Salem House

So, Stacey and I put an offer on a house on December 20th and the broker counter offered on the 23rd. The broker said that an offer was coming the next day, so their counter offer was for the original price of the house. Stacey and I felt like we were getting such a great deal on the house that after much deliberation we decided to accept the offer at about 9 pm that night. They accepted our offer and the next day someone did submit an offer for the original price of the house that would have forced us into a bidding war. But the house was ours pending inspection. Today, was the inspection. Upon walking into the house, we found water seeping through the ceiling due to a busted pipe in the bathroom upstairs. Apparently, the people managing the house winterized the pipes, left water in the pipes and left the heat off. Not a good mixture - thus, resulting in a busted pipe and flooded kitchen. The video shows a little of the water, but it was all over the floor, the countertops, on the carpet in the master bedroom, seeping into the walls, and most likely underneath the linoleum in the bathroom. Anyway, I have attached a video of the mess as well as a picture of the outside of the house. This is what we are facing at the moment and unsure as to what will happen next...

Christmas eve travel

This is a first for me in several ways. First, I am traveling on Christmas eve by plane and alone. I don't think that I have ever done that before. Second, I am blogging from my iPhone while sitting in the Spokane airport (maybe if Cari and Scott had planned better they could have met me here instead of spending Christmas in Idaho - geesh!). Due to work and price of flights, I am traveling on Christmas eve. But I am so excited to see my family - I wonder if Sami will even recognize me? As you can imagine things have been a little busy in our family. Our family has been spread across 4 different states this past week. Stacey was in Denver overseeing the final moving of our house - Hunter and Ryan were in Idaho with Tim & Misty - Sami was in Utah with Grandma McClanahan. Crazy to think about. We are just hoping that no bad weather gets in the way. Well, I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas holiday! I love you all! Merry Christmas.

Salem

Things are starting to feel more settled in right now in salem, so I am going to try and start posting a little more. I miss my family tremendously. That has been hard. I learned that I don't have much of a life without them. I am working 11 to 12 hour days...mainly, because I don't want to go home to THE SHED. When I get home, I find I have no energy to do anything. In Denver, I would come home and my boys or my little girl would want to play with me so I could find the energy to do things. Here my brain is so fried from training all day long that I come home, play on the guitar for a while, then lay on my inflatable bed and watch LOST (you see, all the seasons are on abc.com and I have not watched the show since season 1). I am currently on the start of Season 3. I had all these aspirations about doing all these things with my free time, but I think it just depresses me to come back to THE SHED. Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing the family in 4 days - I can't wait!!

So, I thought that I would attach a couple of pictures of some of the highlights at the firm...

Yes - that is a soda fountain and juice bar with full access each and every day!!

Ryan-ism

I just had to write down this little Ryan-ism. Last night Ryan and I were lying on my bed after a tickle fight. I expressed to him how much I loved him and I wanted him to know that he was more important to me then anything in the world. He asked me if I loved him more then all the money in the world. I said "Yes." He asked me if I loved him more then all the cars in the world, to which I replied "Yes." Then, he asked me if I would love him when he got married. I said "Of course I will still love you. I will love you forever!" Then, he said "Will you still love me if I marry a Spanish woman?" That question took me back a little bit and I said "Yes, I would love any woman that you loved and wanted to marry." His reply "But I don't know how to speak Spanish!"

I guess that would make things difficult...

Music

So, Stacey is always accusing me of listening to music that is 'gay.' By this, I can only think that she means happy, or "full of or showing high-spirited merriment." Anyway, I have put a video on this post so you can check for yourself if I listen to 'gay' music - this happens to be one of my favorite songs at the moment. Just to be clear, just because someone does listen to 'gay' music doesn't mean that the person likes to bake and dance...okay, I like to bake...and I like to dance...but I am way into manly sports and machinary and chainsaws!!

Observation

I read recently about a 70-year old man from Florida who hit a 250 yard drive into the lake. Upon retrieving the ball, a crocodile reached out chomped on his arm pulling the man into the lake and ripping off his arm. My first response was "How could a 70 year old man hit a 250 yard drive? I wonder what type of driver he was using?" My second response was "I bet that man increased his handicap."

Oregon?? What happened to Denver?

Many of you are probably asking yourself What is going on with John and Stacey? OR Why are they moving to Oregon? OR MAYBE What are the details? and some of you might be saying Who are John and Stacey? Maybe we should start with the last question first - a couple of crazy people that are leaving Rockies-land and great weather, sunshine to go to Oregon where it rains in the winter. I was offered a job to manage a law firm in Salem Oregon. The firm is called Saalfield Griggs and has 25 attorneys and 50 total staff members - a far cry from the 5 attorneys and 15 total staff members I currently manage. I applied for the job and after several phone interviews, an assessment test, and them calling my references, they flew me out to Salem to check out the firm and the area. I had Stacey come with me because I knew that I could not make a decision without her input. We went out on Sunday and spent the day checking out the area. That evening Stacey and I had dinner with 3 of the partners of the firm. We had a nice relaxing dinner with them. The next morning, I went to the firm and spent the morning visiting with 7 different attorneys - each of them interviewing me. After that, I went to lunch with 4 partners of the firm and spent most of the lunch with one attorney interviewing me. After lunch, I interviewed with 4 partners (3 which we had dinner with the night before) for about 2 hours. Then, spent some one-on-one time with the Managing Partner of the firm. Stacey spent the day going around with a couple of the attorneys' wives checking out the area. After the interview, the Managing Partner told me that there was one other candidate that they had to interview the following day and that they would get back to me in a few days. Well, apparently they liked me or something, because they called me back on Tuesday at 5 pm and offered me the job. I asked them for a few days to think about it as we were unsure as what we wanted to do. I knew the firm was the perfect fit for me and loved the whole set-up of the firm, but moving to Oregon was a big proposition. I called the Managing Partner on Thursday night with a counter offer. They accepted the counter offer and I accepted the job. The job is a huge raise on top of them paying for my insurance, which is another huge savings. The biggest part is that I will be managing a large firm and gain huge experience, as well as possibly have the opportunity to spend the rest of my career with this firm. One of the things I negotiated was the starting date - they wanted me to start mid-November, but with so many things going on and me wanting to give my current firm some time to find a replacement, they said that I could start any time but I will most likely be starting by Dec. 7th. Crazy to think that we are leaving Denver, but this is a great opportunity and once again we are packing up and heading to another state. We have spent the past couple of weeks packing up the house and getting it ready to sell and we are finally getting some breathing room. Everything is starting to settle in yet so many things are still up in the air. Stacey and I are heading out to Oregon again next weekend for an attorney retreat and to also look at the area. Hope we get to see some of you in Oregon soon. But don't worry....We will still be Rockies fans....

