The first Sunburn

As many of you know, the seasons they are a changing.. Which is a good thing.. I am not partial to cold weather. Although I have to endure it every year do to the fact I live in the North East..

I am a person that loves the warm weather.. This past weekend was a beautiful weekend to be outside.. It was in the high 80's and low 90's.. That's pretty good for the end of April. We usually have highs around 65 this time of year..

Well I had two baseball games on this past Saturday for my boys. They were around 10 o'clock in the morning.. The sun wasn't too bad at that time, but by the end of the game I could feel the burn on my legs..

Now I had put sunblock on. it was SPF 30.. Which normally would work on y skin. Yeah that didn't happen this day.. I don't know if it was the brand of sunblock or what it was, but by the time i got home from the games my legs had a nice pink glow to them..

Later that afternoon I had to go to a cousins house to help install a new fence.. I lathered more sunblock on my legs, arms, and face, and began to work.. Reapplying as needed..

Later that night I went to take a shower and was screaming like a little girl from the sting of the water hitting the back of my legs... I finally was able to deal with this sting. So I finished my shower and turned in for the night..

The next day I returned to my cousins house to finish the fence with sunblock and plenty of water in hand..

Once again I lathered all parts of my body that were exposed to the sun with sunblock, and began to work on the fence again..

On this day the temp was in the low 90's and really humid.. Around 12:00 we stopped for lunch.
I went inside to try and cool off, but to no avail my legs were toasted..

We finished the fence around 3. Packed my tools up and headed home.. I got in my house and could barely walk the burn on my legs were so bad.

My legs felt like burnt chicken skin that you cook on a camp fire.. It felt kind of crispy too!!!

So if you plan on being out in the sun all day make sure you have a really good sun block that works with your skin type..

So you know my legs are doing fine this morning.. A bit of a sting, but nothing like it was yesterday...

Pretty Interesting

I had received an email regarding how to fix our economy. I thought it was very intriguing..

It states

Dear Mr. President,

Please see below my plan for fixing the American economy..
Instead of giving millions of dollars to Companies that will squander on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.

You can call it "The Patriotic Stimulus Plan"

There are over 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million each for severance for early retirement with the following stipulations.

1st. They MUST Retire. 40 million jobs now available.. Unemployment issue solved.

2nd they must buy a NEW AMERICAN Car.. 40 million cars ordered. Auto Industry fixed!

3rd. They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage.. Housing crisis fixed!

It can't get any easier than that..

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members of congress, and their constituents pay their taxes.

I think this is one of the best plans ever conceived for fixing the economy. Guess what? It didn't even come from someone that has been in congress their whole life.. Just a normal citizen that is concerned about the economy.. Oh Yeah he also has a brain!

This plan is simple and easy. That's what I love about it..

The Best Birthday Gift Ever!!!

Everyone wants to get the best gifts.
Whether that be diamonds, a new car, a fancy house in the country, an exotic trip to some remote island..
Sure those are very nice gifts, and I am sure everyone would be grateful to have them..

I received the greatest birthday gift anyone could ever want..

Well it happened about 3 months ago when I received this wonderful gift.. See my birthday is on Jan 20th, I usually don't get gifts anymore, just a card and such. Which is just fine by me. Birthdays are for kids now a days... We do the cake and Ice cream for my wife and I, but no big blow outs.. Well my wife was pregnant and her due date was Feb. 2nd of this year.

Around the end of January my wife was apologizing to me, because she didn't get anything for my birthday.. Money was tight as we all know.. It was no big deal..

I told her,"Honey, you have given the greatest birthday gift of all!"

Like I said my birthday is Jan 20th.
On a cold January morning my wife was laying on the couch and she rolled over and said,"I think my water just broke"

Well about 8 hours later, My beautiful daughter was brought into this world. On January 18th.

So you now know why I say it is the greatest birthday gift ever. On top of that, my daughter was born on my wife's , mothers birthday.. So it was even more of a gift than anyone could ever ask for..

A quote that I like a lot!!!

This one my older sister posted on facebook.. I think everyone should live life like this..

Life should not be a Journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely, in an attractive and well preserved body but , rather skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other,
body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming WOO HOO !!!!! What a ride!!!!

Quote for the day

When birds are flying overhead, Close mouth when looking up!!!!

