we will continue to tell you "You are Happy!" until you know it

What an evening. My throat is sore, my hands hurt and my feet ache.

It all started with a trip to the grocery store. We were confident it would be a successful journey. Luke had eaten, gone for a walk and was in a fresh diaper. Sarah and I, with Luke riding along, made it through (every isle of) the store, pushing the cart to capacity, without any major issues. In fact, Luke was the perfect little boy and as a result, received several compliments from other store shoppers.

We were so pleased with his behavior that after unloading the cart we decided to run another errand. This one was easy. It simply required a short 15 minute trip to my in-law's house. Luke didn't even need to get out of the car.

We arrived. Jumped out of the car and opened the door for Luke so he could still hear us or maybe us hear him. Before we even had the house door open Luke began SCREAMING! We couldn't stop him. We both tried.... he had lost it. Quickly we jumped back in the car and headed home. More SCREAMING. I'm serious. This wasn't crying, he was mad and wanted to be sure we knew it. I attempted to calm him by holding his "pacy" in his mouth. He ripped it way and threw it to the floor.

Suddenly! Like the sun breaking through the recently ever present Dallas clouds, Sarah began to sing. If.... YOU'RE...... Happy and you know it CLAP YOUR HANDS! me: CLAP, CLAP...... you know how it goes. STOMP, STOMP..... ALL THREE!

Luke stopped screaming. He wasn't Happy, but he did quit yelling at us. We sang the song clear through I'm guessing 3 times. Then Sarah switched to a different song, BINGO or something like that.... The screaming quickly returned. Back to Happy and You Know it. I bet we sang it 10 times before finally making it home.

Forced happiness. Good times.

Red River Rivalry

How does this OU Football fan find himself in a Texas "t"?


No I'm not riding the bandwagon. Instead, I'm sleeping with the enemy.


My apologies to both schools and their fans. I doubt either are pleased.

Legendary

About a week ago or so this "bird" (said in Mary Lou's best voice - emphasize the B! - hold the r) came strolling through our front yard.

What kind of "bird" is it, you ask? My thoughts exactly. My first guess was.... the friendly blue bird of happiness. Not quite. After doing some research on Google and Wikipedia I determined it was a little blue heron, often found near swamps and creeks. Although we have no creeks or ponds to speak of in the area, neighbors informed Sarah and me that it's nest was just a block over on Hall. For no identifiable reason I took this "bird" sighting as a good sign.

Fast Forward to this past Friday. I had the pleasure of hosting 3 of my oldest friends, Eric, Darin and Danny, at the house for my birthday weekend. We ate much good food. Nearly (I use the term loosely) set the all time high score on a punching bag machine at the local dive. Mastered Wii Sports. Witnessed, from the 7th row, a rare Texas Rangers victory. Competed in 18 holes of demanding miniature golf. And played several serious games of pool basketball. In the end, Eric deemed himself champion of the most events and crowned himself King. Here's a photo for the Tarkio trophy case.

I think it is no coincidence that this birthday, my 33rd, is the jersey number of my favorite basketball player and coach, Larry "Bird". I expect this to be one legendary year.

a little too big.... for his britches

Folks meet Elmo. Join his "circle of trust" and you can call him Mo.


Although his legs are small, Mo lives quite large. Each night he is tucked in on goose down bedding. Check his water dish? No that isn't tap water.... it's Ozarka. Yea it's a bit ridiculous.

However, this past week Mo took it to all new levels. You see at the last Vet visit Mo was told he needed to drop a few pounds. The best way to accomplish the task was to substitute one scoop of food with green beans.

Initially, this change was eagerly accepted. We used up the two cans of French Cut Green Beans in the pantry and Mo loved them. Without giving it much thought we picked up 8 cans of Wal-Mart green beans during out next trip to the neighborhood grocery store.

Surprise... Surprise... Mo won't eat cheap green beans. He kicks his bowl. He spreads them all over the kitchen. Worst of all... he strolls around this place thinking he's Paulie Walnuts.

Bursting at the Seams

T-Town, better know as Tarkio, Mo was bursting at the seems this past Memorial Day weekend. We had the whole family together for the first time since Luke joined the team. That along with everyone else back for the annual Alumni Dinner/Dance had the town in a vivacious state.

For more pics check my Flickr site.

not your typical guys night

This weekend Sarah went on a little business trip leaving the house to me and the boys. Knowing the kind of trouble an 11 year old dog and a 7 month baby can find on a Saturday, she was hesitant to leave the three of us alone.

Luckily for her our evening more closely resembled a date night than a guys night.


Bowl of Dog Food + Jar of applesauce + 6 oz of formula + Baby Einstein = Dinner, Drinks and a movie. I've got some work to do with these guys.

Lazy Sunday

Does it get any better than kicking back in a La-Z-Boy and watching the March Madness with your best friend for an entire Sunday afternoon?




It Does! Add barefoot, chairside roomservice and going to the bathroon in your chair. The perfect Lazy Sunday.

You gotta be full of it....

I realize it is only day 2 of the NCAA Tourney but the banter is alreadyin full swing.

This year Melanie is, again, hoping to improve on her 1 and 9 head to head record against me in tournament pools. Unfortunately for her I've jumped out to an early lead, prompting her use a favorite family saying, "A dog that poops fast, doesn't poop long."

While the saying my be accurate, something tells me it isn't applicable to my tourney bracket.

Happy St. Patty's Day.

BIG WINNER IN VEGAS!!!

