I copy stuff.

Yup. I sometimes have a hard time thinking of things to say on my blog (I'm the only one, right?!), but in my defense, it's because I type most of my thoughts in my Twitter and Facebook updates/posts. I know that sometimes I need to post in here though, since I guess a few people like to read here as well, so here goes. This is my twist on B's post "Saturday Snippets":

I am thinking...For some reason, this is the first Fall where I really hate that it gets darker, earlier, and thus giving me less daylight to do what I want. I mean, since it's so nice outside now, I could get certain things done in the garage/outside at nights and not bake from the normal Houston sun.

I am thankful for...my family. Hands down. Each day my wife and kiddos do things that make me love them more. Whether it's just watching them watch tv while I blog, and seeing their childesh amazement at Dora the Explorer, or another person in the house, fixing a haircut she got by cutting her own hair.

I am wearing... jeans and my Drake University shirt that my sis-in-law got me years ago. STILL LOVE IT, AUT! ;)

I am remembering... how I did well losing weight over a year ago, and how I aspire to be that man again, so I can be healthier and around longer for my family. I want to see any Grandkids that I will be blessed with.

I am going... to walk in place during the Biggest Loser commercials tonight, to not just be a TOTAL lazy bum while watching tv tonight.

I am reading... A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

I am hoping... that I will be rid of this eating curse, and can enjoy life even more with it gone.

On my mind... will we ever get our finances totally in order, or is that something that everyone deals with their entire lives?

Noticing that... I love evenings when we have sports with the kids, but I LOVE when we have a break for a night or two and can *breathe*.

From the kitchen... paid bills sitting next to me (just paid 'em), dishwasher running, clean counters, lots of healthy goodies I see for options during cravings and breakfast, and loving that I am loving seeing that again. (yes, I said that correctly)

Around the house...pretty clean for having four kids who tend to forget it more often than not.

One of my favorite things...the feeling of pride after a Hawkeye win! Oh yea, and listening to my children giggle. *I agree...couldn't change this one*

One thing I can not stand... when people are constantly in a bad mood. it's okay to be in a mood once in a while, but come on people, life isn't that bad. get out of it!

Favorite way to waste a day...sitting on the beach with B, watch my kids play sports, or watch college/professional football/basketball

I am procrastinating...deep cleaning. topical/everyday cleaning is one thing, but then to add more cleaning on top since we have to do so much with all we do with the kids...it just sucks! can i get an amen?!

I'm optimistic about...that even though we sometimes feel we mess up horribly, that our kids will turn out fine, and even have a great life.

Something I see myself doing...being a Geek Squad nerd when the kids all move out, and B & I start traveling with her travel nurse job. Seriously, what else will I do? Not like I'm gonna stay at home and shop!

Biggest fear today...losing my wife or children. i want God to take me first. it's the natural order of things. just don't take me too early. i plan to hopefully be here another 60 years or so. ;)

Easy like Saturday morning

Wakin' up on a Saturday morning and not having to immediately run somewhere to do something is such a beautiful thing. Now, couple that with waking up and getting to take a shower, wake up a little, pay some bills, have money leftover, then sit down to blog, finding College Gameday is in Austin at UT broadcasting, and then to top it off, finding that my internet provider now offers ESPN360 online...WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY!!! UGH! I don't know how it can get any better! Seriously! I am in such a great mood right now! Today will be a good day. Here's what my day will consist of:

Head to get B's iPhone and take our phones to get the Invisible Shield put on them.
Head to said kiosk and while our phones are getting the I.S. put on them, will hav some lunch with friends Don & Mercy.
Head to a birthday party for one of Braden's friends, and hang out with our friends Lance & Jennifer while the party goes on.
Come home, and hope the Iowa game isn't blacked out, so that I can watch it on earlier mentioned ESPN360 online.
Hang out with the Mrs when she gets home from work, and maybe watch "Rocketman", one of Avery's favorite movies.

Good times all...good times.

So, what's new with me lately?

