Go Ahead Make My Day

Day 347 /Post 63

Another left over photo from Cody's birthday party. Just reminded me of an old Clint Eastwood movie.

So, do you feel lucky?

Ms Kate in Foam

Day 345 / Post 62

Did post last week, on Monday AM we found out we lost Grandpa McLaurine. We left late Monday and I didn't get back till today. Grandpa will be missed!

Here is Ms Kate, a close friend of the family. She really enjoyed Cody's Birthday Foam. It took her a while to get comfortable with the foam but when she did she jumped on in.

Thanksgiving 2007

Day 334 / Post 61

Let's continue the holiday theme by using one of the few pictures I took over Thanksgiving. Yes, pictures were taken, just not by me...

Anyway, here is Clay & his Cousin playing Rock Band. It is the new game out, it is made by the same company that makes Guitar Hero and this time they have added drums, guitar, bass guitar, and vocals. Four different people can play at the same time. It is very cool. I played several songs on the drums and it wore me out. Not as much as Wii boxing but I was tired. Anyway, here you go...

Halloween 2007

Day 333 / Post 60

Well it would seem that two is my lucky number, missed yesterday. Because my last two post were of birthdays I decided that today I would begin holiday photos. Why, I don't know, seems like a good idea.

Here is a collection of photos of the boys and their neighborhood friends on Halloween. We love our new neighborhood. Hope you enjoy.

Clays BDay

Day 331 Post 59

Well since I posted Cody's birthday yesterday I thought that I would follow up with Clay's birthday today. Clay went for a smaller party that lasted longer. He kicked his brother and mother out of the house and made his Dad deal with 6 friends for an all night Halo 3 game night.

All in all it was not that bad, they all gave out by 2:00 - 2:30 in the morning and then slept late. The game room is upstairs so I just went downstairs to catch up on my Tivo recordings. I think that everyone had a good time.

Cody's BDay

Day 330 Post 58

OK so the Thanksgiving week did not turn out like I originally planned. In fact Mike & Cousin Reddon came into town and I think I only shot 5 photos. I am so ashamed... We did, however, get pictures of the entire family taken! Will post them when I get them. (Sounds Good Huh)

This is a picture from the collection I made for the blog that I never posted. Cody had his Birthday party last month and he opted for a foam party. It was a blast! Even though the Texas heat in October made the foam evaporate fast. Foam is best in cold weather in Texas. Here they are all having fun, attack of the brother!

Clay & His Gang

Day 324 / Post 57

Two Days in a Row in November, New Record!

This is a picture of Clay back stage with Rascal Flatts at their concert in Dallas a few months ago. It was his first concert. With the fan club, we got floor seats on the 6th row and he got to go back stage and do a "Meet and Greet" with the band before the concert. It was an awesome experience for him. I was very impressed with the band and how they took the time to actually communicate with their fans. Not only with Clay but all fans back stage. Rascal Flatts is a class act! Oh, and they put on a great musical show as well.

As Clay would say, ROCK ON!

School Photos 2007-08

Day 353 / Post 56

OK, I have not posted for about 270+ days. I have been busy with life, school, family, work, new house etc. I am going to try to post with some regularity again. With Thanksgiving week upon us I should be able to. Wish Me Luck.

Here is the school photos of Trouble 2 & 3 for this year. Aren't they cute! I don't know if they like the photos or not but hey they are what I got. I thought the name and year in the corner was really cool feature offered by the new school district. That was until Christi told me that we paid extra for that really cool feature. Just goes to prove that nothing in life is free.

More again tomorrow!?

Dress Photo - Cohort 13

Day 81 / Post 55

Here is a new “Dress” photo of Cohort 13. Photo was taken a week or so ago and is a nice final portrait of the group. I think that Christi and everyone in the group are ready for the class work to be over. Although they still have a ton of things to do before they receive the degree. I am off to spend the night at the Houston Zoo for what they call “Wild Winks” with the Cub Scouts, wish me luck!

Astros Win!

Day 80 / Post 54

Here is a new photo of me and Duke checking out the Astros game on TV. I was a win so we were both happy. I got the win and Duke got a treat. I think if this keeps up he will become a hard core Astros fan. The Astros have finally got above 500, it is about time. Duke has just turned 4 months old and is getting fat. He is up to about 10 pounds. It may not sound like much but he is not supposed to get above 15 pound in his normal size.

