What is valuable

Tomorrow, because it is "V" day at pre-school for Isaiah, Isaiah has to bring something that is valuable. So before he went to bed tonight we had him pick out what was valuable. So he went up to his room looked around for a while. Finally he decided that he was going to take this one wooden truck. At first it seemed like a odd choice to Heather and I. But then he said I want this because me and my daddy put this together. Sure enough we did put it together. That was this summer. He still thinks it is valuable. Wow. That is blowing my mind. I would have never thought that it meant that much to him. I think I am not going to go to work anymore and just play with my son all day.

Being a Parent

One of the things that you never think of before you have a kid (or at least I never put much thought into it) is the fact that your kids are watching you all day long. And what you do and how you do it will sink into their heads.
Certain things, you just don't care. I realize that my son has to grab his bowl of cereal and pick it up and drink the extra milk after he is done eating because his daddy does it. I get that. That is not really good or bad, more just weird. Ever so often Isaiah will say something, and we will laugh because we know he is just repeating something we have said.
I dread the day Isaiah start airing all our dirty laundry. You know like "Mommy said that daddy was being really bad the other day because he..." So far it hasn't been that bad.
But hopefully some things that I do will be positive thing. Hopefully there will be things that I want Isaiah and Samuel to repeat.
You know when you are at work you have to play the part. You know that you will be watched when you are at work. Then you can come home and just relax. As a parent, that doesn't happen. Your kids are watching you constantly.
I accept the task of being a parent. I look forward to raising our kids. I am going to do my best to enjoy it. It is just not going to be easy.

He stood up

What am I talking about you ask? I am talking about my son. He stood up when he went the bathroom today. This is a first. I am so proud of him. He is becoming such a big boy. Who would have ever thunk it. That not only I would be writing about my son going the bathroom but you would be reading about it. Amazing huh?

Dan -- They call me the green man

I felt very green today. Let me explain. It all started with the nice weather. Because of the nice weather my kids wanted to go outside. No problem right? We have the swing set and the sand box real close to each other. Ideally speaking they would stay right there and it would be super easy. Well that doesn't work with little kids. So that got me thinking, we need a fence to keep them in. Well that got me thinking even further. I knew where there was a bunch of sections of fence that were removed and just sitting there. So I thought "I will recycle the old fence." In order to pick these sections of fence up, I brought home the box truck from the Lighthouse. Since I had the box truck, I thought that it was the day my wife has been waiting for 2 years. It was load up all the scrap metal day. I had a old dryer, swing set, water tank, oil tank, and a couple of miscellaneous metal items. We loaded them up in the truck. Tomorrow I am going to one of the greenest places I know, Marshall's scrap yard. They have been in the recycling business for a long time. Funny thing is if you didn't know better you would think it just a junk yard. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to unload all the scrap and get the cash. If all goes perfect, I will be able to use the money from the scrap to buy the 4x4's to put up the fence. Am I green or what? I will let you know how well I made out.

Bracket Time

I try to fill out my NCAA bracket every year. Now I will only enter the ones that are free. I just can't help myself. I know I will have Pitt winning the whole thing. But then again the last three years I have had them winning the whole thing. I can not look at these things objectively. I do it with my heart.
I am convinced that every one is just guessing too. And someone will get lucky and have all the right choices. Some year I am hoping that is me. Then I can tell everyone how smart I am. Until then I will just tell them that I just filled it out in 5 minutes :)

Our Road, it is wonderful!

If I think back to last week at this time our road was a mess to say the least. It got so bad that I would not even drive up it. I would park my car and walk the rest of the way. We have had our neighbors working on it a lot. Today, the gravel came. Wow! it is amazing we have a real driveway now! It is so nice. There is no more mud bulging. I am really thankful for my neighbors for fixing our road.

Hanging Outside

It is official, I think everyone in my family has cabin fever. I think we are just so sick of being inside. So lately the weather has been better. I know it still is only going up to about 50 degrees. But, I am still taking advantage of it. Tonight after dinner, the boys and I were outside swinging on the swing set and playing in the sand box. Anything to be outside. I realized that I am probably and outside guy and so are my boys. That is OK with me, there is a big world to explore and I am looking forward to exploring it with them!

Getting my family going in the morning

On Tuesdays and Thursdays Isaiah has preschool. Now on Tuesdays Heather's mom comes and watches Sam while she takes Isaiah to school and I go to work. On Thursday's, Heather has to take Sam with her. So let me tell you what happens on Thursdays. I probably get ready the quickest in our family. But for some reason I have to get up first, get my shower and get ready. Then I have to try and wake Heather up. Followed by try to wake up Isaiah. Back to Heather and try again to get her up. Back to Isaiah to try again to wake him up. Then one more time to Heather give her the "you better get up know line." Back to Isaiah, pick him out of bed and start getting him dressed. He is still mostly sleeping so not very cooperative. Down stairs get Isaiah started on breakfast. Back upstairs get Sam up and dressed. Sam, by far, is the easiest one to get up. Back downstairs to get Sam breakfast. Pack Isaiah's snack. Yell up to Heather that she has to get going. Tell Isaiah to hurry up and finish eating. Then make sure Isaiah goes the bathroom and brushes his teeth. Get both boys shoes and socks on. Get everyone coats on. Tell Heather that Isaiah is going to be late. Finally get everyone out the door buckle the kids in, kiss Heather goodbye and off they go. At this point I get in my car and go to work. Ahh fun times.

Bonding with my nieghbors

We live on a private road. It is the responsibility of all of us to do the maintenance on the road. Turns out we have a slight (the understatement of the year) drainage problem. It ended up so bad that yours truly would not even drive up the road. So something had to be done. That something involved a couple of big machines and a bunch of people.
Granted I did not do much except moral support. But it was fun hanging out with my neighbors working on the road. I got to know them a whole lot better. It was fun learning different things about them. Just getting to know each other better.
Sad part, it took basically a disaster for us to bond like this. Hopefully, these relationships will continue. And Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, our road will be fixed!

A quick update on the health of our family

As I write this, I can honestly say, that my family is getting better. Last week we were all sick. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think Sam is the most amazing. I forgot how much of a fun loving goofball he can be. Now that he is feeling good again, he is back to his normal games. Boy did I miss them. Sure does make you thankful when you are healthy.