Picked up the new iPhone 3GS this past week. To go from the original 2G, to the 3GS is an insane upgrade. For those of you that have a 3G, and are deciding on upgrading to the 3GS, the only real difference is the added video camera option, just a slightly better camera, and a slightly faster processor (and more ram). So it's not such a huge upgrade like going from the old 2G. I went with the 32GB version, as it just made sense for me, since I wanted to have most of my music collection on it as well as having room for the many apps I plan to add throughout it's lifetime.

Next weekend, I'm heading up to Minnesota, to go on the annual Roos Men Fishing Trip. I haven't been able to go in four years since we moved down here, but B decided to give me one of the best birthday gifts ever (and one I wouldn't mind every year, ha!), and bought me a plane ticket so I could go this year. It's such a fun trip and one that creates many memories for us guys. All we do is fish, play poker, and have some beers, but we get to just "guy out" and hang out for a few days. GO LAKE! GO FISH!

The boys started their official baseball season this past week, and both played two games. Avery's team (the Pirates) is 2-0, and Braden's (the Rangers) is 1-1. This is Braden's first year playing any sport, and while he was apprehensive at first, he's starting to feel comfortable and opening up when it's time to play. He's really liking it, and it's so much fun watching them learn how to play. He usually plays right field, 3B or Catcher. Avery played 3B all year last year, but the coach really likes him anywhere he can get him to play, since he feels comfortable in his skills at any position. He mostly plays SS, but has played CF a lot this season as well. Even a little catcher also. It's so much fun watching him play, because he just gets it. He seems to barely need any real coaching. The other kids are too young to tell how they could be in sports, but Avery has a real chance and playing far, so I pray he keeps his mind on the straight and narrow, God in his heart, out of trouble, and listens to his parents and coaches.

J is taking the season off, so she's really helping us watch Evan while we watch the boys play sports. She likes to watch them too, but really only when they're batting, since it's just too slow of a sport for her to sit and watch. And if it's hard for her to watch, then you KNOW it's hard for Evan to watch. ;) So, she'll take him to the nearby playground, or an open baseball field next to the one we're usually on, and let him run. We can keep an eye on them, but she can be the hands on close by.

Other than that, we're just trying to work as much as we can, to save up for B's surgery in January, relax as hard as we can when we have down time, and enjoy each other's company as much as we can, since we're on the go most of the time during the baseball seasons.

One last update, two weekends ago, I was having some really bad chest pains. I figured I just had some muscle pull, but planned to see the Dr on Monday if it still hurt. By then, the pain went away. Then this past weekend the pain came back. I went to the Dr and he said it was some inflammation called "Pleurisy", which was in the muscle to the right of my sternum. He gave me some anti-inflammatories and told me to come back in a couple weeks if it's still there. Fast forward two days later, and five uses of said medicine, and it was worse to the point where it felt I was being stabbed in the chest. I couldn't move to get comfortable, was getting worried something else was wrong, and so I drove myself to the ER. I never had any physical pain where I could push on my chest and it would hurt, but I had a few spots where I could push and it would lessen the pain when I would have the flare-ups or when I coughed. However, the nurse was pushing on my chest and hit a spot where I did have some pain that I must not have known about, and it sent me through the roof, screaming in pain. They then ran bloodwork, got chest x-rays, and found that all tests were negative for heart issues, white blood cell counts, etc. He found that it's ANOTHER inflammation called "Costeochondritis", which is inflammation of the upper sternum and cartilage. So, they gave me an IV, pumped me full of steroids, high-dose anti-inflammatory, and some pain meds. After an hour, my pain which was at a 10, was down to a manageable 7. By the time I woke up in the morning, it was down to a 5, and has been better since. I'm still tender on my chest, and the pain shoots up once in a while, but it's way better than it was, and I feel I'm almost done with this now that it's been another couple days. Whew. Crazy stuff our bodies can do, the pain it can give us, but how awesome our bodies are when they heal.

Thank you all for who prayed for me this past week.

It's time to get moving, and go get some Invisible Shields put on! GIDDYUP!

Have a blessed week, y'all!

Flickalicious

My Flickr stream in case any of you care. Check back for updates whenever.

It's been a minute...

