Battle Hymn

My husband came home with a funny story yesterday. I laughed so hard, I thought it would be fun to post it here.

He was in a meeting with a bunch of people, including the president of his company. Towards the end of the meeting, the president stands up and gives a "go get 'em, we can do it" speech. In the middle of this speech, some guy starts to hum the Battle Hymn of the Republic. You know, "Glory, glory hallelujah".

Then he switches from humming to actually singing the words. Before long, the president joins in and they get louder and louder. So here they are, singing as loud as they can while the other people in the meeting are in shock. The newer people have eyes as wide as saucers and the veterans are shaking their heads. Outside the room, heads are popping up over the cubicles like gophers.

They finally wind down, the president gives this guy a pat on the back and leaves the room. Well, you guessed it, that guy was my husband. I would say I couldn't believe it but actually I can.

There are a lot of things I love about him, but being able to sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic in the middle of a meeting without any reservations is definitely at the top of my list.

Big Birthday Boy

Max finally turned four last week. I say finally because he's been through with three for the last six months. If you asked him how old he was, he would say "I don't know but I'm not three." Well, now he's four and he's proud of it. He has told everyone he sees of his new age, and if you know my shy boy, that's saying a lot.

We had his birthday at a little gym and he absolutely loved it. Look at that smile.

All his friends wore themselves out.


This was the best part for them. He didn't know he was going to get to ride a motorcycle.


Happy boy, happy day. We love you big boy!!!

Ah-Ha

My kids love to take baths. What kid doesn't? The actual bath usually only lasts about 5 minutes and then they play until the water turns cold.

Lately, Max has been begging to take showers instead of baths. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why. I mean, they're not really that fun, we don't have toys in there and the boys are at the height where the shower spray hits them right in the face. But every time, Max just begs to take a shower.

Well, now I know why. Look what I found in the shower this morning.


Apparently, Merk has been giving them candy in the shower. I guess that's one way to get the job done.

Birthday Boy

It's been three weeks so I guess I should put some birthday pictures up. Luke had a super hero party this year, complete with a dozen friends in costume.

Here he is practicing his moves before the party. Actually we ended up buying a new bat suit the night before. We tried is old one on (the one he still played in constantly) and I discovered it was way too small. I don't know why I hadn't noticed. Anyway, his new suit has more "power" so he's pretty happy.


Everything was a battle. Bubble blowers were turned into guns and sticks turned into swords. They loved being "tough guys."


Merk put on a super hero training camp. He planned it out all by himself, down to the last detail. I think he had as much fun as the kids.


My proud six-year old.


Good friends.


I can't believe he's six. I can't believe he's almost completed kindergarten. I can't believe how much he acts like a big boy now. I'm very proud of him.

Happy Birthday Luke!!!

Scout the Adventurer

This is our dog Scout. She is almost 8 years old and couldn't weigh more than 100 pounds soaking wet. We love our dog, even though she is a Goliath. She's also an escape artist.

So on Tuesday when I opened the door to a strange lady holding Scout by the collar, I wasn't too surprised. This isn't the first time she's escaped. One time she got so far, a lady had to drive her home. You should have seen Scout when she got out of that minivan. She couldn't have been more proud of herself.

Well, this time was different. First of all, the stranger turned out to be my next door neighbor, who I've never met in the four plus years we've lived here. Not once. Four years. It's not that we haven't tried, but they are extremely reclusive. The won't answer the door, kids are scared if the ball goes into their yard, kind of neighbor.

So here she is on my doorstep explaining what happened and all I could think of is "Are you really my neighbor. You don't look so scary. Why don't you ever come out of your house?"

Anyway she turns out to be nice and Scout was returned safe and sound. The funny part is, this neighbor, who I wasn't even sure existed, actually rescued Scout from a ledge in the alley.

Here is a picture of the ledge.


Somehow, Scout climbed up there and couldn't get down. I wish I could do a reenactment and take a picture, but she does weigh a 100 pounds.

So, at the end of the day, it turns out I do have a nice neighbor who is willing to physically pull my enormous dog off a ledge. I also have a very tired dog who is still afraid to go near the gate. SCORE!!!

Not Kidding

This is how I found Max last night when I went to tuck him in. I can't believe he fell asleep like that. I guess he was just too tired to make it all the way into the bed.

The funny thing is, odd sleeping is not a new thing for him. Check out these pictures from the past few weeks...

Win Some, Lose Some

Here are a few of pictures of the boys from Christmas. I say a few because our camera went crazy right before Christmas and only one out of every ten pictures came out.




After the initial sadness of not having many holiday pics followed by a heated argument about how our old camera should have been replaced a year ago, Merk brought home a new camera. I wish I had a picture of it because look what it can do. When's the last time you saw him so happy?


Happy Husband. Happy Wife. Happy New Year!