Moving: A Slow Process

Seriously I do not think we are ever going to get to move. It has been almost a year now and we still are residing in a house that is too small for our family. The boys love sharing a room and Taylor sleeps in their room every night. They all pile up on their bunk beds and Taylor never wants to sleep in her room. I know she will get to a certain age that she will want her privacy and they will all need a break from each other but for now….it’s really cute.

I am getting very restless as the months go by and our house still sits. It’s not like we are making it so difficult because we only want to move about a half hour away. We aren’t spending a ton of time going back and forth looking at real estate in Utah, getting the skinny on a condo L.A., or checking out a flat in New York. We know what we want and already and have several homes picked out…it’s just getting rid of this one!

In addition to the space on the inside lacking, I think we could definitely cut down on the space outside.  We have a little over two acres and we treat all of it like we live in a residential neighborhood.  In all actuality we live in the country.  Feed stores, diesel duallies, and a good bit of good ‘ol boys..but their meanin’ no harm.  We want to live on a Park’s Edge not a pond’s edge.  We want to have stores that sell gourmet sausage and not be forced the neighbors year old frozen dear sausage.  Its’s seriously time to find another realtor that is in touch with reality.

 

 

 

 

 

November 13, 2011 | Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment 

Avengers Assemble!

One of MY most anticipated movies gracing the big screen next year is The Avengers. Here is the new trailer just released and the film hits theaters on May 4, 2012. Check out and make sure to “Like” MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MarvelsTheAvengers

Marvel Studios presents “Marvel’s The Avengers”—the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

 

October 12, 2011 | Filed Under Family | 5 Comments 

First Flights

I have been flying quite a bit these days in some airplanes. I went from not flying in them for over twenty years to flying a handful of times in three months. The kids started asking when they could go on an airplane so Crystal and I started thinking about maybe surprising them with one (a flight not an airplane). Crystal flies a ton so I thought she should use her expertise and get her to compare flights for all of us to go somewhere.

You know when you go to a amusement park or a buffet and you pay a reduced price for a child under a certain age? That does not “fly” with airline companies. I guess that theoretically I am paying for the seat and not the person, but don’t you think that they should have a little section with tiny little seats for tiny little people under 10 years old and with a tiny little price?  I better make sure I pack some extra undies for them with that huge double surprise.

Also, you’ve gotta go someplace where everyone will like going to. Sure we could jet off on a European romantic getaway with some cheap flights to Cyprus or wake up with a view of the eiffel tower from a hotel in Paris…but I don’t think the kids would be too keen on the idea of that. So, we are taking a surprise flight in a week from now to Florida to have a one day DisneyWorld getaway and be back in time for school on Monday morning. I am definitely going to video their responses and I will most certainly be posting those to the site.

October 12, 2011 | Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment 

Real Dads + Real Steel = Real Deal.

Most of you saw from all of the tweets and Facebook posts that Crystal and I spent a week in Los Angeles. During that time we went and saw Real Steel and I told you all about that. What I didn’t tell you all is that we got to interview some of the cast and crew of the film. What really impressed me about a good bit of people that worked on and starred in Real Steel was that they let their passion as parents show in this movie. From behind the camera to being right there across from eight foot tall robots on-screen, different aspects of these peoples real lives were shared with us and what inspired me the most was the stories of their children in and around the film.

Director of Real Steel Shawn Levy brought his insight to the film and explained that “I don’t even really think of the movie as an action movie. I kind of think of it as a father-son movie more than anything else.” Those words coming from the dad of four girls, may seem a bit funny. Shawn’s passion though was really fueled by the want of a great family film for everyone. “We ended up having this experience where, a family can go to a movie actually together, because as we all know as parents, like, things that are called family films are so often just kind of condescendingly made for the lowest common denominator, and we sit there either asleep, which I’ve done sometimes, or resentful, or what not.” I know I have been there and done that. Fun fact though: Three of his four daughters make an appearance in the film.

Sugar Ray Leonard was the Boxing Consultant on the film and he shared that his entire family (including his movie loving mother-in-law) caught an advanced screening and truly adored it. He shared some of his advice that he gives to his children and I thought that the “boxer-dad” got it so right. He told us “You know just continue to be a fighter outside the ring and continually dream and reach for your goals and don’t ever believe you can’t become something because someone tells you, you can’t.  Because that happens all the time. People don’t want you to succeed because they can’t succeed.” Some words that really rang true to me being a father and yet also a son was when he shared “I stress to kids to be a leader not a follower.” Sugar Ray also shared that we need to try to always be their in our kids greatest battles “To let them know that it’s okay to talk to ‘em about whether it any problem.”