Sword Fight

Day 79 / Post 53

You know that there is nothing like a good Sword Fight. Clay and Cody went with MeMaw to a new Chinese restruant called China Bear. Well, they had a gift shop and the boys spotted these swords. Boys will be boys and when they got home we had multiple reenactments of many of the not so famous sword fights throughout history. Clay won some and Cody won some. He we see Cody taking control and calling for Clays surrender. Some things will never change.

The Cheap Seats

Day 78 / Post 52

Last week we went to FOTW night at the Rockets Game. We enjoyed the basketball game and then Pastor Kerry challenged NBA great Matt Bullard to a 3 point shooting contest. Matt was so worried about his challenger that he didn’t bother to change out of his cowboy boots. Pastor Kerry was given every chance to keep it close but in the end Matt took home the award. It was a good game and fun was had by all. I must say though at times it was kind of hard to tell what was going on. There is nothing like the view from the cheap seats.

Christi & Animals, Post #4

Day 77 / Post 51

Repost for Monday, April 16, 2007

Christi Animal Series, Post #4. Well you can say that animals were coming more proactive in Christi’s life but here is the clincher. Christi and her entire school are raising money for The American Cancer Society. Jerri, her boss, said that if the kids raised $2000 for this cause then she would kiss a pig.

What she left out, at least in Christi’s version of the story, is that not only would she kiss a pig, but Christi would to. I was not there but I can just imagine the look on Christi’s face when she got this information at the assembly Monday morning, in front of all 800 kids in her school. What is a good AP to do; well she kissed that pig to the cheers of those 800 kids. The animal saga is now over, she hopes.

Christi & Animals, Post #3

Day 76 / Post 50

Repost for Sunday, April 15, 2007

Christi Animal Series, Post #3. We all know that life in the public school system is difficult. There just are never enough funds for the PTO to do what it needs. Well in order to help out, Chick-fil-a decided to help out and gave the school a spirit night. Well in order to promote the evening to make as much money as possible Chic-fil-a also allowed the use of their 10 foot inflatable cow. Here we see a picture of Jerri and Christi passing out flyers to parents as they pick up there children after school. Who says that an AP’s job is never done, who says they get to go home at 4:00?

Christi & Animals, Post #2

Day 75 / Post 49

Repost for Saturday, April 14, 2007

Christi Animal Series, Post #2. I was considering the omen statement made yesterday and thought of another example. Christi is finishing up her Doctorate in Education and is a part of Cohort 13. Well the official mascot of Cohort 13 is the donkey, animal #2 that is full time in her life. This is a close up edit of the Cohort 13 group photo where each of them is holding their own official Cohort 13 mascot. I think it even makes noise, but for some reason she has hid it from me so I am not sure any more. See you tomorrow for the next piece of our animal puzzle.

Christi & Animals, Post #1

Day 74 / Post 48

Repost for Friday, April 13, 2007

I think it is time for a new series of photos. Therefore, I have decided to do a Christi animal series. We all know that Christi loves animals, just as long as she doesn’t have to be involved with the animals.

This picture is of Christi holding Duke when we first brought him home in December, he has grown since then. It took Clay about 2 years of begging before he was allowed to get a dog. This photo could be considered an omen for things to come, but I don’t want to give away the story line. Check back tomorrow for another piece in this new puzzle.

Pat at Work, Post #5

Day 73 / Post 47

Repost for Thursday, April 12, 2007

Pat at Work Series, Final Post #5. I think that we have all had our good laugh at my expense therefore; this is the last Pat at Work post. This is a photo taken outside of the Portland Beavers Triple-A baseball stadium in, of course, Portland, Oregon. I forced everyone to go to a baseball game and as those of you who know me can attest, I like to get there early. Well, come to find out that the gates to the home games of the Portland Beavers open just 1 hour before game time. Not like those at the major league parks that open 3 hours before game time. Therefore, we had some free time to kill. If you look closely at the mask you will see that Meredith is the right brain and I am the left brain. I don’t know if that is necessary correct or not but people here at work seem to get a good laugh at it. Enjoy…

Pat at Work, Post #4

Day 72 / Post 46

Repost for Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Pat at Work Series, Post #4. Sometimes when we travel discussions tend to go off into way left field. That is what happened here. This is a photo from a training trip when Meredith, LeAnn, and I went to DevCom to get educated. LeAnn started talking a bunch of smack about how she could clean house against Meredith and I at pool. Well, we could not pass up the chance to blow that theory out of the water, so we took that bet and found a pool hall. We only stayed about an hour but that was long enough for LeAnn to prove that she was right. You know, sometimes I just hate that game.

