Another Day

Well, Paul left for Iowa this morning. He will be gone until Thursday and then we will leave Thursday evening for Colorado. Poor Paul!! It is going to be a long crazy week!! We are really looking forward to going to Colorado and seeing ALL of the family (many of which we have not seen in years!!). The Sunday, the boys are staying with my parents and Paul and I are going to Estes Park for the night - just the two of us!!!!!

I have had nausea with the pregnancy, except when I have a lot of sinus drainage - which I am lately!!! This is, however, the quickest I have been uncomfortable with a pregnancy. I am just bigger than I normally am at this point (which I keep hearing it is normal to get bigger quicker with each pregnancy). My "loving" family keeps saying that it is because I am having twins, but I don't think so!!! The other problem is that after I eat or drink I have a hard time getting good deep breaths! It is not because I am eating too much (because it is not only when I eat a regular meal but after snacks too). I had this problem towards the end of pregnancies before, but not usually this early on!

Paul is not fond of the body pillow that has come between us in bed! I can not sleep on my stomach and the only way to keep me from rolling onto my stomach while I am asleep is to sleep hugging the pillow!! While I am still tired during the day, I am not as bad as I have been in the past and especially considering I had to quit taking the medicine I was put on to keep from falling asleep all the time!

That is all the news in the pregnancy front right now. I am setting up an appointment tomorrow (the drs office was closed today) so hopefully soon I will have a more "concrete" due date (not that it is ever concrete!!)!

Make-up Work

Friday when Caleb went back to school, he brought home the work he missed when he was in Mississippi. Yesterday when I made him sit down and work on it, he decided he did not know how to do anything and spent over 3 hours doing two worksheets. One worksheet had letters with spaces either before or after. He was supposed to write the letter that went before the letter shown or after (depending on where the space was). For some reason my normally "bright" son forgot his alphabet and could not figure it out. On the next worksheet, Math, it was simple subtraction. He kept coming in asking what 8-3=, and 10-1=. Maybe we should rethink the whole getting tested for GT!!!

After three hours and only 2 out of 5 (all front and back) worksheets getting done I told him to go to bed. He got mad and said he did not want zeros and started crying. I told him he had plenty of time to get it all done and to still have time to play!!

I caved though. I got him up early this morning to finish the worksheets. The rest were all Math, but it was groups of tens and ones. You had to count how many groups of tens there were and how many ones and tell the total. Very easy!! Still took him way to long!

Nonetheless - it all got done! I told myself next time I would stick to my guns and if it takes him getting some zeros and a not perfect report card that is so important to him (he is his hardest critic!!) then that is what it takes, but he needs to learn the lesson now and not later!

Since he will be missing Friday for us to go to Colorado, I sent a letter to his teacher asking her to let him do the work he would miss in his free time or to send it home. Friday he has his first two test so I also asked if he could take those Thursday. She sent a note home today saying that she would gladly give him the test on Thursday.

It sounds like it will be a good year. She sounds like a great teacher and really seems to work with us. Lets hope it remains this way all year and not just the first couple of weeks!!

Fiction or Nonfiction

We had a movie night tonight and were watching a dvd with sci-fi movies about aliens. These are movies out from like the 50's where it is so obvious it is fake. At one point there are dinosaur looking aliens that are obviously men dressed up in suits and jumping around.

We were watching the first one, and I kept screaming and jumping etc, trying to scare the kids. At one point in the movie the alien was attacking the man and I am acting scared. The boys start getting scared at this poorly made movie and Caleb jumps up and screams "Is this movie non-fiction?"

When most kids would ask if something was real or make-believe, Caleb asks "Is this nonfiction?"

Greetings From Jackson Mississippi

Well, we decided to take a last minute trip with Daddy. He came home from work and told us he had to go to Mississippi today and would be back tomorrow and asked if we wanted to join him. Since the boys have not seen Daddy much this summer, I decided to let them miss the 2 days of school (yes, I know it is the first week, but what ya gonna do?) and join him on a road trip. It is not often that we can pack up and go with him so it is a definite treat for the boys.

It is about a 4-5 hour trip one way and not a great sign of things to come next week when we make the 13 hour trip to Colorado. Let me say that we will definently have to buy a new game boy game and Leapster game or video before we go - not to mention taking some movies for the drive!! At least this time we are splitting the trip and actually stopping for the night at a hotel! That is the bonus of Daddy traveling so much - we have LOTS of free hotel nights!

So some funny things that happened on the drive here:
1st - the boys loved all of the crop dusting they got to see. The part of Arkansas between Little Rock and Louisiana is all crops and there were planes everywhere!

2nd - Isaac kept asking "When are we going to be a Miss. Issippi's house?" I guess he thought Mississippi was a womans name not a state - even though we kept trying to explain it. So Holiday Inn is Miss. Issippi's house I guess.

3rd - There seemed to be train tracks the entire way here. Bryce kept telling us that he was going to grow up and be a train (not the driver - the train) so that he could be on the tracks.

Then he told us that when he grew up he was going to the city (I guess we don't live in a city).

"What are you going to do in the city?" Daddy asked.

"Open the door." he replied proudly.

"So does that mean you will have the keys to the city?" I asked

"Yes, the workers will give them to me."

Oh to have the imagination of a two year old again!!!!


Paul just called to inform me that he found a Bass Pro Shop about a block from here. I guess tomorrow we are off to explore that - which is fine with me. The unspoken agreement is that if I suffer through Bass Pro he has to suffer through whatever store I want to visit!!!!

Bye Tadpole!

I was just going through past blogs and I guess I never blogged that we lost the last tadpole a couple of weeks ago. It is very sad, but it was getting a little old trying to keep little fingers and hands out of the tadpoles home. Caleb took it well, maybe since I kept telling him that he may not make it. He asked if he could get more and before he even finished his sentence I said "NO! NO! NO!!!!!!!!

No more tadpoles (or frogs, snakes, lizards, etc!).

Audioblog Explanation

These are all songs off Bryce's favorite CD A Kid Like You by Brian Kinder. I was actually just going to record the Grandma and Grandpa Song, but Bryce decided he wanted to sing - over and over so we ended up doing several of his favorites. THe Pickle Bicycle song reminds me of Dad. I remember growing up he used to teach us some of the goofiest songs, many of which I still know the words too, many of which I don't but I know them when I hear them! THe School Shoes Song is going to be Bryce's theme song in school I am afraid!! It sounds like him - never can sit still. Even during the song when it talks about running - he took off running through the house!!
Echo Gecko Bryce would listen to over and over every day if we would let him. That is his all time favorite song! Followed probably by I Like Being A Kid!