I know I know I know..."Erik, why do you even have a blog, since you never post?!" It's how I are. That's all I can say. I get hooked on something for a bit, and then the next thing takes over and my attention is gone. I don't have that many readers that come here to my little corner of the world any way, so I don't feel too concerned that I've alienated many of you. A bit of advice, if you don't already, you should use an RSS reader and just add my blog to it. Then you'll only have to come to my blog when you see I've updated. The rest of the time you just not worry about if I'm posting or not, because you'll be notified when I am. If you truly care to see me post more on here, feel free to let me know. If I know I have people who actually give a rip about me posting on my blog, I'll actually put more on here!

What's been going on lately in my world? It's been crazy, but crazy perfect most of the time.

We had some friends, Nick & Mary, and their son, Nate, move down here from Iowa. They lived with us for a month. THAT was some crazy times right there! We were glad to have been able to help them during their transition to H-town by offering up a room for them to live in. It was nice, but after living with anyone for a month, you long to have some normalcy back, and to not feel like you should be entertaining them. They never asked us, or made us feel like we should be, but you know how it is...we're good people and we just wanted to make sure they were doing alright. They moved out a few weeks ago, and things are going well for them. The Sheldon household has returned to normal, and now we're just getting ready for school to start.

Speaking of school starting, this year, we'll have three kids in the same school at the same time! That will be nice in the morning, as I'll only have to go to one place, instead of when I had to take Braden to his preschool. Of course, that'll change in two years when Evan starts that up. This year though, Avery will be a fifth grader...the head honcho in the school...runnin' the show! He says he can't wait for school to start. Who can blame him, since he'll be in the highest grade? It's sad though, since kids don't really pick on other kids in grade school, and all that will change for him next year. I don't see it happening too much to him though. He's got friends of all shapes, sizes and colors now, and he's pretty popular, with friends already in middle school, so I'm sure he'll fit right in. J will be a third grader, and she's ready to get to it as well, although she'll have the hardest time, since she likes to sleep a little later than the rest of the kids. Like mother, like daughter! And lastly, Braden starts Kindergarten! He's not really said much, but I'm sure he's really excited. He's a little shy normally, so it'll take him a second to get going, but he will. He's the strong, silent type. Evan will be the only one at home now, and will get lots of attention from his mother and grandmother.

Baseball tryouts are this week for A & Braden. J is skipping sports this season, which will give us one more break, meaning we'll only have to go to two different practices/game schedules like we did last season. So we're used to that. When she picks back up with softball or volleyball (she was hinting at this last week), adding that to our schedule will be crazy! We have options of people to help us with the kids and taking them to/from practice, but you just hate to have to ask for that, or rely on people like that, ya know? Any way, this is Braden's first real time going out for a sport, but I don't know of a better sport to sign him up for. He loves to hit the ball in the backyard, and he actually CRUSHES it! Aaaand, he's a switch-hitter with power from both sides of the plate! It'll be fun watching him this season. I plan to be an assistant coach most of the time, so I'm praying B can get time off during the days he has practice/games. A has always been amazing at baseball, and in the offseason he upgraded his bats with his birthday money, so we're excited to see how he does against pitchers 1-2 years older than him. We've hit the batting cages, and have picked up the ball for some catch lately, to try and get him in the "swing" of things. I LOVE WATCHING MY KIDS PLAY BASEBALL!

Saw some movies lately..."17 Again", good flick with a couple parts that barely make it a PG-13 rating, but it had a lot of great life lessons for us all..."Transformers 2", I thought was better than the original! Being able to actually see them fight and being able to tell what you're seeing was a nice bonus..."G-Force", was much cuter than I thought it would be, but still, just a decent movie. There are too many other movies I want to see that are out now, or will be. "District 9" is a MUST see for me, and I plan on catching that this week if possible! Gotta do it before the baseball season starts for the kids! Won't have time after!

Fire ants suck, m'kay? Seriously, they piss me off royally! I put fire ant killing stuff on my lawn like I always do, but I JUST did it two weeks ago, so I shouldn't have any issues like we had this weekend. It usually takes around 6 months or more before you start to see ant hills popping up. The pouring of rain we've had lately must be the issue. We've had a ton of it in the past week or so. All the directions say that as long as it doesn't pour for 24 hours after you put it on your lawn, you should be fine. Over the weekend though, about five minutes apart, B and I got attacked by those damn things. I have about eight stings on my feet, and B has a few as well. They just itch like freaking crazy! So, today saw me spending an hour putting more ant poison on the four mounds I found. Stupid ants! ANTS...I AM THE DEATHBRINGER!!!

