Free Family Blog

OU/TX game

2011-10-05T14:11:00.001-05:00

Anyone going to the big game this weekend?

Who sees this anyway?

2011-10-04T16:00:00.000-05:00

Is there anybody out there?

Mobile blogging

2011-10-04T15:54:00.001-05:00

Maybe I'll do more of this now. But again maybe I won't.

Oh yeah, and I ate this for lunch today.

Video of Clark

2009-01-22T22:02:00.003-06:00

Check out this video of "Walking with Dinosaurs." Clark is in the video.

Clark accident

2008-11-15T22:24:00.002-06:00

Clark was running through the house today when he tripped and fell. On the way down he slammed his head on something (were not sure what). It bled and we had to go to the ER. The doctor put three staples in his scalp. Poor little fella. I told him if anyone asks him what happened to look them in the eye, wrinkle his upper lip and say, "Do you want a piece of me too?"

Election

2008-11-04T21:24:00.002-06:00

Why on earth does Ralph Nader still run for President? Isn't that just a HUGE waste of money for him? I guess his supporters are the dumb ones!

He can fly!

2008-11-03T17:16:00.002-06:00

Here is a photo of Clark flying!!

My little Clark

2008-11-03T17:00:00.004-06:00

Check out the video of Clark jumping off a chair in our bedroom! He can really fly with the cape on!!

More Clark funny sayings

2008-10-24T01:58:00.001-05:00

Two days ago...

"Dad, when you're finished with dinner will you take a bath with your old pal Clark?"

Walking with Dinosaurs

2008-10-23T09:39:00.001-05:00

Check out this great video by the creative folks at OPUBCO Communications Group. If you look close you may catch a glimpse of someone you know...

Debate

2008-10-16T00:32:00.002-05:00

I so don't want the government to manage my wealth. I want to manage my own wealth. Since the government manages wealth like they do, why would I want them in control of it? I'm out on OBAMA. He can keep the "change!"

Jilly Boo!

2008-10-13T00:46:00.001-05:00

Look at my sweet Jilly Boo drinking her juice. Oh man, I can't believe how cute she is.

Ferrari

2008-10-13T00:39:00.004-05:00

Clark and I drove a Ferrari 328 GTSi today. It was an amazing car. I told Clark I would buy him one when he turns 16 years-old!

More Clark funny sayings

2008-09-25T07:28:00.000-05:00

This morning Clark said after telling a joke...

"Usually my jokes don't make mom laugh but this one, oh yeah!"

Quotes from Clark

2008-09-07T18:17:00.003-05:00

Below are some recent quotes from Clark:

"Man dad, my back is itching like a beaver!"

While talking about Charlotte he said, "She should wear a dress that twirls, you know like they used to wear in the 60's."

While drinking a Capri Sun he said, "Dad, did you have cool drinks like these in the 1980's?"

While he was laughing at Charlotte he said, "She hurts my gizzards!"

I bought Clark an OU back scratcher yesterday. Since he said the first quote above our joke has been that our backs itch like a beaver. Jokingly this morning I said to Clark, "Clark, my back is itching like a beaver" His reply was "Have I got just the thing for you, dad." Then he ran and got his brand new back scratcher.

OU Game 2

2008-09-06T22:19:00.002-05:00

Just got home from the OU - Cincinnati game. What a fun time. OU was great. The game was good. Work was tiring. So, now it's time for sleeping. I'm going to bed and I don't know when I'm going to wake up! Church tomorrow and Clark wants to go play "goofy golf." That should be very fun. I look forward to it!

Oh blog...where art thou?

2008-09-03T00:18:00.001-05:00

Has everyone forgotten me? Does anyone read this useless blog anymore? If I try to post more often will the masses (all two of you) come back?

Marian and I went to see Mamma Mia! tonight. It was really awesome. Even I loved it. I was very surprised by how good it was. If you get the chance to go, do so. It runs through Sunday, September 7th.

HE NAILED IT!!!!

2008-09-02T00:41:00.001-05:00

WOW!!

2008-09-02T00:36:00.002-05:00

I can't take it!!! Tenn 21 - UCLA 24. :05 seconds left. Tennessee's ball on UCLA's 37 yard line. They just called a timeout and are sending in their kicker. Can he make a 47 yard field goal to tie the game and force overtime? He has already missed 52 and 55 yard field goals TONIGHT. His career long is 48 yards. Oh my gosh. I can't take it!

I LOVE FOOTBALL!!!!!!

Football Season

2008-09-02T00:20:00.001-05:00

I absolutely love football season. It doesn't get much better than football season. UCLA is down by 4 with :44 seconds to go. It's their ball on the 12 yard line. 1st & ten. I can hardly contain myself. I LOVE FOOTBALL.

I should so be in bed right now...

Tennessee vs UCLA

2008-09-02T00:15:00.000-05:00

I'm up late watching the Tennessee/UCLA game. I love TiVo. But, man it's late. Who is going to win? I'm pulling for Tennessee.

New Photo

2008-09-01T13:27:00.002-05:00

Here is a photo from the Myriad Gardens that I took today.

OSU

2008-08-31T17:36:00.001-05:00

I guess I'm the worst dad on the planet because I can't stand seeing my son in OSU clothes.

Why was China picked for the Olympics?

2008-08-05T20:40:00.001-05:00

Being able to breathe seems to be a high priority for Olympic athletes - and in Beijing, that’s going to be a bit of a challenge. However, according to Associated Press sources, China is working hard at it….cough…cough.