ENJOY!

I Dedicate This One to Dad!!

School Shoes

I Like Being A Kid

To Marmar and Papa

Bryce Singing Echo Gecko

Day 1149

This is Bryce's 1149 day at home with me! I had to subtract the one day a week he went to Mothers Day Out earlier this year. He starts MDO the beginning of September, but is going twice a week this year!

This is also a milestone day. We have been home for over an hour this morning and he is not stripped to his underwear yet. For some reason he cannot poop with a shirt on so that is why he lost the shirt already. Definently a record as he likes to be naked!!!!

Second Year Preschool

Again, don't know about the face! He had a good first day back at school. He is very excited about starting kindergarten next year! It looks as though all of his therapy will be at the school this year which will be very helpful to me and Bryce (won't interfere with nap time like it always has in the past!).

2nd Grade

Second day of second grade. I don't know what is with the faces - it is cloudy outside so it can't be the sun, but I could not get either one of the boys to make a straight face!

He loves school, likes his teacher better than last year and has many friends in class. Hopefully this will be a good year! Mom did not do very good with first days lunch. He said the chips I sent him were disgusting and traded them with someone else (for graham crackers). Resourceful huh!

Bryce's New Thing

Bryce has this new thing where everything is either "awesome" or "kinda dumb." When we were going to Target this weekend we drove by a neighborhood and he yells "Those houses are awesome!!" Then we got into a not-so-nice neighborhood and he said "these houses are kinda dumb."

WHen I tell him it is naptime I hear "naps are kinda dumb."

Time to eat vegetables - "Vegetables are kinda dumb."

What is so funny though is that when he says this it is usually accompanied by him crossing his arms above him head and throwing them down on his chest and making a hilarious - unhappy face.

I don't know where he gets some of his things, but his personality cracks me up!! He will definently be the class clown of the family. So much for picking his name for the meaning! That came back to bite me in the butt big time!!!!

Bryce - HOME ALONE!!

Bryce is not too sure what to do!! He is not used to being the only one home now. He wants to go to his school (Mothers Day Out which does not start until next month). He was not happy to see his brothers go - until they were gone. Now he does not know what to play with first!! He is enjoying having everything to himself again and I am hoping that we can get back on a schedule with naps and stuff!!

SURPRISE!!

In case you did not catch it in the last post - We are happy to announce that we are expecting. This is our LAST chance at a girl. This is it. If we don't get a girl this time, God does not want us to have a girl! This WAS planned and we are VERY excited as are the boys! Caleb wants a girl, Isaac wants a boy (is he insane), and Bryce changes daily (hourly) about what he wants!

Paul does not want to find out what we are having. This is going to be a big debate in our house for the next 4 months. I REALLY want to know because if we are having a girl - I can't afford to buy everything after the baby is born (even if we have a boy really). If we have a girl there WILL be LOTS of PINK!!! He told me he was going to tell the dr that he was the father and he had the right not to find out. I told him that I was the drs patient though and I had the right to find out.

We were not going to tell anyone until after we found out what we were having, but we were so excited and then there is the fact that most of my pants are too tight already (which is sad since I had lost about 15 pounds in the last month and a half to two months so they were all loose!) so I did not think we could hide it for that long!!

My Shopping "Trip" Last Week

One more rant. This is the trip that I talked about in the last ranting post. Last Tuesday I went grocery shopping late because Paul was going out of town early Wednesday morning and I did not want to try and get groceries by myself with the kids.

I am going about doing my business at Walmart. I unfortunately got a horrible buggy that did not turn well. I did not realize how bad it was until it started getting full though (and it was too late to get a new one). My buggy was overflowing and all I had left to get was produce. Before I started getting my produce, I realized I forgot lunchmeat and some crescent rolls. Instead of taking the horrible buggy full of groceries all the way to the other end of the store, I decided to leave it at produce. I get the lunchmeat and I am walking to where the biscuits are, which is by eggs. As I walk in front of eggs, my feet went right out from underneath me. There was NO saving myself.

I get up and am covered in SLIME! My feet were so slippery when I got up that I almost fell again. I had to find clean floor to wipe the slime off my feet so I could walk. I looked at the floor, figuring it was eggs, but was wrong. I don't know if ya'll have seem the packs with beads in them that they have started using for liquid spills, but they put these packs down and it swells up as it absorbs the liquid. Everytime I go into the store, I see these packs, usually full in different places in the store. THere is not usually a wet floor sign or anything, just these packs.

The pack itself had been shoved (probaby by a buggy) under the shelf so you could not see it. The gel stuff was clear and it was like walking on baby oil! It did not look like anything was there. I had to walk back to bakery (at the other end of the store) to find a Walmart employee. I went to the bakery and asked for some paper towels and told them that I had fallen in front of eggs and someone needs to clean up the mess immediately because you could not see anything on the floor. I did not even want to leave that spot so someone else did not fall, but since I had to go to the other end of the store to get an employee I did not have a choice!

I finally get some paper towels and am cleaning gel off of me (and my WHITE pants) and waiting for a manager so I can fill out an accident report. By now my shoulder, hand and hip/thigh are hurting. When the manager finally comes over, I tell her before I worry about filling out the paperwork, someone needed to clean the mess up before someone else fell. She called the operator with her walkie and was told there was no maintnance until 10 (It was 9:15 pm when I fell). She said okay and started telling me to fill out the paperwork. I again said that she needed to get someone to clean the mess (we are still at bakery). She told a guy in produce to get an orange cone and put over there. He asked where it was at and I told him and told him what it was. He, on his own, went and got a mop and cone.

I filled out my accident report and while I was, one of the families that saw me fall were getting some groceries close by. I told the manager that the family over there had seen me fall and she needed to get them to do some kind of witness report. She said okay, but never got them. I finished filling out the paperwork and got her name and she told me who to call if I needed to go to the hospital.

Then, I go to check out and get a cashier that is too busy talking to her boyfriend that is standing there (or the guy she wants to be her boyfriend). He walked away and she asked me if I thought he was cute. I told her I had not looked at him, I was trying to get my groceries unloaded. She says "Oh, well watch and when he turns around see what you think." I did not watch, I waited for her to ring my stuff up so I could finish unloading my basket (I did not wait in any line, she just was not working so I could not unload my entire basket).

