Figuring Out Money

So for the past few months when Samuel wants something at the store we ask him if he has any money to buy it. The answer is typically "No but (insert grandparent name here) does."

Well the grandparents have come and gone for Christmas and the other day Samuel saw Rosie the train at the PX and wanted it. So I told him he could buy it with his own money. Later that day I had left some change by my pillow and it fell off the bed that night. That morning Samuel came in to wake me up so he could get breakfast and he saw the change. So the sly guy he is went over and picked up 2 pennies, a nickel, and a quarter. Later on he found a dime and something else so he proudly came up to me and said "Daddio, look I now have enough money to buy Rosie!"

I kindly replied, "Samuel you will need a little more than that." So today during nap time I heard a crash so I got up and went into the bathroom where the noise was coming from and Samuel was in there and had the door blocked. I asked what he was doing and he said he was just using the bathroom. So I went back to lay down. A little bit later I still her rattling in there so I go and push the door hard and to find out he had pulled down mommy's pants and was going through the multiple pockets on the new Army ACUs looking for change which he had found.

Needless to day he was so excited because he now had enough money for Rosie, or so he thought. But on a side note when Andy woke up he shared his findings with him so that tehy both could buy a train.

Santa Pictures

Halloween part 1

Captain Mommy Part 1

The Trip - Day 11

Today is day 11 of our Tri-State Baby tour and we just have a few more stops and 6 days left. It is nice traveling around and the boys are enjoying it greatly. I think though that they are starting to get over spoiled by some unnamed people throughout the whole trip.

Each day has been a new adventure filled with excitement, love, and long drives. We are getting to see everyone we have not seen in a while and a long while. Yesterday we went to visit an old college friend who lives by my parents named Derrek. Samuel was so excited to go see him but when we got to the restaurant he started asking where Derrek was and we would point to our friend. Samuel would answer back with some frustration "That's not Derrek, I want to play with Derrek." Then we realized that he thought we were going to see our neighbors at home who have son his age named Derrek.

"Daddio Work"

Over the past three weeks Mommy has been home with the new baby and everyone has been loving it. The baby loves having Mommy there to feed him, the boys love having Mommy there to take the to play while she works out, and Daddio love having Mommy there to take the boys to play while she works out. :o) All in all everyone loves Mommy.

Some days though I feel that the boys love her more than me and this week they proved my theory. One day while the boys were taking a nap Mommy went to the bathroom, when they woke up she was still in there and Samuel came running out and could not find Mommy so he asked if Mommy had gone back to work. I kindly answered with a little laugh "No Samuel, Mommy is in the bathroom." With a little thought he replied, "Daddio, can you go to work and let Mommy stay home?"

A sad but happy moment in my life, sad because he wants Mommy to stay and me go, but happy because I know she does a better job at it that I do and she loves it.

Like people always say children never lie and tell the truth even if you do not ask. "Mommy Andy hit me back!"

Snowing

So this week Samuel and Andy were sick and have been so kind to share it with me. Anyway yesterday I was at home and had bundled up in my jacket. Well when Samuel came home he looked at me a laughed saying "Silly Daddio, it is not snowing take off your jacket."

But then what made it even better was he became very persistent about it all and ever tried to take it off for me.

Andy's Favorite Daddy

So today I found out who Andy's favorite daddy really is. We were all playing in the living room and Andy was running down the hall towards us all yelling "Daddy, Daddy!" I was partly down on the floor when he turned the corner yelling "Daddy" again. All the sudden with a big smile on his face and his hands raised up high he screamed with excitement "Daddy" and started running as fast as he can straight towards me. I looked up and put my arms out to catch him and say "I love you Andy" when all the sudden he stops about 2 feet in front of me and bends down and picks up my old cabbage patch doll and gave it a huge hug and yelled "Daddy" as he turned around and ran back to the hallway.

Picture of Samuel

Today we went to the store looking for some shampoo for Asher. While there hanging on a wall was a nice round picture right at Samuel's eye level. He looked at it and then picked it up in amazement. With excitement in his voice he yelled, "Look mommy, this picture looks like me!" At the same time I saw him pull a mirror off the shelf and was asking him to put it back before he dropped it. :o)

Now the store was pretty empty at the time and all the cashiers were standing at their edge to let people know their line was open. Well, naturally my boys are babe magnets so Andy had to stop and talk with every one of them and tell them how old he was, and then all the ladies wanted to see the new baby too. Finally once Andy was done talking with all the ladies we headed to find Mommy and Samuel shopping but they had found us because they were already finished.

One Brother

Today before bedtime I asked Samuel if he had any brothers and he quickly answered "Yeah I have three." So I asked who they were and he thought for a while and then decided he only had one. So I asked who his brother was and he replied "Asher Thomas." I continued and asked him if he had anymore and he thought for a minute then said "No I only have one brother Asher Thomas." A little bit confused I asked him if Andy was his brother and he looked at me funny and quickly answered "No, Andy is my best friend."

Super Sonic Farts

So I have always thought the phrase "Super Sonic Farts" was just a lyric to a song until today...

