I See You

Dean's travel schedule has geared back up, so the boys have gotten to have a few video calls with him....can you see the love? While Jack's still a little enthralled with watching himself make silly faces, we're hoping the technology helps us miss each other a little less.

Leona Lewis - it's a beautiful song, especially if you can ignore all the blue weirdos in the video ;-)

My DADDY, HE wrote me a letter

The Star Student week continued today, with a letter from a family member to the class explaining what is special about the star student. Dean has been traveling but wrote a letter as a surpise for Jack. It was a huge hit, especially since it gave Jack a chance to do his Silly Dance ;-)
Thanx, Dean, for being such an amazing Dad - he was so proud to have your letter today!

Dear Mrs. C and Room 118,

I wanted to write to tell you how proud I am of Jack and the fact that he is the Star Student of the Week in your class! I hope this is a chance for the class to get to know Jack even better and find out what a truly special boy he is. From the first time that I saw his picture with his brother Harry before he was even born I knew that having Jack in my life would bring so much joy and happiness. Seeing him grow up and learn so much has been even better than I could have ever imagined. It seems like only yesterday that I could hold Jack in one hand and now he is a Star Student in 1st Grade!

I am not the most sensitive person, but somehow Jack has become a caring person with a huge heart (he must get that from his mother, huh?). He tries to act tough sometimes, but he always tries to make his friends and family feel better. Whether its with a joke or his silly dancing, he makes me laugh all the time. I love being able to spend time with him playing sports and have been really lucky to be his coach for soccer and T-ball. Some of my favorite memories with Jack are when we are doing things as a family. Jack is really a great son and a great brother and the times we spend together mean the most to me. And when I am feeling down, Jack can really cheer me up with his awesome hugs.

Jack loves to read, play games, try different sports and is a great fisherman. From catching his first bass at his Uncle Les's house to catching our dinner at Ocracoke Island, Jack loves to bring in the big ones! Of course this makes him a great story teller and he often cheers me up with his tales and his quick wit. When the day is winding down, I love to have Jack read to me or for me to read to him as we finish the day off with a good book.

It's hard to sum up how I feel about Jack in a short letter, but I hope that everyone in his class gets to know him as I do. He is truly a special person, a great friend, and a wonderful kid and I am truly blessed to have him in my life. Congratulations, Jack!

Sincerely,
Dean
aka Jack's Dad

Joe Cocker's The Letter

An offer you cannot refuse

Man 101 is all about The Godfather, right?

And WE thank you

As we unpack boxes, we're finding things we forgot, putting them to new use, and generally loving our new home (which Jack insists Harry stop calling 'the new house' "It's our HOME now!"). We put this chalk board in the kitchen and decided to write each other notes, starting with this one for Daddy:

We all wrote a line, starting with Harry, then Jack, then me

Ah, the seriousness of a siggy these days

Harry putting his John Hancock, tho we didn't leave him much room

proud, much?

Now I'm glad I took a picture of the completed note, since Harry decided erasing it to write something else was a better idea than waiting for Daddy to see it ;-)

We love you, babe, and thank you for all you do to make our lives so wonderful!

ZZ Top's I Thank You

And I love to fish

I am slowly getting thru the vacation pix and we're all missing D, so I thought I'd post these pix and videos from the BOY fishing trip. They lucked into the best captain and had an all-around amazing experience - catching 27 Spanish mackerel and a blue in one hour. We're taking the remaining fish over to friends' for a fish fry this weekend....yum!

Harry gettin' his style on

My 3 fishermen heading out to meet Captain Oneil

All suited up and checking out the shoreline

Jack giving a tutorial while Harry checks out the view

Jack and the wonderful Captain Oneil waking things up

Harry's picture of Daddy

Harry taking to the wheel...is that a joyful face, or what!!


Harry reeling 'em in

Jack loves fishing!

Their haul, all cleaned and ready to bring home
BYOF

Harry was so proud to be carrying the fish to dinner

Harry's favorite breakfast place lets you BYOF

It tasted as good as it looked - and look at those faces! This will definitely be a vacation tradition!