Blogging

It becomes very difficult to blog during the summer. When I get home at night, I want to play with the kids, go outside, or watch baseball....or go outside with the kids and play baseball. But I figured I had better post something, since it has been a while. Last weekend, we went to Breckenridge and had an absolute blast. We spent most of Saturday riding the Alpine Slide and riding a ski lift to the top of a mountain to hike around. The kids had so much fun...though Hunter and Ryan were a little nervous about riding the ski lift. We went to our favorite little cookie shop in Breckenridge, as well as our favorite Mexican dive for dinner and Pizza joint for lunch. We stayed in a hotel Friday night and took all the kids swimming. By the time we got home on Saturday night we were completely tired. But one funny little incident happened on Friday night. When we got to the hotel there were a couple of bottles of water sitting on the counter. I told Stacey that the water probably cost $3 a piece, but she thought they were free. She asked me to call the front office to see. Jokingly, I asked Hunter to call the front office to see. He heads over to the phone, picks it up, and calls the front desk. When the front desk answered, Hunter asked if the water was free -- however, he tried his hardest to make his voice sound extremely deep and adult. Stacey and I were laughing so hard, but he actually thought he pulled it off - though in reality his voice was still really high pitched and there was no doubt that he sounded like a kid trying to disguise his voice. Silly kid!

Becoming a Man

In my opinion there are two things in life that lets you know that you are a man. 1) The ability to grow hair where ever you want to (and as you grow older where ever you don't want it), and 2) Owning a chainsaw. About the ripe old age of 14 I began the journey to manhood (and, subsequently, about 6 years later starter losing hair) and finished the journey yesterday after purchasing my first chainsaw. Obviously, as a kid growing up, my parents (and Santa) weren't going to let me get a chainsaw as every Christmas my requests were denied, to a tune similar to that of a Christmas Story - You'll cut something off! Now, that I am grown-up and on my own, I can do just about anything I want - I will typically eat ice cream for breakfast, or run through the house with scissors, or stay up late (okay, maybe later). There is nothing that Mom can do about it now - so HA HA! There is nothing greater than owning a chainsaw (though next best comparison is owning an industrial strength shop vac) and nothing makes a man feel more like a man then holding a chainsaw in his hands and feeling the sure strength and power of what a chainsaw can do. The metal teeth spinning wildly and grinding up 6-inch logs and chopping down trees in a matter of moments. I hope you other 'boys' out there will someday become men and own your own chainsaw. Now, can someone please help me turn this thing on, so I can drown out Stacey's continual "You're gonna cut something off!"

There is no 'I' in Coach

Last week, Hunter's coach went out of town, so that left me holding the reigns to coach his team. We had a game Thursday night and we got killed 16-6. Our team got three hits and we just could not play defense - the kids did not know where to throw the ball or what base to cover. So, on Friday night I held a practice in which we broke the team into two groups - one group went in the outfield and one of dads throw pitches at them all night - the other group came to the infield and I hit balls at them all night and worked with them on who covers what bases, etc. After practice, I knew that I would need a pitcher for the game on Saturday, and two of our pitchers were out of town, and the other pitcher pitched on Thursday. So, I had all the kids go to the pitcher's mound to see who could pitch. One kid, Cameron, didn't throw very hard but he was accurate, so I decided to have him pitch on Saturday. After practice, I had several parents come up to me and tell me that was the best practice we had all year. Saturday's game came and sure enough, I had Cameron pitch. We had a rough first inning were the kids were making great plays on defense, but then they would throw the ball around like a circus and the other team would score. The other team ended up scoring 5 runs that inning. I pulled the kids aside and told them to quit doing that, but to just make one play. We went out the next inning and held the team scoreless. The following inning the other team scored one run. Cameron pitched threw innings and threw more strikes then any of our other pitchers did for the whole season! He was great! Our team also belted out 16 hits, which is by far the most we have had in any other game - our previous high was 7 hits. We scored 8 runs in one inning which is the max that you can score before the inning is considered over. Then, I brought our 'best' pitcher in to close the game and he gave up 4 runs before we got three outs. But we won the game 14 - 10!! Our first win of the season (record 1 - 7) ! I was not sure who was more excited to win - the parents or the kids. In the last inning, the parents were on their feet screaming and yelling with each out - holding thier breath with each hit ball. Man, it was a great feeling to win and quite a few parents congratulated me after the game. But the kids really came together and put on a good game. We beat a team that had 5 wins for the season, so they were a good team. It feels even better to wind since the head coach thinks he is such a fantastic coach and the reason we aren't winning is because of the kids on the team. I DON'T THINK SO...

Hunter went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs and played catcher the whole game. He loves being catcher!!

Who Dresses You?

This morning I got to work and went about my day. Soon, two attorneys come stumbling into my office laughing. One attorney, Reed Allen, says "Do you notice anything different about me?" I look at him and said "Other than the fact your shirt is extremely wrinkled?" He looked at me funny and said "Umm...no." So, I looked down at his shoes and he was wearing two different shoes to work. Apparently, he just grabbed two shoes from his closet and put them on without really looking. What an idiot! The other attorney, Emily White, and I proceeded to make fun of him for the next couple of minutes, saying things like "Do we need to call your wife to make sure she dresses you in the morning?" and "How the heck does that happen?" By the end of the conversation we were laughing so hard. Honestly, what kind of guy does not notice he is wearing two different shoes? Obviously, the color and style would give it away, but what about the feel of the shoes? Well, it wasn't two hours later that looked down at my own shoes and notice that I was wearing one black shoe and one maroon shoe! True story. I had to go face my shame and show Reed. I was laughing so hard and crying by the time I got into his office, that he wasn't sure what was going on. But once he found out we had to go show Emily - pretty soon the whole firm was laughing and calling us "clowns" and saying "What kind of guy does not notice he is wearing two different shoes?" I also believe that someone called Stacey telling her to start dressing me in the morning.

Baseball Infusion

So, Dad just spent the last week with us. He flew out last Monday, July 6th and that night Hunter, Ryan, Dad, and I went to a Rockies game. The Rockies won the game 1 - 0 behind Jason Marquis's pitching. It was an exciting game! Plus, the game didn't last very long so the boys weren't hard to deal with. On Thursday night, Dad and I went to another Rockies game and watched the Rockies play the Braves. The Rockies ended up winning the game 7 -6 after coming from behind to win. Dad and I decided to splurge and we bought some sweet tickets 3 rows behind the Rockies dugout. What a view of the game we had!! We are definitely going to have to try those seats again sometime! Saturday night, Dad and I hit another Rockies game, but this time the Rockies went down in defeat 4 -3. It was a very close game. It was so much fun to attend the baseball games with Dad and to just visit. Cari will be happy to know that he only said "The pitcher just balked" one time in the three games. Man, does he love baseball...

The family also had a wonderful time visiting with Dad throughout the whole week. Of course, we had to hit Ci Ci's and Lamar's Doughnuts, but we did not mind that at all. On Wednesday night I had to go to scouts and so Dad took Hunter and Ryan to the park to practice baseball. They loved that! Then, on Saturday both Hunter and Ryan had baseball games, and they loved having Grandpa there to watch their games. The week went by way too fast, but it was great that Dad (Grandpa) could visit us for a week of fun-filled baseball games!

