Happy Birthday Seth

Today, my son is 5 years old.

I couldn't have asked for a greater blessing than this little boy and I am so proud to be his father.

I will never forget the words the doctor said five years ago, "Let's have a baby today."

This last year has been a big year for Seth. He went through a series of physical and occupational therapy sessions at the beginning of 2007 and when he was done, we had a completly different son.

He also started going to a full time pre-K and started taking piano lessons.

I am so excited to find out what is in store for him this year.

Happy Birthday Seth, I love you.

Dad

Kids and Guns

From Gunfacts.info a few facts about kids and guns.

Fact: Children are 12 times more likely to die
in an automobile accident than from gun-related
homicides or legal interventions (being shot by
a cop, for example) if they are age 0-14. For
the group 0-24 years old (which bends the
definition of “child” quite a bit), the rate is still
8.6 times higher for cars.

Fact: In 2001, there were only 72 accidental
firearm deaths for children under age 15,
compared with over 2,100 children that
drowned (29 times as many drowning deaths as
firearm deaths).

Fact: Boys who own legal firearms have much
lower rates of delinquency and drug use and are
even less delinquent than non-owners of
guns

Weekend Recap

It was a busy weekend.

My mother was here for the weekend and Shelley's mom was also here so we had a lot of family time.

We celebrated Seth's birthday and Shelley has a good post here about it.

After the party we all ventured out to the zoo and Seth declared he was "The Leader" and he began leading his family through out the zoo. If somebody strayed he quickly went to get them back as part of the group. It was a beatutiful day, we almost had the entire zoo to ourselves and we covered the entire zoo. We were all very tired at the end.

The rest of the weekend was spent playing with all of the new bounty that he got. Now, we just have to figure where we are going to put it all.

Tomorrow we will have a 5 year old in our house.

Seth's First Gun

Seth is turning 5 so it was time for him to get his first gun. I chose to get him the classic Daisy Red Ryder. It is a little big for him but he can grow into it.

We went out into the back yard and set up some cans. It took a few tries for him to hit something but when he did, he was so excited. He ran over and gave high fives to everyone who was watching.

Another shooter is born...

Neti Pot

A new craze has hit our house and it is the Neti Pot. Have you heard of it before? I hadn't until Shelley brought this little thing into our house. I hadn't heard of nasal irrigation either but it apparently is quite common and beneficial.

Our entire house has been congested for the last week and Shelley was just looking for some type of relief so enter the Neti Pot.

She likes it but more surprising the boys like it and are eager to use the Neti Pot. This is where I see the most benefit. When you have 2 little boys who haven't quite mastered the art of blowing their nose, this is a good way to clean it out. The first time I saw the Neti Pot in action was when Seth used it and a whole bunch of green stuff came flowing out of his nose. I knew we would have never gotten him to blow out all of that stuff.

I was the last hold out on using the Neti Pot until last night. Seth asked why I hadn't used it and I told him I was scared. Seth, the brave, said "It's just water Daddy, it doesn't hurt."

Well, it doesn't hurt but it was a strange sensation. It almost felt like I was being drowned from the inside out but Seth was right, it didn't hurt.

If you have sinus problems, give it a shot. It might just help.

What Could Have Been

As I watched the Giants beat the Packers, I couldn't help think what could have been.
The Cowboys had it all set up perfectly for them and let it slip away. Now, I am stuck with a Super Bowl match up that leaves me wanting both teams to lose.

Now the countdown to training camp must start.

I'm Just Sick

The Packers and Giants just kicked off and I'm just sick. It was supposed to be the Cowboys...

Rules of Texas

I wasn't born in Texas but as the saying goes "I got here as fast as I could." I am also proud to being raising two Native Texans. I got the below "rules of Texas" in an email and just had to pass it along.

1. Pull your droopy pants up. You look like an idiot.

2. Let's get this straight; it's called a "gravel road." I drive a pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.

3. They are cattle & oil wells. That's what they smell like to you. They smell like money to us. Get over it. Don't like it? I-20 and I-10 go east and west, I-35 goes north and south. Pick one.

4. So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed. We have $250,000 cotton strippers that are driven only 3 weeks a year.

5. So every person in every pickup waves. It's called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.

6. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of doves are coming in, we WILL shoot it out of your hand. You better hope you don't have it up to your ear at! the time.