Brad Paisley's I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishing Song)

Saving All OUR CRUSTS For You

While Daddy's off being acculturated at Parris Island, we're missing him. Last nite at dinner, Jack decided we should all save our crusts for Daddy...:wub:

He's had the chance to meet with recruits, eat in the mess hall, get up before the sun, and will attend the graduation ceremony on Friday. We miss him...enough to save our crusts!

Whitney Houston's Saving All My Love For You
05/06/09 Harry: Do the Marines have their pajamas on? Jack: When I was a little kid, I didn't know how to spell!

Well, excuse me, but I think youve got my chair

We're all missing Daddy these days, so when I heard "move over, there's not enough room" as I was walking thru the kitchen, I knew what I'd probably see....I just didn't realize all the memories that would come flooding back as I thought of all the moments in Daddy's Chair....

03/09 - 5 years old (Harry L, Jack R)

10/04 - 6 months old (Jack L, Harry R)

05/06 - just over 2 years old (Harry L, Jack R)

I was too lazy to find a better match, but you can see that the seam hit them in the middle of their head at first and can't be seen behind their backs now :sniff:

This is Jack's culinary creation for tonite:

It's a Pizza-Raisin-Pepperoni-Cheezit Stack...Rachel Ray better watch her back ;-)

What is it with boys and weird food combinations?!

But for now I'm glad I got you on the line

These are some sweet boys who miss their Daddy!

Overheard during their goodnite phone call ~

Harry: Daddy, when you go to be tonite, what will you dream about? Have sweet dreams! I love you.

Jack: I love you out of the whole world.(Dean repies) I love YOU more! I love you more than (lists about 20 things), then the coup de gras....more than Dylan! (sorry, buddy, but see how high you rank?!)


Vaughan Brothers' Telephone Song

Say it all

Jack: 3/5 Maybe these hurting things just *don't like* medicine (he has some eczema patches that are healing)
3/4 It's an ice-melting day
3/5 It's an even drippier day!
3/5 J: I'm so sad because I miss my Grammy Sue.
M: Do you want a proxy hug?
J: No, I want a REAL hug next time I see her! Fair warning, mom!

Harry: 3/5 I'm gonna give you a hug and a kiss!
3/4 Mommy, what does F***ing mean? M: Argh
3/5 I have a walkie-talkie so I can walk with it and TALK too!
3/5 Get in the car, we're going to Hawaii! (yay! Carol, here we come!)

There was a story about St. Louis on the tv the other day, and here's how the three of us processed it:

• I thought about my funny bloggy friend, HP! I heart her!
• Jack said "it's just like the state on my puzzle (thanx, Grandma S!) - it's supposed to have an arch...(a new picture) it DOES!!" (Do you remember when such small things made you so giddy?!)
• Harry said "They're building like I build!" when he saw the bridge-building project they were reporting

Some random photos, Jack hamming it up at a party in December

I thought this Halloween picture was cool - it looked like his light saber was lit up!

Happy Harry at a party in January

The two of them hamming it up one nite after talking to Dean, who was on a trip
Telling Daddy they love him!

Nelly Furtado's Say It Right

Change Is Good - Spin Cycle

Jen's Spin Cycle for the week is about Change, and I am feeling a bit Band-ish rather than political or philosophical, so here are their words and a glimpse at the state of change at our house

Change is then, change is now, Change is what, change is how

Change is this and change is that, Change is where change is at

Change is good

Change is yes, change is no, Change is everywhere you go

Change is right, change is wrong, Change is here, change is gone

Change is good

You can change your life, Find a new way to go

You can change your world, You don't even know

Life's a long road, Lighten up your load

Change is good

You can run but you can't hide, From the things you feel inside

You can laugh or you can cry, Kiss all your tears goodbye

All you got to do, Is try and try you should

Change is good

Change is high, change is low, Changes come and changes go

Change is this and change is that, Change is where change is at

Change is good

You can pine your life away, Let others pass you by

You can climb a mountain high, Like an eagle in the sky

All you got to do, Is try and try you should

Change is good

Change is never done, Something better has begun

A change is gonna come

Change is good

They have just begun to call coins 'change' -

they used to be 'wishes' since we tossed them in the fountain

and dreamed all sorts of dreams :sniff:

At least now it's a fun thing they share with Dean - dividing his spare change every day and putting it into their banks.