FOR THE LADIES

I took Hunter, Ryan, and Samantha to the park last night to practice baseball and to throw a few pitches to them. Actually, I didn't throw any pitches to Samantha as that would just be silly - as she always seems to hit my curve ball so well. Anyway, I threw a couple of buckets of balls to Ryan and he did a pretty good job of hitting the ball. I had him hit from the left side and the right side of the plate to see which side he preferred - he hit equally well from both sides. So, I will just let him decide at his next game which way feels better for him. After Ryan, I threw a bucket of balls to Hunter. He missed every single ball. He has been such a great hitter the past couple of years that I could not figure out why he could not hit this year. So, I told him that he wasn't waiting for the ball and that he was lunging. I ran a couple of drills with him, but he would not listen to me and just wanted me to pitch. I told him that we could spend all night out here and I would throw him ball after ball and he would miss them all, or else we could spend 15 minutes learning how to hit. He was frustrated but finally agreed and he even listened to every word that I said. We did some drills together and then I had him hit another bucket of balls - but this time I told him that I did not want him to swing hard but that his focus was to hit every ball. He did that and made contact with most of the balls. I threw him another bucket of balls and told him to do the same thing. The next bucket of balls, I told him to swing harder - which he did but he made contact with 9 of the 13 balls. I threw another bucket at him and the first few he had some really good hits, then I saw him glance over to the playground, and all of the sudden he hit this shot that would have been over any right fielder's head. I couldn't beleive it as I have never seen him hit a ball that far. I asked him "Why are you hitting the ball so hard?" He said something to me but I couldn't hear, so I asked him to repeat it. He said he would tell me later. Anyway, the next 5 or 6 balls he just absolutely cranked into the outfield. As we were, picking up the balls I asked him what he said and he replied "I said I was doing if for the Ladies." I look over and there were two girls about his age over at the playground watching him hit. I couldn't stop laughing, but for the next few buckets of balls Hunter was hitting the ball hard and hitting 11-12 of the 13 balls from the bucket. I don't really care what his motivation is for hitting, but if he keeps on hitting like he did last night, then he can keep doing it 'for the Ladies.'

Fortune

So, I was reading a blog today that talked about how men don't really pay attention to details when reading. The blog went on and started talking about Chinese fortunes or something, I am not quite sure I wasn't really really paying attention. Anyway, there was a list of like 10 fortunes and the blog post gave some kind of calculation as to what my fortune was. I do not really believe in that stuff and I do not hold any stock in fortune tellers, fortune cookies, etc. But I read the fortune anyway and it said something like:

It is still cold out - put on some pants...

Turns out, that fortune was for me...

Baseball Season

Hunter and Ryan had their first baseball games of the summer today. Unfortunately, both games were at noon at different parks. So, Stacey went to Ryan's game and me being the assistant coach of Hunter's team, I had to attend his game. Ryan is playing modified tee-ball, which is where the batter gets 4 pitches and if they don't hit the ball then they hit off a tee. Ryan did not play baseball last year, but has really picked it up strong. Apparently, he got a great hit his first time at bat and had to use a tee his second time at-bat. Ryan has been practicing with me all spring batting left-handed, but in the game today he hit right-handed. Either he is going to be a switch-hitter or he is a little confused at how he bats right now. Ryan got to play first base as well today. Stacey said it was a fun game and Ryan did great! Hunter played his first game of kid-pitch (the equivalent of The Minors in Idaho Falls). He begged the coach to let him be catcher, and the coach reluctantly agreed. Hunter actually did a fantastic job as catcher, but has a lot to learn - the coach let him take the gear home this week so he could practice the catcher position. Hunter only got one at-bat today, as the team we played was very good and they had some excellent pitchers. With the 1 hr 30 minute time-limit, and our team's inability to pitch, that made it so each kid on the team was only able to bat once. In the last inning (3rd inning), the coach let Hunter pitch. He did a pretty good job, but had a little trouble getting the ball to 45 feet each time. Many balls bounced in front of the plate, but he was throwing them in the right direction. Hunter wants to work hard at being a catcher and pitcher - though it could be tough for him to do them both at the same time!! Stacey will be taking pictures soon and we will post them on the family blog as well as this one. By the way, Hunter's team lost - they got killed actually...

A day in the Park...

One Saturday, the family decided to go for a little bike ride to the park. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed the park...

....and then the rains came!

COLORADO RAIN STORM

This is a video clip from the rain storm we had in Colorado this afternoon. The storm lasted about 30 minutes and we had lightning strikes so close to our house. One might have hit our neighbors house two houses down. The fire department was called and police showed up. The third lightning strike on the video was so close to us, you can hear the thunder roaring in the sky - but the video does no justice to how close it felt, how loud it was, and how it shook our house!

Playing Baseball

I have not blogged for about a month now. Mainly, this is due to the fact of my boys - why have kids if you can't blame them for everything? All Hunter and Ryan want to do is go to the park and hit baseballs all night long, leaving me no time to blog. I really don't mind - as I am investing in my future. I expect at least one of them to make millions of dollars playing Major League Baseball, thus, securing my future and retirement. However, playing baseball in the park does not come without incident. The other night, I was throwing some pitches to Hunter (the old man's arm still has it as he could not hit my curve ball nor my 89 mph fastball which has now dipped into the low 60's with age) and Ryan was chasing the hit balls. Ryan then decide he wanted to play catcher. I told him that he needed to get far behind Hunter so he wouldn't get hurt. He told me several times that he wouldn't get hurt. I said that there was a chance that Hunter could hit a foul ball into your face and he said that he would just catch it. We argued back and forth and he kept telling me he would not get hurt. Ryan was right - for a while. About 30 pitches later Hunter missed a fastball (probably 64 or 65 mph as I reached back for some heat) and the ball hit the ground and then bounced up and hit Ryan square in the nose. His nose began to bleed immediately and there was a lot of blood. Hunter ran to an outhouse and found toilet paper to stop the bleeding. Ryan was crying and I told him to stop or else the blood would come out faster (yes I lied) and immediately he stopped crying. He actually was a trooper through the whole thing and Hunter was a big help to his little brother. We got the bleeding to stop and headed home into the comforting arms of his mommy. Had Ryan just listened to me then everything would have been fine - however, Stacey gave him a bloody nose the next day which may or may not have been a result of this incident. I LOVE IT WHEN I AM RIGHT! LISTEN TO YOUR DAD!

Pinewood Derby - Behind the Scenes

A lot of movie directors and book writers have been contacting Huner and I concerning our 2nd place finish in last week's pinewood derby. So far we have held out looking for the big paycheck, but until that happens I thought I would post my memoirs on the blog. We began working on the pinewood derby over a month ago - Stacey went to Utah, so she took the block of wood to have her dad cut out the design for Hunter's car. Hunter had spent countless hours looking for exactly the right design he wanted. So, Grandpa McClanahan cut out the car. Hunter and I then sanded the car to get it ready for painting. For a couple of weeks, Hunter and I took 1200 grade sandpaper and we were smoothing out the axles, so the tires could have less friction. Then, we painted the car cherry red. Stacey proceeded to try and paint some flames on the car, but for some reason the paint didn't work and the red base paint became ruined. Stacey tried to repaint, but things got worse. In the end, I had to sand off all the paint and repaint about two days before the race. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday leading up to the Wednesday night race, I would constantly graphite the wheels and spin them on the axles to help create the almost frictionless wheels we needed to compete. I took the car to my work and weighed it on the postage meter and added weights until we got to exactly 5 oz. I put the wheels on and ran a few practice races in my office. That was when I realized that the car kept going hard to the right. I didn't want to mess with the wheels any more, but was concerned about having a good outing that night. I left work early and took the car home for Stacey to put some flame stickers on the car - no more painting! Finally, the car was complete and we headed over to the church for the big race. Our first race was exciting and intense, and I held my breath in hopes that the car would have a decent race. Hunter ended up winning his first race! I was able to breath easier knowing that we won at least one race. The next race Hunter took first place again, but a car car jumped the track and he ended up re-racing that race. He then took second. The next race he took third, then 2nd, then his car jumped off the track, and then he posted 3 straight wins. When he took third place, he became very sad and came over and sat on my lap. He figured there was no way he would place now. But thanks to the 3 wins in the end, he started getting excited again. Then, the Scout Master announced the winners and handed out trophies. He started with the last place race and then posted racers from 20th to 10th on the big screen. I was happy to not see Hunter's name on that list because we then knew he made the top 10. Then, the scout master listed from 9th through 4th. Again, we did not see Hunter's name on the list. Hunter became very excited. When he saw his name at the 2nd spot he was beside himself with giddiness! He was so happy. I couldn't believe that we had done so well either, but I am not going to argue. Hunter had a ball and I was excited to see my son so excited. Of course, now we have set the bar extremely high - how can we possibly top that?? I hope that once the movie and book deals come in then Hunter will forget about trying to achieve first place next year...