I gave B an iPhone for an early Mother's Day/Anniversary present back in late May, and she's loved the thing as much as she and I hoped she would. My BlackJack2 phone died a couple months ago, and since I couldn't get a discount on a new phone until my contract renews in September, I was freaking out on what to do for a phone until then. With me needing one primarily for work, let alone as my home phone since we don't have a land line, I was trying to think of any and everything I could to replace my lost little friend. Enter a coworker of mine who had upgraded her old 2G iPhone for a new 3G one. She said she'd sell her old 2G model to me, and I didn't think twice about it! I've had it for two months now and freaking LOVE this thing! It's all of my devices rolled into one! Phone...internet...iPod...mobile applications...gaming...etc! It's amazing! Back to B, she turned her head one minute yesterday and Evan dropped it in the kiddie pool we have in the backyard. It turned on, but the touchscreen wouldn't work. So, good but bad news. I took it to the Apple store, and they showed me the "alarms" that went off because of it being wet and said they couldn't do anything for me. It violates the warranty, so barring a miracle, B was up a creek. We put it next to the AC vent in the car and turned it up to full blast. Thirty minutes later, things started working again! HALLELUAH, thank you Jesus! All I kept doing was praying, because if it didn't work, she wouldn't have a phone for weeks until I could get a new one, and then she'd have to use my old 2G one, instead of her new, nice & shiny 3G one. So, with all of that working, that then leaves me with the ability to upgrade my phone on September 10th or later, to a 3GS one! Can't wait to have the iPhone and actually have it run as fast as I am! That's the only downside with the 2G, is that it's two years old, and so the technology was just slower then. And with me being an IT guy, and proficient with button-mashing, me be needing the fast as I can get phone! ;)

Tonight, B and I were feening for some ice cream, so B went and got some. She got a chocolate cookie kind, a peanut butter cup kind, and caramel chunk kind. It's ice cream...they're all good. My favorite ice cream nowadays is the Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia. Why does ice cream have to be so dang fattening? For real?

On this past Thursday, we had a Social Networking "expert" come and talk to the staff about how we need to be more involved with it, how to be "in" it, and how "not" to do the wrong things while using it. It's all common sense here people. If you're going to put your company in the Social Networking scene, you use the main things that everyone uses to reach the most people...you use the Facebooks, the YouTubes, the Twitters, etc. It was hilarious how he'd throw out buzz words, and how all these other people who used it on the staff all talked like they were the pros. It was KILLING me. I'm a social network pro, and I didn't even know it. Seriously, I don't know how companies need to pay someone to come in and tell them this stuff. It's not hard, and in fact, it's pretty basic. GET OUT THERE AND USE IT! Don't be afraid of new "avenues" like the social networking world. Get your company out there! Make sure to use common sense...update your information, events, "status", etc, when common sense would tell you to do it. Only give access to your account to the people who NEED it. Don't put anything out there that you don't want spread across the internet. And lock down your privacy on the account, so you only show what you want to show, and only give people access to what you want them to have access to. Do you want only your followers to see what you put on there, or do you want any and everyone to have the ability to see what you have on there. Common sense people. Don't be afraid of the social networking scene. The internet, just like the world, changes everyday, so just keep your eye out for the next Facebook, the next YouTube, the next Twitter, and follow where your audience is. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox.

So, that's my update for now. Alot of posting since it's been awhile. Again, if you care to see more on here, let me know. I update my Twitter all the time, every day, so you can follow me on there. I tend to be a little "loud" on there though, so be prepared. I am on Facebook as well, but I don't really get on there much any more. Twitter's 140 character updates are about all I need. Sometimes I need 380, though. ;)

Peace and chicken grease,
E

I say we finished in 3rd place!