Today during church both Samuel and Andy started acting up. Mommy had taken Asher to the back and Andy, who is becoming jealous because the new little brother is getting all of mommy's attention, started screaming and throwing a fit. Yes Gigi your grand child was throwing a fit during Church. Anyway it took a little while to get him to calm down. Anyway he started playing with the car seat and Samuel kept on wanting to go over and take it away so I kept telling him to sit down and being the good boy he was would, for about 5 seconds then get right back down and try to go over there. To make a long story kind of short, both boys got in trouble and had to sit in the naughty spot when we got home.

So we got home, Anndea turned on the washing machine, and Samuel and Andy sat in the naughty spot with Andy screaming bloody murder (hum I wonder where that phrase comes from?). Anyway mommy was in the bathroom with running water, Andy was screaming in the hall way, the washer was thumping very loudly and Asher Thomas and I were half way in the kitchen on the other side of everything when all the sudden Asher let it blow. Yes Asher farted and blew out a baby ton of poop! It was so loud it vibrated my arms and Mommy stopped what she was doing and yelled over all the noise "Was that Asher?" I at first could not hear her so I started walking to her and said "What" and she repeated loudly, "Was that Asher pooping?"

Needless to day there are such things as Super Sonic Farts.

Who will Buy It?

So the other day Samuel asked if we could go to Wal-Mart and get Whiff, for everyone who is not up on the latest Thomas the Tank Engine fads Whiff is one of the engines that is very rarely shown but Samuel loves him. Anyway I thought I would be smooth and replied "Ok, do you got any money to buy him?" And he quickly answered "No but Gigi will buy it."

The very next day I started preparing lunch for the boys and Samuel came running in saying "I do not want to eat hot dogs, I want to go to the PX and eat french fries and chick-Os." So again I replied "Sorry but I do not have any money." Samuel took a few steps back with a sad face and then turned around real quickly and said "Nana will pay for it!"

Yesterday while at the PX Anndea and the boys were shopping and passed by some Wiggles Cups and Samuel all excited aske "Mommy can I have the Wiggles Cups? Mommy will you buy me the Wiggles Cups?" Mommy replied "No Samuel you do not need any more cups." And Samuel with a smile or excitement still on his face said "Next time Santa's at the PX he will buy me the Wiggles Cups."

Pik-a-boo in Public?

So please let me know who thinks playing pik-a-boo in public with your kids is a socially acceptable activity and how do you go about playing it with your children? My boys love to hide under a blanket or pillow then pull it off of the other and say pik-a-boo!

Anyway while on this topic, my parents were up visiting the new baby and took us out to eat. Everyone was enjoying their meal even Asher Thomas. After a while of Asher feeding he was finished and Anndea was getting everything back together and had pulled the feeding blanket over her head so she could see what she was doing without showing everything to the whole world. Well Andy, who was sitting in a high chair, thought it would be fun to play pik-a-boo with mommy so he reached over and pulled the blanket off and yelled Ik-a-boo! Needless to say mommy was not playing and had not finished buttoning things up.

Where did the Name Come from

Ok today I got a nasty email from my mother-in-law because I have not posted in my blog lately. I apologize to all my boy's fans for the lateness.

Anyway a few days ago my wife was out and about with the boys and a lady asked what the newest addition to the family's name was and mommy answered Asher. The lady then replayed "Oh Asher is cute, where did you get Asher from?" and Samuel quickly answered "From the Hospital."

Adababy Itsaboy

Hey Everyone I just thought I would post a few pictures of Asher Thomas Jordan this morning or else I would not get around to it for a week or so so enjoy.

After a long excruciating 90 minutes of labor (or what she originally thought was needing to take a dump :o) he popped out. She made it to the hospital this time but never made it off of the ambulance bed, and when the doctor came in he said "Oh.... congratulations."

Name: Asher Thomas Jordan
Date: Sep. 10 2008
Time: 0137
Weight: 8 lbs. exactly
Height: 21 inches
Hair: Needs it Cut

Samuel already burning rubber!

So today Samuel learned how to burn rubber and man did it ever stink! To make a short story long let me explain. It all started on Monday night when I was working diligently on finishing a website before Anndea had the baby. I stayed up til some time after three in the morning writing, editing, printing, and marking up php web code. Finally I got the program to do what I wanted it to do but I did not have a nice look for the site so I decided to go to bed and finish it up later.

Well I was so tired from that night that I was not able to sit down awake again until Thursday night. So I sat down and added the nice look and feel and email text to the site, but then the server was having problems sending the emails so I had to develop a work around. Needless to say I was up again but this time until 4 in the morning coming up with a nice work around. So I hit the hay without brushing my teeth (yuck)! Last night Anndea left her car keys sitting on the kitchen table instead of hanging them up on the key rack.

Anyway this morning my boys decided to get up at 7 AM giving me less than 3 hours of sleep. Due to this I was extremely exhausted and layed on the couch dosing in and out. Dosing out when the boys were most quiet like out of the room and getting into trouble. Anyway the boys became quiet in the living room and I dosed off deeply and the boys wondered away into the kitchen messing with things on the table and managed to grab something and do something with it they were no suppose to do. Anyway this afternoon after I had pre-heated the oven, I opened it to put in their food and lying there on the middle rack was a rubber mouse pad that the boys always play with and 2 pot holders all mixed in with the wonderful aroma of burnt rubber.

The boys wanted to be a big helper this morning so they put the pot holders in the oven just like "Daddio" does and since the rubber mouse pad looks like one they added it and shut the door to the oven.

So moral of the story, always hang your keys up on the key rack or else someone might just go and burn some rubber.