Anthony Mackie played “Finn” in the movie and he shared a bit about his relationship with his family and how they interact with his work life. I think it is awesome the way he doesn’t like to bring the family to a set and said “No, I don’t, I don’t like the whole circus of presenting my family.”  When asked why he doesn’t really care that much to have them come on set he explained “I don’t like that. You know, it just…it makes me feel weird like they’re on display. Like who’s that? That’s my family. Oh. You know, throw ‘em a cookie or something. It’s just weird.” Very respectful of a very good dad and a very funny man.

Hugh Jackman who plays “Charlie Kenton” in the movie. I knew that he did have kids in real life and I really wanted to ask him a question from one father to another. He blew me away when I asked him the question about his performance onscreen “Is it easy to just let that genuine father emotion come out that you have?” He followed up with “First of all I played a father on screen and I found all the emotions very easy to acts– like real easy.” We also asked what was it like having to be kinda rude to a kid onscreen and really be frustrated with him and what did he tap into to get to that point. e shared with us an answer that had a great peek into some Hugh Jackman parenting. He said “I had to be mean to him and Shawn encouraged me to go for it. They’re like, “Really?” When you have kids, there are times lines come to your head. Like you wanna say something when they frustrate you. And sometimes you do let it slip and you feel bad for like a week. Right? But almost every day there’s something you wanna say that you shove deep down. I’ve walked out of rooms before I’ve been so frustrated. I remember going out and like punching a pillow on my bed, like I’m so frustrated, you know. Like sometimes if you don’t wanna show them. So for three months every day I got to say it!” Sounds like perfect preparation to me Hugh!

I hope you guys checked out the movie Real Steel this weekend and if you haven’t you’d better go and see what you are missing.

October 9, 2011 | Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment 

My First Day in LA

 

We arrived in LA on Saturday and I could not believe that sunny California was so cloudy when we landed! After awhile it seemed that the city’s little joke that it was playing on was over and the clouds blew away. This city is big and it is a great deal different than back home in Houston. I really like it so far and am really anxious to go and do all of the things that Disney/Dreamworks has in store for us.

On Saturday night we saw a screening of Real Steel and (I know it sounds redundant but I can’t say anything else about the movie until it’s release) I thought it was a solid movie.

Today we get to meet Hugh Jackman (“Charlie Kenton”), Sugar Ray Leonard (“Boxing Consultant”), Shawn Levy (“Director”), Anthony Mackie (“Finn”), Erik Nash (Visual Effects Supervisor), Noisy Boy & Atom Robots & Puppeteer.  It is going to be a super packed day and I hope to get some audio of today’s meeting to share with all of you out there.  Also, I really want to try Carl’s Jr and In and Out while I’m here since I never have.

September 25, 2011 | Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment 

Comic Reading Today

I have always loved reading. Not really diving into several thousand page novels but sitting down and reading short stories, comic strips in newspapers, or one of my favorite…comic books. I used to be an avid collector of the things. Not really a collector to buy and resale for outlandish prices but more of a collector to save and revisit later on for the stories that I really liked and enjoyed. I have started to introduce comics to my kiddos as a way to get them to be more interested in reading. Taylor has recently gotten a kick out of reading some of the Captain Underpants books that are pretty much a longer story set in comic form. Rylan has to have some time devoted to hearing one of us read a story aloud to him as a part to his Kindergarten homework everyday.  As for Peyton, he is going to have to start reading one day.

My comic collection has dwindled down to only four long boxes filled with books. That still is a fairly good amount of books putting my collection at around 850 books. They do still take up some space but two are in the attic and the other two are in the back of my closet. It is a pain to have to go a pull a box out and then search through a couple hundred just to get out one or two books to read daily. Thank goodness for the digital age and gadgets that take advantage of it. These days what I have been doing is taking a digital copy of a comic book and then throw them onto the iPad. It makes it a whole heckuva lot easier to just move individual issues to it or even combine pdf files to have a larger story or even a complete run of a series.

I also like that I can go and scan some of the old issues that are a bit brittle and not for little hands and then put those on my computer. After that I just move them into a pdf converter and viola! It just really feels cool that the very same comics that I grew up reading and enjoying are now here for my kids.  I do like to keep the fun in comic reading though as every once in awhile I still go by the comic shop and bring some copies home for them or even letting them pick out a book off of the rack at Toy’s R’ Us since they do actually still carry copies these days.  I do, however, still find them torn up all over the floor in their room the next day!

 

September 17, 2011 | Filed Under Family | 1 Comment 

Winners!

Two giveaways have ended and I guess that means I should pick some winners.

The winner of The Help giveaway is……..

#73 Heather Stamper!

The winner of the Dr. Smith’s gift basket isssssssss…….

