Wow, so today is August 6, 2010 and that means that it has been one complete year since my first post here at Daddy’s Fish Bowl. Now normally I would make a huge deal out of this, pop champagne, and break out the noise makers. You guys would send all types of lavish gifts to congratulate me on my 1 year blogversary and we would all party like it’s 1999 (wait, is that saying still relevant?) Well hold on to all of your presents because I’m not making a big stink about it due to the fact that I took a 6 month hiatus. It doesn’t really seem proper to celebrate an anniversary if you’ve only been together half of the year. So today is just another regular day in the blogosphere for me. Maybe next year we can have a party.

Don’t get all down and out just yet however, because today is special for a much greater reason. Today is Fefe’s birthday, so that’s more than reason enough to party and celebrate!!! So with that said, I’m going to step away from the computer and go enjoy some quality time with my wife for her birthday. As a parting gift, I leave you with an original poem that I wrote and “performed” for her, which describes how truly special she is.

I Love You Babe, Happy Birthday!!!!

Should of got me an iPad for Father's Day

So yesterday was Father’s Day huh?  The one day of the year were Dads around the world are given unanimous appreciation for their efforts as father’s.  For me, Father’s Day is always a great and special day (because I love getting gifts, lol).  However, this Father’s Day ended in pain and suffering and with me being all alone.  That description sounds somewhat similar to the type of information that I was receiving from my Twitter timeline and Facebook feed,   It appears that Father’s Day isn’t a great holiday for everyone, I witnessed a lot of male bashing, which is probably well deserved, but it definitely showed me The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly of Father’s Day.  Since, my day started off great, but didn’t end in the same fashion, it seems like that good, bad, and ugly trend that I noticed on social media in reference to Father’s Day isn’t only restricted to bad Dads.

THE GOOD

It's our house. The windows are pics of the familhy

Well my day started off with the relaunch of this site, which was excellent! The response and support from all of you guys was exceptional and I honestly appreciate it.  Things only got better from there, once the wife and kids woke up, I was showered with hugs & kisses (after a short delay) as well as Father’s Day wishes and an exceptional amount of attention.  The wife cooked breakfast, and the kids showed off their gifts, one of which is pictured above. Things were going great, I felt like the King of my castle and was loving every minute.  The boys and I had an awesome wrestling session and played with cars, action figures, and play tools; you know, all the activities that great Dad’s are made of.  After that, I was allowed to enjoy a nice PS3 session, courtesy of Fefe occupying the kids time. I was under the impression that things couldn’t get any better.  Then it happened, the wife told me that she was taking me to HOOTER’S for lunch!!!! WOW, so it’s Father’s Day and my reward is to look at chics in skimpy outfits without detrimental consequence?  Plus I was promised a nice Angus beef steak dinner and massage to top off the night! Does it get any gooder than that? I don’t think so! (I know “gooder” isn’t a word, but it fits with the theme of the post, so roll with it)

THE BAD

A grown man with Silly Bandz? SMH, FML

Let me explain something here, the good, bad, and ugly don’t always come in that exact order. In my case :”the bad” started on Saturday and didn’t get really bad until the evening of Father’s Day. I received a package from my mom on Saturday and while I thought this would be a nice gift to celebrate my upcoming day, it turned out to be another prank in our long going feud (to be later explained in a future post).  As soon as I opened the package, I knew it was going to be a problem.  She sent me a card, but for some reason it was really puffy and soft, that could only mean one thing; my mom had done the unthinkable and sent me a pack of Silly Bandz for Father’s Day. She knows that I despise those stupid things so she got a kick out of hearing of my reaction when opening them.  The Silly Bandz were bad, but it was a good joke that I could live with.  What I couldn’t live with was the fact that Fefe through manipulation of our child, Ty, forced me to wear them on Father’s Day.  I think the things look completely ridiculous on kids so imagine the shame and embarrassment that I felt while walking around with these brightly colored rubber bands around my wrist.  Matter of fact, you don’t have to imagine, just look at the pic, it’s written all over my face!