Jungle Gym

I am not sure if Dads were designed to be jungle gyms, but I definitely feel like one! Stacey and I always joke that if I get on the ground then I become a magnet to my kids. We always run little tests and I will get on the ground, and sure enough, the kids start hanging on me and jumping on me. It is starting to get to the point that it is no longer a laughing matter! I enjoy laying on the ground and stretching out my back...without my kids jumping on me, but I rarely get that opportunity. Today, I was talking to Ryan while he was sitting on the couch, so I slowly got to the ground and laid on my back to start stretching out. Ryan was telling me a story, and no sooner had I got on the ground, then Ryan came over to me and sat on my chest and finished telling his story. Moments later, Sami came running over to me and fell down on my chest and started "reading" a book while using me as a pillow. I left things that way for a few minutes and then I heard Hunter coming down the stairs, so I threw Ryan off me and picked up Sami. I am sure the instinct kicked in on Hunter and he knew I was in the position for him to climb all over me....but I squashed it before that could happen. I really am convinced that Dads are jungle gyms...or else their children look at them as jungle gyms. Sometimes I will stay up late at night after the kids go to bed, just so I can get a good stretch on the floor...

Opening Day

There is a lot of discussion and debate about what day is really considered the opening day of Major League Baseball. Yesterday there was one baseball game supposedly signifying the inaugral game of the season, while today most of the rest of the teams played games. Typically, for me, the first game of the baseball season is considered opening day for me; however, this year I viewed things a little different. I usually am pretty open and boisterous about the opening day of baseball, but I feel with so many other things going on this time of year, I haven't been chatting up baseball with my kids. But when I got home from work today and as soon as dinner was over, Hunter hit me up to go play catch outside. Of course this was a YESDAD moment, but also something where I am easily swayed to do, so we went outside and played catch. Ryan wanted to be the coach and tell us what to do, which he tried hard to do, but got distracted with all the other things being outside has to offer. Hunter and I played for quite a while in the front yard with him standing in our driveway and me on the other side of the street - and only stopping when one of us spotted a car heading our way. Toward the time when the light in sky became dark Ryan decided that he wanted to try his hand at playing catch. So, him and I played catch for quite a while - even when we couldn't see the ball any more he still wanted to play catch. Eventually, I was able to convince him it was time to go in the house, after I promised we would play another night. After this evening, I can't help but think that OPENING DAY of baseball must be something inbred in the Griffin genes...why else would the boys all of the sudden want to play baseball -- they can feel it in the air...

Mr. Ryan

Mr. Ryan, is the name that I frequently call Ryan for some reason. I am not quite sure how that came about, but I am not quite sure how a hot dog is made either, but somehow it still works. Anyway, I have been concerned about my relationship with Ryan lately as it seems like we are always fighting with each other and he frequently tells me "I hate you!" Of course, 5 minutes later he is giving me a hug and a kiss as I tuck him into bed. Yesterday, Ryan was having a very rough day -- due to the fact that he didn't get a good nights sleep. He had several breakdowns in the morning, and one in which he was placed in his room. I went into his room and demanded a hug, and started tickling him until I got a hug. Finally, he gave me a hug and he was happy again. However, later in the day he had another melt down, right about the time that he was going to go over to a friend's house. He told me that he wasn't going to go but wanted to stay home with me. I told him that I would be fine and he should go to his friend's house. He left, but about 5 minutes later I got a phone call. Ryan was on the other end, crying a little bit, and he told me that he wanted to call me to tell me that he missed me and that he loved me. I loved it so much. I asked him if he wanted me to come pick him up, but he said 'no' that he wanted to play. Though I lost out to a 5-year old friend, I still loved the fact that Ryan called me to tell me "I love you!"

Emmet Otter's Jugtime Band

I found this video on Youtube and it reminded me of going to Grandma Baldwin's and watching this movie with her when I was little. What a great show!!

Click on this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV0SbkrG44Y

Recovery

Last week, we had an amazing week. Mom and Dad Griffin, Brandon, & Dustyn came to visit us for a week, well, almost a week - they had to head back early one day due to severe weather threats apparently. However, Stacey and I know the real reason - Mom was sick of losing at GOA! We had so much fun with them. I think we stayed up until at least 11 pm every night playing either GOA or TICKET TO RIDE. Even dad was into playing the games - though we know his dream would have rather been watching the Rockies play! We didn't see much of Hunter and Ryan during the week as they spent most of their time playing the Wii with Dustyn. Unfortunately, I had to work all week and had only the evenings to spend with the family, but when we were together we played hard. I guess one day I got to come home early because of a huge snowstorm that shut down the whole city! By the way, we had great weather the week before Mom showed up, and then somehow she knows how to curse the weather in Denver. We haven't had warm temperatures since she showed up. But we are willing to sacrifice the cold and the snow to have everyone here. We hit Ci Ci's pizza, which I think has become a staple during visits to Denver, and 5 guys burgers (which may become a new staple). We did not hit Lamar's doughnuts, however! I am still trying to recover from the lack of sleep I received while everyone was here - but again, it was well worth it! We hope they will come back soon - we know Dad will since he missed out on his baseball games....

Can't Wait to Grow Up

Yesterday, Hunter told Stacey that he couldn't wait to grow up and be a man. Stacey talked to him about how he had to go through Puberty first and explained a little about that, while citing examples of Brandon growing tall, talking with a deeper voice, and getting facial and underarm hair. Well, this morning Hunter got out of the shower and declared that he was growing underarm hair and going through Puberty. I told him that first his voice had to change, to which he replied in a much deeper voice, as deep as he could muster, yet still pretty high pitched, "I am going through puberty. I have short black hairs growing out of my arm pit." Stacey then came over to him and felt his arm pit and said "It's as soft as a baby's bottom!" We all laughed. Then, I talked with him a little bit about enjoying being young and how you only have a short time of being a kid but 80 years of being an adult, "When you get older then you have to be all mature and everything." He replied, "Well, you don't act mature." TOUCHE.

