Oh what a tangled web we weave...

...when we have a bored four year old. I can remember back to when Ross and I shared a room when we were little. One of our favorite things to do together was to take a ball of yarn and string up our room. We would run it from every hook, knob and post there was. We had such a good time. Even clean up was fun with the scissors and now it is time to pass on the joy to a new generation.

I think if one could mix confusion with excitement one would come up with the facial expression that was given to me when I asked Abby if she wanted to make a spider web. When she said sure and then held out her hand to receive one, I could tell the idea didn't quite click. Try to imagine her face when I told her that the web was to be as big as the room; it didn't quite explode with excitement but it hit the notch below that.

So I started by tying a knot on the book shelf and stretching it across the room,

Over and under things...

The only trick was I am a few years older then the 8 I was the last time I tried this.

In the end I had a very happy house,

Except for the little one seen in the purple in the bottom left. She kept getting stuck. So it might be a few years til the younger can enjoy it as much as the bigger one did. We would throw things into the middle of it and have races to see who could get if first. We would play chase and tickle games, and in the end the scissors were brought out to have a cutting party. The Kingdom was happy and the peasants rejoiced. It was a good day.

Click here

One of kiddo's favorite games is hide and seek. The whole concept of trying not to be found is still completely lost on her but that doesn't stop her from having an absolute blast playing. Another one of Abby's favorite things to do is to go onto the Nick Jr website. She could spend hours playing games and watching videos.

So on this particular afternoon she wanted to play so she jump started a game of hide and seek abby style. She grabbed a blanket and covered her self up and said "Find me! Find me!". After a little bit of just watching and not finding, I hear from under the blanket "Hey, Click here to find Abby's head!" "Click here to find Abby's body!"

Time to go play outside for a while.

Fighting words

I don't even remember what I asked or told or what ever I did do deserve it but what ever I said to her prompted this reply from my ever surprising four year old:

"Dad, chill. Deep breaths."

I was for sure that this would happen but not exactly now. I was thinking more of the teen years. I think the default setting would be to sit this little lady down and have a talk about what we say and what we don't say to papa bear. I am bigger then her, after all, and that should strike some fear into her little heart but alas no such luck. I think it was the way she said it that made me and my wife laugh so hard we cried. Her little hip was stuck out a little hand when on it while the other was put up with palm facing me. I almost expected the next thing to come out of her mouth to be "I'm just taking the car into town."

I'm guessing preschool is to blame.

Renewal

I figure that this title is appropriate as it has been over a year since my last post. In my defense, I have actually written two and have wisely not posted either. One was hours after I had three wisdom teeth pulled. I was buzzing big time and writing. Enough said. Although I did have the wisdom to not hit post, I hit save instead. Either that or I thought the save button was post. Either way it is forever archived for when ever I need a laugh.

As I write this I have a 4 year old crawling on my head while a one year old is going for her second try at an afternoon nap.

I'll keep this brief.

Abby is at an age now that things are happening so fast and she is doing things everyday that put a joy in my heart that I can barely express. A great example was recently I was awakened from a power nap timed with the younger one's nap by a weight on my chest. As I open my eyes I see a rubber band stretched to it's limit and a little girl giggling and saying "WAIT FOR IT.....". Way more things have happened that have put a smile on my face but are too numerous to remember them all. Today I told her she has beautiful eyes and she batted them like a bad 1920's movie. I asked to see her eyes closer and she went nose to nose to me and using her fingers stretched her eyelids out so I could see it better.

Good stuff

Joanna is now somewhat mobile now and even somewhat mobile is a game changing event. Before, I was able to plop her on her rear and place toys in reach and she'd be good. Now nothing on the floor is safe and no matter how many things you pick up off the floor she will always find a little bit of something to try to eat. Watching her motor skills progress is a blast as she more and more is picking up things with her index and thumb. Abby and I have both learned to keep our fingers out of her mouth as she had four teeth on top and three on the bottom now.

Daddy, Joanna bit me again.

Did you put your fingers in her mouth?

NO... she put them in there.

I have an idea kiddo, don't let her do that.

oh... ok. That's a great idea Dad.

And now at the end of this post, someone is calling me a snicklefritz and is about to get chased and tickled til she can't breathe.

All things considered

Thinking today about perspectives and beginnings...
and extremely short posts.
Busy day today.
I'll post more tonight.
probably...

Dazed and Confused

SO I was walking by a press today with labels coming off of it saying something about poison. As I glanced at it I read "Rat and Moose" and I'm thinking, "hey, I like moose, that's not cool."
So I went the rest of the day thinking about the poor moose that is going to be poisoned by this stuff.
I about said something to my supervisor about the poor moose that are going to die a horrible death when I read it again.