Last week, Beijing’s air pollution index dropped to 44 from its more typical number which is double that. A reading below 50 is considered “good,” and between 51 and 100 is “moderate,” but “moderate” is still above the World Heath Organization’s guidelines for healthy air.

Their polluted air has prompted the government to begin drastic measures, including the halting of most construction, the closing of machinery, chemical and construction factories, and the imposition of restrictions on half the city’s 3.3 million vehicles.

Many of the 10,500 Olympic athletes are heading to South Korea, Japan and other places to avoid Beijing’s air for as long as possible. This is a kind of “reverse doping,” as the impact of the city’s pollution on the health and performance of these athletes is in question.

Yet another risk is that of Islamic terrorism. Some of you have been led to believe that jihadism is a reaction or reasonable payback to America and her friends for being bad, bad places. So it might seem strange to you to find out that a Muslim group, claiming responsibility for a series of explosions in Chinese cities, is allegedly planning to attack the Beijing Olympic Games. According to the AP, “earlier this year, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security said it had disrupted two plots to attack the Olympics. It claimed one group had been planning to kidnap athletes, foreign journalists, and other visitors, while a second had been manufacturing explosives and was plotting to attack hotels, government offices, and military targets in Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities….” Just yesterday we heard about sixteen Chinese policemen who were killed in an attack on a border post in the Muslim region of Xinjiang.

As if that were not enough, the Chinese government was planning to censor the Internet during the games. Reporters already in Beijing have been unable to access scores of web pages - particularly politically sensitive ones that discuss Tibetan succession and Taiwanese independence, as well as the sites of Amnesty International, Radio Free Asia and several Hong Kong newspapers.

Oh, you should know that the International Olympic Committee quietly agreed to the Internet limitations…that is, the blocking of sites that were not Games-related. There was such an uproar from other countries, however, that China has backed off on this deal, and on Friday, the Chinese government announced that it will not censor the Internet during the competition.

In 2001, when China won the right to host the Games, it made the commitment that it would improve its record on human rights and provide athletes with clean air. Without Friday’s announcement (made only because of outside pressure), that would have made the score zero for two.

Strep Throat

2008-07-29T21:29:00.002-05:00

I'm home with strep throat. It sucks. Marian had strep throat late last week. Obviously she gave it to me. I'm on antibiotics and taking some kind of light sleep medication for rest.

Lastly, for the first time in my life I actually have a doctor's note saying I can't go back to work until Thursday!! How cool is that??

Hope everyone is doing well.

Fathers Day

2008-06-14T00:12:00.003-05:00

For fathers day I want to spend the day with Marian, Clark and Charlotte. I want to do something relaxing (hard with a four year old) and simple. Maybe we can go fly a kite. Maybe we can go swimming. I just want to be with the kids and have some fun. For me fathers day is all about spending the time with my kids. They deserve my time more than ever on fathers day. I think its really a celebration of them. I can't wait!

Airplane Video

2008-06-14T00:00:00.003-05:00

This is a video of me flying in a Japanese Zero. It's pretty boring unless you like airplanes.

What a summer...

2008-06-13T00:53:00.001-05:00

Marian, the kids and I have been having a great summer so far. We have been busy with a lot of activities. We've been to the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus, Star Spangled Salute Air Show and other events. I went to the Learjet 550 race in Ft. Worth where I got to "high-five" Robbie Knievel and I also flew in a WWII Japanese Zero fighter airplane. Plus, we've been swimming and to the zoo.

Charlotte is starting to walk and Clark is learning to read. Marian is working as hard as ever with the political races going on and I have been to event after event. We are buy but we are having a good time (except for Marian who is working her rear off).

I have posted photos in the previous few entries. Plus, I will put some videos in that I have taken recently at the various events we have attended.

Enjoy.

Kids at the Zoo

2008-06-13T00:40:00.002-05:00

Here the kids are at the OKC Zoo several weeks ago.

Ride in a Japanese Zero

2008-06-13T00:27:00.003-05:00

Below are some of the photos of my ride in the Japanese Zero. It was the day before the air show. I was lucky enough to be able to ride with the pilots as part of the media day. That was easily one of the most thrilling experiences I have done in a while.

Marian and Mark

2008-06-13T00:24:00.003-05:00

Here's one of my favorites. Marian and I went bowling at the Mark Harmon bowling event for The Children's Center several weeks ago. Marian is not very impressed with celebrities. So, of course, I asked Mark if he would take a photo with Marian. Naturally he said, "Sure." Here she is looking rather annoyed with me.

Clark's Dance

2008-06-12T23:34:00.006-05:00

Check out Clark's great dance moves at Sophia's birthday party last weekend.

Several cute pictures of Charlotte

2008-06-12T23:29:00.003-05:00

Check out these extra sweet photos of Charlotte. What a cutie!

Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus

2008-06-12T22:39:00.003-05:00

We went to the circus last weekend. Clark and Charlotte loved it. They threw a fake hairdo hat into the crowd. I caught it for Clark and he wore it at the show. The hair represents Bello Nock the star of the circus. Bello's hair stuck straight up in the air. The orange hat represents Bello's hair.

Charlotte paid attention more than Clark. She was so cute because she would clap and watch like it was the best thing she had ever seen.

Dylan's 2nd Birthday Party

2008-06-12T22:29:00.003-05:00

We were invited to Dylan Conner's 2nd birthday party. His party was a ton of fun. It was at Bart's gym in Norman. Clark got to play on all the gymnastics equipment. He absolutely loved it. I did too. At one point I took my shoes off and raced Clark from one side of the gym to the other, jumping into a huge put of foam at the end.