It's a widely accepted theory that just about any thing can happen on a weekend trip to Vegas. My last trip to fabulous Las Vegas was no exception.

What was intended to be "just" a 30th birthday party for my brother in law, David, turned out to be much, much more.

That's right Sarah and I got married at the Little White Wedding Chapel, Saturday night, Feburary 24th.

Thanks to David's brother Jon for the photographs.

75% Winston

This past week, Luke surpassed the 3 month timeline and in doing so received two new labels.

The 1st we learned during our most recent doctor's visit. Luke's height and weight puts him in the 75th percentile. The below photo does a good job of displaying why.

The 2nd was given to him by his grandparents. They enjoy calling him "Winston." See any resemblance?

Here is a quote from Churchill.... "There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies."

Based on Luke's size, he's in full agreement.

Mobility

These days it seems the "latest and greatest" is all about being mobile. There's mobile phones, mobile internet and mobile employees that lead to mobile workforces then offices.

But the latest and greatest "mobile" item at our house has Luke a little upset. You see, over the last couple of weeks, Beckett has fully mastered the art of walking. Yes he's mobile. He loves to go places without having anywhere to go.

What's the problem? We have found Luke's pacifiers in the toilet and his music box in the diaper genie.

Beckett appears to be quite a prankster.

The South is Soft

Today a little snow mixed in with a little sleet fell on North Texas. The result? Most of the Dallas - Fort Worth population stayed home from work and school.

Luckily, I was entertained by Luke and watched 8 hours of "Winter Blast" coverage on NBC5i. While I was a bit embarrassed some frozen precipitation kept me home, I was glad to not be stuck out in the mess.

Savanna also got out in it, making her best Texas Snowman.

Let's hope for warmer weather tomorrow.

How Many?

Bath time for a 11 week old should be no problem huh? When everyone is together it becomes a bit more challenging.

So I pose the question.... How many people does it take to bath a baby?

The answer: 4

happy NEW year

Hello... HELLO!!! Anyone out there? I'm hoping so... I've decided to give this blog thing another run in 07. Here it goes.

Right in step with the New Year I have two other items that are fairly new.

The word is out on this first one but he has yet to be formally introduced via the blog. Folks meet Luke.
He has two big fans.

The second, is a new career opportunity with Sprint. I'm just getting started, but really excited to learn about the cellular side of the telecom industry.

Something worth sharing

I'm not out of retirement but just stopping by the "office" to share some news.

I picked up a paper when I was down in Mansfield today and Savanna's picture was looking back at me. Front and center.

They wrote a nice article about the difficulties of children going off to school for the first time. Savanna's picture isn't attached to the article, but trust me, she is adorable.

I don't know how long the article will be available so I hope you catch it before it is gone.

Blogger Retirement

Folks, I'm hanging it up or it this case closing the laptop.

I might be slightly more busy but not so much that it can be used as an excuse. It seems I just don't have the interest any longer. So rather than leaving you wondering when the next post will be (not that anyone is)... this will be my last, at least for a while.

I was a good year run. I enjoyed it. I hope you did as well. If I change my plans and come out of retirement I'll shoot you (I do know who you are) an email so you know.

Thanks for reading.

Brett

Low Standards

These two blogs got my attention. Who would have thought a shower head would be a good example of an American epidemic. Here is how shower heads are tied to the lowering of our standards.

Best of all is when you are part of something that refuses to lower their standards. That is when you get that special nod. If you read the last you will really enjoy this one.

Here's to refusing to lower your standards.

BTW... Happy Birthday 7 - 11

The NBA Draft

...not that anyone cares but Bill Simmons wrote a great Welcome back, diary from draft day.

Here's a teaser...

8:20 -- Here's why you have to love the NBA draft: It's the only show where you could ever see a graphic like, "Q: WOULD MOST LIKE TO MEET? A: HIS PARENTS."

32 on 23

This past Friday I turned 32 years young. The weekend events added up to one of the better birthdays I've experienced in the last several years.

I got an early start to the festivities, on Thursday evening, with a round of golf out at GSW. This, naturally, was followed up by a second round of golf on Friday afternoon before making my first visit to Pappas Bros. Steakhouse.

While the restaurant is widely regarded as one of the best steakhouses in town I had somehow managed to miss out on dining there until Friday. The experience lived up to it's expectations. I learned some new things about wine, enjoyed a great lobster bisque, a wonderful steak, fantastic service and had the best company imaginable.

Following dinner I was treated to surprise plans for the remainder of my weekend, a Kansas City trip. I left out of Dallas Love Field just before lunch on Saturday and met my KC hosts, Darin Lee and Eric Levings, in no time at all. Our time together was full of surprises.

We had tickets to a Royals game, but there was a surprise rain delay. Once we finally entered the gates we were surprised to learn it was Frank White bobble head night. By the middle of the 7th, the Royals were ahead and "surprise" went on to win. After the game we ventured down to "the boats" for some blackjack. Surprisingly, well maybe not, my cousin Travis was there and as usual winning big. All in all, I think (i know i did) the Tarkio Triad had a great time getting back together again for a short weekend.

Lastly but certainly not leastly... I was treated to my favorite oreo dessert upon my return home. 32 is off to a great start.

BP meets DP

Turns out ESPN has caught wind of my post that wasn't. Dan Patrick (DP) met up with me (BP) this evening to discuss our opinions on the NBA Finals.

We both agree the Mavs win game 6, but Dan says "the Heat in 7" I guess we'll see who has more sports knowledge.