and in this corner....

Checking in at 2 years and 2 days old... a bare knuckle southpaw from deep in the depths of Dallas... Luke's Tale of the Tape:

Weight - 28.8 lbs - 60% percentile
Height - 3 feet 1/2 inch - 93% percentile
Head - 20 1/4 inch - off the chart

While he may be one of the bigger boys in his age group, the doctor's written comments show signs he may not be ready for the ring.

Wonderful!! Very verbal.

Then of course there is the glass jaw....

me "Luke, who's boy are you?"
Luke "Mamma's Boy!"

I guess the ring will have to wait.

Growth is Good for Competition

Growing up, my month to party was June.

Sure, sure... the weather, no school, golf and summer league baseball are all great reasons to party in June. However, June was our party month for a different reason, 5 Smiths celebrate birthdays in June.

Mom on the 7th, Uncle Darrell 14th, Grandpa Ira Paul 15th, My cousin Tim 21st and yours truly on the 23rd. The nice spacing makes for presents and cake every single week of the month.

Recent acquisitions (marriage) and expansions (children) have created a new month to party in the Smith family. October now packs 4 birthdays into this the final week of the month. A month that once allowed us to focus all attention on Melanie (25th) now must be shared with 3 new Smiths. Luke and Amanda, Tim's wife, on the 24th then Sarah on the 30th.

The first of the 4 birthday parties kick off tomorrow with a photo scavenger hunt in LA for Mel followed by a sugerfest for Luke at the Dallas Museum of Science and Nature. Happy Birthday All!!

drinks "To Go" is about to get better.

Since the job change I've been eating more lunches at my desk. In fact, I'm having one right now.

About three times a week I run around the corner to a ton of choices for lunch. Today while filling up my "to go" drink I releazed I'm getting shorted on my beverage amount. Who doesn't enjoy 1 or 2 no charge refills while eating? Of course, everyone does!

We "to goers" shouldn't be parched just becasue we aren't on site. Next time I eat "to go" I'm going to request the BIG size drink at regular size price. It seems like a fair request to me.

I'll let you know how it goes.

My Poo Crew

Starting at the bottom and working your way to the top is far from a novel idea but this evening I certainly put Savanna, Beckett and Luke in a great starting position.  How far they go up is yet to be determined, but I promise you this...  they will have a hard time going any lower.

Sarah is out of town thus I needed a good "energy burning" activity to keep the kids occupied for about an hour.  Inside options were limited and the back yard needed a little fall cleaning.  So I posed the question, "who wants to help me pick up Mo's poo?"

The boys were immediately on board but Savanna was disgusted at the thought.  I ignored her complaints and put the boys to work with gloves and the "tool" of their choice.

As boredom overtook Savanna she reluctantly joined the crew.  Surprisingly, they did a really  great job and with almost no supervision.

Ask them to pick up poo and they get right to it.  Request them to stand in a row and hold still?  You get 6 results similar to the above photo. Go figure.