THE UGLY

This is where things got really bad! We decided to have a nice family night out at putt putt to celebrate Father’s Day. It started out great, besides the fact that I was wearing a rainbow of rubber bands on my arm that was cutting off my circulation.  Our local putt putt spot was running a special where Dads got to golf free. The weather was great, and I was with my family, what else could I ask for?  Well I guess I should have asked for my wife to be blessed with the reflexes of a ninja because the first swing of the game ended up being the last!  This was Ty’s first miniature golf outing and Fefe was busy demonstrating the proper golf swing technique used by all of the greats.  After the demo, she moved to the side and prepared to watch Ty make history!  Well he almost made her history as he proceed to swing his club as if he was in the US Open.  Ty completely missed the ball, the putter continued moving forward until it connected with Fefe’s right temple.  It was extremely frightening, it happened so fast that I didn’t know exactly what happened.  After ensuring that Fefe was still breathing and giving her a 20 question quiz, we headed home and she went to sleep.  Ty and I worked on a super special get well soon card for Fefe and shortly after I put the kids in bed and was all alone for Father’s Day.  Instead of my steak dinner, I had left overs.  Instead of sipping fine wine, I drank cheap vodka.  Instead of a massage, I let the dog walk on my back. Yeah, to end Father’s Day in a manner such as that is quite ugly indeed.  But I’m thankful that my wife is okay and wasn’t badly injured, plus you have to love Ty’s thoughtfulness of his card, so I guess the good prevailed!

Can you decipher the message? "GET WELL SOON MOMMY"

I know, I know, I promised you guys 3 lists this week and the last one was suppose to be a gift guide for husbands and wives. Well as I started making that list, I got to thinking, how can I possibly publish this thing without compromising the many surprises that I have planned for Fefe? There was no way around it, so I decided to cut the wife portion of the list and just put out a gifts for Dads guide. After creating the “guys only” list, I thought it would be a bit selfish of me to put that list up without a counterpart for my female readers. I didn’t want to be accused of 1) Only looking out for the fellas or 2) Trying to “hint” at things I wanted for Christmas. If you knew some of my readers like I do, then you’d know that accusations fly freely, lol! Therefore, there will be no last gift guide, instead I’d like to hear some of the things that you’ll be shopping for this holiday season and some of the things that you’re hoping your significant other will be buying for you. Please share, I’m always interested to find out how closely my gift choices align with other individuals.

Welcome back to day two of Daddy’s Fish Bowl’s 2009 Holiday Gift Guide.  I hope you enjoyed the options presented yesterday for toddlers.  Today we’re shifting gears and taking a look at some options that your preschooler is sure to enjoy.  Shopping for this age group can become a tad more difficult as you attempt to balance fun toys and learning toys, our list contains a good amount of both, but as always, if you have suggestions that should be added or comments on any of the items listed, be sure to let it be known in the comments section.

First Act Discovery Designer Jr. Drum Set -Now you might be a little leery about this gift, as your ears may never forgive you.  But isn’t the holiday season all about “It’s better to give than receive?”  Making music is a favorite pasttime for every child, so let yours become as creative as possible with this drum set. You can pick this up at Toys R Us for about $80.

Deluxe Black Moon Shoes -Not quite ready to splurge on that trampoline that they’ve been asking for?  Well Moon Shoes are the perfect answer.  With all the bouncing and hopping around, fun and excitement are sure to be found, not to mention some good ol fashion exercise as well.

 
Leapster 2 Learning Game System -This is perfect for those long road trips, it’ll keep your little one busy for quite some time and will also provide valuable learning opportunities.  With the enormous selection of games available, you’ll be able to find something to supplement any area of your child’s learning curriculum. 

Gator Golf -Are you training the next Tiger Woods?  Well, this game is a good place to start.  Gator golf is a fun game that you’ll probably enjoy just as much as your child.  It sure beats going out for a round of miniature golf in the winter time.

Air Hogs Laser Micro Zero Gravity - This toy just looks awesome. I know my little guy loves remote control cars, so he’d really get a kick out of this one.  I mean come on, it can go on walls and ceilings, can you imagine the type of race track your child could dream up with those type of possibilities?

Smart Cycle Extreme- Exercise, Learning, and Fun all in one? Hey, I’m sold!  You can’t beat that right, one of the biggest knocks on video games is that kids become couch potatoes, well the smart cycle takes that logic and throws it out the window.  With games ranging from counting to reading, there’s something available for everyone.

Lego Walkie Talkies -There’s no better way to unleash a child’s creativity than going on a secret mission and keeping in contact when you become separated.  The possibilities are endless, spy’s, army officers, policemen, with a couple of walkie talkies in your hands, you and your child can become anything you want.