BUSY RYAN

Ryan is our arts and crafts child. He can do some of the most amazing things with paper, scissors, and some glue or staples. He loves to make and color whatever he can find. The other day I brought him home a box of letterhead from work that we no longer use. He was so excited to get it and he immediately put it to use, drawing, coloring, and cutting. One day, he decided to make a sacrament try which he completely made out of paper and staples, and it turned out great. The other day Stacey sent me an email with the title of RYAN HAS BEEN BUSY. She attached the picture that is on this post. Ryan was downloading pictures from Lego.com of lego cars, buildings, etc. Then he cut them out and placed them into his very own lego town. Creative and busy little boy!!

Week in Review

This week was a busy week at work, and very stressful. To go along with this being billing week - which is always the most stressful week of the month - our server at work went out on Monday and one of our attorneys had a major filing deadline at midnight. Why did he wait until the last day you ask? Well, that is one of the things I had to deal with. The, the copier went out, and the server went out again - the Managing Partner yelled at an attorney who complained to me and then I had to talk with the MP about her actions, and she cried. Then, I had to deal with an angry paralegal who felt it was unfair that the Senior Partner downbilled her on a case, then I found out it was going to cost $20,000 grand to upgrade the server and get new billing software, then the server went down again. Anyway, that was just part of my week....I didn't even mention the fact that forks are disappearing at the firm...yes, that was a major paralegal complaint - but I got it taken care of...

I was so happy when Friday night came (however, I got home around 7 pm because the server went out) and I got to go play basketball with my boys at our weekly Friday Basketball night. That helped to eleviate alot of stress - that and playing Madden '09 on the Wii.

Saturday, I got up at 6:30 pm and ran my two miles and did a bicep workout with Ben Tenney. After that, I ran home, quickly showered, and got ready for a temple session with Stacey. What a great session that was. There seems to be something more special to me about attending the temple with my spouse. Afterwards, we got to sit and talk about things that have been on our minds. When we got home, Ryan wanted to build a crane with his legos, so YESDAD appeared to save the day, though YESDAD wasn't really excited about building legos. After a couple of hours of lego building, YESDAD convinced Ryan to make cookies with him. The rest of the day was relaxing and filled with no stress -- except after I ate a QDoba burrito....

Sami has been doing some cute things lately. However, she always does cute things. One thing she figured out this week is that she can go down the stairs on her butt, but it doesn't always work for her and she ends up rollin down the stairs. She also has been into having conversations with us, though her conversations are "Jabba, jabba, jabba, jabba..." But she honestly thinks she is talking to us and it is so cute. The other day, I got her a bottle and forgot to place her on her favorite drinking spot on the couch. Well, she went over to the couch, put her bottle on it, and then came over to me and said "Jabba, Jabba, jabba" and pointed to the couch. Of course, I apologized profusely as women tend to have long memories about those silly types of things....

Last thing, as I was cleaning the kitchen last night (yes, probably trying to make up for something that had to do with a women's long memory...jk, Stacey) I turned on some music for Sami to dance to. I went back to cleanin and then Sami came over to me and kept grabbing my leg and I couldn't figure out why. Finally, I turned to her and said "What are you doing?" She was trying to step on my feet so I would dance with her on my feet, which is something that we have been doing alot lately. So, I took time out from my hard work and danced with Sami. She whispered sweet "Jabba, Jabbas" to me...

Day 3

I know a lot of people have been anticipating me writing about what happened on Day 3...would you believe one person has been wondering...okay, would you believe that in my mind I thought people were wondering but actually no one was? Anyway, Sunday morning was rough to wake up to. Hunter, Ryan, and I slept in until about 8:30 am. Hunter was in no shape at that point to go to church. However, Ryan had to give a talk in primary and I had to give a lesson in Young Men's. So, we skipped Sacrament Meeting and Ryan & I went to primary. I helped Ryan with his talk then I ran home to check on Hunter. He was fine, so right before I gave my lesson I ran back to the church, gave the lesson, picked up Ryan right when church ended and raced home. Again, Hunter was fine. We spent the rest of the day watching movies and playing the Wii. Hunter and Ryan watched the old Parent Trap movie twice. They loved that movie. I took a little nap and enjoyed the boys being quiet. Hunter seemed to get over his sickness pretty quick and actually probably would have been fine going to church.

The next morning, I took Hunter to school with his Solar System project (I hope to get some pictures posted at some point) and Ryan went to work with me. I spent about an hour at work finishing up a couple of things and Ryan & I headed to the airport. Stacey's plane came in early, but we missed each other. Both of us spent about 45 minutes waiting for the other person to arrive. Finally, we caught up to each other. Stacey and I enjoyed a nice lunch together at our favorite joint - 5 Guys (fresh hamburgers and French Fries made from real Idaho potatoes - one day we went in there and the potatoes were from Idaho Falls - by far the best fries). Then, Stacey dropped me off at work. We are so glad to have her home....and Sami.

Day 2

Though many people bet against the fact that Hunter, Ryan, and I would survive one day without Stacey, we actually made it through 2 days - sort of. Saturday started off normal. I actually got up at 6:15 am and went to the gym, leaving the boys home alone. Hunter was awake and I knew I wouldn't be gone long. I came home to find Ryan talking to Stacey on the phone, as she called early to check on us. Next, we cleaned up the house -- of course, it didn't take long until Hunter and Ryan's room was messy again. But they cleaned and vaccumed their room and helped with other things around the house.

After doing our chores, we decided to go the Southridge swimming pool. We spent a couple of hours there playing and lounging on the Lazy River, as well as spent some time in the hot pool. We had a blast! After swimming, we came home to change our clothes, and it didn't take long for Ryan to fall asleep on the couch. I let him sleep for about 20 minutes, before waking him and taking the boys to Ci Ci's pizza. Of course, we ate way too much pizza, pop, and brownies, but we were so hungry from swimming that we just kept going.

When dinner was finished, we went back home and watched Horton Hears a Who and enjoyed a nice bowl of ice cream. Since we had tried to watch it the night before and all fell asleep 10 minutes into it, we decided to watch it again. This time we suceeded. Hunter and Ryan decided they wanted to watch another movie. I made it about 20 minutes into that movie before falling asleep. I woke up some time later and Ryan was trying to sleep but Hunter was awake. At that point, I turned the TV off and we all tried to get some sleep.

About an hour later, Hunter woke up complaining of stomach pains. I got him a trash can and got him settled back into bed (on the floor in the living room as we decided to sleep on the couch/floor once again). I had barely turned off the light when Hunter yelled "Here it comes!" I turned on the light, he ran into the bathroom and proceeded to throw-up in the toilet. After what seemed like 10 minutes and several gaggings from myself, Hunter finished. We cleaned up and crawled back into bed. After about an hour, Hunter's watch alarm started beeping and I turned if off. Hunter said his stomach still wasn't feeling good and he went to the bathroom and unloaded some more. Again, we cleaned him up and got him back in bed asleep. (** editor's note: the second time Hunter threw up I had to try and hold in my laughs. If you have ever seen this, he looked like the kid in the movie Second Hand Lions when the kid tries tabacco for the first time - he goes into these major convulsions and spits out the tabacco - Hunter looked just like him!)

An hour later, Hunter's watch alarm went off again. This time I made sure I turned it off. However, an hour later the alarm went off again. I about through the watch outside for the night, but spent the next 15 minutes trying to make sure the watch was off and the alarm would never come back on. About 4 hours later, my watch alarm went off telling me it was time to wake up for church....

