axiom

I try to reinforce behaviors by repeating little bullet statements. Bill Hybels wrote a book called axiom & uses these statements to help him filter decisions.

One that I have seen working is "smiles & hugs". Hannah & Rae dont always wake up the most cheerful little princesses but now we made a rule that when u get up u have to smile & gives hugs. That helps get over the grumpy butt attitude.

It doesnt always work but it gets them thinking about their attitude. They now remind each other (& us) to smile & give hugs - thats how I know its working.

My point: I am not always going to be around but if I can leave some axioms to help my kids be better people & make better decisions, I am ok with that.

A shout out to my dad who without realizing it helped me see how effective repitition is. He used to always say "do it right the first time so u dont have to do it again" (among others). I dont always do it right the first time but I always hear him telling me to.

I just blogged on my DROID

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inspirational socks

To the untrained eye this may just look like a very patriotic sock.

Upon further review this is the actual sock (yes I wore both of them) that I wore to run a marathon. That is not what makes this pair of socks significant tho...

These socks were given to me as I was training for the marathon and they came with encouragement and a belief that I could do it.

My friend Konan gave me these socks. He gave them to me and told me that he belived I could do it even tho I have never run distance before. I remember deciding that these would be the socks I would actually wear to run the marathon. Not because of the really cool colors but because of the message and inspiration (not to mention the absorbtion of perspiration).

I remember when I "hit the wall" while running and thinking that there are people who believe in me. Having someone believe in you is one of the most motivating things there is.

I pictured my family at the finish line, remembered all the training and replayed the words of encouragement that people poured into my life. That is what helped me finish strong.

My point: people become what you encourage them to be, not what you nag them to be...

Thanks for the socks and encouragement. (I am not sure if he let me have them or just borrow them but either way, he ain't gettin them back...)

who dresses these kids

Does anyone else see what I see?

I have a Rockin' MOM

Mommy's little angel

I think if I try hard enough I could go thru old boxes in the basement and find an old bib or something with a statement about daddy but what the heck...

I was giving my wife a hard time the other day when I came home to see my two littlest princess' dressed in "mommy" shirts. I made them stand together and forced my wife to read them out loud just to make sure she saw what I saw. We had a good laugh (I only laughed on the outside, inside I was bawling like a baby) and went about our day. 

My point: I agree with both statements on these shirts. My wife is "Rockin" and Raegan is a little angel. I love that my wife takes great care of them and it is her right to buy them clothes that make positive "mommy" statements. 

I know my girls love me. I gotta go, I am going shopping to find them some clothes - if they happen to have a "daddy" statement, it will be a total coincidence...

warranty

I got a haircut the other day. She did the best she could with what she had to work with.

When I was finished she handed me my reciept and explained my warranty. Yep, I got a warranty with my haircut.

I thought - how many people actually use the haircut warranty. What would be a reason you would use a haircut warranty. Is this warranty like most other warranties where you go in and they just tell you that all "other" problems would be covered but not the one you came in with.

Why in the name of all that is pure and good do we need a haircut warranty? I can't think of a situation where I would march in and show them my warranty and demand that my haircut be fixed. How do you fix a bad haircut? If you screwed it up the first time, why would I want you to do it again. My hair is short - how do you fix short - bald?

This haircut warranty cracked me up.

My point: I can think of a lot of things that need a warranty but a haircut - come on - really? I would shave my head and eyebrows before I tried to redeem a haircut warranty.

I will definitely be going back to the haircut warranty place. If I can pay the same price for a haircut or a haircut WITH A WARRANTY - I will go with the warranty (even tho I will NEVER use it...)

GIVE ME A BREAK!

angry birds

My wife told me something was wrong with the dryer so when I went to investigate I pulled it away from the wall and pulled the vent hose thingy off and a few little sticks fell out. I took the whole thing off and began to shake it and out poured what used to be a nest. I then reached my hand into the back of the dryer and pulled out more nest looking stuff and a cute little blue egg.

Apparently our outside vent doesn't have a screen on it. It does have a flapper but the bird was smart enough to raise it up and get in without much effort.

After I cleaned it up I thought about the surprise the bird was gonna have when it returned to see it's house was destroyed and the egg was gone. It was gonna be one angry bird. I thought what a stupid place to build a nest but then after I thought about it more, it was the perfect place to nest an egg. Our dryer was incubating the egg in the momma birds absence. We kept her egg warm so she could go out and attend all the birdy parties.

My point: put a screen on your vent because there is a homeless angry bird looking for a new place of residence.

I love the angry bird app

a hero comes along...

Every week Hannah goes to ballet and if I take her I usually sit out in the room with Raegan and play angry birds or read Rae a book.  The other parents crowd around a small window to watch the kids fall all over each other.

Tonight the teachers said we can come in and watch so I figured - this oughta be good & got out the droid to video it. I didn't really know what to expect from a bunch of 5 year olds but I absolutely loved it.

They did a dance to the song "hero" and I couldn't stop myself from getting all teary eyed! I thought - this moment is not gonna last very long. This beautiful little red headed ballerina princess is gonna be graduating college before I know it and I hope to be seen as her hero.