Really bad commercials

What's with the bad commercials that are on TV these days?
I saw this one for Dunkin Doughnuts, where the kids are all being hypnotized by the TV, when all of a sudden Dad walks in the house with a box of Dunkin Doughnuts and Coffee for the whole family...

OK first off, let's get the kids away from the TV and get them all jacked up on sugar for the day..

Also why in the hell would you bring coffees home for your kids..

I would hate to have those kids for the day.. They are going to be jacked up on sugar, and shaking like hell due to the caffeine overload..

Now I am not saying that I never bought Dunkin Doughnuts for my kids, I am sure most of us have, but why advertise giving kids coffee? It is just totally weird to me..

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!!

This is just one of those weeks where you wish you can snap your fingers and everything will be done for you..

Yeah! Like that's going to happen..

Sunday--- Clean boys room, and move all their furniture into spare room.. So we can rip their ceiling down and replace it b4 it falls... ( have to love a 109 year old house). Clean and organize basement.. The wifey helped me on this one, and it was much appreciated too..

Monday-- -is actually the calmest day of the week, although i did build a bookcase for my sister-in law's soon to be son... Also the boys have the whole week off for spring break..

Tuesday--- Clean, clean, and more cleaning.. It is pretty bad when you have two boys that are 6 and 8, and you have to pick up after them even though you just cleaned that room.. Doesn't matter how many times you tell them to pick up after themselves.. Baseball practice for two hours wooohoooo...

Wednesday--- More cleaning. More like spring cleaning.... all day then baseball practice again.. This time only one hour, but it was windy as heck out there...

Thursday--- Up early with the baby... Writing this blog... cleaning again.. Have to sand down book shelf I made on Monday so wifey can start staining it tonight... Baseball practice again for 2 hours..

Friday--- Yup more cleaning.. Refer back to Monday.. (kids home all week).. Fold Laundry... and yes baseball practice again for 2 hours...

Saturday-- pretty much nothing going on but I will have to start tearing down that ceiling I mentioned... So I can get the boys back in their room... Then start on the baby's room.

Sunday---Opening day for baseball.. both boys have a parade. Followed by pictures... Followed by games... I coach on of them and have to watch the other at the same time lol...

Now this doesn't include the numerous baby feedings, diaper changes, and play time.. Making breakfast, lunch, and dinner... Any runs I have to make to the store...

So a very busy week in deed.. Where is that damn genie when you need it..

Quote for today

Don't procrastinate on doing something you want to do.. It may be to late tomorrow!!!

The candy rush

Now that all of our Easter days have come and gone. We have two things we need to do now...

One is deal with the sugar highs that our kids are going to be on for the next week or two, and then deal with finding candy wrappers hidden all over the house..

It's like the parents have two hunts to do. One for Easter morning and one for all of the candy wrappers hidden in weird places.. I have found wrappers in the shower, stuffed under the couch, a wad of gum on the stairs(apparently he didn't like the flavor) I am not sure what goes through these kids heads. ("hey let's eat as much candy as we can when mom and dad aren't looking") Even though they were told they can't have anymore today.. That's where the hiding of the wrappers comes from.. They don't realize that we know how much candy was in the basket in the first place. We put it there.

So just a little warning and heads up.. Don't be surprised if, when you are doing your spring cleaning if you find some wrappers under the couch or in the back of the fridge, or even a smashed peep under your couch cushion. It will happen no matter how much you try to stop it..

Oh, and if you happen to be in your child's room with them.. Just tell them to get on the floor and pull all of the wrappers out from under their bed(s) and also have them do the same for under the dressers..

One of "MY" Favorite dishes # 4

Chicken and cheese Tortellini soup..

What you will need:

3 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 bag of frozen cheese tortellini
4 14 1/2 oz cans of chicken broth
1 red pepper chopped
1 onion chopped
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp Italian seasoning

Cut chicken into cubes and cook in a frying pan with a tsp of butter until thoroughly cooked..(using a lid on the frying pan will help cook chicken through.)
Put everything into a big pot(except tortellini ) bring to a boil for about 5 min.. Add tortellini and let simmer until tortellini is cooked. (usually when it starts to float it's done)..
Makes approx 8-10 servings..
Goes great with grilled cheese or any other type of sandwich will work..

Chidhood story

This one I am putting on here, because an old friend of mine from my childhood would love to read this..

It was around the time when I was oh about 7 or 8 years of age.. We were all playing tag at a Friends house.