3-In-1 Smart Sports Plug ‘N Play Game -This is another one that’ll get the kids up and about.  It’s perfect for the winter months when going outside to enjoy their favorite sports isn’t the best option.  Instead they can stay inside, keep warm and swing away in a variety of sports.  With the simple plug n play setup, this ones sure to be a winner.

GeoTrax Transportation System -Trains, Trains, Trains, little boys love trains.  However at this age, they may not be ready for the more complex, expensive models.  GeoTrax has the answer, this system is sturdy and extremely customizable, so they’ll have lots to do.  There are also several add ons that are sure to keep the fun going.

Super Friends Batcave - This batcave comes equipt with tiny action figures that are perfect for tiny hands.  It has several compartments and gadgets that will assist in creating some very memorable play sessions.

Hello all, in the spirit of Black Friday coming up, this weeks posts will be dedicated to holiday gift guides.  There will be a separate guide for toddlers, preschoolers, and a combined guide for husbands and wives.  The gift guides will feature some items that the boys already own, as well as items that we plan to purchase for them this Christmas.  The items are in no special order, they are all gifts that I find interesting and think the kids will enjoy playing with.  Please feel free to add items to the list in the comment section, or if you already own a particular item, share your experience with it.  I hope you enjoy, talk to you soon.

Fisher-Price Handy Manny’s Repair Shop - What boy doesn’t want a cool tool bench? With all the included tools and sounds, your child will be repairing things (or making them worse) just like Dad does  

Mega Bloks Build ‘n Go Table - Building blocks is a favorite past time for any child, with this table the toddlers creativity and projects can soar to new heights  

Imaginarium Giant Bead Maze Cube - You usually see these at doctors offices and day care centers, but one thing I’ve always noticed is that they can hold a childs attention for a very long time.  I don’t know what it is about this toy, but kids love it.  

Baby Farm Friends Bowling - Bowling is fun for kids of all ages, this set includes different farm animals which toddlers also enjoy learning about    

Fisher-Price Mickey Mouse’s Magic Choo Choo Train Set - Train sets are awesome, but for a toddler, they may be a bit complex.  Mickey comes in to solve that issue with the magic choo choo train which lays its own tracks.  Sounds like a winner to me.  

Vtech Jungle Gym Ride and Learn Giraffe Bike - So maybe your little one isn’t quite ready for a real bike yet, but this stationary one is sure to put them on the right track.  Throw in some simple learning games for them to do while peddling and you’ve got a winner.  

Fisher-Price The Original Tickle Me Elmo - Kids love Elmo, do I have to say any more?  

Elefun – The Butterfly Catchin’ Game - I think this one may be a tad bit out of a young toddlers age group, but can definitely see them growing into it quickly. I can imagine this game providing tons of exercise and entertainment.  

Tonka Toughest Mighty Dump Truck - Construction vehicles always excite children, I don’t know if it’s their large size, the noises they make, or the activities they perform, whatever the case, kids love them so they’ll love replicating their actions at home.  

Playskool Tonka Bounce Back Racer - Ah, the first remote control car.  This one looks simple enough to control and have some fun with.  At this age, we can’t give them the keys to the car just yet, so why not settle for the next best thing

Santa's Little Helper?

Hey there everyone, how have you all been doing? These past two weeks have been rough, everyone being sick and all, but for the most part things are better. I’m still not 100%, but I couldn’t stay away from blogging for too long. So did you guys miss me? Ah, why do I even ask, I know you missed me! lol.

So while Fefe & I were sick, battling colds, a new Ty emerged from the darkness and tried to nurse us back to health with kindness and generosity. It wasn’t really from the darkness, I’ve just always wanted to say that, you always hear it in movies and cartoons, but can never find an appropriate place to throw that phrase out. So anyways, Ty has been uncharacteristically good these pass few weeks, cleaning up after himself, taking naps like he’s suppose to, etc. It all seemed kinda fishy to me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. He swore up and down that he was only trying to be helpful and make things easy since we weren’t feeling well. In part, I believe him because the kid does have a big heart; I mean a BIG heart, watermelon size. But really though, how good can one kid be without incentive? Until yesterday, I was starting to buy into Ty’s genuine nature, until he slipped up and gave me a glimpse into his true motives.