Hurricane Gustav hits MO

Over the past 2 days we have had constant rain and cloud cover here. Today we did not get as much rain but it was a gloomy day. Yesterday at 5 pm the news said places south of us had gotten 6 inches of rain. I do not know exactly what we got because no news agency ever delivers news about our area, I guess it is because we are in the no mans zone, 2 hours from Columbia, 2 hours from St. Louis, 2 hours from Kansas City, and an hour and a half from Springfield so no one really claims our area.

When massive tornadoes are in the Springfield area all we see are tornado broadcasts blocking the TV shows but as soon as it gets 20 miles from us everyone goes back to their regular programs and we all run frantically around not knowing what is going on. Ok maybe not but it is annoying because I could have watch that hour of 24 that was blocked because I was not in danger yet. (I really do not watch 24 but I could not think of any other intense tv show to put there besides Word World :o)

Anyway, the hurricane hit Missouri with some strong force below is a picture of the nice big beautiful tree that used to be across the street from us. In fact this tree was such a healthy tree that it would stay green months after every other tree dropped their leaves (I personally think it is tapped into the sewer line that runs about 7 feet away from it).

Maybe we will get some of that disaster relief money that FEMA so kindly hands out. :o) I got 2 starving boys and a 9 month pregnant woman to take care of.

Anyway I have spent forever trying to figure out how to get the picture of the video camera and cannot figure it out so I will add it later on.

Volunteering

Many times I volunteer to help with things on post like the Family Building Programs or Red Cross. Through my actions I hope to set an example for my boys to follow. Today Samuel has started to show the first sign of recognizing what volunteering means and how it works. In fact he even spoke up before mommy had to even ask the question.

This afternoon mommy came down the hallway with her hair cutting tools in hand and before she could even ask who wanted to go first Samuel stopped what he was doing, stared at mommy and the quickly pointed his finger and said "Andy wants to go first." I tell yeah he has it down to an art. If there is something new to eat or drink he always lets Andy try if first. Oh what a good brother he is, he allows the younger go first and he even gives up his place in line so Andy can get his hair cut first.

Holding it in

Have you ever felt like you needed to go to the bathroom but there is none around? Now have you ever been potty training and felt like you had to go poop but there was none around? Ok Ok if you are reading this most likely you cannot remember that far back so have you ever had a child potty training who had to go poop and was in regular undies and you were at a store looking for a digital camera and there was only one person running the whole story so the service was slow?

Today Samuel was being a big boy and wore his big boy undies to Church, then to eat, and to Radio Shack. Half way through he finally could not hold it any longer (since he was holding it since Church but would never go there). He needed to go poo but mommy was spending too much time "talking with the man" as he said. He was such a big boy though and held it until we were done buying our new camera to take pictures of the new baby when he comes in a few days. Mommy finally stopped talking to the man and we were able to leave but without Samuel and Andy spotting a giant robot and trying to buy it. Luckily they decided on their own that Santa could buy it for them instead.

"No"

Lately Andy's favorite word has been "no." In fact he has started to just go around and say "no" for no apparent reason at all. People can call Samuel whatever they want and he will make sure they know his name is Samuel and not that. Well today I said something to Samuel and he replied back with "My name is Samuel" and of course Andy replied "No." So Samuel made sure Andy knew that his name was Samuel but Andy replied "No." Samuel got so upset and started to cry and said "I want to be Samuel Daddio." For some reason Andy already knows what buttons to push on his big brother to make him upset.

Later in the car trip to Church Andy was holding his "My First Bible" and Samuel asked Andy if he is going to learn about Jesus and of course Andy replied "No" just to say no, so Samuel made sure Andy knew that we go to Church to learn about Jesus.

My Boys have their own business card!

Going to Sesame Street

Today on base we had Sesame Street come and visit. So we all packed up and went to see Elmo and Cookie Monster (Big bird was sick) live. Actually Big Bird is not a main character on Sesame Street anymore yesterday's episode and the one before ever showed him and most don't. I am a Sesame Street expert :o).

Anyway Samuel hates real life characters like giant Elmos or Cows handing balloons were as Andy will go up to them and give them a big hug and kiss while Samuel cries in clinging to Mommy's leg. So to help out we brought our neighbor boys while their parents went to an MFE (Army for Mandatory Fun Event). So Samuel wanted to be brave and he did not cry but was kind of reluctant to go into the area at first.

Anyway the boys had a blast and the dad next to me with his 8 month old son, who was looking at me the whole time, looked like he was at an MFE too.

Anyway I asked some totally random stranger if they could email me some of the pictures they took since I forgot my camera and below is one they sent me. Enjoy.

Shots

So today Andy had his 18 month well baby check up and immunization shots, anyway unlike fearless big brother Andy does not like doctors. Samuel on the other hand loves going to them and will show them anything and everything for them to check. I think it was because he had some really cute nurses when he was in the hospital for 2 days in Columbia and he wanted to show off. :o)

Anyway back to Andy, after the check up, which he did not like, I asked him in an excited voice if he was ready to get his shots and he replied "Yeah!" I think he was wanting to just get out of the doctors office more than anything. Well on our way there people would stop and look at him and his little strut he has and ask him where he was going. He would reply "Shots!" If they asked if he liked shots he would reply "Yeah" and throw his hands in the air for excitement.

