Merry Christmas

Great Christmas this year! The big Santa gifts were the Jeep that Max is driving in the photo and a huge bounce house. I need to post some more photos but we are too busy playing. The kids are very happy.

Great Max Quote

Today, Max was getting a lesson on the iPhone and then he saw that I could see something on the MacBook Pro that was also sent to the iPhone. He said, "whoa, phones and computers are wild".

Tree Day 2007

We drove a couple of hours to a tree farm to pick out a Christmas tree. Max snagged the biggest tree we have ever had. We went on a hay ride, fed some goats, drank hot chocolate, and watched Alex chase a rooster. It was fun and the kids had a great time.

Motorcycle Max

This weekend I took Max for a spin on the motorcycle! He loved it of course. He did just what he was told and held on TIGHT.

That Was Amazing!

This evening, I couldn't find any shorts to wear so I had my bathing suit on. Alex sees it and thinks we are going outside to play in the backyard with water games (it's November). She got so excited and ran over to me trying to take off her shirt which she has not done before by herself. She got it most of the way off, nearly fell backwards, and then was successful in getting the shirt all the way off. She screamed with excitement, "I took shirt off" and then followed with, "that was amazing!". Really funny.

Max is Getting Married (again)

We went down to catfish hole last night and max got real shy then told us that he likes our waitress and wants to marry her. Later on, I said I think she is pretty too and Max yelled, "GOOD THING BECAUSE I AM GOING TO MARRY HER". That was the funniest thing.

Great job Max

Max scored two goals in his soccer game today. Nice work big guy!

Way To Go Us

Tonight, Kelly and I celebrated ten years of marriage! We had a very nice dinner at Carrabas, an Italian joint. All through dinner I stared at Kelly and reminded myself of the fun, smart, and beautiful girl that I have had with me for sixteen years now. Way to go us! I love you Kelly.

Cute Alex

I took Alex to the mall today and she picked out a hat and a stuffed animal monkey with a mouse. She was extremely cute running around the mall. She stayed goofy the entire time and even tipped her hat to the checkout lady on the way out.

Cool photo of Max

Deemed Funniest Kid in all the Land

Max has earned the newly established "Funniest Kid in all the Land" award. He comes up to me and shyly says, "Dad...I pee'd a little." We asked how that happened and he told us that he and Alex were playing and something that he did made him laugh so hard that he pee'd. He probably would not have received the award if they did something that made him laugh that hard. However, since he made himself laugh so hard until he pee'd then the award is, without dispute, his.

Unbelievable

Max had an incredible showing at soccer practice. The played a practice game and he took the ball away from the pack and would go all the way down the field to score just about every time. It was amazing! He received two stickers for his performance and was very happy. It was unbelievable!

Road Trip

After Max's soccer game we headed up to Roaring River State Park. There is a rainbow trout hatchery that has a cave where the spring originates and opens up into a huge spring pool. Then it flows down into the hatchery and on to fill a really nice creek where fly fishing is extremely popular. We had fun seeing all the fish in the crystal clear water. We also found a craw dad (max thinks it is a lobster), caterpillars, skink, and a crazy spider.

When we finished up at the park we headed down to Eureka Springs to the train depot. They have quite a few old trains and steam powered tractors to look at. The kids enjoyed it.

Then we headed up the hill to the Crescent Hotel to explore the hallways and stairways for ghost. The Crescent is a known haunted landmark.

On the way home, the kids were fighting to stay awake in the car. Alex lost that battle and was sleeping hard ten minutes after getting in the car. Max held out and we stopped off at a chocolate candy store that makes their own chocolate for all to watch. Max and I quickly went in and grabbed some peanut butter/chocolate clusters and some cashew chocolate clusters. Max fell asleep on the way home after he was able to eat up some of candy. Good day.

First Soccer Game

Max had his first soccer game Saturday morning. He had a ton of fun and is doing really well. He is much taller and faster than the other kids on the team. About half way through the game, while sitting on the side lines, Max found a 3 leaf clover. But after it was his turn to play he returned to the side lines and it was gone. Therefore, next time it was his turn to play he told the coach that he had to stay on the side line to watch out for his clover.

The Little Bean

Earlier this week, I was out in the garage about to leave for work. Right before I got on the motorcycle Alex came out and gave me a big kiss goodbye. Then she watched me through the cat door as I finished getting ready and left. Such a sweetie.

Road Trip - Branson

On Friday afternoon we surprised the kids with a trip to an indoor water park in Branson, MO. They had a blast and got to play Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning. There is a hotel on the property so we would just get our suits on and walk over to the park. Max was old enough to run around all on his own while Kelly and I watched. There was a huge three story structure that had two slide tubes to go down. There was also an enormous bucket that would fill up with thousands of gallons of water and every eight minutes it would tip over pouring all the water down on everyone. Max loved it. Alex would walk around and splash in the water. She had a great time being on her own pretending to swim or stomp around. Now it is time to plan another road trip somewhere fun...maybe Little Rock or Kansas City.