While Ty and I were playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii yesterday, he asked a question that put it all in perspective for me. Out of nowhere he says: “If Santa Claus comes down the chimney, and gets into the house from the fire place, how will he get in if we have that glass in front of it?” Immediately a montage of images and scenes replayed in my head, showing all of his acts of kindness, but this time in a new light. It all made sense now, Christmas is coming up and he’s trying to ensure that he’s on the “good kid” list.

It must have started after Halloween, because that’s when the Christmas decorations come out. It’s like as soon as Halloween ends, Christmas season starts; and when Christmas season starts, the push to ensure you’re on the “good kid” list begins. I remember going to target the day right after Halloween and seeing Christmas decorations everywhere. I remember because it pissed me off, like come on, the holiday is two months away, do we really have to start now? What about Thanksgiving? Well seeing those decorations must have jumpstarted Ty’s mind because when we got home that day, he went to his room and didn’t come back. I went to check on him and the kid was sleep. Fefe and I both thought, maybe he wasn’t feeling good as he was on the tail end of his cold. But when he woke up, Ty told us that he just knew it was time for a nap so he went to take it. WHAT? What 5 year old kid does that? I was confused, but commended his initiative. Fast forward a few days and I’m getting ready to leave for work; I notice my sneakers are sitting at my bedroom door and I’m thinking, why are these here? Ty pops out his room and tells me that he knew my shoes didn’t belong downstairs so he brought them up here so Mommy wouldn’t have to. How sweet of him, Fefe was still pretty sick, so I just took it as he was trying to help out. Then a few days later, things started to get peculiar; Fefe and I had blown up the air mattress downstairs to lay out and watch a movie, we didn’t take it down before going to bed, but magically, the next morning it was deflated. Ty had deflated the mattress, folded the blankets, and made up his own bed all within the span of maybe 30 mins. It was just wrong, no 5 year old is that helpful just for the fun of it. But at that time, I had no concrete evidence to refute his claims of genuine kindness.

But now with the knowledge that I’ve gained yesterday, all the pieces fall into place and the big picture is showing bright as ever! I remember being a kid and all the threats that my mom would hand out. When I was younger it was: “I’m telling Santa not to bring you anything” as I got older it became “Christmas is gonna be cancelled”. The threats always worked too, I would snap into shape at the mere thought of not getting those gifts. Now as a parent on the other side, I can see the pure power that the holiday season has over children and it’s quite frightening. The power to make a child, who can barely keep his room clean, tackle multiple chores around the house without a single complaint, is a power that can be devastating in the wrong hands. For now Fefe & I won’t abuse it, but I see unlimited potential for the future: getting the house repainted, a new deck built, re-wiring the house, we can have them do it all (insert evil laugh). The possibilities are limitless, just uttering these four simple words “Christmas will be cancelled” will grant me free child labor for many years to come!

Elmo & A Ninja (A Deadly Combination)

Happy Halloween!!! Oh wait, I guess I’m a little late huh?  Well, I’m just like “The Simpsons”, remember how they always aired their Halloween special on the Sunday after Halloween? Okay so here we go.  First off, I’m writing this post from the hotel room in Clemson, S.C. so I’m away from my normal blogging locating and it feels a little weird.  I’m out here on a business trip (which will probably end up being a blog post of its own) but I didn’t want to leave you guys without some delightful eye candy (get it? halloween, candy, eye candy, lol) to get you through your Monday!

Tre going in for the kill

Halloween was freakin awesome!  This was Tre’s first Halloween that he ‘kind of’ got it.  I say kind of, because there were some stumbling blocks along the way, but he eventually picked up on the concept and got into the spirit of Trick or Treating.

Ty wasting no time cracking that pumpkin open

Let’s start with the pumpkin carving.  Ty is quickly becoming an old pro at making jack o lanterns, I mean diving right in two hands deep and really gutting that thing.  Tre on the other hand, only wanted to blow out the candle that we put inside the pumpkin.  I tried to get him involved in the carving activities, but when I told him to pull those seeds out, he looked at me like “um, I don’t think so buddy”.

Do you want to help Tre?

The final product

Once the pumpkin was done, it was time to get the boys dressed and ready to hit the mean streets of Raleigh for some good ol fashioned Trick or Treating. Ah, that made me think of something.  What’s up with no one outside of the Greater Buffalo area knowing about “Beggars Night”?  A few days before Halloween, Fefe and I were having a conversation about “Beggars Night” and she didn’t know what the hell I was talking about.  So I turned to the Twitter world to help explain it to her; only thing is, no one outside of Buffalo knew what I was talking about either.  Is Buffalo the only city where kids went around Trick or Treating the night before Halloween?  Can someone out there please confirm the concept of “Beggars Night”, so that Fefe can stop calling Buffalo a weird city?  Anyways, so on to getting dressed right, I guess Tre thought he was going as Daddy, because he was trying his hardest to walk in my boots.