I finally got done, and by the time I got home, I was in tears. My entire right side - all the way down pretty much - was hurting. Paul gives me a bad time about how big my purse (or suitcase as he refers to it) is. The only reason my ribs did not get hurt was because I had my purse on that side. When I fell I hit the egg bunker (the shelf thingie that holds the eggs) with my right side the entire way down. I had bruises coming up on my shoulder, hand, hip/thigh and down my leg. I took tylenol to go to bed and got up Wednesday morning STIFF! I had bruises on my left knee and foot that came up over night. I don't know where I hit them during the fall, but I did at some point.

I stewed about the accident and the way it was handled all morning. I was looking at my receipt and realized that the cashier, while talking to he boyfriend, had rung 3 or 4 things up twice. I had to go to Walmart to get my money back on that stuff and decided to ask for the store manager. A CSM came up and asked if she could help.

"I don't mean to offend you, but I would really like to talk to the store manager."
"He is on vacation."
"Then I would like to talk to whoever is in charge."
"I am sorry, but all of the managers are in a meeting."
"A manager needs to leave the meeting for a minute, or I am going to go over the stores head and go to the district manager."

Amazingly, a manager managed to get to me. I did not feel comfortable complainging to a CSM about an assistant manager (since a CSM is under an assistant manager). I am sorry, but if all of the managers at a store are going to be in a meeting than they need to have someone ready to leave the meeting if there is a customer that needs them.

When he came up to me he was very polite, as was I. I told him that I had done my grocery shopping the night before and had fallen while I was there. He asked me what happened and I told him. I told him that I felt the situation was handled poorly. He asked why and I said first off, I worked at Walmart for over 3 years and I know that customer, as well as employee safety was supposed to be number one. I said that when I got here, before I came to the service desk and called him, I walked back to eggs. There were 5 gel packs in the middle of the floor (this time with a cone). I told him I did not know if they were there from last night, but that I was sure they were not designed to take the place of cleaning a mess. THat they were probably designed to put on a spill until someone could clean it and that is not the way they are being used. I also told him about asking the manager to get it cleaned before the accident report was filled out and when she was told there was no maintnance, she let it go. I told him she should have either gone and done it herself, or gotten the first employee she saw to do it. Secondly, I pointed out a witness to me falling and asked the manager to get them to fill out a witness form (which was a part of my accident report) and she didn't. I told him that was as much for their security as it was mine and she should have had it filled out since I pointed them out.

I went on to tell him he needed to be glad I had grabbed a crappy buggy. If I had the buggy with me when I fell, my feet would have pushed the bottom of the buggy and I would probably still be holding the handle and would have dumped the overflowing buggy ontop of me. Furthermore, this was the first time I had grocery shopped without the kids (usually the whole family goes) and if they had been with me and gotten injured (they probably would have hit their heads) he could have counted on a lawsuit! And I also told him the reason I had to come back was to get money back on items that had been rung up twice and told him about the cashier.

He took my name and the name of the assisstant manager that did the accident report. I also informed him that I was a month pregnant and that the store had better hope nothing happened to the baby. I showed him the bruises on my shoulder and hand (I was wearing jeans so could not show him the rest). He told me that he would get the accident report and talk to the store manager about it.

Paul asked what I was planning to accomplish from making a complaint. I told him I was not planning on sueing or anything, but since I had to go up there because of the cashier not doing her job then I was going to wait and make a complaint. If no one complains and they keep using those pads like they are someone was going to get seriously injured. What if it had been one of the little old men and women that go through and how many people get eggs when they get groceries? I mean that is like milk and bread - just about everyone uses them!

I think we just need a grocery store that delivers my groceries so I don't have to deal with people!!!!

PEOPLE DRIVE ME CRAZY SOMETIMES!!

If you know me, I am a people person (usually). I love to be around people and being social. Not the last couple of days. If you read my last post you already heard about this mornings annoyance. Well, yesterday I had a horrible shopping day (not to top last weeks though which I will get into in a minute).

Yesterday we had to go to Target to return some shirts. We went back to camping supplies to see what they had and since it is almost fall, they have quite a bit on clearance. We found an endcap that had Eddie Bauerer tents clearanced. There is a big sign above the tents that said they were clearanced and $35. We got to looking at them and they were $130 and $180 tents so we got one. The one we got was the $180 one that was a three in one. You could use it as a canopy, a screened canopy or a tent.

So we get up front to check out and it rang up $124. Paul and I told the cashier that it was on an endcap with a sign that said $35 and that the entire endcap were these tents. She called some lady (in charge of the cashiers I guess) over. The lady comes over and says "WHAT!" Not hello how are you, but WHAT? We explained what was going on and she says "Well, it is probably the only one over there and it is not $35." I again told her it was an entire endcap adn offered to show it to her. "I am quite aware of where they are at!" she snapped at me.

Now, whatever happened to some decent customer service?? By this time I was not very happy with the way she was acting! We waited about 10 minutes for her to go find them. She came back and this is the conversation we had:

Rude lady: "That tent is $124 and I won't give it to you for $35. The sleeping bags were $35."

Paul: "There were no sleeping bags on that endcap. It was all tents."

RL: "Well I guess it was for something that was there before."

Me: "Well it is ya'lls responsibility to make sure the prices are right."

RL: "Well, I don't know about that!"

Me: "Are you saying it is the customers responsibility to make sure your items are priced right?"

RL: "Are you going to buy this tent or not?"

Me: "No, and I guess if the items in the store cannot be priced right than I will no longer be buying anything here!"

I did get the shirts I had gone to get with the gift card. I will not be going back to that store if I can at all help it! We will be getting one here in town soon. As a person that did customer service for more than 6 years - she was wrong from the time she walked up to us. If she had come up and been polite and gone and looked at what we were saying and came back and said something like "I am sorry, but someone did not price that correctly, it is our mistake. I can not sell you the tent for that price though." I would very politely said "Okay thank you" although I thought the policy was that if they were all mispriced they gave it to you for that price. If you are going to come be rude to me though, don't expect me to stand there and let you run all over me. Especially in front of my kids! I am not going to teach them to let people walk all over them.

SO we leave Target and run into Walmart. I am looking at batting for making a pillow. I don't have a buggy or anything and this lady behind me says excuse me. I move thinking she is just wanting around me. She parks herself and her buggy RIGHT WHERE I WAS TRYING TO LOOK!!! I was already annoyed with people so this just made me mad!! Don't say excuse me and then stand where I was at looking at what I was trying to look at!! Instead of saying anything to her, I told Paul that apparantly I was not going to get to look at what I was looking at and we walked off (but I said it loud enough for her to hear). I don't want to be rude to everyone because of people like that, but I guess next time I will just have to turn around and say that I will be done in a few minutes. Apparantly when you try to be polite and use the manners that were taught to you, you get taken advantage of!!