Pat at Work, Post #3

Day 71 / Post 45

Repost for Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Pat at Work Series, Post #3. Those of you that know me might find it hard to believe but sometimes people find me difficult to be around. This is a photo of just such an occasion. Tony and I were on our way back from a trip to Sonora, Texas. It was a very loooooonnnngggg and boring drive. Tony had decided that he needed to throw me off a mountain, the only problem is, well this is west Texas and the mountains are few and far between. Therefore, he settled for telling me to go take a hike, which I did up the side of a hill. I just don’t understand what some people get so uptight! Check out the sunglasses, $3.99 at the truck stop, now theres money well spent!

Pat at Work, Post #2

Day 70 / Post 44

Repost for Monday, April 9, 2007

Sometimes it is necessary for me to travel to do my job. We go out to the field and take photos or videos of the employees in action. We then use these to make new and creative eLearning modules to train from. This is a photo we took on our off time on one of these trips. I think this photo looks like something from the Jurassic Park bird cage but it is actually the walk up to Multnomah Falls. Meredith decided we need to take a trip to see the falls and because I drug them to a baseball game I felt obliged to go.

Pat at Work, Post #1

Day 69 / Post 43

Repost for Sunday, April 8, 2007

Lately I have been getting emails accusing me of not being an equal opportunity abuser in my blog. I have posted many ‘creative’ photos of everyone else in the family but not to many of me. Well that is an easy one to explain. First, it is my blog and second, I am the only one with the password to it. Hah! But so I can be completely fair I have decided to post a photo of me. This one is me at work. We were in the equipment bay taking a break; it was a very hot day, so NO wise remarks from the peanut gallery. You are just jealous anyway!

Easter Series, Post #4

Day 68 / Post 42

Repost for Saturday, April 7, 2007

Easter Series Post #4. OK, I think this is going to be my last post of Easter photos. Time to move on to something else, just don’t know what yet. Here we see Clay checking his egg count after Cody accuses him of having too many eggs. For the record, Clay had the proper number of eggs, Mike was the guilty party. Man, those older brothers, what are you going to do?

Easter Series, Post #3

Day 67 / Post 41

Repost for Friday, April 6, 2007

Easter Series Post #3. So that I can be accused of abusing everyone equally here is a photo of GG supervising the egg count from her position of authority. She is taking her well deserved break considering she purchased, filled, and hid the eggs this am before she began to cook our Easter dinner. Go ahead GG, take 5! But not more that 5 we got things to do.

Easter Series, Post #2

Day 66 / Post 40

Repost for Thursday, April 5, 2007

Another Easter weekend photo; here we see MeMaw and Cody counting his Easter Eggs. If you remember our photo from yesterday this one comes later in the day then that. Cody wanted to make sure that everything was still OK so he had MeMaw help him with his second count. You can never be to sure when you’re the youngest and candy is involved. Regular readers might note that this is the first photo of MeMaw in the blog, and she is nun to happy about it. She is not what we will call a photogenic person.

Easter Series, Post #1

Day 65 / Post 39

Repost for Wednesday, April 4, 2007.

OK, as per your requests I will add Easter photos for the next few days. Here we see Mom and Cody counting his found eggs at GG’s. You know that as the youngest of three boys you can never be too sure that you are not being cheated by your older brothers. Cody has caught them in the past and is determined not to ever let it happen again.

Cohort 13

Day 64 / Post 38

Here is a picture of Christi’s Doctoral Cohort. They are Cohort 13 and their mascot is the donkey. The light at the end of the tunnel is starting to appear and I though it would be nice to post a picture of the group.

Early Easter with GG

Day 63 / Post 37

GG is going to Henry & Joy’s this week for Easter weekend so we had our Easter with her early. Here is a picture of the boys listening “Carefully” to their instructions. You know, no matter how hard I try to figure out where these boys come up with their hijinks I never seem to figure it out. I have added this picture to my special photo folder. You know the one named, “Use to Embarrass the Boys Later in Life.” Reviewing this folder always seems to bring a smile to my face…

Cody Looses a Tooth

D62 / P36

As any growing boy does Cody lost another tooth. He lost this one while he was traveling with GG to Aunt Margie’s. He was very concerned that the tooth fairy would not know where he was so he could get his money. Well we had a happy ending and the tooth fairy found him and he was happy the next morning. Don’t we all just love happy endings?