Clark also got to do a iron cross (with help from Bart, of course). Again, he loved it. And, he got a gold medal after the party.

Photos of the Learjet 550 IndyCar Race

2008-06-12T22:08:00.005-05:00

Below are some photos of the Learjet 550 race in Ft. Worth, TX. I went down last weekend with my friend Kraig. We met my other good friend Chris (who brought three friends). I had pit passes, garage passes, in field parking and VIP seats. It was awesome. The race was amazingly loud since the cars were going over 215 mph. There were wrecks and some good drama.

We also got to see Robbie Knevial jump 21 Hummers on his motorcycle before the race. After his jump he drove by on a scooter and I slapped him a "high-five."

Please notice that I wore my OU shirt and hat down to Texas. A total sign of disrespect for UT!

Robbie Knevial

Air Show

2008-06-12T22:01:00.003-05:00

These are photos of the Air Show. We went with my friends Curtis and Bart. Look at the great photo of Clark with Dylan (Bart and Nadia's son).

How cute is this??

2008-06-04T22:03:00.002-05:00

Check out this photo of Charlotte and Marian's mother, Linda. I love this photo.

Days of Thunder

2008-05-05T22:23:00.002-05:00

Okay so the title of this post has nothing to do with anything.

We are doing well. Marian is busy with her job and the kids and I am extremely busy with my job as well.

I will tell you that tonight Ya Ya gave Clark a Spiderman punching bag. He loved it. When we were saying good bye to Ya Ya tonight he said, "Ya Ya, I'm so proud of you for getting me a Spiderman punching bag." We all laughed.

Charlotte is almost ready to start walking. She is standing by herself and even walks when you hold her hands. She is so curious and she loves Clark. She wants to do anything he does. I'm sure it will be like that for years.

I am in the process of hiring someone for an open position I have at work. It is taxing because as soon as I think I have it figured out something comes up. I was set to make an offer to someone today but they said something I didn't like. What am I supposed to do? It's so hard. I am glad to have options.

Sleeping babysitters

2008-04-22T23:52:00.004-05:00

This photo was secretly taken while our babysitter SLEPT. After we raised our babysitters arm we dropped it and watched it fall right back to the sofa. All of this indicates that she was sleeping on the job!

Please take our poll on the side.

Festival of the Arts

2008-04-22T22:39:00.002-05:00

We went to the Festival of the Arts tonight. It was great. We ate lots of good food and saw some great art. Dad was working a bit on the Wimgo booth while Mom, Clark and Charlotte all hung around. We almost bought a great piece of art for the house. It was a small piece of wood that had been painted. It had a painting of a small girl swinging on a tire swing. It was very cute. I imagine we will go back and buy it as the week goes on.

On another note, Jason is coming to town this weekend. He is going to attend the Norman Music Festival with me. Also, I bought a t-shirt cannon for work and it was delivered today. I went outside to test it. It was awesome. I never new shooting cotton out of a big gun was so fun!!

Marilu Video

2008-04-22T22:33:00.002-05:00

The Marilu & Gunnar video interview

2008-04-21T15:09:00.002-05:00

First salad ever

2008-04-20T22:59:00.000-05:00

This is a photo of the first salad I ever ordered at a restaurant. It was at Nonna's last Friday with Marilu Henner and Gunnar Peterson. To be honest, I didn't like it much.

Last Friday

2008-04-20T22:49:00.009-05:00

I spent all day last Friday with Marilu Henner (actress on Taxi and Celebrity Apprentice and author) and Gunnar Peterson (celebrity personal trainer to the stars). They were in town for a book-signing at Barnes & Noble by Quail Springs Mall. I had a blast. They were so nice and down to earth. However, they didn't really like each other too much. They both loved Oklahoma City. In fact, Gunnar is coming back to visit in mid-June. They both talked about how tired they are of Los Angeles and the lifestyle of being a celebrity in Los Angeles.

One a funny note, I ordered my first ever Salad while at lunch with them on Friday. We went to Nonna's in Bricktown. I leaned over to ask Gunnar what I should order. Gunnar laughed at me when I said, "Dude, flip the menu, you're looking at the salad page." After he flipped it I said, "I've never eaten a salad in my life." I never thought he would stop laughing.

I took them to several interviews while they were in town. Once we all learned of Marilu's strict diet, Gunnar was all over her for it. He was constantly cracking jokes about eating steak and other "chemicals." She is a no dairy lady. She talked a lot about the hazards on dairy on our bodies. I thought she was a lovely lady but she was annoying Gunnar and Caralyn, his business partner, in the worst way. Because of that, Gunnar, Caralyn and myself would sneak off to eat frozen yogurt. We were all laughing because we didn't want Marilu to see us.

I took them to the OKC Memorial and we listened to Jamie Smith doing her sound check for a performance on the next day. All of them, Gunnar, Caralyn and Marilu cried. Each one of them was taken over by their emotions at the memorial. Jamie came over and gave them copies of her brand new CD. You would have thought they just won an Emmy. Gunnar kept talking about how cool that was. He was so excited to have her new CD. Marilu mentioned it again several times during the day as well.

You can watch a Gunnar video that was recorded at The Oklahoman below. Gunnar references my "No Salad Eating Diet of Champions" during his video. I was just behind the camera and we laughed about it all day. I have posted the photos for you to enjoy also.