BACK TO SCHOOL!

Well, Caleb and Isaac went back to school today!! They were both so excited. Caleb has been asking everyday since BGC ended why school could not start "today." We kept telling him the teachers were not ready to deal with all the wild kids yet!!

Things were pretty crazy this morning and I did not get first-day-of-school photos. Maybe if they still look somewhat decent when they get home (you know - not covered in dirt!) I will get some first-day-after-school pictures, otherwise we will have to do second-day-of-school pictures!!

Caleb was very excited when we went to open house. He had been asking me if he was going to be upstairs and I kept telling him I had no idea where is class would be. When we got there and asked where is teachers classroom was, he was VERY excited to be told it was upstairs. I guess that is where the BIG kids go!! He has a friend from church in his class. He also has a friend that he has been in the same class with since Kindergarten. That is so neat and I hope that wherever we decide to move he can stay at this school. Our city has six (going on seven) elementary schools. This just seems crazy because it does not seem like the city is big enough to have that many! I guess everyone that lives here has elementary students. THey are in the process of building a new middle school and I guess in a couple of years they are going to have to start building some new high schools to accomodate all of these middle and elementary kids!!

Isaac's school is on the way to Caleb's. I have learned the last couple of years that if you don't want to sit in traffic forever, we have to leave the house at about 7:20-7:25 (even though we live less than a minute from the schools). I took Caleb about this time and there was already a line of traffic! I kind of expect that the first and last week of school because parents seem to take their kids these times. What I saw when I took Isaac to school blew me away!

I pulled off of our road and onto the road the school is on and CARS WERE STOPPED!! I mean not moving. Traffic is never backed up this far. IT TOOK ME OVER 15 MINUTES TO GET ISAAC TO SCHOOL!!! Never mind that the elementary school starts at 7:50 and it was close to 7:55 when I left. Almost all of these people were going to the school and they were ALL late. And I was not at the end of the line either! As I moved up, there were still cars as far back as you could see!!

There are a couple of feed in roads. Most people usually let one person from the feed in roads in front of them. I went to let one person in front of me and the person behind that one person thought he would go too - then honked at me and threw his arms in the air because I would not let him go. I am sorry, but I was being polite letting someone go (no law says I have to do that). DON'T honk at me because you could not leave your house in time to get your child to school in time. There was not more than 3 or 4 cars waiting on that road to get in line. I have somewhere to be too and I have been waiting a lot longer than they had!

Enough of my ranting for this post! I can't wait for the kids to get home. As excited as I was to have them go to school, as always I miss them when they are gone and can't wait for them to get home and tell me about their days. We will see how Caleb does with his glasses!!!

I will post more this evening about their days. I might need to leave in a couple of hours to start making my way to the schools to pick them up!!!

Funny!

When we were called to tell us that Caleb's glasses were ready, I was telling Caleb that they would have to fit them on him when we got there. He says "So do I have to run really fast?" (Like he has to when trying on new shoes). I said no and he says "well what if I run into a tree?"

"Then you have bigger problems than your glasses!!!" I told him LAUGHING!

Caleb In His New Glasses

Denim Blue Frames
















Gold Frames


















I must say I am scared!! Everyone keeps talking about how much better Caleb is going to do in school now, but everyone needs to realize that last year his lowest score on his report card was a 97 - all year.

I do feel bad though. We drove past a rail yard and there was a train sitting out front. Caleb said "Are they not using that Onion Pac-fic (not pacific, he said it like pack-fick) train anymore." Paul and I laughed and then realized that that is really what he is seeing. At the exam he kept reading u's as o's. Then I felt pretty bad laughing at him.

He is already too smart! Maybe it is better if he can't see as well!! Just joking - of course I want him to be the best he can! We will see what happens!

Snoobies:

Isaac's word for what is commonly called smoothies. I have gotten the kids hooked on my strawberry-banana smoothies! Nothing like getting them hooked on something healthy and having them ask for that for dessert instead of sweets!

Little Bottom, Big Hole

I bet that title got your attention, huh?!

Imagine walking into the bathroom and seeing only knees and arms coming out of the toilet. If you are not laughing to hard, read on.


Bryce was trying to sit on the toilet to potty. Lately he has decided that he does not need his little ring to use or his step stool (those of you that have seen him lately know he is still to small to stop using either of them). HE JUST FELL IN THE TOILET!!! I heard the splash of his bottom hitting the water and went to see what he was doing. I pulled him out of the toilet and he turned and began yelling at the toilet like it was its fault.

What Is Wrong With This Picture?

Walked into the hall, saw this, ran for the camera and died laughing!!

I feel as though I need to add that I do absolutely NO housework dressed like this! He learned this on his own I guess.

Burns Park

We went for a hike Saturday morning at Burns Park on the Boy Scout Trail. It is so funny watching Paul with the boys when we go hiking. There are so many things that he says and does that remind me so much of hiking with my Daddy. Here are a couple of stories from this trip.

While we were hiking Paul saw a washcloth in the middle of the trail that had obviously been there for a while. It was pressed into the ground and pretty dirty. The boys had all passed it and Paul calls them back. He very seriously says "Do ya'll know what that is? It is a wild washcloth. They are very rare but DON'T TOUCH IT! It WILL bite.

I just died laughing because Dad used to do things like that to us. Some of you will remember things like the squirrel with fangs and things like this! He would get really serious and tell us some far fetched story and keep up with it for the endurance of the trip.

Another funny story is while hiking the same trip we saw a "ghost pineneedle." Again, the boys had already passed, except Bryce. Paul tried to show him this floating pineneedle and he could not find it - even with us pointing right at it. He finally saw it and the other two then came and looked at it. Isaac just stared at it for the longest time and Caleb (who knows EVERYTHING) said it was a web.

The funniest part was that Caleb kept saying that it was a web. Bryce finally could not hold it in anymore and grabbed the pineneedle. He pulled on it and let go and it did not go anywhere. Caleb was in awe because if it was a web then it should not have kept floating after Bryce pulled on it. It was priceless to see the expression of all of the kids!!

Playing In the Rain

Daddy and the boys were out playing in the rain Friday afternoon. They were wanting to play in the sprinklers so we went for Mother Natures sprinklers. They played in front of the house for awhile and then I looked out the window and they were at the end of the road. I was sitting in my chair in the living room watching them out the window when all of a sudden -BOOOM! - it thundered really loud. The next thing I see it two little boys running down the street, with their feet barely touching the ground. Paul must have gotten them calmed down because they took awhile to get back to the house.

