Yes, this was Ben this morning, not in HIS room of course, but in MINE.  He had his “Ben 10” DVD in and was watching episodes about a young kid just a little older than him, who can become 10 different “heroes” (thank you alien watch that he found!).  It is a pretty cool show.  What I love about Ben is that he gets into something and we watch it awhile and then he is into something else.  We see enough of it to not be just in and out and miss any depth of story.  He likes the variety…..so we also get into all the things…..Veggietales, Xmen, Transformers, Superman, Spiderman, Avengers….you get it.  But it is all boy and all the time!!

And it is good for me to be a part of.  He loves the characters and he thinks (often) that he is every one of them!!  The great part is that it keeps our house “crime and evildoer free,” while also keeping him out of the Juvenile Detention Center.

And his passion of it all remind me of when I was a kid.  Movies had heroes…..soldiers, cowboys, whatever……the good guys were the ones you wanted to be and that was a good thing.  Now of course it is a different story.  Evil often wins and shock value rules the cinema.  The great part about Ben is that it is ALWAYS about the good guys……just like it was when I was a kid.

So this was good for me to see, but even better for me to be a part of!  I love him and I should…..he is one of the good guys!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Oh sure, yesterday I posted the “cool picture” from Valentine’s Day, but not this one…..this one was the one I sent to his mom and his siblings as he was, like many 5 year olds do, having a meltdown after I picked him up from school.  His teacher had told us that he had told her at the “Fancy Nancy Valentine’s Day Party” that it was the best day of his life.  He told me shortly after this picture that I had “ruined his life.”  Quite the contrast for just 5 short years, but then I suppose his pool of data is a bit smaller than mine.

But in all honesty I am used to it because 5 year olds are crazy……..and this is my third one.  AND, to make matters worse, this 5 year old makes the other two look SANE.  And although that is not saying a lot when we are talking about Stephanie, it certainly is when we are talking about Scotty.  Ben is all over the place, but not without a lot of thought about working you, or at least trying to.

As an example, today he scowled in three different stores as he wanted EVERYTHING, yet got nothing.  He told me a lot of times what I should be doing, and he even made sure I was told that I was not very nice.  Of course I wear that in front of him like a badge of honor, saying “it is not my job to be nice……I am the dad.  If I were nice I would be the mom!”  And then I laugh…..it only eggs him on!!

But I comfortable with my place.  Even Steph and Scott get it.  They know that I love them, and they know they can count on me……..but I am not their friend, I am their dad.  Oh sure, I can be “friendly,” but what I really am is their father.

So the meltdown came and went.  It was not my first rodeo with him or any of them…..but they all recover and he did splendidly.  I just wanted to share the Ben scowl…he’s like a little vulture and far more angry and serious than the other two ever were…….

But sadly for him…..he is every bit as effective…….meaning NOT…..  Luke BEN, I am your father!!  

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

A couple of years ago I posted about Scotty cooking dinner for Steph and a few of her friends, and I thought about that tonight as Ben “helped” me cook and host a Valentine’s dinner for his mom.  Sure, I did all the dangerous stuff, but he really DID do a ton of it, and he had every reason to be proud.  He made a chicken Parmesan in spinach and mushroom, with sides of green beans and broccoli.  And since he doesn’t like ANY of that, he had a chicken nuggets TV dinner.

But as you can see, he had a Chef’s apron and hat.  He sat his mom down and after giving her some gifts, told her (as the Chef) that she could have her choice of chicken or of chicken.  And she had the chicken.  They made quick work of their meals and shared a small cake that we bought but didn’t make.  It was a great time, and Steph took part through our texting of pictures of her moron brother (this time Ben).

So Valentine’s Day was a hit.  Ben made her dinner and got her chocolates.  I got her pajamas.  And the cat and dog got her a heart-shaped balloon.  It was all good and Amanda is now in her PJ’s, Ben is in the bath, Puddy is God knows where, Steph is still in Missouri, Scott is in California at combat training, and Viper and I are typing out by the new fire pit which has a nice fire.  The wind just blew my wine over which irritates me a bit, but in all honesty it is 40 degrees in mid February and I am in a sweatshirt with my dog sitting out by a fire……I can’t be mad about that. (Plus I can get another glass).

But please enjoy the Chef picture and if someone wants to look back through and find the date and picture of Scotty as a chef, let me know and I will post them both tomorrow.

But for now I will just enjoy the night and the fire (and my (okay, Scott’s) dog).  Life is good!

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Although I intended to post this at the BEGINNING of the day, some days just get away from you, and now after a day that offered 5 Ash Wednesday services at all our locations, I am finally home and thinking about tomorrow…….

But Ash Wednesday is not an event that finishes anything….it is a start.  It begins the season of Lent and calls us to repentance, self-examination, and denial.  It turns our focus inward that our relationship with God Himself might be strengthened and that we might reflect that outwardly in the lives that we live.

So I suppose my blog is a later start than I hoped, but important nonetheless.  My hope and prayer for you is that you take this opportunity that begins on this day and make it a Lent to remember…one that truly changed you for the better.  There is never any better day than today or time than right now to move ahead.

What are you waiting for?  This is your time to make a change!!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

English pronunciations vary across the country, so it was no surprise to me that the word “domestic,” phonetically where I come from, begins with “Da Mess.”  And that is what my backyard has looked like during a short little project that I have accomplished over the past week.