No Tre, wrong costume!!!

Once we straightened out the boot situation, we were all set.  There was only one problem, no one explained to Tre how Trick or Treating works.  The first few houses were quite hilarious, he was getting his bearings and everyone enjoyed watching him learn the ropes.  The first few houses we went to, he wouldn’t even go next to the person with the candy bowl.  But once he did, Tre’s lack of Trick or Treating savvy put smiles on all of our faces.  The first time that he actually got some candy on his own, he held on to it for dear life, as if the rightful owner was going to hunt him down and claim their belongings.  His first piece of candy was a Twizzler and it stayed in his hand for 3 houses.  On the 4^th house, he decided that the Twizzler wasn’t good enough anymore and proceeded to “trade” with the lady holding the candy bowl.  Yup that’s right folks, the kid actually gave up his piece of candy to get a better piece.  The lady tried to give it back, but he no longer wanted any parts of the Twizzler.  Ty feverishly tried to explain that you’re suppose to put the candy in your bucket and save it for later, but it took Tre a few more houses before he caught on.  After while though, he had the hang of it and was Trick or Treating like a pro, screaming out “Trick or Treat” at the top of his lungs and all.  Until someone made the mistake of handing him a sucker that is; once he got his hands on that, it was all over.  He fought tooth and nail until we finally broke down and opened the sucker for him.  Once that sucker was in his mouth, Trick or Treating was all over for him.  He didn’t want to say “Trick or Treat” anymore, didn’t want to grab anymore candy, didn’t even want his costume on, all he wanted was that sucker, so Ty carried on without his teammate but neither one of them seemed to mind.

The game ending sucker

A ninja without his Elmo, is no ninja at all, lol

Fefe & I have 3 anniversaries: our wedding day, the day of the proposal, and the day we met. Why we have 3 is beyond me, but I guess that’s the price you pay being married to a beautiful woman.  Once we got married, she told me that I didn’t have to remember the proposal anniversary anymore if I didn’t want to.  But that just sounds like entrapment to me, you know, I forget and then land myself in the dog house for the next week.  So today, October 12, 2009 we celebrate the 2 year anniversary of the day that ruined (I joke) enhanced my life forever.  In the spirit of celebration, I present to you my first unofficial blog post ever!  It was taken from my Facebook notes and describes how I orchestrated the proposal. Enjoy!

The Idea:
Fefe is really into horoscopes, so I figured creating a phony psychic hotline would be a good idea to set the stage for the proposal. I could get one of my friends to play the psychic (thanks Jovan), and tell them information about Fefe and our relationship. After letting the psychic divulge the information that I had given, she would then explain that she sees marriage in Fefe’s future and that Fefe should look to the stars for all her answers. I would use a black light to conceal a hidden Marry Me message surrounded by stars.

Eyes of Cassandra Flyer

The Execution:
I created this flyer (pictured above) that said she receives a free 5 minute reading from the Eyes of Cassandra psychic hotline and mailed it to the house. The reading would take place on a specific day and time and a passcode was required.  When it arrived, she opened the letter, and immediately says “this is fake, it’s a scam, they’re gonna take 5 mins to get to know you then charge you” and threw the paper out. So I’m sitting here literally watching my plans go down the drain and immediately had to go into damage control mode.  I was able to convince her to call the psychic by telling her it would be fun to screw with the psychic and ask her crazy questions like “how old will I be when I need dentures.”  She agreed to call and I was glad.  Things were going just as I had planned.

A few days before the date I called Jovan, who graciously agreed to be “Cassandra”, lol. I told her some information that she could use to build Fefe up.  I told her to mention that we had just bought a house, had a baby on the way, and Fefe’s profession.   She said that she knew just how to make everything flow and sound believable.  Jovan is from New Orleans so I had all the faith in the world that if anybody could pull off the psychic persona, it’d be her.

The day of the proposal, I got to the hotel early and set up the room. I couldn’t find a UV pen anywhere on the planet Earth so I had to end up using hairspray. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to create stars and write a message with hairspray??? Well if you don’t, let me fill you in – it’s pretty damn difficult!  But I was able to pull it off, quite well considering the circumstances.