Day 1

This weekend, Stacey and Samantha flew to Utah to visit Stacey's family. Hunter and Ryan stayed behind, so we decided to have a Guy's weekend. I wasn't quite sure how to do that so I solicited some advice from my Mom. She suggested something to the effect of "lie around the house, watch TV, and make bodily noises." Since that seems to be something we do every weekend, I decided to do something else.

Last night, I came home from work and made Taco Soup for dinner. Hunter and Ryan had their friends Ben and Tanner over until 8 pm. At that point, we took them home and went over to the gym to do our weekly Friday night activity - play basketball. We shot some baskets and the boys worked on their dribbling. After about an hour, Hunter and Ryan decided to race back and forth across the gym. They must have run 20 lengths - which I was fine with because then they would fall asleep faster when we got home. I joined in on a few races and then we moved to the indoor track for some races. Ryan is very competitive and wanted to win every time, but his older brother is just a little faster then he is. I had to explain to Ryan that someday they would be the same size (if Ryan is not bigger) and then Ryan would beat him at everything. He liked that. After basketball, we went home and the boys wanted to watch a movie. So, we pulled out a floor mat for Hunter, and Ryan and I each got a couch. We got ready for bed, and started watching the movie around 10:15 pm (Yes Mom, I was up past 10 pm). We probably weren't into the movie 10 minutes and I was out. I woke up a little while later and noticed Hunter and Ryan were asleep, but I was too tired to turn the movie off. I woke up again at some point and the movie was over and the DVD menu was repeating itself - so I dragged myself off the couch and turned the movie/tv off. I decided to remain sleeping on the couch so that the boys would not freak out in the night if I was not there. Probably a bad decision, as it seemed like every 30 minutes I woke up to change positions because one side or the other of my hip was hurting or my knee or my back....the couch is not the most comfortable place to sleep.

I guess in essence, we did lay around the house watching TV...however, no bodily noises were made, thought that is probably sure to come. Well, the boys and I have some things planned for Saturday and we are looking forward to what the day has to bring.

Top 100 things are on the board

So, I was going through documents on my computer, when I found 100 things about me that I wrote quite some time ago. Marci wrote 100 things about her once and it inspired me to do the same - I thought it was a great idea. I never did anything with that list, but I decided that I should just post it on my blog. It could probably use some updating or something, but I am just going to post it as it was originally written.

100 things about me
One of my favorite activities is tickling Ryan and hearing him laugh
I have the most beautiful wife
I have a beautiful family.
I secretly want a tattoo, but will never get one.
I have a huge desire to learn to play the guitar
I want to take voice lessons, but am too embarrassed to do it.
I want to try my hand at karaoke
I love to turn on dance music and dance with my children
I love to bake, but hate to cook
I love Jimmy John's sandwiches, Chipotle burritos, and Heidi's Hell's Kitchen sandwich
I love seeing my boys succeed
I love seeing my children speak in church, school, etc.
I love watching baseball on television and at the ball park
I love watching my boys play baseball
I love playing baseball with my boys
I am not a big fan of playing with legos.
I sometimes listen to Celine Dion and other music that Stacey likes because it reminds me of her
I really enjoyed seeing Celine Dion in concert in Las Vegas
I sometimes get jealous because my boys dress better and cooler than I do
I love that my wife is in style with her clothes
I wish I was as selfless as my father
I wish I spoke as fluently and felt as comfortable at speaking as my mother.
I want to be more spiritual
I sometimes want to be an Adult Sunday School teacher, but the thought of preparing a lesson and teaching every week steers me away from that thought.
I read MLB.com everyday, even in the off season.
I love riding roller coasters.
I focus on the fear of the unknown way too much.
I love to party and be in big groups, but I hate when I am the focus of the group or party.
I love getting together with others, but Stacey does not. I am social, Stacey is not.
Hearing people fart still makes me laugh
I love playing on toys at parks and swinging on swings with my children
I love being a Dad, and a husband.
I am grateful that I have good parents who are perfect examples of how parents should be.
I absolutely hate running, unless I have a basketball in my hand.
I can’t stop eating sweets.
I love movies with karate fights in them.
I absolutely love playing golf and hitting spectacular drives.
I think I my Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin are the greatest grandparents ever.
I love golfing with my Grandpa.
I don’t like going to McDonald’s with my Grandpa…
I love playing softball
I love seeing my children extremely excited about things.
I want to buy my children everything they possibly want, but then the spoiled factor kicks in and I refrain.
I want to own a rental unit.
I want my truck back.
I have to shower everyday or I feel extremely gross.
I can’t stand when pictures hanging on walls are crooked. I have a huge urge to straighten all the frames. If I am in someone else’s house then I can’t look at pictures on the wall or else I have to straighten them.
I think my wife is the most talented photographer on earth.
I think Hunter is the most creative (and smartest) kid I know. Especially when it comes to building things with legos and bionicles.
Hunter wants to be a rock star, but I want him to be an engineer, dentist, or doctor.
I want to learn how to scuba dive
Ryan is the most loving kid I know. He is such a hard worker at learning.
I do not want to ever go skydiving and I don’t think I will ever regret that decision.
I feel that I was not a very good brother and friend in life.
I am selfish and think about myself too much.
I love to drink Dr. Pepper in the mornings.
I want to write and complete a story for my family to read.
I really do not like spiders
Did I mention I have cool grandparents? My Grandma Baldwin is so talented, loving, and wonderful. My Grandpa Baldwin makes me laugh – I love talking to him and being around him. My grandparents make me miss Idaho Falls.
I love Grandma’s cookies!
I love coming home from work and my family is excited to see me.
I feel inadequate in so many ways and in so many things.
I love to draw and paint, but getting started is so hard.
I love birds.
I love seeing animals do funny things at the zoos.
America’s Funniest Home videos and Whose line is it Anyways crack me up! Especially when I watch with Hunter!
I love acting like a child – especially when trying to catch frogs. I don’t ever want to lose the desire to do kid things.
I like techno and dance music
I love to sing in the car when driving home from work and most of the time I don’t care who sees me wailing away in my car.
I may be the only guy in the world that does not lay around on the couch to watch sports on Saturday.
I absolutely hate eating anywhere where I have to pay a tip.
I hate getting my hair cut.
I would rather read a Self-help book than a fiction novel.
I love the gooey glue that you find in mailer advertisements. I pull the glue off and roll it into balls and play with it while I work.
I am not into technological gadgets and one of the few people without a cell phone.
I hate not having a CD player in my car when I drive to work.
I could spend hours upon hours testing out new golf clubs.
Stacey hates to shop with me because I am very picky and I comparison shop to find the best price – probably waaaayyyyy too much.
I wish Stacey would buy my clothes for me so I could look more modern and cool.
I want to wear a suit and tie to work everyday.
I would rather go to bed early and wake up early than staying up late.
I like to do things that are comfortable and familiar – sometimes trying new things or going outside of the norm scares me. How did we get to Denver then, you ask?
Purple is my favorite color but I hate to admit that to people.
I love to reminisce about old stories – especially when they make me laugh.
I love to lift weights and workout.
I love getting the giggles where you can’t stop laughing. People falling asleep in church do that to me all the time!
I am not real excited about going bald, but what do you do?
I wish I spoke Spanish – or had the time to devote to learning Spanish.
I have a hard time golfing, fishing, etc. on Saturday because I feel I am being selfish to my family and not spending enough time with them.
I wish I was as brave as Hunter.
I sometimes wish I was as skinny as Hunter and Ryan.
I hope that my boys will be taller than me.
I hope that Samantha will be as cute as her mother.
I love chocolate tootsie pops
I love dark chocolate
I absolutely LOVE the THE OFFICE (the television show).
I love spicy food. If it isn’t spicy then I try and make it spicy with hot sauce, salsa, Tabasco sauce, or even pepper.
I feel like I am okay in many things but not an expert in anything.
I love to go fishing – but not real good at it.
I want to go to Hawaii, or on a cruise, or to France, or to Italy, or Greece….