We were all running around like chickens with our heads cut off! trying not to get tagged. (we all know how no one ever wanted to be the "IT" person.)

I was running here, there, and everywhere.. Dodging the tags. Out running the "it" person.. I thought that I was so fast. Not getting tagged.

Well let's just say I got tagged in a very different hard way...

See there is this really tall shiny thing in his front yard.. Most people call it a flagpole.. Well that day I called it my worst enemy..

I was running through the front yard looking back over my shoulder at the "IT" person. When I turned back around (cuz I knew the street was coming up) to make a quick turn to stay in the yard...

WHHHHAAAAAAMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

I hit that big old flag pole! right smack dab on my forehead.. Laid me out cold on the ground..
Well after all the kids had a good laugh. My friends mom and dad came out to see if I was OK.. His dad picked me up and asked if I was OK.. His mom had put an ice pack on my head and gave me a Popsicle.. She called my mom to let her know what had happened.. I don't know what my mom had said but, it had to be something like "Is he bleeding or unconscious?" because I didn't have to go home.

For those of you who are wondering... Yes I had a huge welt on my head for a couple of days, and yes I continued to play tag until we all got called home for dinner....

Oldie but goodie

This is a very interesting story, that I will share with my kids when they are my age....

One day the family and I were out for a drive, when my wife and I heard an argument coming from the back seat.. After my wife turned the radio down, we listened carefully..

They were arguing about whether or not your nose has bones in it.. So after a few minutes my oldest ask if there are bones in your nose... My wife replied with, " no it's called cartilage. It's kind of like a bone but softer."

We here "ooooohhhhhh" from the back seat, and without missing a beat my wife says" yeah it's like your penis, that also is made of cartilage."

After a few giggles and chuckles from the back seat. My youngest blurts out. "yeah but what's that jiggly thing under my penis?" Well after I almost drove off the road from losing it laughing so hard.. We had to explain to them that they are called testicles.. My oldest son then replies, "No, they are called balls." Now I am at the point of peeing my pants!!! We told them,"yes some people call them balls but the right way is testicles.."

So we had all settled down when my youngest chimes in,
"Mommy how are babies born?"

My wife's reply....

"um the doctor plants a seed in mommy's tummy so it can grow."

Well of course he had to ask,

"Well after the doctor plants the seed how do you water it so it can grow!!!

Needless to say the conversation ended there after a few more giggles and chuckles.

Quote of the day

It takes more muscles to frown then to smile.... So, smile it will brighten someones day...

A Poem for my little baby girl

They are so blue,
They are so bright,
They pierce right through you,
With a heart felt might.

They are not angry,
They are not sad,
To gaze upon them,
You shall not be mad.

To see them smile,
To see them vast,
you will know her love,
will ever last.

They are so sweet,
They are so wise,
You have to love,
Those deep blue eyes.

I love you sweetie..
Love always
Daddy

Basement Spring Clean Out!!!

Well we all know how this goes... i started my day of cleaning after feeding the little one... I go down into the basement with coffee in hand, look around and think " Where do I wanna start?"

Let's start with the enormous mess of tools that I have thrown all over the basement..

Sifting and sift ting through my tools "Hmmmm I don't remember buying this one, cool" after saying that about 10 times. I finally got them in order..

"what next" I think... maybe I will get all the stuff together I want to take to the dump... So now sits this gigantic pile of stuff to go buh bye to the dump...

WAIT !!!

Before I can say all this is going to the dump I have to pass it through the wifey, I don't want to be in the dog house if I throw something out that she wanted. Even if it's something from like 20 years ago lol.

In my scramble of getting this stuff in a pile "oh look, another tool I didn't know I had" It's like winning the freakin lottery today!!!

So here I sit writ ting this blog thinking, "I have to go back down to the basement and do some more before I have baseball practice tonight...

I will be back to give you some more interesting info on the things I find in my basement... I really hope I don't see any spiders or anything of that nature..

OK so I go back down stairs to continue my ventures of the basement.... I am going at a really good pace when all of a sudden I hear this huge crash, bang, boom, and smash. Only to turn around and see that a 5 high stack of totes just came crumbling down. At the same time the power went out,not only in my house, but the entire neighborhood was out.. Now that's not really that bad. What was really bad was,
My wife has this picture that( I don't know how old it is ) but it is very old. The problem with this is the picture looks just like she did when she was a child. I mean spitting image.. Well seeing that this was on top of the stack of totes. YUP!!! It fell on the cement floor first and totes right on top of it. (that was the big smash) . So after I swallowed my adams apple. I started to move the totes only to see that the glass had shattered, the frame was busted and the picture was laying on the floor.