Wild Weekend

2008-04-20T22:38:00.002-05:00

Man, what a weekend. We tried to do fun stuff with Clark all weekend long. We were going to take him to the OU Red & White game. We went down to Norman on Saturday only to realize that the game was last weekend. Nice work on our part. Then today we went to the Olympic Trials in Bricktown only to arrive one and a half hours after the last race. Again, nice work. That one wasn't our fault since the races started two hours earlier than promised. So, we told Clark that we would go play glow-in-the-dark minature golf with him at Lunar Golf. Wow, how sad were we when we realized that the store had closed and moved out of Quail Springs Mall over four months ago. After consoling him we told him we'd go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch while at the mall. Once we arrived in the food court we remembered that they aren't open on Sundays. Poor kid. All the promises in the world and no follow through. He managed to go on like a trooper.

Photos of Charlotte

2008-03-15T12:33:00.001-05:00

Reaching New Heights

2008-03-05T23:01:00.002-06:00

When Charlotte awakened from her nap on Monday, I heard her crying from the dining room where I was working on the computer.

I took my time going to her, engrossed in whatever I was doing. When I finally opened the door of her room, I was shocked to find my little bundle of just-learned-to-army-crawl goodness staring me right in the face with white knuckles gripping the rails of the crib. That's right. She was standing up! She's only 8 months old.

Does that make her "advanced"? (There's only one right answer to that question.)

Brotherly Love

2008-03-05T22:17:00.003-06:00

Already, Charlotte annoys Clark at times. I often hear, "Maw-om. Charlotte pulled my hair!" or "She's squeezing my nose." or "Charlotte kicked off her shoe. That's not nice."

But, even in the midst of being annoyed and irritated, Clark loves Charlotte in such a special way, and it makes Mom and Dad extra proud.

Yesterday, as I was driving the kids home from pre-school/MDO, Clark--with breathless excitement--said, "Mom, my whole life, I've wished for a little sister, and now I have one! Charlotte's my little sister!"

Then tonight Clark said, "Charlotte's the best sister I could ever have," and, later, "We prayed all day and all night for a baby, and we got Charlotte. Right, Dad?"

We pray that Clark and Charlotte will always have a tender heart for each other.

U2 3D Premiere

2008-02-25T22:58:00.002-06:00

Go to U2.com and refresh the main page until you see a photo of a bunch of people with 3D glasses on. Then look in the middle of that photo. That handsome guy is my brother. He was in Dublin last week for the premiere of the new U2 3D movie. The band is several rows behind him. You can see Edge, Larry and Adam. Bono is in between Edge and Larry. You can only see part of his face. Woody Harrleson is in the green scarf at the bottom right of the photo and Al Gore is further to the left down the same row as the band.

Pretty cool huh?

Then watch this video on You Tube.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hQVThHBt-ek

You can skip ahead to about 6 minutes into the video because the beginning is a bit boring. The video was taken by my brother at the same premiere. It’s the band in front of the movie screen with the director of the film, Catherine Owens. At about 6 minutes into this video Catherine thanks Jason personally. It’s awesome. Jason said he was really thrilled that she thanked him in public like that.

I’ve been telling you all for years that my brother leads the exciting life.

Mr. Sensitive

2008-02-25T21:08:00.002-06:00

Clark has been so sweet today. First, he accompanied Charlotte and me to the pediatrician's office. On the way, he leaned over from his car seat to Charlotte's seat to say, "Awww...I'm sorry Charlotte. I'm sorry your ear hurts. I'm sorry Dr. Stephens is going to have to give you a shot. It'll be okay."

Just as Ryan came home, I had to head out the door to pick up Charlotte's antibiotic. When I returned, Clark was just finishing the movie "Charlotte's Web" in the living room. Dad was in the nursery rocking Our Charlotte to sleep. I greeted Clark, who looked a little forlorn. I said, "Hi, Buddy. How are you?" He answered, "I'm good. I just needed some company." I explained where I had gone and why Dad was in the other room, then I asked, "How was the movie?" As he began to tell me, his little bottom lip curled, his eyes squinted shut and the tears began to flow. "It was good, but...(sniffle, sniffle)...Charlotte the spider died. It was...It was... dreadful!" Needless to say, that last word was not exactly the kind of adjective you expect from your 3 year-old. It was everything I could do to contain my laughter. But, as I picked him up and consoled him, I began to tear up, too. Me and Mr. Sensitive were making memories!

Funny Story

2008-02-22T05:37:00.002-06:00

The other night Marian and I were playing hide and go seek with Clark. Marian and Clark were counting and I went and hid. I nestled into a hall closet and held my breath. I could hear them walking around the house. As they got closer I couldn't hide my excitement. I was in the closet giggling while trying to hold my breath. Finally, they showed up outside the closet. I was so excited I burst out of the closet door screaming like a wild banshee. Clark, who loves to be startled, started screaming and in slow motion fell over backwards. I had scared him right off his feet! He sat on the ground laughing boisterously at me. "Let's play again! Let's play again!"

Finally eating real food

2008-02-13T05:45:00.005-06:00

Charlotte is moving to real food. Here she is with some prunes. How cute is she?

HUGE PROMOTION!!!

2008-02-05T11:14:00.000-06:00

I've been working my you know what off for the past 6 months and asked my boss every day, when are you leaving? And she finally did after I planted mice in her office, BUT I GOT THE JOB!!!!