Playing In the Rain

Daddy and the boys were out playing in the rain Friday afternoon. They were wanting to play in the sprinklers so we went for Mother Natures sprinklers. They played in front of the house for awhile and then I looked out the window and they were at the end of the road. I was sitting in my chair in the living room watching them out the window when all of a sudden -BOOOM! - it thundered really loud. The next thing I see it two little boys running down the street, with their feet barely touching the ground. Paul must have gotten them calmed down because they took awhile to get back to the house.

Caleb Needs Glasses

While grocery shopping yesterday they were doing eye screenings. Caleb has had red, itchy eyes and has complained several times about having a hard time reading. He did the screening and it did not come out very good, so we went and made an appointment to see the eye doctor.

We went to his appointment later yesterday afternoon and I went back with him. The doctor has the letters he sees up on the wall so I was able to see what he was supposed to see. I knew pretty immediately he was going to have to have glasses. B, D, O, and E were all O's. T, E and F were all F. V and Y were both Y, etc.

He got very frustrated with the eye doctor when he was having trouble reading the letters. She kept telling him to calm down, and I did too. I finally had to tell her that he thinks he is always right and is very independant so he gets mad when he can't do something he is trying to do. By the end of the part where he had to say the letters he saw he was almost in tears!

He has an astigmatism. His left eye is not seeing well and his right eye is straining to correct what the left eye is having a problem with. She also noticed that he has SEVERE (on a scale from 1-4 she said his were a 4 and 1/2) eye allergies. She showed me that when you pull his eyes down and look at the inside of his lower lid, it is bright red and should be pink. She said under the microscope all of that red is tiny little blisters. He has eye drops he has to use everyday, twice a day to try to take care of that. She said it will take two to three works for it to start helping and could take several months to clear it up (he did not get it overnight and it will not go away overnight was her comment). He has to wear the glasses all day unless playing outside (thank goodness), any reading, tv watching, computer, etc.

Before we even got a pair of glasses picked out he was asking about contacts. I told him that if he could keep up with his glasses and take care of them for a while (a year +) then we would look into contacts. I am not even really sure how old he has to be before he can wear them. I asked if he knew he had to touch his eyes to put them in and he said yes and demonstrated - I guess he has seen Daddy do it enough!

So we went and picked out two pairs of glasses for him. That way he can leave one at home and one at school. I think carrying them back and forth is where he is going to get into trouble as far as losing or breaking them. He picked out a pair of gold frames and a pair of denim-colored frames and got two SpongeBob cases for them. He really loves the gold ones. He likes the denim ones but said the gold ones are the ones he would wear most. If he wears them like he is supposed too, then he will wear them home everyday and we will just have an extra pair, but we will see what he does!

He was upset he did not get to wear the gold glasses home. He did not understand that they had to send off and get his lens put in a brand new pair of frames. When he gets them by the end of the week, I will post a picture in each pair. I guess this will just make him look like the Einstein we all know he is!!

My Amazing Little Trooper!

You would think since Isaac has been to the same place for 3 surgeries in the past three years, he would not be excited to go back. I told him last night right before bed that he had to go see his doctor today to get his ears "fixed." He asked if we were going to see his "big" doctor. I assume he is called the big doctor because he is taller than their pediatrician, but he is talking about the ENT specialist.

He was very excited about going and seeing the "big" doctor. We got there, he went in, went back and got prepped and went back with the doctor with no problem. When they were done they came and got us and took us back to recovery where he was at. I held him in my lap until he came out of the gas. He was laying there and opened his eyes and sat up. He immediately asked for a drink and started drinking.

I am so happy that he always recovers so quick. He had a little bit of an upset stomach on the way home, but when we got home and had some toast he was fine. Not really a complaint from him since.

Such a trooper!

Candy Land

Daddy is playing Candy Land with the boys. He told Bryce to move his "Little BryBry Man" (that is what Bryce calls him) to the closest yellow square to him. Bryce stands up and starts doing circles looking for the yellow square closest to him.

He is hilarious to watch play this game. He gets so excited, every time he takes a turn he comes running to me, jumping up and down screaming "I did it Mumma I did it. I moved my Little BryBry Man!"

A Conversation with Isaac

"I need toast for dinner." Isaac said on the way home.

"You NEED toast?"

"Yeah, you know that balloon I blew up?"

"Yeah, what does that have to do with dinner?"

"That means I need toast!"

When they were getting ready to go back to do his tubes this morning, they told him he would need to try to blow up a balloon (that is when he gets the laughing gas). His tummy was a little upset when we were heading home so I told him that when we got home he could have toast. I guess he just put the two together and will have to eat toast for the rest of his life!

Comments

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YEA!!!!

BRYCE ATE ALL OF HIS VEGETABLES LAST NIGHT!!!

I made chicken tenders, which is a favorite to Daddy and the boys. I don't make it very often because it is VERY messy!! I made green beans, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. Paul was unhappy because usually it is mashed potatos, gravy and creamed peas, but we did not have gravy or peas!

Anyway, so Bryce was being bad and time out was not working. I told him since he could not behave he was going to have green beans only for dinner. He crossed his arms in a very dramatic way that he does it and made a dirty look he has mastered at me and said "so I like green beans they are yummy!!"

By the time dinner was ready, he was being good, but I still told him he had to eat the green beans before he got anything else - including a drink! When he saw the green beans he was not very happy. I asked him if he wanted me to mix the green beans in with mashed potatoes. He said yes, so I did. HE ATE THEM ALL!! So he got green beans AND mashed potatoes (which he usually only really likes with gravy).

We clapped and hooted and hollared and made a huge deal out of it. Bryce was so proud of himself and loved the attention - hopefully he will love it so much he will want it tonight when I make him eat veggies!!

He got a small drink half way through the vegetables, and then when he was done eating them he got his chicken and some mac and cheese. When we were cleaning Paul asked if anyone wanted more mac and cheese and even though he had not eaten all of what he already had, Bryce said he did. This is what he got:

And he ate a good chunk of it before we told him he was done (we were trying to clean and he was the only one still eating).

Lava Rocks

I forgot to add - those rocks that Caleb put around the flowers he said were lava rocks. I asked him why they were lava rocks and he said that they were REALLY hot when he found them and only lava makes hot rocks.

Maybe in second grade they will learn about the sun! I thought he had already figured out that the heat from the sun causes things to heat up. You know since he frequently touches things outside and complains about how hot they are!!

Fruit of the Spirit

Caleb's Sunday School class was learning about the fruit of the spirit for several weeks over the summer. A couple of weeks ago, they gave each of the kids a begonia plant (it had two stems with flowers to plant). We came home and Paul planted it in the flowerbed next to the sidewalk. Caleb was very proud of this plant because it is HIS!

