to be auctioned.