When we finally got to the shot area they asked who was getting shots today and Andy replied "Eeee!" which means me in 18 month old talk. So I asked him if he was excited about getting shots and off course he answered with a big smile on his face "Yeah" They thought it was the cutest thing in the world and he was so excited until I picked him up and set him on the bed and the nurse scooted up and trapped his legs. He looked at me like what in the world is going on with the "are you on their side?" look since I was holding down his hands. They stuck him 3 times and he cried but when it was all over I asked him again "Andy do you still like shots?" and with a sad face and a slow voice he answered "Yeeeaaah."

Baseball

So to get out of the dog house with Grand Parents and Great Grand Parents, Cousins, Aunts, Great Aunts, Friends, and a few people I barely know; I am posting a short 4 minute video of my boys playing baseball for your enjoyment. Keep an eye out for Samuel's reaction to the bugs in the grass after he hits the ball. I hope you all enjoy.

EDITED: for some reason the video did not properly upload so I did it again. Hopefully it will work this time.

I'm in Trouble

Ok I just thought I would let everyone know that I have not died. I have been getting a few emails lately about not posting for almost 2 weeks now. I just thought I would let you know that I will be playing catch up tonight.

Rusty

What Phrase Are You Famous For?

So yesterday Anndea asked Samuel "If babies say 'waaaa' then what do Andys say?" And he replied "binkie" (slang for pacifier). She laughed because I have been working on getting him to stop using it, which lately he has become very attached to. So she continued and asked "So what do Daddios say?" And he quickly replied "I am going to check my email." The she decided to ask the finally question, "What do Mommies say?" And he said in a stern voice "Talk!"

She thought it was funny but could not figure out what "talk" meant, but when she told it to me I just laughed and she asked why it was so funny and I replied "Because you always say 'Samuel Mommy and Daddio are talking.'" When she gets home she wants to tell me about her day while at the same time Samuel wants to tell her about his, so she is trying to get him to take turns.

So who wants to share what phrase they are famous for? If you do not know ask a little kid who is around you a lot.

My Other Woman

Early this morning while my wife was still home and I in bed, I received a two phone calls on my cell phone. As I got up to get it my wife was running down the hall to try to get to it before me but neither one was able to get to it before the voice mail kicked in. Anyway my wife asked me why my other woman was calling me so early in the morning.

When I was checking my voice mail the first call was an automated recording from our car dealer and the second was from a woman, Anndea's mom that is.

Just thought it was funny and thought I would share.

Camping With the Boys

Again I have not forgotten about the pictures, they will becoming as soon as I can find the camera cord for the computer.

On Sunday the boys and I went camping with a friend of mine who has a son Samuel's age as well as an 11 year old. We were suppose to stay til Tuesday night but we got our heat wave for the year. It got up to 99 degrees. :o) Anyway the boys had a blast, after setting up camp Sunday evening we rented a boat for an hours and tried to knee board for about 40 minutes. Our goal was to get the boys to ride with us but Samuel did not want to. Andy had a blast though. He sat in the boat and had the biggest smile on his face as the wind blew past him. In fact when he would fall to the floor from hitting a wake from another boat he would just sit up and laugh. Samuel on the other hand did not like it when we started speeding up especially when I was on the knee board.

After that we went back to camp and cooked hotdogs over an open fire and then made smores. They were so excited because we were going to go fishing on Monday. Finally we got them to go to bed but it was so hot that Samuel, though fell asleep, he tossed and turned all night. Once they were asleep we had some wonderful beef ribs :o) and then through away the trash in the dumpster 50 yards away. Anyway, Andy on the other hand would not fall asleep in the tent and I had to eventually take him to the car and sit with him for about 20 minutes with the the AC running. Once he fell asleep I moved him into the tent but after about an hour someone rolled over and hit him and woke him up and he would not go back to sleep.

This is where all the fun began. I took him outside and walked around with him and then moved a chair into the shade of a tree and sat there with him for a little while, when all the sudden I heard something growl at me. It sounded like a bobcat, but I could not see anything in the trees around our camp site. You could hear Coyotes on the other side of the lake so I thought that maybe one had crossed over. When the thing growled at me again I jumped up and quickly moved behind the tent. The growling stopped but I could still hear ruffling every now and then from the trees.

Finally, some time around 1 or 2 AM Andy had fallen asleep so I decided we would sneak back into the tent but everyone else has spread out and were asleep, so I laid him down on the broken cot outside of the tent and sat in the chair beside it. It was still really hot so I went over to get a drink of water from the table but when I got about half way there (3 feet from the tent) what ever it was started to growl at me again. I quickly jumped back and picked up a nice and heavy metal rod and waited about 30 minutes then started to slowly move over to the table and got a drink. At about 3:30 AM I finally started to doze off and on because I thought whatever it was had left. Anyway on one of the head bobs something caught my eye. I quickly jumped up, heart beating 100 miles per hour, Andy still happily sleeping on the cot, and I looked over and there was this scruffy gray thing at the picnic table!

I immediately popped the pole into my hand and my wife saved my life. Literally if she did not give me that wedding ring the 6 foot tall monster would not have ran off. No really though when I lifted up the pole it tapped my ring and made a nice nose and scared the thing off. As the 8 foot tall glowing silver bigfoot started to re-enter the tree line the ground shook but everyone else was sleeping like babies. I ran towards the table to make sure the 12 foot giant gray haired lake monster was leaving and not just going around the tent. That was the last I heard or saw the escaped military experimental killer half human half werewolf thing.

