Life Is Better With A Boat...

Reading On The Phone.

I'm in Montana for work and in the evenings I basically work out at the "Y" and then watch full sporting events in my hotel room without interruption from HGTV, DIY or DISNEY Channel.

Tonight after I worked out I called Steph...thinking that the kids would be asleep, but Maxim was awake reading one of his new library books to Steph.  He asked me in the kindest voice if I wanted him to read to me.  "Of course I said."

Let me just tell you there is nothing like listening to your child read to you, especially on speaker phone when you have been traveling for work all week.  Shortest 30 minute call I have ever been on!

Home Thursday night!

Happy Birthday CBB.

We can't wait to get to hang out with you this summer!

Cool Glass

If you know me at all, you know I am a gadget/tech hound...our IT Department at the office knows this and sometimes asks me for help on things...or asks me to test products to use later for mass consumption.

So naturally when my buddy Studer sent me this video, I was drooling for the entire 5 minutes.

One thing that still ticks me off, is that in the future we are supposed to have flying cars...INVENT THE FLYING CARS ALREADY!

Spring = 2 Days

I know, I know, I know...don't complain about things that only God can change, but enough with the cold Spring already.  I am pretty sure that crummy weather makes me blog less too.

I think we had one day about 3 weeks ago where it was 60 and then last night it was about 55 without the 55 MPH wind so that felt like 80.

School gets out in 2 weeks for Maxim and 3 weeks for Brecken and all they can think about is SUMMER...but when will it come, we are still waiting for it's good friend Spring and it is already May 4.

CINCO DE ROGERIO...that brings me to my next point...happy birthday Grandpa Roger.  The family will eat at a Mexican restaurant tomorrow in celebration of your birthday on Cinco de Mayo.

Lake Byron's First Swimmers

After 37 straight days of snow and or rain and no sunshine, the sun came out on Saturday...for like an hour.  We went right outside to soak it up and the boys went right to the dock to play by the water.

Maxim begged and begged his mom to let him go swimming...she said "no" a bunch, then she said, "I don't care...go get your swimming suits."

Water freezes at 32 degrees, I am assuming the water temp was 38, but both boys ran into the house got their swimming suits and started to enjoy the dock, their water guns and they got their feet wet.

Then Maxim got brave...he got waist deep and learned the power of cold water...he screamed, and then wondered why his mom "made" him go swimming.  I think they will wait for a few days before they go again.

But Easter Sunday the boys were out in the kayak for about an hour while Steph and I did our yearly shoreline clean up...which involved 2 stinky dead carp this year.

Oh yeah, Kolby slept the whole time this was going on.

Easter Photo Shoot

He's a handful.

Brecken turned 5 today...when Steph showed him that he can finally pop his thumb out to show folks how old he is, with all the fingers on one hand extended, he said, "I'm a handful!"  Yes, little buddy, you are a handful...in more ways than one.

Last night we drove to Mitchell with Grandpa Bob to pick up his big present...a kayak.  Today the kayak is in the living room and he and Kolby have been paddling around all morning.

He's not as bad as we make him sound it's just that his motor never stops running, unless he is crashed out in bed, and even then he still moves more than any normal sleeping person.  The other thing that makes him a challenge is that his motor runs way longer than ours does...think Energizer Bunny here.

Call it middle child syndrome or just the fact that he has some of his dad in him, but if full-body motion is involved and the spotlight is on Brecken, the world is right.  Well, today the spotlight is on him.  Happy Birthday, Brecken!

I'm running....

Sunday was day 2 of the dreary and misty weekend so the kids were getting a bit bored with going out side in their rain gear and then coming inside and cleaning up, so I said...put on your sweat suits and running shoes, we are gonna run a mile.

I really didn't know how this would go...do kids run...will they quit and I'll have to carry them back...will they be faster than me?  All legit questions, right?

Well, we took off, with Kia the wonder dog on the leash.  (Side note: if you want the kids to enjoy running take your dog with!)  They loved it and Maxim blew past Brecken and I and didn't look back...he was at least 600 yards in front of poor little-legged Brecken.  Breck was basically in a full sprint the whole time and was pretty tired last night.

So I might take them out tonight too.  P90x in the morning with Steph, 3 mile run over the noon hour and a mile at night with the boys...how am I still a fat tub of goo? 

LakeHaus Productions...Going Coastal.