7. Yeah, we eat catfish & crawfish. You really want sushi & caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.

8. The "Opener" refers to the first day of deer season. It's a religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.

9. We open doors for women. That is applied to all women, regardless of age.

10. No, there's no "vegetarian special" on the menu. Order steak. Or you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham & turkey.

11. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats, vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and Picante Sauce!! Oh, yeah, we don't care what you folks in Cincinnati call that stuff you eat. IT AIN'T REAL CHILI!! Chili was born and bred in San Antonio and real chili never met a bean!

12. You bring "coke" into my house, it better be brown, wet, and served over ice. You bring "Mary Jane" into my house, she better be cute, know how to shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.

13. College and High School Football is as important here as the Lakers and the Knicks, and a dang site more fun to watch.


14. Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards -- it spooks the fish.

15. Colleges? Try Texas Tech, Texas A&M or University of Texas They come outta there with an education plus a love for God and country, and they still wave at passing pickups when they come for the holidays.

16. We have more folks in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, than any other state, so "Don't Mess with Texas ." If you do, you will get whupped by the best.

17. Always remember what our great governor Sam Houston once said: " Texas can make it without the United States , but the United States can't make it without Texas !"

I Owe Chase a New Car

For the past few months Chase has been waking up in the middle of the night and coming to get in bed with us. Now, he is only two and half and not even 3 feet tall but somehow he can take up an entire queen size bed. So, when he arrives, either Shelley or myself usually go to his room or to the couch. We went through this with his older brother so I know it won't last much longer but it is getting old.

Well, last night I promised him I would buy him a new car when he is 16 if he slept the entire night in his bed. Guess what? He did! I had better start saving for that car because I know he won't forget my little promise.

Heard Around The House

Chase is getting really close to being potty trained so he has been wearing a lot of real underwear.

Today when I got home all he had on was a pair of "tighty whities" and he pointed to the fly and said "Daddy, my underwear has a pocket."

Save the Second Amendment

Video Link

Karate and Soccer

This weekend was the first weekend for Seth's karate lessons and Chase's soccer class. Both boys were excited about their new activities.

Seth's Karate was at 9 and Chase's soccer was at 10:00 so I was on Karate duty and Shelley was doing soccer.

Seth loved his karate and he got to learn how to make a fist, punch and kick. But after karate my plan was to go get my haircut but Seth wanted to go watch Chase in his soccer class. I think he knew this was going to be something special for Chase.

When we got there, Chase came running over to me, held up his soccer ball and said, "Daddy, I'm playing soccer!"

He was getting to do something he had dreamed about his whole life. It was really cute.

Cowboys 17, Giants 21

I can't express the amount of disappointment I have regarding this loss. I don't even feel like posting on it yet. I need a time of mourning.

Which Candidate is for You?

I took the quiz here and this is who I match up with. Not surprising to me but I am a little surprised that Obama is the furthest and not Hillary.

I also think it is interesting how opposite the Republicans are to the Democrats.

Cowboys vs. Giants

This is a big week and I can hardly wait for Sunday afternoon. But, I am concerned.

The Giants were the one team I was hoping they wouldn't play. They seem to be on a roll and there is that belief that it is hard to beat a team 3 times in a year.

To me the key is if T.O. plays. Right now the Cowboys seem to be playing a shell game with T.O. Wade Phillips said he would be a game time decision and he didn't seem very positive about T.O.'s condition. But, others including players say he is running and looks good. I guess we won't know the truth until Sunday and maybe that is what the Cowboys want.


Go Cowboys!

Entrepreneur facts

I have been trying to start my own business for the last year, Live to Shoot, and it has been a real learning experience as well as humbling.

I ran across some of these facts which I thought were interesting.

1. The most common reason people start their own business is because they don't want to work for someone else. (I can echo that)
2. 45% of new business are alive 5 years after starting.
3. The average amount used to start a new business is $25,000.
4. 33% of people starting a business are able to have it up and running within 7 years.
5. The average number of employees of a start-up is 1.
6. The most common source of financing is the entrepreneur's savings.

Heard in the car

We had to stop at a drive-thru ATM which caused me to take off my seat belt. After I got the money, I pulled out without putting my seat belt back on. (I have a bad habit of doing while I drive). Before I could put it on I hear this:

Chase: Daddy, buckle up.
Me: I'm sorry, thank you for reminding me.
A few minutes later I hear:

Chase (to know one in particular): Daddy didn't buckle up at the money place, that's not good.

