Jack's Birthday Party Video

Here's a really short video of Jack's birthday party.

Jack's Birthday Party

Jack and Bo's joint birthday party was yesterday and it was a lot of fun. I'll try to post a video of it tomorrow, but for now, here are some pics...

Baby Bennett

CLICK HERE to find out about Travis and Kelly's baby, Bennett. I'm sure they'll appreciate your prayers and encouragement.

One Year

Jack turned 1 over the weekend. We can't imagine life without our boys. Jack is such a happy, fun little guy. He's constantly giving us something to laugh about and there's a funny Jack story almost every day.

I wrote about Sam's first year, but Jack will have to be okay with nothing more than some pictures for you to look at. And check out the video of him laughing - it's a real slice of everyday life at our house.

My Portrait

Sometimes I set myself up...

Over the last few months, Sam has really gotten into drawing. A lot of the time, he'll want Nicole to sit and draw with him. It turns out, she's awesome at drawing - she'll look at a picture or toy and draw it freehand, and it's really good. Anyway, we were all in the playroom yesterday and the boys were playing together, so I asked her to draw me. I know - bad idea. I held a pose and everything. Here are some of her drawings, followed by the picture of me. We laughed forever at the picture.

Garfield

Odie

Clifford

Diego

and...

Me

Man of Steel

Nicole is in California for a few days, so it's just the three guys here. I just put Sam to bed and we were lying side by side like we do every night, talking about all kinds of things. As I was about to leave him for the night, he put his arms around my neck and patted my back. He looked me in the eyes and said, "I see my room and Mommy and Daddy's room. Don't be afraid, Daddy - I keep you safe...I'm Superman." Totally sincere.

What makes it even better is that his bed has Superman sheets and he's in his Superman PJs.

Kid Shows

We've seen some kid shows over the last couple of years. Some of them are pretty cool, but some are kind of creepy. Here are some of the shows and characters that strike me as odd. They range from obnoxious to "I'd soak my kid in Purell if he ever came into contact with that actor in real life." I only know most of these from the incessant commercials for them during the shows we watch.

Dora/Diego

These shows, which try to convince kids that Spanish is the real English, are sometimes cool, but usually obnoxious with their constant demands of the viewer. Plus, Diego plays with a jaguar and Dora helped a strange man find his puppy one time. Who writes these shows? They should focus less on teaching what's spanish for mountain and more on what won't end in tragedy if a kid tried it in real life.


Ralph's World

He smiles non-stop in the commercials, his glasses don't have lenses in them, and I get the impression he listens to death metal when he's not performing for kids.


Dan Zane

Some people love his songs and he might be a great guy. He just strikes me as the uncle parents don't talk about because he's "not right."


Johnny and the Sprites

The most hetero part of this show is the name.


The Doodlebops

Elton John thinks this show is too flamboyant.


The Wiggles

I think this show is pretty good and the songs can be decent. The fact that a pirate shows up all the time is a little weird.

Hot Dog Eating Contest

Click on the picture to watch the hot dog eating contest Igniter Media held last week. Who doesn't love to watch someone come close to puking?

Rob's Movie Clip

Rob is teaching a class at some conference this week. Here's a quick clip he edited to illustrate how bad it is to shove the message of a story down the audience's throat.

It's, of course, from Rocky and Rob re-dubbed the lines. It's hilarious, so check it out...

Weekend with Nanny

We had a great weekend with Nanny and I think Sam is going to be depressed for a while, now that she's gone. The boys really love her and want all of her attention, all the time. Nicole and I are the same way. Here are some pictures from the weekend. Nanny cooked some great food and I'm posting some pictures of it, mostly just to make Christie and Rick jealous.

(click to enlarge)

Fresh cut okra...



Fried okra...



Enchiladas



Peach cobbler - with fresh peaches



The boys loved the food...





The beginning of Jack's food coma...



Great picture...Jack's fading fast



Jack's totally out of it here



Luckily, the bath perked him up



Sam lovin' on his Mommy



Jack was full of energy again...just in time for bed

Passing the Torch

We've been converting our old home movies to DVD and it's been a lot of fun to watch them again. It turns out that 90% of all our home movies are of Rob and me fake fighting. Another 8% is reading The Night Before Christmas, and 2% is everything else.

Here's Rob's son, Cobb, watching his daddy and me reenact Rocky IV. He gets really into it! Our only hope is that our children will love violence as much as we did.

Notice little Sam Caire as the ref.

4th of July Pics