New comment

2008-02-04T22:49:00.000-06:00

Well, here we are. I have been so busy lately. I recently got a promotion at work. I was named the Sponsorship and Events Manager at OPBUCO Communications Group. My boss, Kelly, quit the paper after 18 years to stay home and work on a new business opportunity. Bad news for me because I will miss her. Good news for me because I now have her job. She has been training me for about four weeks. I hope I have learned a lot. But, I think I still have a lot to know. Anyway, I'm excited about the opportunity and can't wait to see where it will lead me. Thanks, Kelly.

How important is a washing machine?

2008-01-21T04:03:00.000-06:00

We had a pretty interesting weekend. It was going along well when things started to shift into high gear. On Saturday evening, Marian and I had hired a babysitter so we could go to the Pink Martini concert at the Civic Center. I had especially been looking forward to this concert since I really like this band and we were going to get the opportunity to meet them at an after party we were attending.

However, 18 minutes into the concert my cell phone began ringing. It was the babysitter. I waited for two minutes until a break in the music before making my way out the doors of the auditorium of the Civic Center to return the call. When I called her back she said, "Um, something is wrong with the washing machine and water is on the floor. I tried to turn the valves off behind the washer but I couldn't get them to turn." Oh boy.

I said that I would call a neighbor to ask them to turn the water off to the house in the front yard and we would be home in a minute. The last thing I said is, "whatever you do please try to keep the water off the carpet since it's new." She said, "Um, okay. I will try." It wasn't very convincing. I knew she was doing whatever she could do to control the situation but I also knew by her statement that it was probably going to be more than a small amount of water on the floor.

Marian and I literally ran out of the theater to the car. I called a neighbor and asked him to go turn off the water to the house. He said "No problem at all." Then I called the babysitters father who had called me on my cell phone. He said his wife was headed over to help. Again, I thought it must be pretty bad if she is coming from North Edmond to help clean up our house.

When we pulled into the driveway our garage door was open and I could see into the house. From the street I could see that there was water on the floor. There were 5 men standing over my washer and it seemed like chaos in the house. We rushed into a pretty big mess. Turns out that the washing machine had a broken valve and it did not shut off but just kept filling up. Water was everywhere. There was an inch of standing water in our kitchen on the back side of the island. For those of you that have been in our house you will know that the water had already traveled down a hallway past the pantry and completely filled the kitchen before traveling past the island.

Marian and I quickly began the clean up process with the babysitter, babysitter's mom, several neighbors, plus two men I had never seen before. The carpet (less than 60 days old) in our study adjacent to the washer was soaked. We have a vinyl "wood" floor in the laundry room, hallway, pantry, bathroom and kitchen. Almost every inch of the vinyl floor was covered with water. But, to my surprise it had only touched the carpet in the study. Clark's room is next to the laundry area and the carpet installer had placed a metal divider where the carpet stopped. To my surprise not one ounce of water was in his room. On one side was dry carpet on the other was probably a half inch of water. We vacuumed with three wet vacs, dried with towels and swept up the water. Once a towel was soaked we would pass it along to someone else and they would go outside and ring it out.

After about 40 minutes we got the water up. The floors were mostly dry, except for the water coming out under the baseboards. Then I spent more time with my neighbors assessing the situation. Amazing enough, the neighbor across the street has a side job as a handyman. Even more amazing the two men I did not know were his business partner, another handyman who happened to be eating dinner with him, and his son-in-law. What were the odds on that. We quickly discovered that the water valve behind the machines was frozen open. But the water leak was from the valve in the washer that was also stuck open. We were able to finally get the washer to stop filling the tub and then unplug it. Now the water would not be overflowing anymore.

Then I started asking them what I needed to do next. They said, "Nothing except fix the washer." What, I thought??? Much to my surprise all of that water had been cleaned up and not left a trace of any damage. The carpet in the study was still wet. I soaked up the water with towels and left a box fan on it over night. By Sunday morning everything was fine. You can't even tell that water has been under the carpet. Knock on vinyl "wood" floor as that may change over time.

We were feeling pretty good about our luck. We loaded up and headed to church on Sunday morning. We were planning a Sunday School party after church. Marian had prepared a craft activity for the children of our class and I had ordered pizza for 40 people. We rushed around the church getting supplies. Then we rushed out to the car so I could drive Marian over to the church pavilion where the party was being held. When I started the car, the battery was dead. We looked at each other and smirked.

I ran all the way back into the church about 150 yards to the nursery desk. I couldn't find anyone that drives a golf cart in the parking lot so the woman working the desk gave me the keys to her car. I still don't have a clue what her name is. But I know she drives an Infiniti I30 and keeps it kind of messy. I couldn't believe how trusting and nice this woman was. Anyway, I ran to her car and drove up to mine. Marian had this puzzled look on her face when I arrived. She got in the car with the supplies and said, "whose car is this?" I laughed and said, "I have no idea."

I found a man to jump the car at the same nursery desk. I don't know his name either. I had to leave the van running while going back into church to pick up the kids. Clark was walking as slow as a snail and I was thinking someone was driving off in my van because it was unlocked and oh yeah, it was running. I was late for the party because I had to pick up the kids and get the car jumped before I could drive out to the pavilion but I made it.

After an afternoon of buying a new battery and doing laundry at mom's house we finally laid down to go to sleep at midnight. We had had two "problems" and neither were major and both were solved with little pain. God is good. Our house had one inch of water in the kitchen and you couldn't even tell it now. The car was good as new. Off to sleep we went.

Until 1 AM that is. That's when Clark woke up and started wretching. He's been up for three hours (and so have we) puking his little brains out. Marian called the doctor and was told there is a stomach bug going around and he has apparently picked it up. Great. Our carpet that had been saved after the water finally took some damage since he puked on it. There I was blotting up vomit with a mixture of water dishwashing liquid (according to the carpet brochure). What I didn't know until Marian told me was that the dishwashing liquid I was using had bleach in it. Nice.