Well Friday last week I was walking out to the car and noticed that one of his brothers had walked on it and broke the stems. I IMed Paul at work and told him that Caleb was going to be really mad when I picked him up from BGC, and told him what happened. He said he would stop on the way home and try and get a new one - and try to plant it before he gets home.

Paul comes home early, and it is pouring rain (I mean it was raining cats and dogs!!!). He comes in the house with a Walmart bag. I open it and it is some kind of rose plant. It looked nothing like what he had, but it was the same color. Paul goes out and plants it as soon as it stopped raining - in the same spot as the other one.

We went and picked Caleb up from BGC. When we got home he was walking to the door and I heard him get REALLY excited. He came running back to us and told us that his plant just needed lots of rain because it grew a lot while he was gone. He was looking at it and said that it was not as tall as it used to be, but that it went from to stems with flowers to this:




















Then he placed these rocks that he brought home from BGC around it to "keep it safe." Little does he know!

I really did not think he was going to buy it, but it worked! Good think he does not know a whole lot about plants, otherwise we would never have gotten away with it, but it definently kept a fight with his brothers away!!

We will just call it Creative Parenting!

Tadpole Update

Caleb's tadpole has legs!!! They are still inside the skin stuff, but they are there. Maybe (if I am lucky) we will be able to at least get rid of the water. I feel like I am filling that thing with water every other day!

Nightmares

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Bryce wakes up about the same time (9pm) every night with a nightmare. He did last night as normal and Paul went in and calmed him down and got him back to bed. About 1 am, I heard a loud thud noise and Bryce started crying. I thought the dogs outside had done something, but Bryce was screaming at the top of his lungs for me.

I went in expecting to find him in bed, head covered, crying about monsters or whatever the nightmare culprits were this time. Imagine my surprise when I open the door and he is ON TOP OF HIS DRESSER!! Now, he has never been able to climb on top of his dresser because he is not much taller than it is. He was up there on his hands and knees clutching Bear Bear and screaming and crying. He had knocked off the lamp (I guess that was the thud I heard). I picked him up, calmed him down and got him back to bed - then got his brothers he awoke back to bed.

No sooner did I close my eyes and get good and asleep, did I hear him screaming again. I went running in there - not really knowing what to expect this time. He was in bed, blanket over his head - like normal. For fear of getting absolutely no sleep due to the 3 nightmares before 2 am he had, I took him in my room. I know - not a smart thing to do, but if it is between sleep and him being in there or me getting up every 30 minutes to him screaming - I opt for sleep!!

I never heard another peep after that until this morning. I asked him if he remembered the dream and he doesn't, but apparantly remembers being on top of the dresser. I asked him to show me how he got up there - and he could not get up on it. He tried for about 5 minutes and could not do it. I am at a lose as to how he got himself AND Bear Bear up there. There were no drawers pulled out, so he could not have climbed the drawers. Paul thinks I was hallucinating, but I wasn't. In fact, as soon as I got the boys settled, I came back to our room and turned on the light and told him what had happened - I was, and still am, so baffled.

I can't get the picture of him on the dresser when I opened the door out of my head. It is funny, but not! I don't know what is causing his nightmares, but I hope this is not the beginning of sleep walking (or sleep anything else not in bed). I wish I had a video camera I could put in there for a night and see what he does (or be a fly in the wall!).

If only I could transfer pictures in my head onto this computer!!

Hank and the Cat

While at the library to meet the author Saturday they did a few door prizes. Sadly for everyone else and lucky for Bryce, he won one of them. I say sadly because he slept through it all and did not really care, everyone else did!

He won a little stuffed Hank the Cowdog. He has not let go of it for more than a few minutes at a time since. I thought he was taking the place of Bear Bear (which was kind of nice because he is much smaller!). I soon learned that he would be joining Bear Bear, not replacing him. Now we have two stuffed animals to carry around instead of one!!

Anyway - I walked in my room earlier and saw this:












Bryce and Isaac both tried to rescue Hank and the cat tried to bite them both!! Looks like the cat has a boyfriend (we won't mention that the cat is also male!!).

Lights Out (and Everything Else!!)

Our electricity went out most of the afternoon Sunday due to a storm. I don't what it is about this house but we don't have very good luck with lightening hitting our yard and knocking out untilities (even though all of our lines are underground). It was not bad at first - when it was still warming because it had cooled down to about 80 degrees and it was still light outside. The storm, however, did not last long and the house quickly grew very hot and outside hot and humid! We were at the point where we were considering going to a hotel because the electric company said it could be 10pm before it was back on and the heat was getting unbearable.

Paul took the kids outside to try and get at least a breeze. They decided to roll in the wet grass and got covered (Paul had mowed a couple of hours before!). They were so bad when they came in I told them they had to go take showers. They took them one at a time, with one of the others sitting in the doorway with a headlamp on giving at least a little bit of light to take a shower from. It was pretty funny though because obviously the younger two don't have much of an attention span. Everytime they heard a noise behind them, they would turn around, leaving whoever was in the shower in a pitched black room!

WE LOVE ELECTRICITY!!!!!!

John Erickson - Meet the Author

About a month and a half ago, I checked out some books at the library for Caleb. He reads chapter books (like Hardy Boys) in about 2 hours - cover to cover - and can tell you about what he read. One of the books I found was a series by John Erickson called Hank the Cowdog. I thought he would like them because he loves farms and animals and these books take place on a farm. He LOVED them. Well, ironically enough, Saturday afternoon John Erickson was at our library. They were selling his books and he was signing them. We bought 3 of his books and he signed all three (one for each of the boys). After he signed books, he read from his newest book (he has 48 books).

I read a little bit of the first one because I wanted to make sure it was okay for Caleb to read. They sounded really interesting, but after hearing him read - I don't want to read it anymore - I want to hear him read it! He has so many different voices he uses for different characters and the story takes on a different feeling when you hear him. So, I was very excited to learn that the library had his audiobooks. I was even more excited to learn that it is HIS voice on all of his audiobooks. I checked several out for Caleb and they are great for in the car!

After he read a couple of chapters he answered questions. It was pretty awesome because just about every answer he gave, he mentioned his faith and God in. It is very reassuring to me as a mother (especially since I have not read all of the books before Caleb reads them) to know that the author is someone who has such a strong believe in faith.