For those of you involved or interested there is a lot of non-wedding shots posted to my Flickr site....on the right hand side of this website you can see the photo stream...just click on those pictures and you will be taken to LakeHaus Production's Flickr page

Windswept Love...

Saturday Is The Day.

Just a shot of the rehearsal from Friday afternoon.  This is basically the spot where Darin and Gretchen will be tying the knot tomorrow.  Can't wait, should be a beautiful day.

California Dreamin...D&G

Kudos To Jail Escapees.

You know in the old movies where a guy whittles away at concrete with a tooth brush handle to make a hole in the wall of a jail cell, then digs a tunnel for a few hundred feet that leads to freedom?  First off, I'm here to say that after all that work the guy probably deserves to be let go...and secondly, the guards should be thrown in jail for not knowing the work was happening.

I knocked out a 24" round by 6" deep hole in our basement on Saturday to install a sump pump hole, and let me tell you...even with a sledge and shovel and no worries about someone hearing me it is a TON of work.

Not to mention digging a hole 30" deep.  The good news is, I now have a sump hole, the even better news is...it is still dry...for now.

The Knights Roll On.

So I was trying to keep up with James Valley's run in the State B tournament and I know they beat the Ranchers last night, but as I read the story in the Aberdeen newspaper I kept seeing a team being referred to as the Knights.  Was it a mistake, or did Assistant Coach Mark Knight rename the team to honor his last name?

READ THE STORY HERE.

I don't know, but I bet the paper gets it right tonight when they knock off Corsica-Stickney to advance to the state title game.

Happy PI Day...3.14.2011

Grandma Olive's Pride.

Goodbye Grandma Olive.

We lost Grandma Olive last night.  She was 91 and was sharp until the day she went to Heaven.

Last night Maxim prayed, "Dear Jesus, I hope you are having fun with Great Grandma Olive in Heaven."

It dawned on me last night after grandma died that I don't have any grandparents left.

I don't really remember any of my great grand parents, but I know my boys for sure will remember Great Grandma Olive...they loved to go visit her and watch the birds and play with all of her toy dogs.

Read her obit here.

Underwear...the newest swear word at our house.

So if you have been around him you realize that Brecken has quite the mouth...it never stops.  I know you are thinking, "oh, all kids talk a lot."  NO, not like the motormouth we call Brecken.  Most of it is just yappity, yap, and has no real meaning, and some of it is really, really funny.  Like a well written and timed stand up comic.

Now, I don't know where the whole underwear, underpants or underhead, understinky, etc...any word with the word "under" in front of it started to be funny or the main buzz word that Brecken embraced, but I would estimate that on average he says some form of the word underwear in a sentence or just by its self at least 60 to 80 times a day.

The first time he said it in a sentence, we laughed SUPER hard, and here was the sentence and its context.  He saw something strange happen and he said, "Well, that's weird underpants!"  I don't even remember what he was referring to, but it is our new family saying.  (So this is partially parental shortcomings)

So everything became "weird underwear" or "weird underpants" or "underwear pants head"...just anything with the reference to tighty whities...gitch...underoos...da-dant-ta-das...whatever you call them.

Another time when this word got him RAVE reviews as a comic was at grandma and grandpas house one night.  He was running around the house in his underwear doing flip tricks and gymnastics.  Aunt Sally called and he was talking to her on speaker phone, and she asked what we were doing....he replied, "Well, we are just having an underwear party!"

So it really solidified in his 4 year old mind that this word "underwear/underpants" is SUPER FUNNY.  So now it is his go to phrase.  Kind of like his comedic shtick.

Well, I guess Steph grew tired of his under garment talk and banned the word last night.  If he says the word he gets a 2 minute penalty for inappropriate language and is sent to his bed.  He spent quite a little time in bed last night and this morning he was in the penalty box again.

Now I am trying to figure out how I'm going to go through life saying, "Hey, baby do I have any clean clothes that I wear under my clothes?"

So with that said, Brecken has a birthday coming up in April, I thought it would be cool if he could get a bunch of underwear from people....so if you feel led to give him a present go ahead and buy him some gitch.  He wears boxer briefs, and they usually have Sponge Bob or SuperHeroes on them.  I would love to see him open a bunch of packages and not be able to tell anyone what he got for his birthday, for fear of heading to the "sin bin".

Our life is exciting!

Congrats Jordan and Heidi!