The Band

Built a snowman in the GYM

The boys made snowmen at their art class today

Did I mention behavioral temptations? Do you SEE Jack's face??

They actually did well with the project, but that's the look ;-)

They are waving to Daddy, who they miss very much

Telling Daddy jokes

and Harry sending him some love!

There was a balloon artist at Kids' Nite....Jack gets his Santa on!

Their homework this week is to learn a joke to share with the class - we'll see how it goes, but they have practiced a lot. Here are their favorites: 12/09/08 Jack: What do elves learn at school? The ELFabet! Harry: What do monkeys sing at Christmastime? Jungle Bells!

Randy Travis's White Christmas Makes Me Blue

Oh, ho, the mistletoe

Jack decided this was his favorite Christmas carol today ;-) Here they are sending Daddy sweet dream kisses direct from our mistletoe :wub:

Our dear friend Fun Em had some friends over for a Holiday Open House, and they did great at their first (mostly) grown-up party! Thanx for having us over to your beautiful new home :-)

Burl Ives' Have A Holly Jolly Christmas

Pinball Wizard

I have a confession to make - I spend WAY too much time playing games online. It helps me veg is about the only saving grace, despite what I try to convince myself about it's mental benefits ;-) So the boys have played a few games, and I was feeling generous when Jack asked to play a game this morning....there's a cute little game I thought would be manageable - you group three matching pumpkins to clear the board. He's been playing card games like Crazy 8's and it seemed to be along the same lines to him.

I went into the other room to discuss something with Dean, and Jack comes in a few minutes later saying that he 'ruined the game' with a big sad face. He describes what I recognize as the score page, so I assume the game timed out and walk in the room to fix it for him....

The following is a reenactment:

Here he is intently concentrating

and here he is realizing he WON A TROPHY- top three on a board where this game has been played A LOT (especially by his mother, who never came near his score :pout:).

It was a good game day for boys - Dean won them each a Batman toy using The Claw at the movie theater. We saw Madagascar - if you liked the first one, you'll like this one a lot. It was cute but not enough singing "I like to move it, move it" for my guys ;-)

Happy Week!

The Who

Hey, hey, hey!

Here's some silliness from our weekend:

Jack is singing a familiar tune:

Flamajunka, flamajunka,
coo dee true, coo dee true....

can you guess what it was?

Dean asking about breakfast around 10 this morning:
D: Harry, what do you want for breakfast?
H: BRUNCH!
D:OK, what do you want for brunch?
H: Um, SUGAR!
D: No sugar.
D: Jack, what do you want for brunch?
J: sugar ;-)
J: Um, bugs! LOL

And does Harry remind you of anyone??

Here's a hint:

Can you remember his name?

Fat Albert Theme Song

Another Friday night in the life of a country boy (X2)

Dean came home, and all was right in our little world. The boys had a chance to play pirates and talk with Uncle Les on the phone before heading off to bed. I noticed that Harry's arm framed the picture we took of them in their Grandma's work t-shirts (they do a post of all family members) when they were about a month old....sniff. And that's an authentic late-1960's lava lamp in the bottom corner


Jack was finally able to keep that ridiculous inflatable parrot on his shoulder :-) They do love 'em some pirate adventures with Daddy!

Happy week

Kenny Chesney

This ain't no practice life

Dean tried a few new drills at practice, including this one where they all trapped the ball with their feet.

I'm still struggling with the settings on the new camera, but I'm hopeful once I get all focus down I'll catch even more glee like this - Garrett and Harry chasing the ball
I liked this shot of them together, again frustrated with the focus, but still
This one reminded me of one I got of Jack in the spring...need to dig the old one out for comparison's sake. It amazes me how much more all the kids 'get' the game and play this time around.

Andy Griggs' Practice Life