About an hour Tim woke up to fix the tent so that bugs would not come in when he saw me standing outside of the tent. It scared him so I laughed and told him what had happened all night. He did not believe me but shortly afterwards the sun started to come up and we hear this big splash in the lake (20 feet away). The giant 2 headed fury lake monster finally gave up and decided to go back under before he melted from the sun light.

Anyway, at 5 in the morning it was still hot, non of our cloths had dried, and it was so humid the diaper bag felt like It had been dipped in the lake (who knows, the gigantic 3 headed mutated alien with spider legs could have taken it and dipped it in the water since it was close to the table).

To make a short story long, at 5 AM Tim was already starting to sweat again so we decided to call it a day before the boys over heated, and I would get in trouble for forgetting to put sun block on the boys, so we packed everything up and called our wives and ended the 3 day trip a little early on a happy note at Cracker Barrel. I personally think Tim just wanted to keep all my Reese's Whoppers for himself since they were in his ice box (not by the table though :o).

Vacation Bible School

So today we had our Vacation Bible School at church and they originally was not going to have a class for young children under 5 years old but since four of the people working it had children under that age, a lady volunteered to teach the class. Anyway it turned out that we had 17 kids on that class! The teacher and Anndea had been talking and thought we would have more than 10.

Anyway the boys brought our neighbors and they all had a blast. The learned about Daniel and the lions den and interpreting dreams with the help of God, and about King Nebby. They got to play with play doe, make lions and much more.

Everyone in their class was full of energy, I have never understood why people give kids cookies half way through the day it just makes them crazy. And of course they had 2 snake breaks and after the first I thought we would never get the kids back down.

When I was in Wynewood doing youth ministry (we mainly had 3rd- 8th graders) I had figured the above out. You tell the kids if they are good they can have cookies once it is all done. The kids are the best angels in the world even the ADHD ones. Then about 15 minutes before the parents get there you give them the cookies and coke and the parents profusely apologizes for their children's behavior, even if you said they were great. :o) So moral of the story bribery with cookies is better than cash.

Now with Andy this does not work, once he sees a cookie or hears the word cookie he just throws a fit until he gets tired or gets one. Typically it is until he gets tired because he has not eaten all his chicken yet.


On a side note, the boys and I leave tomorrow to go camping for 2 nights so keep me in your prayers.

Helping Children In Need

I just thought I would post this here, www.SearchofHope.com for all to see. For every search made you will help to raise 1 penny for humanitarian aid purposes. But I currently have sponsors who are matching this meaning 2 to 3 pennies are being raised. Through the leveraging of this money they can typically turn this into 40 to 60 cents.

This means that every search is worth $0.60! Now how great is that! So use it and spread the word so that we can turn our useless everyday internet searches into something helpful.

Soft Ball Game

Today we had another softball game. It was lightly raining but they went ahead and had it, and of course, since we stopped practicing, we lost again. Samuel though was a stud. He will be our new designated runner because of his great gogogogo energy he has. Today there was a foul ball hit over the back fence and I was sent to get it. Unfortunately I could not fit through the locked gate so the stud he is, Samuel bravely went through and got the ball and swiftly brought it back holding it above his head yelling "Daddio I got it, I got it!"

Andy practiced hitting the ball and was actually pretty good for his age, and maybe even better than a few of our players too. :o) So he will be the designated hitter too. Pretty soon my who family will be out there. I think Mama would be a great catcher, no one would dear try to push or run over a pregnant woman to get to the plate. :o)

Anyway one of the two boys is throwing a fit so I best go.

New Friend at Wal-Mart

Today we were at Wal-Mart waiting by the picture area where this older couple was. Samuel and Andy both started saying hi to them and they would wave back. A little latter Samuel says I love that poppy and I look over and the older couple was looking at a picture of a dog. The lady heard it so she showed it to him. Anyway it ended up that the older lady and my boys just talked and shared pictures for more than 30 minutes.

They talked about dogs, and allergies, and families, and friends, and Christmas. They just carried on an long conversation, I think her husband was wanting to leave but she was just having too much fun. Anyway I felt bad but we had to go because it was almost 2pm and we had not eaten lunch yet. If a rock could talk my boys would become best friends with it because they will talk to everybody anywhere.

I guess they get it after me, I remember making new friends were ever I went when I was little and talking a lot. I even remember people saying I talked 99 mph! Anndea says I have trained them to get the attention of all the ladies when we are out and about. Whatever the case I rent them out and the single guys love having them around. :o)

Mr. Clean Jr.s

So my boys have won the title of Little Mr. Clean Jr.s. Yesterday while at an evening pot luck at church every time Samuel spilt something or dropped something he would always stop and wipe it up or pick it up and someone came up to us and wanted to tell us how amazed he was at him because he does not know any child around his age who would have ever thought about cleaning up after themselves. He is just such a big boy.

Anyway today Andy got into the baby wipes and had one cleaning everything in the living room down. Wiping off the table, cleaning his toys etc... It is great having kids who clean after themselves, know does anyone have the secret on how to keep it this way for the next 18 or so years? :o)

Samuel informs me of when Andy has a poopie, so I have been thinking about teaching him how to properly change a diaper. I guess I got 6 weeks to do it in so that my hands will not be so full.