Hannah hero video

My point: I can only hope that my kids love me half as much as I love and respect my parents. These moments won't last forever so I need to cherish them and live a life worthy to be her hero.

Being a dad is the best!

clearance

shirt vest

I can't believe that this little number was on the clearance rack.

I find it kinda comical when I see the sweater vest. I am not sure I found anyone sport them quite like Tressel.

I am at a meeting today in Polaris and it is quite common to see multiple sweater vests make an appearance. I decided to conform to the pattern of the people - I went vest!

I never thougth I would buy a sweater vest (I still haven't - its not a sweater), but when I saw this gem hanging on the rack, I decided it was a must buy. There is no downside to having this baby in your closet. It is a very versatile. You can dress it up or down. It was a great purchase.

My point: I saw an amazing opportunity to grab it and the price was right so I pulled the trigger and made it mine.

I can't believe that it was so cheap and there were a ton of them - go figure!

Prove it

I have brean praying for a friend and I made the comment to call me if he needs to talk. I said I would "make" time for him if he needed me.

Last night I had my bag packed for the gym, it was loaded in my car, I had all my clothes ready, alarm was set and MY plans were set. Then I got a text...

My friend asked if I had time to talk @ 6:30a tomorrow morning. I didn't have to think about it, I just had to do what I said I would do - prove it.

After I said yes, I started rearranging my plans. I had to reset the alarm (now getting less sleep), repack or unpack the gym bag & rearrange my schedule. SO WHAT!

I meet with people all the time but this is a FRIEND who took me up on my offer to be there day or night. I was honored that he trusted me enough to share.

I didn't feel the need to tell him all the things that I would now have to change and what make it look like it is some huge sacrifice - I did what a friend would do, I did what he would've done, I did what I SAID I would do - my friend just asked me to prove it with my actions.

My point: lots of people say things like "I am here if you need anything" but then they aren't. Or they throw out the right thing to say but not everyone proves it. Anyone can make an excuse - don't be that guy...

the value of a penny

The value of a penny doesn't seem to be much anymore. Usually when I see one laying on the ground I walk right by it - until now...

Now I pick up every penny I see because there is a "penny horse" named Sandy at our local grocery store. The penny has incredible value now because it makes 2 little girls happy.

That penny may not be able to buy much but it can get me about 1 min of nothing but smiles & creates some great memories.

My point: value is determined by you. If you are looking for the big purchase, a penny isn't gonna get it. If you are looking for smiles and memories - the penny is gonna do the trick (for now...)

embrace the chaos

My wife and 2 youngest daughters went out of town for a few days. Of course I knew I would miss them but I figured I make the most of the peace & quiet.

Before they left, Hannah was playing and hanging on my leg. I asked her to stop because I couldn't walk, then Raegan wanted "up daddy, up" and I told her to wait a minute while I finished what I was doing.

I looked at Deni and said, you know as soon as they are gone I am gonna wish Hannah was hanging on my leg while Rae is wanting me to hold her...

They aren't gonna be gone long but I really miss the chaos. I miss hearing the noise of the scooters riding thru the kitchen, I want to hear "mommy, Raegan isn't helping me clean up" or "mommy, Hannah took that from me". I want to have to tell them to "stop playing and eat your dinner".

Then it's the bedtime routine - bath is always interesting followed by the reasons they are not ready for bed yet. They need the story - a drink of water - you forgot to turn on my light - I can't find my stuffed bear I sleep with... Then and only then can you try to squeeze in some down time. Maybe catch a TV show but then you gotta get ready for tomorrow.

I look at my 2 youngest girls (ages 5 & 3) then look Shayna (age 14) and think - I LOVE my life. I enjoy  the ages and all the drama & chaos that comes with it.

My point: could I use some more peace & quiet - we all could, but I would rather have the chaos with my girls then the quiet without them. The quiet will come way too soon, so I will embrace the chaos and create some lasting memories.

it has been thrown...

So once again I enter the blogosphere. 

gauntlet

No, I didn't just randomly check back in - I was challenged to enter!

The king of cliche, Brent Salyers has started blogging again and has "thrown down the gauntlet" (look at me using a cliche...). 

The challenge is to blog at least 3 times a week. If either of us fail to meet the criteria, we have to take the other out to lunch. 

Now, I see this as a no lose situation on my part. 

//I get to read his blogs 3x a week - win. 

//If I don't do my part, I get to go to lunch with him - win. 

Not a bad deal.  

Since I knew I was going to use the cliche "throwing down the gauntlet" I figured I would look into it. What I found was pretty interesting. Back in the day, the "gauntlet" was actually a glove looking thing they wore on their hand. When an challenge was issued, the maker of the challenge would take it off and throw it on the ground. If the person being challenged accepted - they picked it up. 

I guess I would rather have the gauntlet thrown than to have to run the gauntlet (you can look that one up...)

My point: I love a challenge, especially one that I win either way. 

Be sure to see if he is doing his part by checking out his blog