I started to think about what a headache this weekend had been but how lucky we were to be dealing with a water leak, minor car annoyance and vomit. We could be dealing with something much more serious like disease, a car wreck or an entire flooded house. We are so blessed. God is watching out for us.

Lastly, the same babysitter that mistakenly put Charlotte into the high chair without strapping her in several weeks ago was the one that was over on Saturday night. Charlotte had leaned forward and fell face first into the hard floor on top of the tray. Her face was banged up badly. This was on the day Clark's tonsils were removed. Only a mere two weeks ago. We knew it was a mistake and we felt bad for Charlotte and for the babysitter. After the water incident she may not want to come back to our house for a while.

To answer the question that is the title of this blog, VERY IMPORTANT with an infant and three year old.

Clark's first movie

2008-01-13T22:23:00.001-06:00

We took Clark to his first movie tonight. We saw The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. Clark loved it. It was a good movie. We got Clark some Reeses Pieces, water and popcorn. He sat there with his HUGE bag of candy, big bag of popcorn and ate like crazy while watching the movie. Every once in a while he would shout out a question about the movie. We would tell him to not talk so loud. He would wait several minutes and do it again. He was so funny we loved it. His first movie was a big success.

After the movie we picked up Charlotte from a friends house and went home. Clark and I dropped off the ladies so we could run a quick errand. As soon as we turned on to Portland I noticed that Clark stopped talking mid-sentence. He started coughing and suddenly he couldn't respond to my questions. The I realized he was puking all over himself. I quickly turned around and handed him a plastic bag I had in the car. We were a few blocks from home so I turned around. I told him to continue to puke in the bag and we would go right home. He continued to throw up in the bag. Once we reached home I jumped out and went back to get him.

He looked up at me and said, "Dad my throw up fell out of the bag." He was holding the bag upside down. Upon further inspection I realized that he was COVERED in his own vomit. His car seat was covered. The back seat of my car was covered. The floor of my car was covered. It reeked and he was crying.

I quickly picked him up and set him out in the garage. Then I stripped him down and took him inside. He jumped into the bath and cleaned up. Marian and I realized that he actually wasn't sick, he had just eaten too much candy and popcorn. I could tell because it was all over my car.

Rule number one when taking a 3 year-old to a movie: Don't let them eat all the candy and popcorn they want. It will quickly come up!

I will never eat another Reeses Pieces again.

BEWARE OF THESE PHOTOS

2008-01-06T23:57:00.000-06:00

By clicking this link here, you will go to the next page containing photos of Clark's actual tonsils after they were removed. It's pretty nasty but so many of you commented that you wanted to see them that I had to post them.

I sent photos to Jason and he replied:

AGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! NASTY!!!!

That is SOOO Gross!!!

Wow!

Good one!

Does it freak out the little guy?

I'm going to go PUKE!

I hope each of you enjoy looking at the photos. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Charlotte's First Solid Food

2008-01-06T21:15:00.002-06:00

We fed Charlotte cereal for the first time on Saturday. I have attached some pictures for your viewing enjoyment. You can tell what she thinks of cereal.

Clark's Tonsillectomy

2008-01-03T07:44:00.000-06:00

Here is a new video.

Comments

2008-01-01T15:02:00.001-06:00

I live to see your comments. Please leave them when you can!

Tonsils

2008-01-01T00:30:00.001-06:00

Clark had his tonsils removed yesterday. The pictures below were taken at the hospital today before he went into surgery. Clark was a big boy and never cried or got upset. We are so proud of him.

Have you ever...

2008-01-01T00:22:00.001-06:00

Have you ever seen such cute kids in your life?

Holiday Pics

2008-01-01T00:15:00.001-06:00

I hope you enjoy the holiday pictures.

What a day

2007-12-28T01:40:00.000-06:00

We had a great Christmas. Clark was so great on Christmas day. He thanked everyone without ever being asked. When he opened a Candy Land board game from his great aunt he said, "WOW, this is wonderful." We were laughing all day over that. I also have some cute pictures of him with his new astronaut costume. He looks great.

Charlotte was easy going as well. She stayed up late and wasn't too bad the next day. Her favorite gift is her new teether giraffe named Sophie. She is from France and Charlotte absolutely loves her. Apparently, this specific teether is very popular in France and boy do we know why.

Today I build Clark's new Playmobil hospital that Ya Ya and Gandy bought him for Christmas. Man did it take some time. It's really cool. You can see the small details in the photos I've uploaded. I didn't see anywhere on the box where it says "This box contains 1,500 teeny tiny pieces". Now that its done Clark is having a ton of fun with it. We have a Playmobil family that we put into precarious situations then go rescue them. They either get airlifted or picked up via ambulance (also a Christmas gift).

More news to come.

I am sitting here on...

2007-12-24T17:00:00.001-06:00

I am sitting here on Christmas Eve with my beautiful family. Clark and I are having Eggnog, Marian is nursing Charlotte and we are just having a great time. Love to all and peace on earth. listen

Powered by Jott

Christmas Eve

2007-12-24T09:19:00.000-06:00

Well...it's Christmas Eve and I'm at work. I used most of my vacation days when Charlotte was born. Kinda stinks now but I wouldn't change getting the time off with her. Anyway, it's beautiful outside and I can't wait to leave. We are very excited to experience Christmas with Clark and Charlotte tomorrow. We have been talking about Jesus with Clark in the hopes that he may at least associate the holiday with a bigger cause than gifts. However, at 3 1/2 it just may not happen. Plus, I can't wait to play with some of his toys with him myself. Oh the holidays.