Happy “Anniversary” Sweetheart, I love you!

Happy Birthday Ty

Today our oldest boy turns 5 years old; well actually as far as he’s concerned, he’s been 5 for the past 3 days already.  Ty was having a tad bit of difficulty grasping the concept that the day we were celebrating his birthday, wasn’t his actual birthday.  After going through a few mental exercises to drive this point home to him, we finally conceded and decided that it’d be best to just let the kid think his birthday was on Saturday; the day of his party.  It worked out pretty well, until yesterday that is, when he went to his “Kindereadiness” class. 

The teacher made a point to make a big deal out of Ty’s birthday being today, she ensured that the entire class knew his birthday was coming up & had them sing Happy Birthday to him.  She kept saying tomorrow you’re going to be 5 years old Ty, and he kept saying “I’m already 5”.  This was a super awkward moment, and it occurred several times.  She asked him if he was going to do anything special for his birthday and he replied that his birthday has already past by and he had a special party.  I think this clued her in to his logic because I could have sworn that I saw a light bulb turn on above her head and just like that, the questions stopped.  The key point to take away here: next year if Ty hasn’t grasped the concept of a calendar yet, his birthday party will be held ON his actual birthday! No more confusing and embarrassing birthday moments for us.

On to the party, and oh what a party it was!  Not as many kids as we had hoped for, but Ty had a BALL and that’s all that mattered.  He was surrounded by people that loved and cared for him and loved being the center of attention ALL day long.  We started off by having everyone meet up at the house so that we could have cake and open presents.  Have you checked into the costs of having an actual party at one of these kid places?  The cost is astronomical, it’s utterly ridiculous!  So we decided to have the “party” at the house and then just take the kids, party hats and all, on to “Monkey Joe’s” to have fun and play.  I pat myself on the back for this brilliant idea because it worked out really well and the Ty had no clue that this wasn’t the actual way that a birthday party at “Monkey Joe’s” works.

Anyways, back to the party.  We sing Ty Happy Birthday and then begin to pass out cake.   Ty, whose eyes are bigger than his belly, requested that he get a piece that contained all of the balloons.  I told him that was a huge piece but he insisted.  I give him credit, because he definitely put a dent in that piece of cake, but the pressure of eating the cake while staring at a mountain of presents started to weigh in.  Once he decided enough was enough, he began to tear into his gifts, and with each present his face instantly lit up with joy.  After opening the gifts, he was a little disappointed to learn that playing with them would have to wait, because “Monkey Joe’s” was calling us.  His disappointment quickly faded once the thought of bouncing around like a jumping bean came to mind.  We spent about 3 hours letting the kids run around and tire themselves out.  Well that second part isn’t exactly true; Fefe & I were the ones tired out.  By the time we got home, Ty was bopping around and ready to play.

I won’t bore you with all the details of our play time experiences, and believe me there are TONS & TONS of play time stories to be shared!  But I do want to talk about two of the more comical events.  One of my friends told me that when I buy toys for the kids, I shop for myself first and them second, in a “hmmm. What would I like to play with” kind of way.  I think he may be correct.  I bought Ty a TYCO R/C Stunt Psycho Vehicle – Green
and I thought it was really cool.  I couldn’t wait for him to open it up and try it out.  The car is capable of doing flips, but whenever it flipped upside down Ty would run to it and turn it over.  So I’m like, Ty, let me see and I’ll show you how to flip it over.  I’m trying to figure it out and as soon as I got the thing standing up, ready to flip, the kid says “It’s my birthday, so you gotta let me play with it anyway I want.” The boy totally deflated me, I was so pumped playing with that car and the minute that I was about the grab the prize of a cool stunt, he burst the bubble, and I had no choice but to hand the controller over.  He was right, it was his birthday and as we had been telling him: today we had to play by his rules.  After the RC car fiasco, we moved on to the Nerf guns and had an all out war.  Ty of course had to get the cooler of the two guns (I was disappointed) and boy did he use it to light me up!  You gotta understand, this gun shoots up to 20 darts in rapid fire succession, it’s lethal.  During one round, he’s firing away and I’m ducking and dodging most of them until BAM, he lands a direct hit and the dart lands directly on my nose AND STICKS.  I’m not kidding, I wouldn’t make this up or stage the below photo.  The kid, at 5 years old had done something that I haven’t achieved in my entire life.  Getting a Nerf shot to the nose that sticks is like getting a hole in one on a par 6 course. But he did it and I had no choice but to submit and bow down to his Nerf greatness. 