"Rat and MOUSE"

Ohhhhhhhhhh... that's different.
(sigh)
still...now I have this mental picture of a dying moose.

junkie

Last time I had family visit we bought some pop to quell the masses (Joel and Livi). Every time they put a half empty can down it would disappear. They usually didn't notice the disappearance as they would forget they had a can open in the first place. Hence a another would be opened, sat down, forgot about, and disappear. All when unnoticed until bed time and I tried to put to bed a two year old that some how couldn't seem to blink.

Lesson number one. No pop cans or bottles unfinished leave the hand.

Working... Kinda

Jake started working here about two months ago and 've been asked how he's doing.
I'd say we are meshing quite well.

Field Trip

Well It's been a bit since Ryder has been here, so photo booth has set idle for a while. That is until Pittsburg Girl scout troop 540 came for a field trip.



After a tour of the company they came my department and we talked about Client files and photo editing. Mostly how two clients in particular can't ever seem to send accurate photos depicting their colors, i.e. files taken where blue jerseys or shirts or machinery will always print in deep purple.

That was a tad over the head.

So I just colored their hair in photoshop while they watched and then it made perfect sense. The ultimate test in concentration having all these giddy giggling girls bouncing off the walls yelling "DO MINE PINK! DO MINE GREEN!"



And yes the little kiddo in the bottom left was a guy tagging along with his older sister and his mom. I asked him how he's making it being the only guy with all these girls around. He just sighed and said "I don't know".
I told him to hang in there.

Real productive day

Spring break is this week.
And as he had no school today, Ryder came to visit. I LOVE IT when Ryder comes to visit! His mom is a part of the sales department so he'll stop in once and a while.

Good times.























I hope he comes back tomorrow.

Kickin' Advice

Never kick a turtle, it'll hurt your foot and annoy the turtle.

Never kick a lion, You'll just give him high cholesterol when he eats you. (If you are american)

Never kick a snake, you'll probably miss and then fall on your face right beside him then you'll both be in the dirt.

Never kick a cape buffalo, we'd never find all of your pieces to put in the coffin.

Never kick a fly, you'd look like an idiot tryin'

Never kick a hamster, that's just mean

Never kick a dog, they have bigger teeth then you.

Never kick a cat... nevermind, you can kick the cat.

Lesson learned

Driving into town last night we came upon a old pickup blocking half the road at the bottom of a hill. He was at an angle so it looked like he lost control. Thinking if he wasn't hurt already, he was going to be real quick if someone came over the hill. The road was completely iced over.

I stopped and asked what the problem was. It was a younger kid and he said he ran out of gas. He didn't really have a game plan and was kinda just sitting there. Some one came and picked up his passenger and he was waiting by the truck for them to get back. I told his I was going home to get a tow rope and get him off the road. He thought that was a good idea.

On the way back to the house, by beloved wondered if we still had some gas in the 5 gallon can we had in the garage. (She's so smart).

Upon arriving back, he was surprised and thankful at the sight of the gas can. After putting about three gallons in, he went to start it up and found he also now had a dead battery. This guy is batting a thousand. I pull around and give him a jump. What comes next still gets me.

I tell him that he better get going to town because three gallons isn't going to last that long. He tells me he is going to wait on his friends. I told him he couldn't shut his truck off to save the gas because of the battery and he wasn't going to last long on three gallons. If his friends came back and saw his truck gone then they knew he'd been taken care of. He said he knew and said he was still going to wait on his friends coming back. He said they wouldn't be too far.

I couldn't do anymore for this guy so we left. After taking care of what we needed to in town we were driving back on the same road. I told Janelle that I was kinda frustrated and if he was dead again in the road I don't know if I would stop. We agreed our patience only goes so far with stupidity and there it nails me, I highly doubt that's what God's mind set is.

I am totally that guy at the side of the road thinking I have it under control, at the bottom of an iced over hill. The Holy Spirit comes along and tells me is a still sweet small voice to get my keister off the road, and I reply back, it's alright. I got it. No problems here. He even gets me started in the right direction and I reply, thanks but I'll just wait here.

Lesson learned,
Thank You Father.

Never say NO!

Our precious little girl is now two.
Some of you just went "awwwwwwwww"
While to others, this news sent a sudden chill down your spine.

Two, it's just a number right?
and not a very big one at that.
It's just two.
Right?

NO! If I make it to three it will only be by the grace of God.

Now please don't get me wrong, I love that little girl more then I have loved anything else in the world (wife excluded). She is precious, she is darling, she is amazing, and she is driving me insane.