You see we have a lot of trees, and with that a lot of branches to burn.  There are approximately 10,000 branches in the yard every time the wind blows, and short of buying a beaver and building a pond, we have to find something to do with them……so we burn them.

Unfortunately, the best place to burn them has also been the best place for Amanda’s garden each year, so something had to give, and someone had to put their foot down.  So I went to Amanda and let her know that something had to happen.

So the pictures are of the new placement of one of our gardens shed and the small fire circle that I put together to burn all the wood.  It is “near” the garden, but the garden is still in its place.  I suppose that means she was just lucky I wanted to do all that work.

But in the end, we will all be happy.  I will not have time to burn anything until Thursday.  It is Ash Wednesday tomorrow and priests still work on that day!  But on Thursday I will give it a go, and intend to be quite pleased with it.

It is no longer da mess……but yes, I am da mess ticaked.  Who cares though?  On Thursday I intend to have a great fire.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well apparently my idea has worked.  Steph said she sent some LU stickers in the mail on Friday, although they were sold out of the ones we wanted.  I am pretty sure that means we will not ever see them, as the LU Mom one they haven’t had for over a year.

I may have posted this picture before or at least one like it a few weeks ago, but it is of the kids at Scotty’s graduation, and I am posting it because I really do miss having them all together with us.  I have about 10 of this same shot too, and not one of them has all three of them looking straight at me.  This one has Steph looking away, but I just sent her $50 on Thursday, so she will be the least mad at me for a bad picture.

But today I kept wondering when the next time would be to have them all in the same place, and I realized I cannot answer it.  It sent a big chill down my spine and made an already pretty hard day worse.  Don’t get me wrong, I understand that kids grow up and move away, but we all need to come to grips with the fact that this is something that is okay for YOUR kids, but I really do not think mine.  Sure, it is a double-standard, but I am comfortable with it.  I just want them all hanging around.

So tonight, as I sip my vodka tonic and have “movie night” with my wife (she was too sick last night and that’s something because we watch them at home), I will try and envision our next big gathering.  Of course envisioning grandkids will be helpful as well.  (I am sure the vodka tonic will help too)

But it is a both a blessing and a curse.  God has given us great kids and we love them…..but missing them is pretty dang hard.

Maybe I will get a call from them over the weekend (from the ones away) as I know their little brother follows me around like I am a truck and he is my trailer!  Good times!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I am really not too sure what to do about all this, as I guess it is a collision between my expectations as his father and the realization that Tirman DNA runs through his body, but I need to share what parts of my conversation with Ben today that I remember.

Yes, I picked him up from school.  When I left the house Amanda was just getting home.  She has been very sick, and she errantly attempted going back to work today, only to arrive home feeling very close to death.  She looked as miserable as she felt, but was able to get up to bed and crawl in under the covers.

I of course left her to pick up Ben.  He was happy to see me, and I mentioned to him that his mom was sick and at home.  He seemed surprised, and asked “again?” And our conversation then turned to how we would deal with things when we got home.

One of those things of course was dinner……I asked him what he wanted, to which he replied “Hibachi Grill.”  I reminded him that his mom was sick and she couldn’t go, so he generously offered for his dog and cat to watch her so he could have some of his favorite pizza (yes, at a Chinese buffet) and Oreo dessert.  I said that the whole dog and cat thing would not happen and that he would have a better chance of his sister watching her, but he wondered how that could happen as Steph lives 300 miles away (yes, he called her an hour later and asked her to come…..she turned him down).

So our conversation then turned to Valentine’s Day.  I gave him some options and he then made up one of his own which would be clearly the least work.  So I said to him, “Ben, you are clearly a lazybutt,” to which he replied, “Dad, you mean amazing imagination.”  So I just guess I was wrong…..at least in his mind.

But we are at home and Amanda is asleep, and I am typing this early so as to not forget it.  It is not yet 4pm, so I am sure there will be more, but regardless, when I post this, or this plus more a little later, I will still be confused.  He is either a brilliant and twisted evil genius, or just about the funniest person I have ever met, and let’s all remember that I’ve met Ben Stein.  So what to do, what to do?

Perhaps I will just sit back and let this one play itself out!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, at the end of a day like today, I took Amanda and Ben to the restaurant in our neighborhood to get some dinner, as it is never really crowded and despite Amanda being sick, she didn’t feel too bad about being there.  NO, she did not want her picture posted (she is to the right of this one), but a day full of meds after an early doctor’s visit seem to have her at least visiting the land of the living.

And Ben was an angel all afternoon and evening, which leads me to believe that he is either very sympathetic to his mom being sick or I picked up the wrong child from school.  I am hoping it is the prior as I am not sure about how much paperwork and such I would have to fill out to straighten the latter out.  But regardless, it was an easy and quick way to feed them both and get them home.  Amanda and Ben both went right to bed.  And, with a good night’s rest, perhaps Amanda might even be able to work tomorrow for at least part of the day…..she is pretty bad.

And yes, as for me, I feel great.  It is a good thing too as I am in charge of dispensing meds, the chief cook (I clearly order out often), and room service for all the needy people who currently live here.  But I am glad to do it.

I feel for them when they are sick and Amanda really has a dose of it.  Let’s just pray Ben dodges this all……but if he doesn’t, I will still be available!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, two of these are Viper’s dog toys and YES, these are their REAL NAMES.  But as I made my way through my day today (thinking that I was, and had been on top of everything in my ENTIRE LIFE) I was confronted (a much better term than what I could say) by SOMEONE who pointed out that I was not nearly as on the ball as I thought I was.