Happy Birthday Buddy, Great Shot!

Hello everyone, welcome back!  How was your long weekend?  Did you do anything exciting to end the summer with a bang?  Well I hope you did because our family sure didn’t.  I had spent most of last week planning a pretty entertaining weekend for our family to indulge in, as a farewell to summer and a welcome home to fall (a much more pleasant season here in the south).  But instead of sending summer off with a bang, we quietly let it leave with a fizzle because… yup you guessed it, we were sick, AGAIN!

Looking back on the weekend, it wasn’t all so bad; but when compared to what was planned, it makes that statement a little harder to make.  We were supposed to visit this new cornfield maze that just opened up in our area.  I’ve gone to cornfield mazes more than a few times and for the most part it’s always a good time.  Fefe and the kids haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing the fun of one of these mazes so I thought it’d be a good activity to jumpstart our weekend.  After the maze we were going to visit some friends who just recently had a baby that we have yet to meet.  I had also scored some free bowling passes thanks to one of my Twitter friends.  Saturday was apparently the day that the bowling association was attempting to break the world record for most games bowled in one day.  We all love bowling, so I thought it’d be a great idea for us to participate in this historic event.  The plan was to round out the weekend with a kiddy movie at the dollar show (yes, regular theater prices are way too high) and cooking on the grill.  Now doesn’t that sound like a nice way to end the summer?  Yeah, I thought so too, but unfortunately our bodies had other plans that didn’t agree with the itinerary that I laid out  so things didn’t go that way for us.

Let’s start with Tre, “the stinkinator”.  He’s finally getting his last few teeth in; they’ve all broken through the gums and just need to fully show themselves.  A little known fact is that when babies are teething they are likely to have diarrhea along with the process.  This makes no sense to me; teeth come in so feces must come out?  Is this some baby law needed to keep balance in the body?  I know that when you laugh everyone can see your teeth, but this takes the term “shits & giggles” to a whole new level.  I don’t know how many stinky diapers we changed this past weekend, but I do know at one point there were several in one hour.  Fefe did most of the dirty work but I got my hands dirty as well.  It’s kind of hard to partake in any fun activities when you have to keep stopping to change diapers.  Can you imagine taking time out from finding our way through the cornfield maze to change a dirty diaper?

Next up, Ty and myself.  Ty had a sore throat (or so he claimed) and I had a sore throat and a fever.  Ty may have very well started out with a sore throat but I’m pretty sure it cleared up quickly.  See, he’s like me when he gets sick, we’re both taken totally out of commission and act like big babies.  But this weekend Ty wasn’t out of commission at all, he was in overdrive, so I think it was all a ploy to get cough drops. I don’t know whose bright idea (probably mine) it was to buy cough drops that actually taste good, but someone did.  Once Ty got a hold of those cough drops it was all over, his throat hurt the entire weekend just so he could keep popping cough drops.  Even though he was supposedly “so sick”, he was surprisingly helpful, he cleaned up his toys without being asked and checked on me a million times to make sure I was okay and that I didn’t need anything.  I thought that was sweet so his deceptive sore throat was forgiven.  Ty and I both started to feel a little better yesterday; but as luck would have it, Fefe started feeling bad.  It was like all three of our sicknesses jumped from us to her.  After a weekend of taking care of three boys, the thanks she gets is becoming sick herself.

The weekend wasn’t all bad though, we did get to do a few fun things.  I got to take the boys skating before I got sick.  Tre just ran around like a madman and Ty kept falling down like a horse just learning to walk.  It was fun though and probably the highlight of this entire dreadful weekend.  We also got so spend a little time outside and even though I wasn’t up to playing with the boys, it was fun watching them enjoy the cooler weather that we’ve been experiencing.  Ty drove Tre around in his Hummer, which was quite a sight to see since Ty definitely isn’t the next Mario Andretti.  Fefe and I got to spend some quality time together making “Garbage Plates”.  If you don’t know what they are I definitely suggest you try one.  Fefe was skeptical at first but after her first time she’s been hooked.  You can read about them here; they look disgusting and intimidating but, taste surprisingly good.  Our “Garbage Plate” masterpiece is pictured below, let me know if you’d like the receipe.

Homemade Garbage Plate