We geared up for the first competitive league tourney of our young family history, and oh what a weekend it was! The tournament was up in Cy Fair, an area in the West/NW suburbs of Houston. It's about a 45 minute drive from Humble, so not too bad. Just long enough after all was said and done. We tried to think of all that we would need for a full (possible) two days at a baseball park, but how can you accurately pack for such an exercise in futility. We ended up not needing much more than we had...okay, "need" is too strong of a word...more like "almost needed". Again though, we know what to bring next time!

The tournament is one that you had to pay to get into, so there would be no teams that would be in this "just for the fun of it". No, if you're in these tournaments, you honestly think you have a shot at winning it. These were all the best of the best from the leagues they came from, and from what I heard, they were all from "Select" leagues, meaning these kids were hand-picked for teams...so basically they're all-stars from their area. From the beginning of the season, A's coach has firmly believed that we have a strong enough team to possibly make it to state. I laughed in my head when he first said that, thinking "Of course he's going to say that...that's what a coach SHOULD be saying at the beginning of the season." Boy was he right though. We're still just at halfway through our regular baseball season, but these kids have been amazing. So much so, that I think we were all super excited to see how they would do against teams that were quality, and that we haven't seen play before...like we would at the end of the season tourney which could then qualify us for state.

The tournament setup would be as follows...the first day of the tournament on Saturday, was a randomly picked, two-game day, to figure out seeding for the single-elimination tournament the following day on Sunday. The first game they played was at 9am. OUCH! If that wasn't bad enough, coach wanted them there at 8:15am to get warmed up for the game. DOUBLE OUCH! And if THAT wasn't bad enough, with the 45 min drive, that meant we had to wake up around 6am on a Saturday morning! TRIPLE OUCH! (Okay, enough, sorry about that) Then our next game would be at 2pm. So we'd have just enough time to relax, get some lunch in the kids, hang out for a second, then get back into the swing of things for another game.

The first game proved that either we are not a morning team, the kids need some caffeine in their systems first next time, or that we just weren't ready for this first game, as the kiddos played like junk, made lots of errors, and things just generally didn't fall our way. Avery got to pitch, but the poor guy struggled horrible. He however made up for it by having an AMAZING tourney at the plate, going 7 for 8, with about four walks as well. That makes his tourney batting average a whopping .875!!! I know a few pros (in fact the whole stinking MLB) that would like that average for a tourney! Back to the game though, we just couldn't get out of whatever funk we had going on, and ended up getting our behinds handed to us on a silver platter.

The second game came, and we decided to be on the delivering end of the whoopin', and with amazing defense by the entire team, super pitching, and hard-hitting bats, we won the game. The score was a lot closer than it should have been, because I think the kids figured the game was too out of reach...but that's why you play the entire game, not just until you think you've won. I think that was exactly what the kids needed to experience though, because I never saw them let their guard down after that the rest of the weekend. The 1-1 record, combined with our runs-scored-to-runs-allowed-ratio put us at 5th place starting the tournament on Sunday.

Being in the 5th vs 4th game, allowed us to sleep one more hour the next morning (HORRAY!), but even though I didn't play a single out the day before, I was super tired and that hour didn't feel like enough! I can't imagine what all those boys felt like after being in the sun in full baseball gear for 6+ hrs, and knowing you'll have to be back out there for another 4+ today. But if we wanted to get to the 1st place game, we needed to win two games again, so we got up and got Team Sheldon ready for the Team Yankees first tournament game

The Cy Fair Fire was our first opponent, and we were lights out from the first pitch. We were visitors, and we got an early 4 runs to start off the game. A questionable call at home plate took away our fifth run and ended the inning. The Fire were one of the better teams from what we heard from other coaches, but with us coming to accept nothing but making it to the championship game, we came out and never let up, beating them 13-6. It was 13-3 until the final inning, and a few mistakes cost a few runs, but to end the game A snagged a sharp line drive, then doubled up the runner who was at 3rd base and didn't tag up. He then proceeded to get crushed by his teammates in celebration. (Insert a memory of me smiling really big and multiply it by 100000000000000...yeah, proud papa here!)