Family History

First off, my family widens all over the place because I have 2 parents who have a total of 4 then 8 then 16 to 1024 great greats etc... (if I went on all sides) this far down. So I only did a very small part of my family history today to see if I was related to some people at church here and to find out I most likely am. I will know for sure when we compare our branches on Monday. Anyway just a short history of my family on my father's mother's father's side. We go all the way back to France, actually the territory was ruled over by the Netherlands or Holland at the time.

This is just all estimates and may not all be exactly accurate but close enough for government work. :o)

Walter Earl Bilyeu was born to Isaac Bilyeu and Rebecca Jane Bays in 1889.
Isaac Bilyeu was born to George Bilyeu and Elizabeth Workman.

George Bilyeu was born Dec 12 1815 to Peter Bilyeu and Dianne Blackwell.

Peter Bilyeu was born in 1777 to John Bilyeu and Tryntje Barents.

John Bilyeu was born Jan 9 1743 to Peter Bilyeu and Maragrietje

Peter Bilyeu was born on Stanton Island NY in 1700 to Isaac Billiou.

Isaac Billiou (Balliou) was born on a ship between S. Holland and the US in 1661 to Pierre Billiou and Francoise DuBois.

Pierre Billiou was born Jun 17 1632 in Reins Normandy to Thomas Billiou. (famous man even had a book written about him in 1954 because of all the cool stuff he did while at Staton Island NY for the Dutch and English).

Thomas Billiou, whom lived to be 100, was born 1607 in La Basse France.

Thomas is not for sure some say 1607 while others say 1595 to 1650
His father was born around 1560-70 and some say his name was Thomas as well, lived in Wicres France.

My theory is Thomas Sr. lived from 1570ish to 1650 and Thomas Jr. lived from 1607 to 1707 and his sister Abigael was born around 1595.

Anyway that is just a short family history

Party Animal

These last 2 nights I have become a party animal. Yesterday my neighbor invited us over to a cook out she was having at her place at 8 PM. Anndea was not feeling all that great so she stayed home with the boys and I went over and mingled around. When I left I was saying good night to people and one person asked me why I was leaving and I said it was past my bed time and my neighbor heard that and turned off the music and never turned it back on. If she did it was not near as loud as it was before hand. :o)

Anyway today we had a mandatory fun event for Anndea's work, so we left the boys with our neighbor who I told we would be by at 8:30 to pick the up. Typically at these things no one can leave until the highest ranking officer leaves, but the problem with that was that it was at the highest ranking officers house. So anyway everyone was talking and having a "good time" when 8:30 hit so Anndea and I collected our things and politely told the host that we had to leave to pick up our boys." Before we could say goodbye to everyone and get out of the door we noticed that everyone else took advantage of it and left as well. We literally were the last couple out of the door and the house was cleared within 3 minutes.

Our neighbors have 2 children close to Samuel and Andys' age so they had a blast, in fact Andy was so tired all he wanted to do was go home and go to bed. Unlike most kids Andy enjoys naps and will let you know when it is time to take one or just when he is sleepy. I jsut wish they were all that way.

Amelia Bedelia, is a No Go

So today the boys finally wanted me to read "Good Work, Amelia Bedelia" to them so I got all excited and grabbed the book. We sat down on the floor and I started reading.... Mr Rogers asked for toast and an egg so she brought him some toast and an egg. He broke the egg and it was raw!.... Mrs Rogers asked for her plants to be put in pots so she found all the pots from the kitchen and put them in there. The bread had to rise and then had to be punched down.....

The boys laughed at the first with the raw egg, and laughed with me on putting the plants in pots, and laughed with me on watching the bread do magic and rise, and finally on making the sponge cake Samuel asked, "Daddio what is so funny? Why are we laughing." I realized, one they are still a little bit to young for it and second that most of the things in the book we no longer do. :o( I guess I will have to wait until he is about 7 before I can read it to him again where he will understand everything.

Big Shoes to Fill

So I have taken some pictures but cannot seem to get them off of my camera. It is driving me crazy. I have used different cables but non of them is the right one. Anyway the boys had some big shoes to fill a few days ago. I was checking my email and started hearing this clunk, giggle, clunk, giggle, clunk nose. So I went to investigate what was going on. I get to the hall way and Samuel had my shoes on and was walking around in them. Andy in turn decided he wanted to do the same and had found Mommy's running shoes and had put them on as well.

They were walking around on the wooden floor and after every step they would just laugh and laugh and laugh because of the sound the hollow shoes made on the wooden floor. It was a site to see so I took pictures with our new digital camcorder (since some little boy managed to pull our camera off the shelf and break it) but I just cannot get them off of the camcorder. I thought I would go ahead and tell this story without the pictures before I forgot.

Oh the same note as camcorders, they do not make camcorder cases like they used to. I guess it is because the camcorder itself is a thousand pounds less than they used to be too. Anyway we have an old camcorder case and the boys love to play with it. In fact they packed it up with toys yesterday and went on a "trip" to their bedroom and released their destruction in there as well as the living room.

Amelia Bedelia

The other day the boys and I were at the library and we were going through books trying to find a few to check out and Samuel ran across one that caught my eye. It was "Good Work, Amelia Bedelia" by Peggy Parish. The book looked very familiar and once I read the title I realized it was one of my favorite books when I was younger! I became very excited and asked Samuel if he wanted it but he said no. So I tried to give it to Andy but he did not want it either.