I heard a song on the internet radio I listen to at work and I just had to share.
So for those who have or had kids, this one is for you.

For those who have not, just hold your breath and jump in, the water is fine.


NEVER SAY NO

Dogs got to bark, and mules got to bray.
Soldiers must fight and preachers must pray.
And children, I guess, must get their own way
The minute that you say no.

Why did the kids pour jam on the cat?
Raspberry jam all over the cat?
Why should the kids do something like that,
When all that we said was no?

My son was once afraid to swim.
The water made him wince.
Until I said he mustn't swim:
S'been swimmin' ever since!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Why did the kids put beans in their ears?
No one can hear with beans in their ears.
After a while the reason appears.
They did it cause we said no.

Your daughter brings a young man in,
Says "Do you like him, Pa?"
Just say that he's a fool and then:
You've got a son-in-law!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Sure as the June comes right after May!
Sure as the night comes right after day!
You can be sure the devil's to pay
The minute that you say no.

Make sure you never say...
No!

scribble

Scribble is one of those words that if you say it enough or look at it for too long it looks kinda funny. Almost like a made up word. I like words like that. It makes me ant to say them more often.

Speaking of speaking, Abby's vocabulary is still exploding and I'm excited to get home in the evening just to hear what she talked about today. She has had some overtime at Kansas G-pa and G-ma's house these last three weeks due to stuff going on. So her first couple days when we were all back home were probably not like what she had been used to. Sunday while we were walking into church from the parking lot, she saw Kansas G-pa pulling in. She stops dead and screams PAPA! and makes a bee line for him. Just about as if she was screaming SAVE ME, SAVE ME!

I think the last time I had a post was in July. There is a ton of stuff that has happened since then and I am doing a horrible job of keeping y'all updated.

So in a nut shell, here is the fervent excitement of a Bourbon County resident and his beloved and their daughter.

So here it is in all it's glory...

yep.. here it is,

right here,


I got nuthin.
So here is the all nothings in total wonderful randomness.


well, the hay field was mowed behind our house.

and I want to get into muzzleloading hunting,

and I almost tried to quit drinking Dr. Pepper.

Neighbor had a shed fire... I didn't do it.

Abigail tried to help me change the oil in the jeep,

I went sailing for the first time in a big sailboat, they gave me the rudder and I almost rolled it. It was awesome.

Our four year anniversary is coming up. Hurray!

I got a new cell phone with fun ring tones.

My fish died.

I was going to make a hunting Video this year but I forgot I don't have a camcorder.

Puppies are still puppies, just alot bigger!

The front tires on the car are getting bald.

There are no metal detectors to be bought in the town of Pittsburg, KS. I checked Walmat. Home Depot, a local hardware store, a local sporting goods store, and Radio Shack. NOTHING!

The nights are getting colder, perfect weather for campfires!

I lost an arrow in the backyard and it's driving me crazy! I HAD to get some that were camouflaged, I just HAD to. The dumb yard is even mowed.

There was probably more but I am way past my attention span, and now that you are all caught up, I must be going now.

Pyro technique

Brothers, Sisters, friends, neighbors, passerbys, and assorted sea-monkeys, yet another fourth of July has come and gone. I have, yet again, have been unsuccessful at igniting the entire state of Kansas on fire. I did have more resources this year as I have found a couple of new things called 500 gram cakes and something called cannon fuse that you use to light off multiple things at once.

A good time was had by all, except for the dogs who didn't appreciate it as much as they could of.

So anywho Kansas is still here - mostly because it got kinda dewy in the evening.
There's always next year.

So besides that, lets see...

Abby is going to be two in a couple days.
That's pretty neat.

The vocab consists so far of:
NO
no
nnnnnnnnnnnno
noooooooooooo
NOOOOOOOOOOOO
nononononononononono
stop
mine
mom
dad
oh no
uh-oh
huh?
oh man
oh dear (that's one of my favorites)
ouchy
outside
shoes
bye
papa (grandpa)
night-night
please
thank you

and assorted others.

we are currently working on:
encyclopedia
hyperactive-attention-deficit
wouldyoujustsitstillandeatyoursupper???

That last one has been a tough one.


Let's see... what else?

I did see a turtle crossing the road yesterday while driving home from work but I was still in crawford county, south of here a bit. I guess it's not such a big deal there because there was no one was watching it.

Although last summer I stopped at a gas station in the country there and there was a group of people gathered around a good sized snapping turtle. Some guy caught it, stuck it in the bed of his pickup, and promptly called his wife to tell her not to worry about supper.