She loves U2

2007-12-22T08:36:00.001-06:00

Charlotte loves to watch and listen to music, specifically U2. Here she is this morning watching a U2 DVD with Clark and me.

Merry Christmas.

VOTE!!

2007-12-22T00:24:00.001-06:00

I just updated the poll so get over there and VOTE!

I'm laughing out loud

2007-12-22T00:15:00.000-06:00

It's midnight on Friday night. I'm in our study (no idea why it's called that since that has never happened in here and probably never will) which is right next to Clark's room. I can hear my little buddy in there snoring like he's a forty-year-old man with sleep apnea. I can hear him in the living room sometimes. NO lie. He snores that loud. It's the most funny thing to hear this little sweet 3 and a half year old (tomorrow) boy making sounds like a lion on the Serengeti.

Clark

2007-12-22T00:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning Clark was getting dressed and I said, "Clark you are so handsome." He replied, "Dad, would you say I rock?" After laughing I said, "Why yes son you do rock."

It doesn't get any better than that.

Well...

2007-12-18T22:39:00.001-06:00

Does anyone read this blog?

Christmas is coming

2007-12-17T21:41:00.000-06:00

I'm proud of my beautiful wife. She has been working this evening on baking Christmas gifts for our neighbors. She made them cinnamon rolls FROM SCRATCH. Man this house smells good too! Whew. I haven't been able to have one yet but I am dying to get my paws on one or three!

I took some pictures for you to see. Too bad you can't smell what I am smelling. WOW.

Clark

2007-12-16T20:29:00.001-06:00

Clark woke me up yesterday saying...and I quote...

"Dad, yellow is the new khaki."

Clark's video D E B U T

2007-12-13T21:17:00.000-06:00

Click here to go to Freeville.net and watch Clark's first concert video. A video has been posted of him from his choir program last month. He is an awesome singer! We'll you can't really hear him because there are so many other kids, but he sure looks like he's having fun.

Enjoy.

Power!

2007-12-11T21:55:00.000-06:00

We are back home. We now have power again. We were without power for only about 30 hours. It was not too bad. But, we are now back in business. The trees all around us are crushed and ruined. We also have some trees in our back yard that are pretty messed up. But, that's a pretty small price to pay in an ice storm. We are grateful for this damage and nothing more. God is good.

The new U23D Website

2007-12-07T16:03:00.000-06:00

This is my brothers U2 movie website. The movie opens in January. Jason was one of two editors on the movie and the trailer so be sure to watch it. It's really fantastic.

Words of wisdom

2007-12-07T16:02:00.000-06:00

When you die, if you get a choice between going to regular heaven or pie heaven, choose pie heaven. It might be a trick, but if it's not, mmmmmmm, boy.

Lastly...

2007-12-05T01:37:00.000-06:00

...When you're riding in a time machine way far into the future, don't stick your elbow out the window, or it'll turn into a fossil.

Downtown In December

2007-12-05T01:15:00.000-06:00

This picture was taken on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We were at The Oklahoman Christmas Tree lighting in Bricktown. It was cold but a ton of fun. Clark got to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas.

How sweet is my precious wife? How cute is my son Clark? How darling is my daughter? Man am I the luckiest person alive? If you ever hear me complain about my family you have my permission to slug me. How could I ever feel even the slightest bit ungrateful for all of them? God has given me so many blessings sometimes I feel undeserving. My true hope this holiday is that each of you can experience the joy and pleasure of a happy healthy family. God has given that to me and man is it nice.

Political Comments

2007-12-05T01:07:00.000-06:00

This video shows why I like Mitt Romney. Plus, I love his work on the 2002 Olympics. I know he seems "slick". But I think Mitt is the real deal. I think his family is the most important thing in his life. Since family is what is most important in my life we have something in common. Go Mitt!

Clark and Mason

2007-11-23T13:29:00.000-06:00

This is an awesome video. Don't you think Clark is a funny singer? How about Mason on the drums in the background?

Sunday night

2007-11-11T22:32:00.000-06:00

We spent all evening moving everything out of our living room because a painter is coming tomorrow to paint our living room. Then on Friday we are getting brand new carpet. We are very excited. It's going to totally change our house. The aqua colored ceiling and carpet is out!

Marian and I went to the football game with Bart Conner and another Olympic gymnast. We had fun. Bart is great and we won the game. What's better than a win?

Prayer Time

2007-11-08T22:56:00.000-06:00

Clark was crying tonight before bed because Marian turned the dimmer down on his lights before he could. Then he threw a fit about it so naturally we didn't give in and let him turn the lights down. But we told him to talk to God about how he was feeling.

He did and it was all we could do to stop laughing during his prayer. Clark said, "God, please tell Mommy to not turn down the lights and make them like the moon because I want to." Aren't kid's great?

In case you missed the State Fair

2007-11-05T01:13:00.000-06:00

Check out these dance moves!

Marian and Charlotte

2007-11-05T00:50:00.000-06:00

Have you ever seen anything this cute in all your life?

Great Picture

2007-11-05T00:47:00.000-06:00

Check out Jason and Clark is this funny picture.

This Weekend

2007-11-05T00:31:00.000-06:00

My friend Chris came up from Dallas to watch the OU/Texas A&M game with me. It was a blast for me. Not so much fun for him. However, we had a fun weekend.