The next game was against the #1 seed, the Cy Fair Lobos. They played in a game right before ours, and some how pulled out a miracle, as they should have lost to the 8th place team, but error after error helped them score FIVE runs in the bottom of the last inning, to propel them to the second round. Shock and awe filled the field, let me tell you. Their coach gave an amazing speech before that last inning...he said to them when they were in the dugout, with their chins to their chests and a tear in their eyes..."I believed in you at the beginning of the season, and I believe in you now...it's your turn to believe in yourselves." Wow...someone get that on tape so we can play it before each game will ya?! The game was such an awesomely balanced game, that whoever would lose would be a crushing blow. Our best pitcher (see photo above, he's the one on the left) was saved for this moment, and he shined like a star. They hit him a few times, but only scored four runs off him in 6 1/3 innings. He hit his maximum allowed outs he could play as a pitcher and had to sit down. His replacement, our #2 pitcher came in and did just as well, but a couple costly errors in the bottom of the last inning allowed the Lobos their second miracle of the day...allowing them to advance to the championship game, and the Yankees to end their tournament run early.

Everyone congratulated us on the way out, saying that we were an AMAZING team (ugh, we know this, thanks), and that this was definitely the hardest game they'd ever played this season. We want another inning is all I know the kids wanted to say. The parents too. This has been such a special team that we've gotten to play with this year, that I personally don't want it to end. The chemistry on this team, the coaching we have (although I wish I could be in there to help coach, as I think I'd bring a little more positivity), the level of athleticism and overall baseball knowledge these kids have has made for an impressive display so far. I can only hope the rest of the season goes as slow as it can, allowing us to see them play for just that much longer, and for the next tourney (the end of the season one, which winner goes on to regional) to be just as amazing.

It was super stressful watching the kids play their hearts out this weekend. We cheered with them, and our hearts ached when they made a mistake and knew it cost the team greatly. But the memories made this weekend...for those kids...and for Team Sheldon, I pray, will last a lifetime.

Go Humble Yankees.

Last post (maybe) about E's birthday

Here are a couple more videos for my fam back home who were not able to make E's birthday. Here are a couple videos of him riding on the horse.


Evan riding a horse - Part 1 from Erik on Vimeo.


Evan riding a horse - part 2 from Erik on Vimeo.

More about E on his birthday

Couple videos from yesterday/today. First one is from last night, walking to J's first softball tourney game.
Walking to the ballpark from Erik on Vimeo. The second one will come after it gets done uploading, and when I have time tonight to get the code, since I'll be at J's second softball tourney game, and then at my boy's birthday party! PONY RIDES FOR THE KIDDOS!


Happy Birthday #2 to E, early morning from Erik on Vimeo.

Youth Baseball Day at Minute Maid Park

Yesterday was exactly as the title of this post describes. Thousands of young baseball players were able to tour Minute Maid Park, walking on the field (well the dirt AROUND the field), and then enjoy the afternoon game of the Astros vs the Cincinnati Reds. We arrived at the game way earlier than we meant to, which meant we had to wait even longer in line until the gates opened, but we were very close to the front of the line, so guess you gotta count your blessings when you can. Once inside, we got to another staging area and then waited another 15-20 minutes. After that, we finally were able to walk on the field, and the outcome of it all it recorded in the video below. It's a little long, but if you care to watch it, enjoy.


Walking around Minute Maid Park from Erik on Vimeo.

After we walked around, we were then let in to go to our seats. We still had over an hour until the game started. That would be fun to watch if we didn't have a 2 yr old (as of this upcoming Friday anyway) who wasn't having it, and did all he could to get around us so he could run free. Poor guy. Then, if that wasn't enough, the sun came around and we got ROASTED! My little shorties got toasted, but not as bad as the poor unshielded patch of skin on my bald head! Guess it's just one more thing to put on our "remember to do" list for the next day game we go to, since we never go to day games. With it being so hot, we ended up leaving after the 6th inning because we just couldn't take it anymore, and felt the kids just weren't protected from the sun like they needed to be. We tried to hide from the sun up on the pavillion area, but a "lovely" old woman named Ann gave us the evil eye the whole time...making sure we didn't cross one INCH over this painted line on the floor, which had EMPTY seats on the other side of it that noone ever came and sat in. God forbid we get into those seats until someone comes to claim them, or please forgive us for stepping past that white line into an empty chair's space! Goodness gracious...WHATEVER, LADY!!! Drove me insane. Almost so that I am 'this' close to writing a letter to anyone at the Astros that would listen. It was insanely hot, and we only wanted to get our baby out of the heat...I don't see the problem, especially since our seats were WAY better. Oh well.