At the end we checked out 3 books. One for Samuel, a Thomas book, one for Andy, another Thomas books, and Good Work, Amelia Bedelia for me. I hope the boys will like it because there are many more.

A New Female Parking Lot on Post

After many complaints of possible attacks in the secluded parking areas around post the Commanding General developed a "Female Only Parking Lot" around the barracks and major working areas to help stop this problem. Even the Military Police (MP) that patrol the area are exclusively female, putting a heavy work load on the few female MPs on post. All this has been done to create a comfortable and safe environment for our dedicated female Soldiers volunteering to protect freedom and liberty around the world. Below is a picture my wife took when she went to get a spot there on the grand opening of this new parking lot.

Table

Ok first off I fibbed a little. I was unable to get pictures uploaded tonight. On a side note we have a little table and today my boys both sat at it to eat. It was really funny watching them because neither one really understands scooting your chair to the table to get closer to the food so after a little bit one would somehow get scooted away from the table and then would grab it and pull it towards him. This ultimately upset the other who would then pull the table back.

A few times Andy would hit his bowl and it would slide back on the table and instead of reaching for the bowl he would pull the table towards him. Samuel would say "Daddio, Andy is hogging the table!" Then my favorite was when their feet would touch each other under the table they would both just start laughing up a storm.

Today we had another softball game in this steaming 82 degree weather here. The boys practiced some baseball with their plastic bat and ball. Samuel was not that good at swinging but he was really good at hitting Andy with the bat if when he ran by. He was not trying too Andy just did not have any concept of a swinging bat yet. I think he is learning though and now running a little farther away for big brother when he is practicing batting.

Boys Swimming

Today my boys and I invited our neighbors and Samuel's friend Cole to go bowling with us. It ended up being 8 people going in all. 6 kids and 2 House Spouses. People looked at us like we were crazy. Anyway Andy beat Samuel 65, to 61 or something like that. They all had a blast so we decided to not let the fun stop there so we packed up, and went over to the other person's house and invited over 2 more kids for pizza and a movie. We thought we would give the home daycare idea a try and after a bout 10 minutes we decided it would not be worth the $6k a month we could make. :o)

Anyway we were outside playing and I had been doing great at making sure all the kids take off their shoes before stepping in the small 8 inch tall pool when all the sudden one asked me to tie a balloon and when I turned back Andy was standing in the middle of the pool shoes socks and all having a blast. I though about yelling at him but decided there was nothing I could do now to keep them dry so I let him have some fun.

Anyway Tim (the other House Spouse) just got a new neighbor who has a stay at home dad too, so we will be officially starting our own club soon. :o)

Wednesday night I will be posting some pictures of my boys, so keep an eye out.

Saving Money

My wife thought I was crazy when I told her I saved some money when I bought a 2 liter for $1.00 at the gas station (which was typically $1.59). She said "well it is for $0.98 at the Commissary." But because I am a Jordan I had to be right so I thought there for a minute and then replied, that I still saved money, in fact I saved 8 cents. She asked me how was that. So I explained: "With gas being $3.89 a gallon and our car getting 28 miles to the gallon that would roughly be 15 cents per mile. Now with the gas station being 0.7 miles from the house and the commissary being exactly 1 mile from the house, I saved 0.6 miles in traveling which would equal 10 cents saved in gas spent minus the 2 cents extra for the drink, I was able to save a grand total of 8 cents." She looked at me like I was crazy and just replied with an "Ooo kay."

An Amazing Woman in My Life

We have these neighbors who have 2 children right around Samuel's age, the dad is in school and the wife, well it is her first time away from family. Anyway she makes these amazing deserts and brings them over for me to try out. She says I am her taste tester so that she can make it better if needed. She makes everything from basic ingredients.

Now if you are thinking this is the amazing woman in my life you are crazy! There is this other woman who calls and checks up on me and makes sure everything is going ok, she makes sure I am giving my boys their allergy medication and always calls and sees if there is anything we need from the store before she leaves from work. (I think that is so I can get all the other women out of the house before she gets home in 3 minutes ;o) Anyway she loves me even if I do not have dinner ready when she gets home or the kitchen is a mess from the boys dinner. She radiates with the love of the Lord when she smiles at me and lives a wonderful example for others and people around her notice and respect her because of this and her solid work ethics and dedication.

But the thing that amazes me most is she allows me to have a break from the boys on the weekends when she is having her break from work. He holds my hand at night and even takes out the trash on Tuesday mornings at 5 AM if it is not at the curb yet. She cleans the small things in the shower that I do not see and she even greases down the boys at night even after a long 5 to 9 work day. She cooked me an amazing dinner today and started the laundry. She doesn't even complain to me about her radio not working in her car (since the car now runs again :o). She is very frugal on her spending and even asks me before she makes random purchases even if I am in Virginia and she at home.

She is an amazing woman and I have no clue how I have gotten so lucky. This very annoying talkative man with a horrible since of humor, God must have been watching out over me when he blessed me with my amazing wife. I knew I had to marry her when she came to visit my parents when we were just friends and my mother gave her my Letter jacket to keep.