This man also is a songwriter and singer. On all of the audiobooks, he sings a couple of songs and all of the instrumentals are from his family. He said when he started writing this series it was actually for adults (fellow farmers that had the same type of stories). All of his stories are written from either things that have happened to him or stories he has heard from fellow farmers. He soon learned from a school principal who called and asked him to speak to the schools kids, that the adults were not the only ones reading them.

Caleb and Isaac were both very interested in what he was saying (Bryce fell asleep as soon as he started reading). They were really excited to get his autograph and their own copy of one of his books. Caleb said this is a series he wants to read all of, so lets see...48 books at 2 hours a book - so he could have them read in 4 days (if he did not eat, sleep or play). Thank goodness he has been busy with BGC this summer - because at $5 a book it gets kind of expensive and the library does not have them all. This is another one of those series that is worth buying because I think all of the kids will really enjoy it! As much as I would like to buy the audio - I don't have the $600+ to do that!

By and large, mothers and housewives are the only workers who do not have regular time off. They are the great vacationless class." - Anna Morrow Lindbergh

Caleb and Daddy On the Farm

These are some of my favorite pictures of Daddy and Caleb. I wanted to add them at Father's Day - but that is when I found out my scanner quit working!



On the Mule - Caleb's fondest memories of PePaws farm was taking rides on that Mule (especially with PePaw)










This is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE of Daddy and Caleb. He did not even flinch with that cow got in his face. This was at PePaws farm too.










This is what normally happened after a day at PePaws farm. When you look at all of the photos of things to do their you understand why!!










PePaw loved this windmill and planted Morning Glorys under it. This is what it looked like every year. It was so beautiful when the flowers bloomed!

















This is in Pepaws truck on the farm. He was so excited about getting to "drive"










Caleb was always his happiest on this farm. I wish I could afford to buy it because he would LOVE to have it. He asks all the time if we can go visit and if we can buy a farm when we buy a house. Daddy would like that too!!

Scanner

Last weekend before Paul went out of town he looked at my scanner. I guess he finally got tired of hearing me complain about not having one - but hey, this is my only escape from the everyday ho-hum of life!! He found that the fuse inside it was blown. Well, after doing some searching online he found out that HP will not tell you what type of fuse it is. He went and talked to someone at Radio Shack and when we left there, he took me to Office Depot.

I already had a printer/copier/fax/scanner combo, but the scanner part was not working. Before we got that, we had just a plain scanner. Well, those are very hard to find now. I found one at Office Depot, but it was as much as the all in ones.

So, Paul got me a Brother's all in one. We got it home and set up and it was the biggest pain to work. First, after every scan, you have to reset the resolution. I did not know this and I scanned in a lot of photos as I was putting them in a frame (taped in). After I got the frame done, I was looking at the pictures enlarged and they sucked! That is when I found out I have to change the resolution after every scan.

Secondly, I had the hardest time finding where my pictures were sent too. When I found them I had to change things around to where I could post them. Just too much work! I wanted my old scanner where I just push a button, it scans and shows up in My Pictures.

Paul, patiently tried to help me with it and it was still too big of a pain, so we took it back. He got on Consumer Reports and found that an Epson that we had seen at Walmart for the same price as the Brothers was their top rated cheaper scanner. So we went to get it instead. The only downside to the Epson is that it did not have a fax. It is really nice to have, but not a necessity. I don't use them that often, but it is nice not to have to depend on Paul to get them and send them at work and then remember to bring them home.

Anyway - I have a scanner now and I am working at scanning in all of Caleb's baby pictures (he was pre-digital camera!!). I have some really cute ones that I am very excited about posting! I have baby pics of the other two on here, but not him. Also, in case anything ever happens to his prints, I want to have them on cd (although cds will probably not be around by the time he is old enough to get all of his baby stuff!!).

So look for more pictures to come!!

I LOVE THIS PIC

I took this picture of Isaac and it reminded me of the one below taken when he was not quite a year and a half old.












He hasn't changed much!

Pictures of Isaac

After he finished taking pictures, he told me to take his picture. He picked this shirt out while we were doing some school shopping and I love it. The blue really brings out his eyes too!

Isaac's Photography

Isaac has been asking to take pictures a lot. I did not really want to put these on here, but he got his feelings hurt when I told him I was not going to put them on - so here they are! He actually took one more, but in true male fashion, it was zoomed in on my chest, so I am not going to put that one on here.

He was so funny because he told me where to sit, how to sit and what to do, and then took forever to actually push the button, so you never knew when he was going to take it.

The cat looks dead, but she isn't - just lazy!!

My Hilarious Child

Caleb was saying something about his underwear the other other day. I could not understand what he was saying and thought he kept saying "my panties." I finally asked when he started wearing panties and he said he didn't. He was trying to say "my hanes" but kept pronouncing it han-ees (han sounds like hand but drop the d).

At least he can read by sounding things out, he just doesn't always use the right sound!!

New Shoes

Bryce's new shoes - we found another pair of firetruck shoes. They don't light up this time, but they have Curious George (which is pretty fitting for Bryce) on them.


















Caleb's new shoes - I love these because I don't have to hear the tic-tic of his shoelaces hitting the floor because he is too lazy to tie them!












Isaac's "fast" shoes. He cannot walk when he is wearing these, he has to run everywhere. Sometimes he can't wear them because he is just so exhausted from running (don't I wish)!!!

No Child of Mine

Our pastor read this on Mother's Day and I loved it!! It goes well with the previous post so I thought I would find it and post it.


No child of mine, I used to cry,
before the stork had fluttered by,
Will ever throw a temper fit,
or bite or scratch or whine or hit,
or wear a diaper till he's three,
Or sit for hours and watch TV,
or dawdle so he makes me late,
Or leave his spinach on the plate,
or Act in short, like other kids,
Who've made their parents flip their lids
But with the patter of little feet
You have 40 million words to eat!

Video Games and High and Mighties

I have developed this pet peeve lately. I keep a game boy and leapster in the car. When we go to doctors appointments or anywhere where we have to wait (sometimes even grocery shopping) the boys each get a game to take with them. I am amazed at the number of people that look at the kids playing their games and shake their heads and glare at me. Some even have the nerve to comment how sad it is that a kid cannot be away from a video game long enough to go (where ever) so they have to carry handhelds.

The last lady that said that to me I got kind of rude with. She made her comment and I turned to her and said "Look, I know that some kids play video games too much, I understand that. You don't know anything about us and how much these kids play video games. If they did not have the video games, you would probably be complaining that the kids were making noise and running around!"

Since I leave the games in the car, the kids only get to play them when we are out. That way when they get them, it keeps their attention during the duration of whatever we are doing - they don't get bored with it! They do not have the volume up loud (I let them hear, but it is very quiet) and they are not messing with anyone or anything.