Later, me and the boys went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. One of those things was a box of gummies. When we were getting in the car this was our exchange.

Seth - Can I eat some gummies?
Me - No, let's wait until we get home.
Seth - Mommy let's us.
Me - I'm not Mommy.
Seth - Daddy's mean.

4/19/95 - 9:02 AM

As with everyone, there are certain things that I remember exactly where I was when I heard about them. The first obviously being 9/11. Others include the death of Elvis, the Columbia and Challenger disasters, the burning of the Waco compound, and the bombing in Oklahoma city.

I was listening to talk radio as I usually do when they announced that a federal building had blown up in Oklahoma City. Since Internet access was not readily available I was limited to updates via the radio and I remember thinking how this could happen in the US. It was really one of the most disturbing and sad things I had experienced at that time.

Well, on our way home from Christmas we made a detour to see the memorial. I have seen many memorials, mostly war memorials, and none had the affect on me that this one did. I'm sure once the 9/11 memorial is done and I get to visit it, i will have a similar experience. It was very moving and sad, especially seeing the 19 little chairs representing the children that were killed.

If you have an opportunity I suggest you see it.

Playing in the snow

My favorite part of our recent Christmas vacation is when the boys got to play in the snow. One night, they got about 3 inches of snow at my Mom's house and it was the perfect opportunity for the boys to play in the snow. They had seen snow in the past but it was never enough or last long enough to provide any fun. But this was perfect powder.

So, I went to a local hardware store and bought a plastic sled. Seth and Chase weren't even familar with the concept of sledding so I had to show them.



Once they got the idea, we couldn't get them off of the sleds. They really had a good time and I think they will remember it forever.

One Laptop Per Child

This is what we got the boys for Christmas. It is one of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) laptops. If you aren't familiar with the program then go to their website for more info. But basically, these laptops were created to be priced at $200 and to be sent to children in under developed countries. They have some unique design features as well as functionality which is more advanced than some laptops being sold commercially.

These laptops aren't meant to be sold commercially in the United States but instead people can make a $200 donation and have one sent to a child. But, they opened it up so that between 11/12/07 - 12/31/07, if you donated one you could buy one. So, I purchased 2 and donated 2.

I must admit when I first got it, I was a little disappointed because it wasn't as intuitive as I thought. It isn't Microsoft but Linux so things operate a little differently. Plus, all of the applications and interfaces are Open Source so they don't have much documentation. In fact, the laptops didn't come with any documentation.

Also, they shipped with an older build of the OS so it was real buggy and the wi-fi didn't work at all. But, after surfing some forums and the support wiki (it is all user supported), I found how to upgrade it. That was a challenge since I couldn't get it online. But, I downloaded the update to a flash drive and got it upgraded which finally allowed me to get it online.

But, once I got it online, I found the built in browser to be less than desirable and it couldn't load pages like www.thewiggles.com or www.starfall.com. Getting them online was a big purpose of this so we could free up our computers. So, again, I am a little disappointed.

But, it came with some built in activities which proved to be interesting and offer some interesting possibilities. The boys loved doing the activities which were for their ages so all was not loss.

I tried downloading Firefox to use as the browser but it wasn't designed to work with the OLPC "Sugar" interface so the only way to execute it was via command line. A bit of a stretch for a 4 year old. But, I continued to search for a better browser and finally found a post about using Opera. Opera has a "Sugar" version so it can be executed like all of the other applications and it works 100% better than the built in browser. It has allowed them to get online and play their games.

Now that I am learning my way around, becoming more familiar with Linux and finding a variety of support forums, I am excited about these little laptops.

But, if you do ever get the opportunity to get one, be prepared to learn Linux or you will be forever frustrated.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. I hope everyone has a blessed 2008.

Here are some questions I am wondering the answers to for 2008.

1. Who will be our next President?
2. Did the Cowboys win the Super Bowl?
3. How is Live to Shoot doing?
4. Where am I working and do I enjoy it?
5. Is Chase potty trained? (I really hope so)
6. How is Seth doing in Kindergarten?
7. Did Seth like karate?
8. How did Chase do in his first season of soccer and t-ball?
9. What is something new that I learned?
10. Are the Rangers still pathetic?
11. What are the boys interested in?
12. Has Shelley killed me yet? :-)
13. Have we gotten my Mom to move to Texas?