President's Day

Isn't President's Day supposed to be a day off? This is the first time I have had this day off from work EVER in my life. I don't think I like this holiday! Last night Ryan woke up 3 or 4 times puking. He was a good kid and made it to the toilet in time, on all but one occasion. He has been eating cake, cookies, candy, etc. all weekend long and we think it finally caught up with him. At least we hope that is the case...we don't need the flu floating around the family again. Then Stacey gets in the car to go get a pedicure that I got her for her B-day last year, and she found the tire was flat. So, I put on the spare tire and decided to vacuum out the car as well. I took the car in on Saturday because the tire would not stay fully inflated and was told there was a nail in the tire and that they would patch it. Apparently the patch did not hold! I am about to take the tire back in and hopefully they will fix it this time. It is about noon, and I wonder what else is going to happen today. I never should have taken this vacation day....I should have called in sick...

Be My Valentine

On Friday afternoon, I was sitting at work when I got a phone call from Hunter. I asked him how is day was and he told me all about his Valentine party that he had at school. Then, he said that he gave Aubrey Tenny (a girl that he has a little crush on) 14 valentine cards and that he was the talk of the class. Then, without pausing Hunter said, "Dad, I need you to pick up some flowers for me on your way home from work." I responded with a resounding "What?" Again, "I need you to pick up some flowers for me to give to Aubrey, maybe some daisies." I asked what he needed to give her flowers for "So, that she will be my valentine." I couldn't hold in my laugh, but then had a serious conversation about being friends with her and there is no need to have a girlfriend at his age. I then talked with Stacey and she said that she talked with Aubrey's mom (Jenny) about the whole situation. Jenny asked Aubrey what happened and Aubrey said that Hunter asked her to be his valentine. Jenny said "Then what did you say." Aubrey responded, "I said no." So, Stacey talked to Hunter about what Aubrey said and Hunter said, "Yeah, I got dumped!" Funny talk coming from a 3rd grader. But he is fine with that....and no, I did not get flowers for Aubrey...

Dad? Dad Who?

For those of you engrossed in reading my blog you may not realize that I used to collect Star Wars figures. When I say 'used to' I don't mean when I was a kid, but over the past several years I have been addicted to buying Star Wars figures. In fact, ever since Episode II came out I have bought these 'collector's items.' After blowing a large sum of money on all the figures I thought were cool, I decided to just stick to buying Stormtroopers and Clones. But over the years, more and more Clones have been coming out that I had to have. About six months ago, I decided to quit buying figures all together, but I have kept my Clones displayed on my dresser in my closet for quite a while. Every now and again, I get a call from Hunter or Ryan who asks me if they can have one of my figures. I keep telling them that I will give the figures to them when they are older and can appreciate them. Of course, they tell me they appreciate them now. Anyway, last night the boys wanted to see all my Clones so I gathered them up and we went through them. Again, they said they wanted the figures now. I thought this would be a good opportunity to lay some guilt on them and make them think and appreciate their Dad, so I told them that when I die then they can have my figures. Hunter said "Dad, don't say that!" and I thought "Oh yeah, my boys care about me." Then Ryan asked "When are you going to die?" Immediately Hunter says "I get the first pick because I am older." and the boys proceeded to pick out what figures they were going to choose when I died. I felt the love....for a few seconds...

Wimpy Kid

No - I am not writing about my sons. They are far from wimpy, well, not real far. But if you have a boy between the ages of 8 and 11 then you are probably familiar with the books Diary of a Wimpy kid. These books basically document a kid's life (Gregory) while he is going through middle school. The book is even equipped with simple drawings similar to what is on the cover of the book. Hunter absolutely loves these books. Every time he checks one out at the library he stays up late that night until he has finished the book. I am guessing the books have about 150 pages in them. But the stories are great and are similar experiences to what we have all gone through in our lives or are some of our biggest nightmares - for example, the kid is walking down the hallway and all of the sudden a pair of dirty under falls out of his pant legs. He tries to play it off like nothing happened and he goes to his next class. Then, on the loud speaker comes "Attention everyone - would the person who lost a pair of underwear please come to the office to pick it up. The waste band is labeled Gregory H." Of course, everyone knows it is his underwear now! Anyway, great books and perfect for the rambunctious little kid in your life. Last night, the author came to Highlands Ranch and Hunter wanted to get his book signed. So, as a family we waited in line for over two hours for Hunter to spend 10 seconds with the guy and get his book signed. You know what? It was totally worth it to see a smile on my boy's face...

NO TV

On January 1, 2008, Stacey and I decided to turn off our television. Of course, the boys were in an uproar because they wouldn't be able to watch "Zack and Cody" and cartoons. Well, a year and a month later, I do not miss television one bit. I remember as a kid reading about a family that went without television for a whole year and the parents took the kids to Disneyland when they reached that goal. I thought that was impossible!! How could anyone go without TV for a whole year? Well, we had it a little easier then that family from years ago, because we have still been able to watch shows over the internet. However, for me it is harder to sit down and watch a show on the internet then it is to flip on the TV and watch something. My shows have been limited to The Office, Heros, and Prison Break. Now, Stacey is talking about getting TV back, and I really don't want to - mainly, because I know that I will immediately fall back into the old habit of watching TV all the time and watching more shows - especially Baseball Tonight (which I must admit was hard not dealing with last year). I have been able to accomplish more without the TV and I have spent more time with my children. Of course, having a Wii makes it easier to not have TV....

Weekend

Saturday was a wonderful day. For the first time in many, many months I did not get dressed and ready for the day until noon. Since my mother-in-law is in town, she woke up early when Sami got up, so Stacey and I slept in and then laid in bed for quite some time talking. When we finally got up, Stacey made some eggs for everyone and then Ryan wanted to build a garbage truck out of legos. YESDAD kicked in and I played legos with Hunter and Ryan. Ryan supervised while Hunter built, and my job was to search for different Lego pieces. We built a great garbage truck!

Yesterday, I took the boys over to Ben Tenny's house and we watched the Arizona Cardinals lose to the Pittsburg Steelers. It was a great game!