Bad Smell in Car

Just a short funny story. So this last week we have hit some record highs for the year at 90 and 91 degrees! :o) Anyway Anndea had a box of stuff from work in her go and her car start to stink really bad so we thought it was the box since it was really strong in the back seat area. So she took the box out the next day at work but while carrying the box she noticed the smell was not in the box.

So the next day she was trying to figure out what the horrible smell was, since her car literally smelt like rotting meat from something dying in there. Anyway after digging in the trunk on Thursday she found the smell. On Friday I had ran to the store in her car and bought some food and randomly got a nice big stake that was on sale. When the sacker stuck everything in the car the meat fell out of the back and under the baby stroller. So to make a short story long, she literally had rotten meat hiding under the baby stroller. I felt bad because she had to deal with it for a week.

Birthday Party

So today one of our neighbors had a birthday party at the bowling alley. She was turning 5 so she could bowl decently but my boys have never bowled before except with our penguin pins at home. Anyway the bowling Alley actually had some balls my 1 1/2 year old could pick up. unfortunately he never got to bowl but he ran all around the place so excited and cheering everyone on for every shot even if it did not hit a pin.

Samuel on the other hand got up there and then threw the ball up in the air and let it crash down. :o) So we had a short bowling lesson. He did pretty good with a final score of 61 I believe. Anyway we will be going more often.

Andy got so excited about the birthday presents he started opening the one from him to her. It was kindof funny. He was so excited about it. Even though they haven't really played with our neighbor in a while (bad weather, and about a 2 year age difference) they still had a blast and I know my boys will miss them when they leave in 2 weeks.

Recycling Crayons

So today I ran across an idea on an acquaintance's blog where I am getting some good ideas for things for the boys and this one sparked my interest. She labeled it Rainbow Crayons but it is also a great way to reuse broken or used ones. I always ask my wife how do they continue to make crayons and if the recycling center here will take them because there are so many wasted just at our house alone.

Anyway this idea takes the crayons and melts them down and puts them in cupcake cups to harden. It is a great idea, I know my boys will love it and it finally gives me something to use the linings of my aluminum cupcake shells (they come in very thin paper to keep them seperated.

Instead of using an oven you can also place your crayons in these cups and up them on the dash of your car during a hot day. It works great and saves electricity too. I know it works because this is how I heated up my launch each day when we just got married and I was working. And it also turns any stale donut into a great tasting one too. Oh and since my boys have left them laying on the van floor (which is why you really need to use the cups. :o)

Anyway the link is here.

Cleaning Up Help

I have been trying to get my boys to stop making such a big mess during the day and trying to get them to help clean up half way through the day. I am having some problems with the youngest (he takes after his mother I guess :o) and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

At night he is all for helping clean up but during the day he says no way. Please make a comment if you have any ideas to help out.

Softball Game

Last night we had a softball game so I brought my boys out with me since mommy was still at work. They warmed up with us and even practiced batting a little (which they can hit the ball a lot better than some of our players :o)

Anyway we had exactly the amount of players to play but my wife had not shown up yet and the typical bunch of spouses where not there either. So to keep us from having to forfeit the game I asked one of our player's new girlfriend to watch them. So at first she just sat there and watch but then soon learned that they where a hand full and both liked running in separate directions.

I do not know if I had more fun playing the game or watching her trying to manage 2 little boys. I played catcher so a little while through the game Andy just stood at the fence and watch me (so cute). And when mommy finally showed up she asked them both if they wanted to play baseball with mommy and they said "No, I want to play with her" and pointed to the girlfriend.

Softball Practice

So I went to Softball practice today and my boys came along to watch. Everytime I did something, ran to support someone, threw the ball or hit the ball they would cheer and say "good job dadio." I felt very special having my own fan club there. Now everyone on the team calls me Dadio. :o)

On a side note the pharmacy here on base stopped carrying Samuel's asthma medicine so we had to go alllllllll the way to WalMart. Man I tell ya I have gotten spoiled living on base. Plus they actually charged me for the medication. I had to pay $3! :o) The military has its perks I guess, that is why so many people rejoin after leaving for a year or two.

Coloring

Today my boys and I colored some pretty drawings for mommy. Luckily it was only with crayons because as soon as I turned my head the youngest was coloring all over the couch. I hate the cleaning supplies we have because of all the chemicals they have in them and my boys will be playing all over it as soon as I go to put it up so I have been looking for something new.

I recently ran into an all purpose cleaner concentrate that is all natural non toxic, biodegradable and much more. The best part is one bottle can do so much and last you forever. Plus they say that you can save over $3,400 just by using their concentrate (just add water) cleaner over the lifetime of the bottle. Here is the link for it, I believe it is called Basic H2. So for just $12 I thought I would give it a shot when it came in.

Don't tell anyone but I learned about this stuff on Oprah a few months back, Dr. Oz has some really good tips and ideas. Uh I was um channel surfing and just uh ran across her show. What me a man watch Oprah?

Mr. House Spouse

This blog is dedicated to my, and others, daily journeys as house spouses. I am a male who has taken on this roll almost 3 years ago. Throughout this time I have ran into many road bumps and challenges but have made it through with the help of my wonderful wife, friends, family, my little boys, and even strangers.

Throughout our lives we face many difficulties no matter if we are male or female, in the workforce or taking care of the Home. This is a record of my past and present journeys on the path as a Mr. House Spouse. Please feel free to share your adventures too.