Goodbye to the BMW R1200C

The bad news is that I sold my beloved motorcycle this week. The good news is that I sold it to a good friend that I have known and worked with for a long time. Therefore, I will get to see the that kickass bike every once in a while. Of course, in the future if Paul ever decides to sell the bike I will hopefully be right there to buy it back.

Grand Country Inn

This weekend we are surprising the kids with a two night stay at
It is a hotel in Branson, MO that has an indoor water park. They have an outdoor park too but it will probably be too hot for us to venture outdoors. I will hopefully remember to add photos soon.

Purple Ice Cream

Tonight I ran up to the store to get the kids (and kelly) some ice cream. Max wanted chocolate, Kelly wanted Strawberry, and Alex wanted purple.

Max wants to be a thing not a person

Max says that when he grows up he wants to be a fire engine, police car, doctor, or a school bus.

Max = 5 for Infinity

Today Max said that he doesn't want to grow up like us and would rather stay 5 years old (when he turns 5).

100F

It is so hot and humid in Arkansas in the summer. Back in Seattle it is in the upper 70's with zero humidity. Enough about that. Regardless of the heat, we played outside in the sprinkler and kicked one of those huge inflatable balls around. Max likes to get on top of it and then I try and kick it out from under him. We both crack up. Max and I also went to the office to hook up a new Apple display to replace or add to my other two monitors. We needed a cable that we didn't bring with us so instead we went out to the parking lot and I let Max sit in my lap and steer the car around the empty spaces. We made a couple of big loops around the two parking lots and then headed on back home.

Fox takes a bottle

Did Max ever take a bottle? No. Did Alex ever take a bottle? No. Did Fox? Yes. Way to go little guy!

Alex loves to paint

I think she spent an hour just sitting over on the floor painting quietly. She is a cute one!

First Day of School

Today was Max's first day at Pinecrest, a little private pre-school. When Kelly pulled up to the curb to drop him off he unbuckled himself and said, "See you guys later". He had a good time and his daily report said that he had good manners. Atta boy, Max!

Ironic

Been so busy having fun and playing with the kids that I have not blogged the good stuff.

On Friday, Max finished up his soccer camp. He had a ton of fun and it looks as though he learned quite a bit. I was most impressed with his soccer style.

Today, we headed down to "the new ball pit" called Fun City. It was good and the kids had a ton of fun...it will be a decent substitute for the ball pit back in Seattle (that sadly closed down). It will be tough to beat the great memories at that one though. When we were leaving the play area Alex kept saying, "Thank you Daddy" and giving me kisses. Max and I played Skee ball and didn't do so good. One time, Max threw the ball so hard that he lost control and it flew down a lane or two and went into another ball catcher. Two other times he didn't keep the ball low and it would go on top of the protection guard and make a loud banging sound. The Mom next to us was laughing pretty good. It made us laugh too.

Today Was A Kick

Max started soccer camp today! I was not able to go see him on his first day but Kelly took video and am looking forward to that. I will try and go at least one day this week to get some photos. He loved it and actually learned some stuff already!

Red House

Today is the first day that we have renters moving into our house in Seattle. Kind of sad but kind of cool because it is just one of the ways to help us keep the home that we love. Can't wait to live there again one day!

Max has his first real catch

Today, we were playing in the backyard and Max and I were throwing the ball back and forth. Usually, Max comes close to catching but never actually does....but Today is the day that Max caught the ball. Not just once but six times! Way to go little buddy!

We also had fun fetching with Cypress. She would hope that Max would drop the ball so she could run in and retrieve it. She fetched for Max a couple of times but is still used to bringing the ball to me.

Tomorrow, Kelly and the kids are going to tour what might be Max's first school!

Today was fun

Max, Alex, and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up syrup for making chocolate milk for Max and orange juice for Alex. While there we found ourselves in the aisle of water toys. We found these things called aqua zookas. They are pretty cool and the kids can use them really well. They are big pumps that suck up water and then let you push out the water through the pump so that it shoots out really far. Max is getting really fast so he can chase me down and soak me pretty good! Alex enjoyed running and hiding from us while we tried to get her really wet. Fun stuff.

Alex cuddled with me quite a few times today which was really nice and just what I needed.

Where we are today

Well, it is mid-July and we just delivered our third child, Fox, on July 9th! Since 2003, we have been living in Seattle, Washington. A place we love very much. We moved to Arkansas in March of this year for a great job opportunity that will provide better for our family. We have kept our house in Seattle and will hopefully live there again in the future. But for now, we will live and play in Arkansas.

To Start....

I often think that I would like to record the happy things that my life brings me. This is the purpose of this blog.