This is especially nice at doctors offices. If the kids are not involved in something it makes it very difficult to talk to the doctor and the visits take twice as long. Also, at the grocery store, I don't hear fighting AND I don't hear "I want" every two seconds.

If the kids sat at home in front of the tv, computer or video games, I could understand peoples thinking. But, Caleb rarely plays his Nintendo (or computer) and Isaac is VERY limited on the computer (he would spend all day on it if I let him).

My peeve is not completely the video part - it is those people that think they are high and mighty and better parents than every one else. Usually these are people that are either not parents or older people that have not had kids around for a long time!

SORRY!!

I can't do pictures right now - blogger won't let me - I will try a little later.

Batteries

I got batteries so I will try to get some pictures on here today - depending on what kind of day the boys have. So far, they are calm and quiet and playing by themselves, but I probably just jinxed myself!!

There were a lot more pictures than I thought! I guess I have not done any in awhile! Be patient with me!!

Funny Sign

This was seen on a church marquee (I will have to find out where): Believe it or not - it is not hotter than hell!

Tax-Free Weekend

I just heard that the governor of Arkansas was considering a tax-free weekend. For those of you who have not heard of this, one weekend is set aside before school starts, where everything non-food is tax-free. This is a great idea, and Texas has been doing it for awhile. My question is... is it really worth the crowds and making sure you are in and out of a store between certain hours, just to save 7 percent?

I guess it is worth it - as long as there are no kids in tow!!!

I am for it - just can't promise I will take advantage!

WOW!

Finished my smoothie - without interruptions!! I even took my time, savoring every bit of it!! I hope I remember this moment for a long time to come, it will be a long time before it is repeated!!

Pictures!

I have pictures on my camera just itching to be put on this blog, but my batteries died. I don't have anymore - life sucks - when I remember to buy batteries (which could take some time - my brain does not work very well!!), I will post some pictures!

HMMM!?

I am sitting down with my strawberry/banana smoothie. What do you think the odds are - since Bryce already had his nightmare for the night - that I will be able to finish it without one of the kids screaming for me? We will see....

Oh Yeah!!

While at the doctors office today, we ran into Dr Weed, the doctor we see when we can't see the doctor we normally see (make sense??). Bryce saw him and yelled out "DR. WEEWEE!" I tried not to laugh and corrected him and Dr Weed says "That is okay - he is close and he is trying."
He called him Dr. Weewee everytime he saw him while we were there!

I would have let it slide, but I KNOW he can say Dr. Weed!!

Isaac's Physical

Isaac went to the doctor today for his physical. Unfortunately, he had to have a physical sheet filled out for school. I tried to just take it in and have them fill it out (he already got his four year old shots in May). Because his last physical was June 25, 2005, they could not fill it out without seeing him first. When I had the appt set for him in May, they would not see him because it had not been a year since his last physical (insurance will only pay for one well - child visit a year). So, we went back this afternoon and got his physical.

He weighs 39.5 pounds (50th percentile) and his 43 1/4 in tall (75th percentile). BMI and blood pressure were perfect, vision was 20/30, which the nurse said was really good for his age. She noticed the mole on his hand and asked about it. I told her we have been to the dermatologist and she wanted it removed, but that we had an appointment with the best pediatric dermatologist in Arkansas (at Children's) to get another opinion. I figured that the surgery would have to be there, so I would rather have the best look at him and decide what to do!

All and all, he looked great, tall and slim (even if he does not look it).

More Signs You See Your Pediatrician Too Much!!

Mom reminded me earlier of this story that Chrisanna told me last week. She took her daughter to the doctor that we always see. When the doctor walked in he said "I believe we have met already." She said they had and mentioned they were friends of the Barton boys. The dr asked how the boys were - BY NAME!!

9 pm

It is almost 9 and guess what happened. I sat down after getting the house cleaned up and got the computer put on blogger to try and catch up on some posts and what do you know - Bryce wakes up screaming. His nightly nightmare - always around 9! Usually he does not wake up, even though his eyes are open. That happened again tonight. I had to get him up and make him stand up and move to get him to wake up. I kept asking what was wrong and he would point to something different in the room every time. First it was the fan, then his brothers blanket, etc etc. Finally, I got that there were apparantly MONSTERS ALL OVER THE ROOM! They were everywhere - in his bed, under his bed, in the closet, in the fan, on the ceiling.

The monster may have been his older brother who gets a kick out of scaring his brothers at night!

New Name

Bryce never calls me Mommy or Mama anymore. Now he calls me Mumma. He sounds English or something! Honestly though, I kinda like it. It is a change from hearing Mommy and Mama all day every day!

UGHHHH!

The boys finally went to sleep not too long ago. I am sitting here enjoying the quiet, not even watching tv. It has been a long time since I have just sat in quiet and dark! I am also enjoying a nice strawberry/banana smoothie I just made myself. It is good....wait...what is that? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!

See, I try to enjoy a little time, I have to say that I am enjoying and Bryce just woke up with a nightmare! Doesn't that figure!?!

What a Legacy!

It is hard to find a local tv personality that leaves this kind of impact on people!! Our sports announcer for one of the news stations and "the voice of the Razorbacks", died last night in a head on car accident, along with the woman that was in the other car. The station that he worked for has not done news today. The normal news times are instead filled with memories of how this man has impacted different people, just by being him. The stations website is continuously getting comments from people that knew him and people who felt like they knew him.

The website lists the top stories and the number of hits each story has gotten. His story has gotten 3837124 hits, as of now. The next top story - 4508 hits. He has left many fans in Iowa (where he started out), Tennessee (where he was before Arkansas) and, of course, Arkansas.

What an impact he had on everyone by "just" doing sports. He was humble though, that I don't think he would even want all this attention! I am not a big sports person, but he really had a way of drawing you in. Everytime I heard his voice, I would stop and watch whatever he was announcing. I don't know if it was his voice or the passion that he felt and showed in his voice.

Razorback games will not quite be the same anymore. After 28+ years of announcing their games - no one will be able to fill his shoes!

As someone so perfectly put it in a comment left on the stations website: "The Razorbacks made the plays but Paul made the memories."

Funny

The boys always try to call each other by their full names, except rarely are they said correctly. Isaac and Bryce do not understand that everyone has a different middle name. So the other day in the car they were discussing (aka argueing) over whos name was what. Bryce finally yells out over everyone - "What's my password?" - meaning his middle name!

A sign that even toddlers lives may be a little to technological too!!