Historical Photo 01

Day 50 / Post 35

Repost for Tuesday, March 20, 2007

How about a Historical Post. I was cleaning up my pictures directory and came across this old picture and I love it. I took it about 6 years ago. It is of Cody fixing his Jeep while wearing my hard hat. I turned this photo into a kid pic contest years ago and it took second. Just thought I would share it.

Cody's Turn

Day 49 / Post 34

Repost for Monday, March 19, 2007

I sat down today to find a picture of Cody to keep my current theme running. I could not find a photo of Cody that I liked so I will have to take a new one soon. The problem is he is such a ham that it is difficult to get the candid shot. I will work on it and I reserve the right to post again later… Watch out Cody… I wonder who is next?

Remember to Delete

Day 48 / Post 33

Repost for Sunday, March 18, 2007

OK, yesterday I made Clay mad with my post about his stairway face-plant incident. Now being a fair parent of three boys I don’t want any of them saying that I did not treat them all equally. Therefore, today I figured I would upset Mr. Mike. Being a teenager Mike tries to limit his activity with the family, we spend way to much time embarrassing him. He spends most of his free time talking to his friends on myspace. Here is a photo that he took for his myspace page. Dad got a hold of it and decided to share with everyone. Remember to delete those pictures off of the camera when your done with them Mike. I seem to remember saying that before. The best part, I am the only one who has the password to the blog!

Just Call Me Crash!

Day 47 / Post 32

Repost for Saturday, March 17, 2007

Remember back in the day when your parents were always telling you to do this or not to do that? I am now my father and I am always saying stop, don’t do that, your going to get hurt, etc. Recently my most popular phrase is “walk down the stairs.” I cannot tell you how many times I have made all three of them go back to the top of the stairs and walk back down, they HATE it! Well sometimes you just have to learn for yourself. Clay was flying down the stairs and somewhere along the line lost his footing and bam, face-plant. This picture is a few days after the great fall and Clay is none to happy about me taking it! The real question is now; will Clay continue to run down the stairs? Only time will tell, I’ll let you know!

Here is GG

Day 46 / Post 31

Repost for Friday, March 16, 2007

Looking back into the blog to see what I missed I noticed that we didn’t have a picture of GG up all by her self, so here it is. This is a nice photo taken of her at the college on what probably was some type of Cub Scout function with the boys. Hi GG!

Flowers at Work

Day 45 / Post 30

Thursday, March 15, 2007

You know every now and then you have to surprise your wife with things that she did not expect. Here is a picture that she took of the flowers that I sent her at work, just because. She loves getting flowers delivered to her at work.

Me and My Gang

Day 44 / Post 29

Repost for: Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Well going back to the 85^th Birthday Pictures I thought I would include a photo of me and my gang. It is hard to believe how fast everyone is growing up and how soon they will be moving on into their own lives. Mike graduates in two years, Clay is 2 years from middle school and Cody is in First! Where did the time go? I hope we remember to stop and enjoy a few things along the way!

HELP! He Has the Keys

Day 43 / Post 28

Repost for Tuesday, March 13, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!

Here is Mike’s reluctant photo outside of the DPS office just after he got his drivers license. Look out world he has keys to the car and he is not afraid to use them. I now officially feel old, my son is driving… HELP ME!

Great Grandma and her Grand Kids

Day 42 / Post 27

Repost for Monday, March 12, 2007

Continuing the grandkids theme, here is a photo from the party of Great Grandma with her Grandkids. At least everyone in this photo is making a normal face. No Photoshop needed.

GG and her Grand Sons

Day 41 / Post 26

Repost for Sunday, March 11, 2007

Here is a shot from Great Grandma’s 85^th party; it is of GG and her four grandkids. My crew proved to be very difficult in the photo category. Believe it or not this is the best face that Cody made in all of the photos with GG. I will get him for this later with a very embarrassing photo. Life is hard!

Great Grandma's 85th Suprise Party

Day 40 / Post 25

Repost for Saturday, March 10, 2007

Here is group shot of Great Grandma’s family, not everyone is in attendance but it is close. Great Grandma was very surprised that we were all there. It was great seeing everyone again for some of us it has been way too long. I will try to post individual family pictures over the next few days.

Clay's Field Trip 2

Day 39 / Post 24

Repost for Friday March 9, 2007

We are off driving to Oklahoma City for Great Grandma’s 85^th surprise birthday party so I am posting another picture of Clay at his field trip yesterday. I should have some new good family photos coming after this weekend. See everyone tomorrow!