The kids are doing great. Marian took them to Clinton and had a great time as well. A new week is here. Our new carpet will be in soon. We are excited about that.

It's been a month...

2007-10-30T23:23:00.000-05:00

But it's worth the wait!

How sweet is Clark?

2007-10-29T23:52:00.000-05:00

He's letting Charlotte watch TV with him.

OU Loss

2007-09-30T08:52:00.000-05:00

We are still only a one loss team. That's still an amazing success in college football today! Keep your heads up Sooner fans there is a ton more season to go.

Parenting

2007-09-28T23:28:00.000-05:00

Beautiful is
When you see the warm soft sparkle in your child’s eye
As he talks about his most favorite thing in the WHOLE WORLD,
Spiderman.

Mind-numbing torture is
When you spend all day saying, please don’t touch that, please don’t do that, please don’t say that, please don’t stand on that, please just stop that, please try eating this, please take another bite, please say thank you, PLEASE SAY PLEASE…

Magical is
When your 3 year old son tells you a joke, and it’s actually funny.
As you laugh, he tells another one, and another one,
until you are both rolling on the floor, crying from laughter.

Bleakness is
When, for days, you try and try and try and try AND TRY your very best with a positive heart, to battle with your children’s naughtiness, disobedience, stubbornness, temper, anger, disrespect and appalling behavior… and absolutely nothing seems to change.

Tender is
When you kneel down, look your son in the eye and
say how sorry you are for being in a bad mood this morning,
and he says “Aww mom, that’s ok. I still love you. Let’s just be happy ok?”

Precious is
When your son throws his arms around you, and you both roll onto the floor, tickling, giggling, laughing, poking, bumping, hooting, bouncing, cuddling, cackling, twirling, and you just know deep inside you, that in another 3 years, this all might be “NOT A COOL THING TO DO”.

Panic is
When you wake up in the dead of night, to screams, cries, vomit, raging temperature, shouts, a soaking bed, blood… and you have no idea what to do.

Painful is
After waking up 8 times in the night and a trip to emergency hospital, you still have to get out of bed in the morning, make breakfast, pack lunches, send one child to school, entertain the other child, keep appointments, buy groceries, make dinner, pick up child from school, hang around for after school activities, bath children, feed children and bed children.

Pride is
When you hear your son telling his friends that “Ants are the strongest creatures in the world. If they were big like humans, they could carry a bulldozer! Yeah! My mom told me that!”

Wisdom is
When you try to explain genetics and recessive traits to a 3 year old and he just laughs at you.

Mind boggling is
When you watch your child play and are struck with utter amazement – He is funny, friendly, unique, sociable, active, open, confident, smart, happy and healthy AND YOU MADE THEM!

Why has this been so dead?

2007-09-28T23:19:00.000-05:00

Please check out my new poll. It's quite fun.

Many things going on in the Free house.

We took Clark to his first football game tonight. He loved it so much he started crying when we left at halftime. We went to the Edmond Memorial vs Midwest City game in Edmond. It was an absolute blast. Next stop, Norman!

Now that the fair is finally over I am going to attempt to get better at posting here. So, check back soon.

Enjoying the Fair

2007-09-24T16:23:00.001-05:00

Clark, Charlotte and I spent a lot of time at the State Fair while Dad was working. Here are a few pics to enjoy.

P.S. This is my first time to post anything! Aren't you proud of me?

State Fair of Oklahoma

2007-09-22T22:53:00.000-05:00

Check out this movie from the great State Fair of Oklahoma. It is a jet car that has it's afterburner on while melting a car behind it. Wow...isn't the State Fair great?

What's going on

2007-09-05T07:06:00.000-05:00

I know it's been forever since I posted anything on this blog. Please be aware I haven't forgotten about it. I will not be home anytime before 9 pm until this Sunday, September 9th. I just have not had the time to devote to this site like I want. However, I will hopefully begin to update it more regularly as soon as my work slows down.

The state fair begins on September 13th and runs through September 23rd. I will be extremely busy until after the fair. Please check back soon.

Sorry.
The Management

Pictures

2007-08-25T22:15:00.000-05:00

Tonight

2007-08-25T22:12:00.000-05:00

Mason is spending the night with Clark. They had a blast. We played outside then went to Target to buy Mason some clothes (he didn't bring any with him from Clinton). After that we went to Braum's to enjoy some ice cream. It was great. Mom read them some books and I put the tent up over Clark's bed for them. Right now they are in Clark's bed sleeping.

Charlotte is alseep as well. Hopefully she will sleep through the night again. She has been sleeping pretty well lately. She is starting to smile a little. Her whole face lights up when she smiles. Her little eyes squint and her face lights up. It's awesome to see.

More to come.

Our life

2007-08-25T01:56:00.001-05:00

It's finally starting to slow down. Work has been crazy. Home life has been crazy. We are doing our best just to stay caught up. Anyway, I know I have not written anything in a while. However, I am trying. Please come back to the site soon.

Clark Starts School Tomorrow

2007-08-15T22:04:00.000-05:00

Clark's first day of preschool is tomorrow. I am so sad and excited at the same time. We bought him a Superman backpack with his name embroidered on the back. It is being shipped in from Tulsa. It's going to look so cute on him. I just can't believe he is going to be in preschool tomorrow. He's in bed because it's a school night for him. Summer is over. Wow, he is growing fast.

Charlotte is doing awesome. She is getting so pretty. She just stares at me when I rock her. She is so cuddly and sweet. God is good to us.