Now seeing that the power was out I packed all 3 kids up and went up to where my wife works.. I had to get a few things there anyway. So I went to her office to let her know the bad news.. I told her the picture itself was fine but everything else was trashed... So now I have to put on my list of things to do ' repair my wife's picture '. I guess the basement cleaning will have to wait until tomorrow..

Another One of "MY" favorite dishes #3

Chicken Fajitas

What you will need:
6 boneless/skinless chicken breast sliced into strips
1 bottle of Italian dressing
1/2 cup bbq sauce
1 cup orange juice
1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs crushed red pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion salt
1 tsp chili powder

Mix everything together and let chicken marinate for approx 3-4 hours. Bake in the oven at 350' for 35-45 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. during this time slice up a red bell pepper and an onion. You can serve on hot or cold tortillas. Top with your favorite toppings. cheese, salsa, sour cream, even lettuce and tomato.

Quote of the day!!!!

Life is to short! Live each and every day like it's your last!

Exploding Diaper

Well this is sure to put a smile on any one's face..
Approx. about a hour ago, I was getting ready to change my daughter's diaper. I noticed that she had the red face and she was grunting! So I sat and watched TV while she finished her business..

Well the grunting stopped and there was no more red face. "yup she's done" I said to myself..
I lifted her legs to on snap her onzie, pulled the tabs back on the diaper. As I started to take the diaper off she started to pee. I covered her back up for a minute or two. I pulled the diaper back only to get another surprise. Yup you guessed it..

She gave a hard push with a grunt, and she pooped like her life depended on it. I covered her up as quick as I could, but to no avail, the poop shot every which way it could find a way out of the diaper.. All over the changing pad, my hands, my shirt, up her back, and belly. You name it, it went there. So after I cleaned her up and laughed my butt off. I fed her and had to come here and share this with everyone.
Now this is usually a "rookie" mistake (new parents.) So it goes to show you that you always have to be ready for the Exploding Diaper!!!! Even if you have the experience..

First time Dad's

Although I am not a first time Dad, I can shed some light on this subject for those of you guys that are expecting to become a daddy.. I know it seems like when you hear the words I'm pregnant, it seems like your world is going to end...
You will have all kinds of thoughts going through your head like; Do I really want to do this, Will I be a good enough father, Will I be able to hang out with my friends, Does she want me anymore..
All kinds of things run through your mind, and you feel scared and alone.. Your not alone... There are thousand of guys that go through this everyday... I had those thoughts and feelings. I won't lie to you. It is very frightening to hear those words. You just need to take it one day at a time. Listen to what your wife/girlfriend wants. Make sure you are there for her when she needs you to be.. Take it from me I know this.. I was not there for her when she needed me.. I was more of a jerk than anything with our 2nd child. It was not fun times. We pushed through it and we are still together today. So just keep your chin up and work together you will get through it.. I know this for a fact, because seeing your first child come into this world, is a feeling that CAN NOT be duplicated!!!!!

Quote of the day....

Life is 90% attitude 10% skill!!!!

Another issue of "My" favorite dishes #2

Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches.

This one is real easy

What you will need;

3lb Pork Roast
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Black pepper
1/2 Bottle Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce
1/2 Bottle Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce
1 Small onion
A loaf of any bread that you like..

Put Pork Roast in a crock pot on med heat for about a hour to hour and half, until pork starts to pull apart (this should happen on it's own). Once this happens add in everything else and let cook for another hour. Then use two forks to pull the pork apart into strips or strands..
You can put Cole Slaw on the sandwich if you like, or even any type of cheese.
5-6 servings prep time approx 15 min, cook time approx 2 - 2 1/2 hours..

Quote of the Day 4-08-09

Life is like a box of Chocolates!!!!! Just eat the box already!!!!!!

A little savings tip

So I am sure we have all heard about the big stimulus plan. Apparently everyone thinks we are getting the same as we did last year. One big lump some of cash. Not true. We are getting the same, but it will be in your pay checks each week. It will be approx. $15 - $20 added to your check each week.
So if you are use to living on what you bring home now. Take that extra $15-$20 and put it away for a rainy day.. over a course of a year that is anywhere up to $1000. So that may be a better way to spend your money rather than going out to a fast food joint....