Ryan and Me

Last night, Hunter was invited to a Birthday Party with his friend Max. Well, when I got home from work Ryan was basically waiting by the door for me to walk in. He asked me if I wanted to go to the church and play basketball with him. I was taken back as this was a request that he has never asked of me. Stacey and Mom were planning a little night out with the family to PF Changs, so I really struggled with what to do - I thought "Maybe we could do both?" But in the end decided that a night out with Ryan would be fun. So, we ran over to the Rec Center and found a basketball court open but it had a rim at regulation height. Ryan and I tried to shoot on it, but he just couldn't get the ball high enough. We decided to practice dribbling and passing instead. Ryan can't decide which hand to use to shoot and dribble so he ends up using both at different times - maybe this will be good for him as he gets older or maybe it will hinder him, but I am not messing with it because he is having so much fun. After about an hour of dribbling, passing, and trying to shoot a court opened up with a small rim. We proceeded to shoot at the basket for the next hour (again, sometimes Ryan favored the right and other times he favored the left hand). We took about a five minute break and a couple of water breaks.

During our long break, Ryan mentioned something to me about him getting old and then I would be a grandpa. He said that then I would die and he would never see me again. I took the opportunity to talk to him about our bodies and spirits and living with Heavenly Father. In the end, big alligator tears dropped from his eyes as he said that he would miss me when I died. We hugged for a while and I told him "That is why we need to have fun together everyday so we can have such great memories to keep us going until we see each other again with Heavenly Father." We hugged some more and then played some more basketball. Then, we went home and fell asleep...we were worn out.

Happy Birthday

So, my little girl turned 1-year old yesterday. ONE-YEAR OLD! What is up with that? She is growing up way too fast. She is walking everywhere, has a little attitude going on, but she is so stinkin' cute and continues to smile all the time. Like a deadbeat dad, I missed her Bithday and did not even see her at all on her B-day. I stayed late at work so I could go pick up Grandma McClanahan at the airport last night. Then, her flight was delayed 40 minutes so we got home even later. Sami's actual B-day party won't be until Saturday anyway, and we love having Grandma McClanahan at our house. I don't think Sami was real disappointed that I missed her B-day...but I know that she misses her Daddy.

Opposite of YESDAD

So, on Saturday night, Hunter and Ryan built a 'fort' out of blankets and pillows in out room. Ryan ended up sleeping all night in the fort, but Hunter crawled in bed with us. As part of the YESDAD movement, I allowed the fort and the sleeping in our bed to happen. However, sleep for me that night was horrible. Anyway, on Sunday I came home from church ready to take a good nap to catch up on my lack of sleep. Hunter wanted to play Madden 09 on the Wii with me, and I very much wanted to say 'no,' but then Stacey said "remember YESDAD." So, I played the Wii with him. We had a great time. I even showed Ryan how to play the game and he had fun with it. I eventually got a 20 minute nap in, but was awaken by the boys.

So the story continues....last night Hunter and Ryan wanted to build the fort again and sleep in it. Though my YESDAD process should have been to say "YES," I emphatically said "NO." Other factors outrank YESDAD - these factors included school day the following day and my lack of sleep if they were to crawl into my bed. Besides, they weren't spending time with me or asking me to do something for them, this was just something they wanted to do and there was more harm than benefit.

The moral of the post is: you can't always be a YESDAD.

A Couple of YESDAD moments

I went to the gym yesterday morning and ran on a treadmill for 2.85 miles (I can't quite hit the 3 mile mark yet). When I got home all the kids were in the family room and Hunter asked me if I would play Madden Football on the Wii with him. Recognizing this was another YES DAD moment, I said yes and we played for about 20 minutes (I beat him by 1 point by the way). I made sure to put a limit on the time played so that we didn't waste the morning playing video games. I know that it was just a video game but hopefully he recognizes that I put some time into doing something that he wanted to do.

Next, Hunter and Ryan wanted to build a fort in our room with pillows and blankets and then sleep in the fort. Stacey and I agreed to do it. Hunter ended up in our bed and the fort collapsed on Ryan, but pulled it down and wrapped Ryan in the blankets when he was asleep. Anyway, Hunter was all over the bed last night and needlesstosay, I did not sleep very well. But, again I hope this is something that they both might remember that they got to sleep in a fort in Mommy and Daddy's room when they were 'little.'

YES DAD

The other day I watched a movie called YES MAN that starred Jim Carrey. The basic plot of the story was that this man lived a very boring life because he never exposed himself to new things and was consistently saying “no.” He was so wrapped up in his miserable life that he never thought about what saying “no” meant to other people. He got so used to saying “no” that when he did make a commitment to someone he usually forgot about that commitment because he was not used to saying ‘yes’ to anything. This caused him to hurt or destroy friendships with loved ones and those closest to him. He eventually ran into an old friend who talked him into attending a motivational seminar where people refused to say ‘no’ in their lives and were constantly saying ‘yes.’ Events in his life lead him to attend this conference where he made a pact with the YES GURU to say ‘yes’ to everything that came into his life – with a warning, that if he said ‘no’ then very bad things were going to happen. The character in the movie soon begins saying ‘yes’ to everything which leads him on many crazy life adventures and experiences, including some very, very bad things that he should have said 'no' to. Now, this movie goes a little overboard in the fact that the man feels like if he says ‘no’ then his life will be severally cursed or that karma would come back and get him. I like the basic principle of the story in the fact that there are so many times in my life that I say ‘no’ to my children. That is probably the number 1 word that comes out of my mouth. I decided to make a commitment to my children – with reasonable boundaries (as I refuse to go to McDonald’s or buy them things) – that I will say “yes” more in 2009. I am confident that I will not experience some of the wild escapades that the man in YES MAN experienced, but that I will share some great and intimate experiences with my kids. I was put to the test the other night when Hunter and Ryan asked to watch CLONE WARS with them. Though I had 100 other things to do, I laid on the floor and watched the movie with them. Before long, I had both boys laying on the floor along side me, snuggling close and watching the movie. That is definitely one of life’s little treasures that only parents can fully understand.

Don't Even Think About Taking My Fruitloops

Where's my little girl?

Sami keeps getting bigger. She is not even one yet and she is walking around the house. That is all she does all day - walk around the house with a big grin on her face. She is the sweetest things. Last night, I came home from work and the house was rather quiet (so I knew that Hunter and Ryan were not at home). Then, I heard some clomping of little footsteps on our hardwood floors and I could tell Sami was coming toward me. I paused and waited for her to come around the corner. Then, I saw her little head peep out and when she saw me she very clearly said "Hi Dadda!" I picked her up in my arms and kissed her cheeks and she gave me a little open mouth peck on the cheek, and she threw her arms around my neck. What a cutie!

2009

So, can someone explain to me what happened to 2008? All of the sudden it is 2009 and I am looking at a little girl that is about to turn 1 year old. 2008 was a good year and I look forward to seeing what 2009 has to offer. I made a couple of resolutions in 2008 that I reached or came close to reaching. First, I read the Book of Mormon. I actually read that at the beginning of the year in 76 days or something like that (it is in an earlier blog). I also had the goal to get to the temple 10 times. I actually went 9 times - in my defense I thought I was going at the end of December but it never materialized - no excuse really, I should have gone more. For 2009, I would like to continue on with similar goals as I did in 2008. I want to go to the temple 10 times, and I want to spend quality time reading the Book of Mormon. I also want to complete the 20 week workout that I have set up with Tim and Chris, which will hopefully help me lose wait, get stronger, and read the scriptures. Other resolutions are to finish my book and to write an article for the Association of Legal Administrators magazine (whether that gets published or not doesn't really matter - just that I did it). I also plan on learning a few more songs on my guitar and being a YESDAD, which I will go into in some later posts. 2009 here I come...