All in all though, it was a fun time, and I'm pretty sure this will be an every year thing to do. Hope you enjoy the video of the beautiful Minute Maid Park.

Kids at the ranch

We took the kids to a "farm" (aka few acres) that a nurse B works with, and her husband, have set up. It's usually only got a few animals running around in it, but with the Rodeo starting up, it's overflowing with cute little chickens, piglets, etc. Here are a few videos pieced together to show some of the cuteness that ensued. My kids look so freaking cute in cowboy/girl hats, that I'm starting to be okay with them. Who knows, maybe I'll get some boots and a hat myself some day! HA!

http://vimeo.com/3464764

***Update: Sorry, embedding this video isn't working, so you'll need to go to my Vimeo site and view it. Enjoy!

Oysters don't like A

We were at Ling's chinese buffet, a new chinese buffet in Atascocita, and I dared the kids to try oysters with me. I knew they were grosser than gross (basically like swallowing a huge slimy booger), but I had B tape it on my Blackjack 2. The lighting made this horrible, but you can get the gist. Listen for him puking off-camera at the end. Poor kid. I'm going to hell. :)


Me, A & J trying oysters...then A puking it up. from Erik on Vimeo.

Happy 8th Birthday J!!!

My little princess turns eight today! I don't know why eight sounds so much bigger than seven, but it does to me. She's always been older than her years, but I thank God that she still has little glimpses where she seems her age. Here is a couple minute video after she opened her presents this morning, before we went to school and brought cupcakes for the class!


J's 8th Birthday Mornin' from Erik on Vimeo.

A's first Bball game of 2009

This is the first year we got any of the kids in the church's basketball program. With how well they ran the soccer, it was only natural to try A out here to see if his skills are good enough or if he's too good. With two games into the season, I'm speculating that he is far and away the best kid I've seen play. He scored about 18 points the first game that they won't about 40-14, and he scored 16 of the 20 points in the following game that they won 20-18. Sure, I may be biased, but the kid has a sweet stroke, understands the game and where to be, and even his defense is better than average. He can dribble the best on the team, but has no left hand yet. We'll work on that. Here are a few vids of the first game. The first one was of player introductions...make sure to watch until one of the girl teams comes out and realizes it went to the wrong court...hilarious, but they didn't know and their coach didn't help them any. The second video is of the first few minutes of his first game. Listen to how involved the church gets at making this feel like a real game, with the sounds and music! Kudos to Second Baptist for making this such a fun experience for the kids!

Player Introductions Opening Game - Avery Bball 2009 from Erik on Vimeo.


Opening minutes of A's 2009 basketball season from Erik on Vimeo.

Hawkeye party and end of year vid fun!

Iowa Hawkeye Outback Bowl Party in Texas from Erik on Vimeo.


Evan's American Idol Audition Tape #1 from Erik on Vimeo.


Evan's American Idol Audition-Take 2 from Erik on Vimeo.

A Christmas Tale

Here is the first video posted with my new Flip Ultra handheld camcorder. This is A & J telling the Christmas Story. They don't know it, and I don't remember hearing them say it like this, but they make some funny comments, and afterwards it gets even goofier. Enjoy!


The Christmas Story, according to a 10 & 7 yr old. from Erik on Vimeo.

It's a...nice day...for a...white Houston!

It snowed on December 10th in Houston! For us Northerners, this was a blessing to see a little bit of home during this holiday season. If only it could have happened on Christmas day! Either way though, thank God for the snow! This video shows how the flakes started, then a while later after it had been snowing, and then even a while later still once it had accumulated a little. All in all, I think my area of NE Houston had about an inch of total accumulation. Would have been more if the ground would have been colder.


White Houston '08 from Erik on Vimeo.