One of my favorite dishes

OK this will be my first dish I put on this blog page..

SWEET AND SOUR KIELBASA....

THINGS YOU WILL NEED:
2 packs of Kielbasa --- sliced
1 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup mustard
1 cup of grape jelly
1 can of pineapple w/ juice
1 onion cut into half moon shapes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
Throw everything into a Crock pot and cook on med/low for approx. 3 hrs. Serve over Mashed potatoes. a loaf of Italian bread goes well with this.
If you don't have a crock pot put in a glass baking dish and put it in the oven on 350 for approx 1 hr. makes 4-6 servings.

Just a bit of info

OK this blog is going to be a bit different... First off I would like to say that I will be posting on here hopefully on a daily basis. I am going to post stuff like things I like to do with my kids, some of my favorite recipe's, some ways on how to save money. (you all know you want to do that). It's basically things that work for our household. They may not work for you, but you sure can try them out if you like. I will give some advice on things that work for me as a parent, like helping kids with homework or feeding babies, how to have more time with the family. Now let me make this clear.. I am not nor will I ever be, or claim that I a Doctor of any kind. This is just things that I like and things that work for me.
If anyone would like to share some ideas or recipe's, feel free to comment and share, or you can e-mail me at the following address. sc121800@att.net
If you have any tips or anything else you would like to add to this page please don't hesitate to comment.
Also if you become a follower of my blog, you will get e-mail updates on when something new is posted. OK ladies if you think that your Husband or boyfriend could benefit from this page make sure you have them sign up.

The unseen Mr. Mom

Where to begin is the question for me? Lets start off by letting you know I am currently a stay at home father of three wonderful kids. Two boys ages eight and six, and my daughter who is 10 weeks young. I have been out of work for just over a year and a half now. First due to an injury that put me through surgery, and then laid off due to the economy.. OK now that you know the basics, let's get to the point.
You always see on Oprah or Dr. Phil about the stay at home Mom's. What about us stay at home Dad's? I am not ashamed of the fact that I get to stay home with my kids every day for the past year and a half. I am seeing the best years of their lives right now, and to be honest with you they teach me something every day....

My wife works a normal job 40 hours a week. I stay home with the kids. Now for a man to say to his wife, that it is a lot easier to stay home with the kids then to go make a living, well I will tell you this. I believe from my point of view it is prob about a 99 % to 1% when it comes to this, and yes the 99% is in favor of the stay at home person in the family.. Now I am not saying that my wife does nothing. She does her fair share of things around the house. I can say that I totally understand now, what my wife said years ago that she is tired, sore, stressed, and she had a headache from hell. (I always chalked it up to her Aunt flow was visiting lol.) Well I know that seems shallow, but to be honest back then that's how I was. If anyone from high school was ever to read this, they would say I was a player back then, and yes I admit it I was. I thought all of it was excuses just so she could get out of doing it. To tell you the truth I understand to the fullest what she meant by that. There have been many days in a week that I have had really bad headaches, to tired to even keep my eyes open, every muscle in my body hurt from all of the house work I have been doing.
Put it this way I am a Carpenter by trade for many years now, and that can be back breaking work. That holds nothing to staying home and taking care of kids and doing all the house work and making dinner.. For you men that are carpenters out there. You think stripping a roof and relaying shingles in 95 degree weather is rough. How bout giving birth, even though I may not know what it is like to giving birth, think of it as carrying 100 bundles of shingles up a ladder onto the roof and then when your done install the shingles clean up the work site and call it a day. If you do that over and over for a week straight. It wouldn't even put a dent into what women go through when they try and push a freaking watermelon out of a hole the size of a plum... So to end this novel I just rambled on about.

Men if you think that being a father is rough, well your right, IT IS... If you think that going to work to support your family is rough... IT IS.. If you think that staying at home and taking care of the kids and house is rough .... Your right IT IS.. So if you are sick of hearing your wife or girlfriend say I'm tired, or my head hurts, or my back hurts, or I have cramps, All I have to say is three words... SUCK IT UP!!!! Stay home and take care of the kids even for a day or two and see what it is really like to work.... ENOUGH SAID.