Bringin' Sexy Back

Sitting shirtless in a lawn chair in the middle of the living room eating Cheezits. So sexy.

How is this comfortable?

Is it me or does Ethan look a little stiff.

Go Buddy Go!

We bought Ethan this Radio Flyer horse last year for Christmas. Until recently, he could have cared less if it existed. But now, he loves it. Especially when Mom eggs him on.

Happy Mother's Day, Christina!

I Guess I'm Sleeping In The Guest Room

Enough said....

Time To Make The Donuts

Christina and I found out that Dunkin' Donuts opened up shop in Memphis. Pleased, real pleased! So, on the morning of our 6 year wedding anniversary, I ran out to get a couple of coffee's and a box of munchkins (donut holes to you southerners). It didn't occur to us that Ethan had never eaten a donut before. Not surprisingly, he killed a six pack of munchkins within seconds.

How Time Flies

One Saturday morning, I got Ethan out of the crib, changed his diaper, and let him loose. I proceeded to walked into the living room and turned on the TV, then I headed into the kitchen to started some coffee. On my way back through the living room, I watched Ethan emerge from the hallway... eyes halfway open and rockin' a yawn, walk over to the chair and climb up like he's done it a million times. Within seconds, he propped himself up and was watching TV. The part that makes this so amazing: I HAVE NEVER SEEN HIM CLIMB A CHAIR BEFORE IN MY LIFE!

It's amazing how quickly they learn.

Bathroom Renovation Done!

FINALLY, IT'S DONE.  Ethan's bathroom renovation is finally complete.  It was much harder than I expected, but it's probably the best looking room in the house now.  Matter of fact, he has a better bathroom than his mother and father.  Rumor has it, I better get use to it.

Anyway, a couple of interesting things I've learned during this remodel:

1. Make a budget, then add 50%.
2. If you're removing 30 year old tile, spend the money to rent a jack hammer.
3. Remodels with children suck
4. Never go looking for your wife's opinion, because the result won't be pretty.

Click to see a couple more pictures

Winter Storm 2009!

To be honest, 7 inches of snow in Memphis Tennessee is considered a winter storm, so I can't make fun of these rednecks too bad for making it a big deal.  Matter of fact, the morning the storm ended, the scenes, sounds, and smells brought back memories of being a kid in Pittsfield, MA.  I actually spent a decent amount of time outside just chillin' (no pun).  After a while I bundled up E-dog and tossed him in the snow.  He had a blast, other than the fact he couldn't keep his balance.  Good times.

Series of Events

The next couple of pictures was a series of events that just cracked me up.

1.  Boy finds stick

2.  Boy challenges dog.

3.  Boy loses challenge

4.  Boy is defeated.

5.  Boy understands defeat, and gets pissed.

PLEASED!

What has two thumbs and loves Ethan.... THIS PERSON!  Great Grandma Smith came over to visit Ethan while she was in town visiting my parents.  It was a short visit, but fun.  Hopefully I will be able to see her before she heads back to possibly the safest, friendliest, and most prosperous place in the world... Albion, NY.  We love ya, GG Smith.

A Weekend at the Grandparents

While Pops was wrecking his back trying to chisel out petrified tile from his guest bathroom, Ethan strolled up to Jackson, Tn see the Geibel Grandparents for the weekend.  He always seems to have a great time.  And as always, my parents claim he was the perfect child.  Funny how I never see perfection at home.  Grandparent lie.

Click here to see some more pictures.

I hate life.

Christina decided it was time to remove the tile from the guest bathroom.  Granted, it was old tile and there was a crack running down the center, but I had no clue now hard it was going to be.  For some reason I always have little crap that makes renovations more irritating.  Example, the first task I had was to remove the toilet, however, the bolts were so corroded that one broke, and the other I had to remove with my Sawzall.  The last task for the day; to clean... well while cleaning I lifted up my shop-vac hose too close to Ethan's closet and sucked up a God forsaken washcloth.  I spent the next 30 minutes trying to remove it with a coat hanger.  I was so #$#%# jacked.  All in all, it took me 9 hours to remove a 5x3 foot section of tile with nothing but a chisel and a hammer.

I pray the install isn't as bad.  Probably not.

World Champs!

Just sayin'

Mom's Little Helper

Mom and Dad were trying to make a dent in our mountain of laundry.  Ethan decided he wanted to help sort.

I wonder if he likes washing dishes?

Blizzard of '09!

Yeah... That's right.  We got about an inch of snow.  Glad I went to WalMart the previous night to pick up my eggs, milk and bread.  A snow storm wouldn't be the same without french toast!

On The Light Track...

The wife and I have been trying to update our house one small thing at a time; one day a ceiling fan, the next a faucet.  This weekend it was time to replace our kitchen light.  This task wasn't exactly high on our list, but that was before I decided to inspect the old fixture and accidentally rip it from the ceiling (that's a story for another day.), thus creating a large, gaping hole about the size of my son's melon.  Not only was Christina less than impressed, but she wasn't about to live very long with a couple of live wires dangling from her ceiling.  Therefore, I moved this task up a few rungs.

Overall we both wanted recessed lighting.  Knowing we neither had the time nor the money to get this done quickly, we decided to try track lighting.  Normally I am not a fan.  Track lighting looks to industrial and modern... give me traditional any day of the week.  However, Christina has mentioned to me on more than one occasion that we live in a contemporary house, not traditional.  Fair enough.  I'll play along.

We went to Lowe's and Christina picked out an average set.  We went home, and after fixing the ceiling, I put up the fixture.  Not bad, to be honest... not bad at all.  I will put in recessed lighting at some point, but this will do for now.

Take a hike, Mom!

Well, not exactly... more like a walk.  Christina decided to throw Ethan in one of our wagons and take him for a stroll around the block.  At this point, it started to get a little chilly so we bundled him up in a red sweatshirt.  

Tell me he doesn't look like Yoda!

Ethan Approves.

Ever since Mom and Dad gave us Adirondack chairs for Christmas (actually, my father hand made them), Ethan has been wanting to go outside and try his chair on for size.  This weekend Memphis had some great weather, so Sunday morning after a couple cups of joe, we took Ethan outside for a test run.

Just if you didn't already know, Pops, Ethan approves.

HEY HO!!!

PITTSBURGH'S GOIN' TO THE SUPER BOWL!

Just sayin'

What a Ham...

No reason to post this picture..  It just cracked me up.  

A New Back Door.

Christina and I wanted to replace our back door since we bought our house.  The original 30 year old door was an absolute train wreck.  First, it had warped so bad if standing outside, you can see the light glaring around the door's border.  It reminded me of a scene in a horror movie where some person is walking down a mile long hallway towards a shut door being illuminated by what looks like nuclear fusion.  Second, this door wasn't exactly square.  You need a PhD in convex quadrilaterals just to explain it's shape.  Lastly, as you can imagine it was a hair drafty.  Driving 80 down I-40 with the windows cracked an inch would be a fair comparison.  So, as soon as we saved the funds, we put one in.  

Needless to say, I'm pleased.

Spoon Man!

Christina and I have been trying to get Ethan to use utensils.  So far, no good.  It's amazing how many things he can use a spoon for INSTEAD of an eating devise: a drum stick, a catapult, a pointer, a ear cleaner, a nose picker, an eye gouger, head scratcher, a pet projectile... even a mini hockey stick used to pass peas back and forth on his highchair tray (usually happens right before the spoon gets medieval and morphs into the capapult.).  Absolutely ridiculous.

Finally after a few weeks, Ethan started to figure the spoon out.  It also helps when you use mashed potatoes.