#6 Katie Klein

Thanks to all that entered! The winners have 24 hours to respond.

August 26, 2011 | Filed Under Family, Giveaway Winners | 4 Comments 

No Couch Potato’s Here

For a good bit now we have all been moving towards leading a healthy lifestyle at our house.  I had been a little overweight for the majority of my life and continued to over eat on a daily basis.  I noticed that my bad habits in my eating rituals had started to rub off on my children’s food choices.  We started to see them getting a little bit pudgier than they had been before and I knew that we all had to make a change.

We started eating a whole heckuva lot better.  We cut out quick solutions to meals and really started watching what we ate and what ingredients went into our meals.  We stopped snacking just because we were bored or just liked the thought of eating something and when we did notice that we wanted a snack we chose wisely.

We have been a good bit more active not only around the house but we have getting outside more.  We live in Texas and right now an immense drought is going on and really makes time outside in the heat really unbearable.  So, we head outside and go fast and furious in running, playing catch with various round things, and even doing some free weights.  We even get our dog involved and just get outside and run around like crazy to get our heart pumping.  

As autumn is slowly creeping up on us we are hoping that the kids will take an interest in maybe some sort of organized team sports.  Taylor used to play soccer but didn’t care for it much.  Hopefully maybe they can all latch on to something like baseball or softball that way they can all have a sport in common and play at home as well.  I think that this will teach them something that they desperately need….how to work as a team towards a common goal.  My children can never work together at home.  Maybe this will be a way for them to see it in action and then hopefully incorporate it into their home life.  

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of SUBWAY® Baseball DeSIGNS. The opinions and text are all mine. The $500 Gift Certificate Giveaway Contest runs from August 19 – 28, 2011. A random winner will be announced by September 1, 2011. Official Contest Rules. 

August 21, 2011 | Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment 

ABCMouse.com Review

I know that I have been talking a good bit about my son Rylan starting school this year. I talked about how worried I was in him starting and being able to keep up and even grasp the topics and lessons that they would be covering. My fears were really put at ease when my friends over at ABCmouse.com contacted me and wanted to set me up with a trial account.

I was very hesitant at first because my kids generally don’t have the attention span to visit online games or communities that are structured on lessons, continued play or return visits. As Rylan delved in he was really hooked by all of the things that he could do. He also like that he could play around for 10 minutes or stay and explore for hours. I really like the way that it was structured to where he completes each lesson, he is guided to the next one and is motivated to continue learning by ABCmouse.com’s Tickets and Rewards System. Tickets can be used to “purchase” virtual items on the site, such as new fish for the classroom fish tank or avatar accessories. He does more and more lessons to try to get to the rewards section just so he can buy a suit of armour or a new pet for his virtual bedroom.

The lessons of the Step-by-Step Learning Path consist of books, puzzles, games, songs, art activities, and/or printables that relate to a specific topic. Each lesson offers children several different ways to learn, in accordance with the recommendations of early childhood experts. It is still very structured like real school but lets him choose things and makes his path to learning unique to him.

Rylan actually asks us everyday to play. Not only to play online but to work on some of the activities and worksheets that you can print out from ABCmouse.com and take learning out of the virtual world. I plan on setting Peyton (3) up very soon to get his leaning on!

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely that of the blog owners. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. I have been given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions in any freakin’ way.

August 2, 2011 | Filed Under Family | 2 Comments 

Fading Memories and Saving New Ones

It’s no secret that I am getting older. No, I’m not ancient, but I am realizing that I am getting more forgetful about certain things as the days go by. For instance, Crystal and I are driving in the car after church one afternoon and she says “Rylan this and Rylan that….do you remember when he did that?” and I was like “…no”. Well, actually in my head I said “no” but I told her “oh yeah!” like I remember it like it was yesterday. What the heck? I know every little instance or occasion with my kids has been amazing! So where is the malfunction that my eyes and ears can’t email big files to the grand hard drive that is my brain?

I have come to some sort of resolution that I need to combat this memory loss or this inability to retain this information by capturing it more often. I think that I am going to start shooting a bit more video of me and my family. I will then have files that I can then save onto my computer and rewatch them anytime. I know that I run the risk in my computer one day dying a horrible death and my memories would be gone forever. I did a ton of figuring out what the best thing to do in the long run would be and I knew that I would want to be able to send big files over to a portable hard drive for safe keeping. So, that’s what I am going to do. Capture a bit more of my daily life in video form, throw it onto a hard drive, store that somewhere safe, and then have them forever even to show my grand-kids one day. I’m on the ball now!  Did I say that already?   I can’t remember…

 

 

August 2, 2011 | Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment 

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