Field Trip - Science Museum

Day 38 / P23

Clay's class went to the Natural History & Science Museum today and I got to chaperone. We got to see a cool Imax film called Ocean Oasis. It was on the part of the ocean between Mexico and the Baja peninsula. It was very impressive. We then checked out the rest of the museum. Clay said his favorite part was the rare gem vault. This is a picture of Clay's class outside after lunch just before they got on the bus to go home.

WDW - Animal Kingdom

Day 37 / Post 22

Repost for Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Ok, the last day at Disney, we went to the Animal Kingdom. They have a new ride here that just opened called Expedition Everest. I could not get Clay or Cody to ride it but Christi, Mike, and I jumped on. The ride is short but it is crazy. You first go up a big hill and then just sit for a few seconds. Then you start to fall backwards into a tight cork screw in the pitch dark. Suddenly you come to another stop. Here you see an animation of the Yeti ripping up your train track. Then you go forward down the steep drops that are very fast as you pull into the station. It is a very cool ride that I recommend to all. Mike and I give it two arms up, each! I have no idea who the two guys in the front of the car are. They were just lucky to get to ride with us!

WDW - Pirate Party

Day 36 / Post 21

Repost for Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Check this out. A few times a month Disney is doing an after hours event they call The Pirate and Princess Party. What they do is close down the park at 7:30 pm and then limit the number of people that can be in the park. Oh yea, there is an extra fee for this. What they say is that no ride will have a longer than 5 min wait. They stay open to 12:30 am. Well about 11:30 the park was just about empty. The boys got to ride the Big Thunder Mountain 15 times. The first 6 times they rode it they did so without even getting off the ride. The first 2 of the 6 times they were the only ones on the ride. They loved it; we then ran from ride to ride getting right on each one. The younger boys loved it, it was a once in a life time experience, worth every penny!

WDW - Back to Epcot

Day 35 / Post 20

Repost for Monday, March 5, 2007

OK back to Epcot, this time Mom and Dad were done much earlier and got to go on some real rides. Here the whole family is enjoying Test Track. Clay decided that this was his favorite ride at Epcot and rode it as much as he could. I don’t remember what his final count was but I sure it was in double figures. The rest of us gave up after just 2 or 3 trips. The ride picture to your Disney Photo Pass was new, I like the idea but was upset when I found out Test Track was the only ride you could do it on.

WDW - Magic Kingdom

Day 34 / Post 19

Repost for Sunday, March 4, 2007

It was the last day of my Instructional Design course and Horton let us out about an hour and a half early so it was off to the Magic Kingdom to catch up with the clan. Clay and Cody decided it was the day to ride the Big Thunder Railroad as many times as possible. I think when we left that night the count was up to 9. I remember thinking that was a big number at the time. We were going to top that number in the very near future. This time the boys had no choice, they were in the photo!

WDW - Epcot

Day 33 / Post 18

Repost for Saturday, March 3, 2007

Another night photo after the conference, Christi, the boys and I went to Epcot today. Clay and Mike could not wait to ride Test Track and Mission to Mars. I caught up with them in time to ride a few rides and see the fireworks. Everyone is having a great time…

WDW - Magic Kingdom

Day 32 / Post 17

Repost for Friday, March 2, 2007

Day two of the conference and the days were already becoming long. Christi and I managed to get a picture in front of Cinderella’s castle. The boys were there but they didn’t want their picture taken right now. Oh well, their loss…

WDW - MGM Studios

Day 31 / Post 16

Repost for Thursday, March 1, 2007

Well, I went to Orlando, Florida for a training conference for work. And as all of you who know us know how much Christi loves Disney. So of course I could not go to Orlando without her and the boys. Plus, the conference had a lot information on e-learning. Those that don't know - that's Christi's dissertation topic. So while I worked my fingers to the bone in classes during the day, the boys went out to play and Mom took tours and gained information for her research topic too. One of the days Christi got out early and went with the boys to MGM. Here they are at MGM. This was the only outing to MGM on this trip so by the time my class was done for the day, so were they. I did not even get to go into the park. I still have not got to ride Aerosmith’s Rocking Roller Coaster. Maybe next time…

Special TAKS Day Requests

Day 22 / Post 15

Repost for Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Today is the day that every child in 3^rd Grade and up takes the state mandated TAKS test. The schools encourage the kids to “Eat a Good Breakfast” so our kitchen turned into a short order breakfast grill this AM. Here you see everyone’s “Special TAKS Day Requests.”