Sammy turn's a year older...

Another year older, another kid on the way!

Number 26 marked a good year for Samantha... I think 27 will be just as good if not better!

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

We kicked off this weekend by heading to Rapid City spur of the moment at about 2 PM on Friday! We needed the break! I managed to score a great priceline.com deal at the Fairfield in Rapid. More importantly Fairfield is connected to the Watiki water park... better known as kid heaven!

Aundrea and Tristan rode to slides, splashed and got splashed! They loved it!

...side bar... Samantha's belly is getting big!

We ate out at Outback and managed to score about a $120 meal at 1/3 of the price thanks to a few screw ups! (Slivo's... I know what your thinking, but I didn't even say anything this time! This was nothing similar to Toby Keith's in Vegas!)

Saturday was filled with more swimming, a little shopping and just good ol' family bonding!

Samantha got a Bath and Body Works gift set picked out almost exclusively by Tristan... I think the boy smelled close to 20 different smells before he settled in on the perfect one for mommy!

Now that it's 9:30 on Sunday we're pooped and ready for bed.

Be older.

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Booger Beads and Super Dad!

When your child has something wrong with them all's you want to do is fix it. And quick.

Maybe they fell playing in the yard.

Perhaps they pinched their finger in the door.

They might have even touched something hot.

Any way you slice it... when your kid is hurting, you do what you can to fix it or to comfort them through the hurt.

I'm no different! I hate hearing my kids cry, especially if it's an "I'm really hurt" cry. It eats at me. It pains me. It even frightens me as I realize there is little I can truly to do help them.

Last Wednesday was a different story!

I officially inserted myself into the "super dad" category! (ok, not really, everyone knows you have to be nominated for this category!)

It was about 8:30 Wednesday night and I was looking forward to my last hour of class so that I could jet home and maybe catch Aundrea and Tristan before they went to bed!

It's important to at least say goodnight to your own kids! Especially when you haven't seen them all day!

Samantha called (crying) to tell me that Aundrea had a "bead up her nose".

"A what?"

"A bead."

"Seriously?" (I'm laughing)

"Seriously." (She's not laughing)

"What kind of bead?"

"A bead... does the kind matter?"

"Well just have her blow her nose!"

"I did... I did... it just won't come out... what should I do?" (crying)

"I don't know"

(At this point I wanted to say... "Weren't you watching her?" but any self respecting husband knows that a question like that is enough to send any wife into full blown hysteria... good thing I didn't ask that question!)

"Weren't you watching her?"

"%$#@ *&%$ @D#% $#@* &%$ @D#% $#@* &%$@ D#%$ #@*& %$@% $#@* &%$@"

"Ok, ok let me call you back!" (click)

(this was yet another mistake... never, never, never ever hang up on a crying wife... correction... a crying, angry wife)

(I "quickly" assess the situation... and hit the green button)

"Ok, I'm coming home, put an ice pack on her face, rock her and just try and have her relax" (this was brilliant... at this point Samantha is thinking that I just might have a plan!)

"WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I PUT AN ICE PACK ON HER FACE? ARE YOU THE DUMBEST PERSON IN THE WORLD?"

"Look, I know what I'm doing!" (This was said with extra gusto to prove that I know exactly how to handle this situation!)

"I'm calling someone who actually knows what to do."

"Good idea! See you in twenty minutes" (Boy am I happy to be a MAN!)

(Arriving at home)

"Daddy is here... let's see what the problem is"

"The problem is she has a bead up her nose... I told you this already"

"Right, well... where's my flashlight?"

"We're taking her to the hospital"

"When?"

"Right now... Brandon the nurse said that if you stick something up there your going to make it worse. Do you really wanna take that chance?"

"Um, no! But I gotta see this!" (ok so I didn't quite say it like a forty year old surfer smoking pot... but I sounded pretty dumb!)

(Out to the garage... I'm trying to find one of my ten flashlights... waiting... more waiting... flashlight found in the dog's cage... probably time to organize... maybe I could build a really big shelf... I wonder what kind of price I could get on a 2x4... man I hate Home Depot... that place stinks... stinks... nose... Aundrea... bead... crap... I wanna look at this bead in Aundrea's nose... focused!)

"Ok, lay down here little girl let's see what you have up there" (it's always important to provide your child with all the confidence you can muster when they have something up their nose!)

"Daddy, I have a beeeed up my nose" (This came out pretty nasally)

"Right. Ok, well let's see what color it is!

"RED" (Samantha, Aundrea, Tristan, Angel and Daisy seemed to yell this in unison)

"Hmm... well, you absolutely have a red bead up your nose"

"I told you daddy." (more nasally sound)

"I think I can get to that!"

"Brandon, we're going to the hospital"

"Give me a chance!"

(Time to head back to the garage... wait a minute... what could I possibly have in the garage that would help me get a bead out of my daughter's nose? Miter saw? Nah, to messy! Vise grips? Nah... to clumsy! What about the air compressor? Sweet idea! I'll put the nozzle in one nostril and blow the bead out of the other nostril! Genius!)

"Samantha, this will be awesome!"

"Brandon, your a dumby." (crying) "Your going to blow compressed air in our daughters nose? Won't you pop her ear drums?" (a lot of crying)

"Hmm... good point." (once in a while... as a man... it's important that we give our wife a little time to do some creative thinking... this seemed like an appropriate time to me)

(Back to the garage... Hmm... Blow torch? We could melt the plastic bead! Nah... she won't hold still long enough. Allen wrench? Nah... to uncomplicated. At this point a little tool catches my eye, it's perfect for this job... a paperclip! Back inside.)

"Brandon, let's go to the hospital"

"I got this" (more confidence)

"You might be the dumbest person I know" (she might be right)

"Hold her down!"

"Are you kidding?"

"Hold her down"

"Daddy... NOOOOO"

"Trust me" (Or don't if you ever want to smell pizza again)

In goes the paperclip.

The crying starts again... first Aundie... then Samantha... then Tristan... finally me.

Deeper goes the paper clip.

The screaming starts... first me...then Tristan... then Samantha... and finally Aundie.

"I got it"

"YOU DON'T HAVE IT"

(Here goes nothing)

Out pops the paper clip... right behind a red bead... and followed by snotty blood.

Success!

Crown me Super Dad!

All is right in the world of Brandon and Samantha.

"I knew you could do it!" (Really?)

I love my family.

Birthday partying, potty chairs and cleaning

This last week has been a busy one for our family!

We celebrated Tristan's birthday last Saturday with the help of Grandpa and Grandma Strong

Samantha's cake decorating skills are improving as shown with Tristan's ball and bat cake!

It's difficult for us to realize that our little boy is now 2! He's developed a big personality in the last 6 months, however he continues to be the biggest "momma's boy" in the world! He proved it yet again by getting up this morning, marching into our room and crying "MOMMY!"

Samantha rewarded him by pulling him up into the bed. He snuggled with her... and kicked me in the ribs for an hour until I just got up for good. Someday I'll have my revenge when I blackmail him with this...

What would possess my son to do this?

We got the party started the right way... a little bit of decorating!

The kids loved this stuff! I also filled up around 100 balloons in which Aundrea believe was the coolest thing of the night!

What kid doesn't want blue or pink hair? All in the name of a good time!

Even Angel and Daisy got in on the action!

Overall, the birthday party was a success! Tristan received a baseball bat and tee, a police setup for Mr. Potato head, a toy tool set, "Don't Break the Ice" game, a large wooden train set, and two packs of underwear.

I guess Tristan is a little excited!

The train set! Aundrea may like it more than Tristan!

Grandpa and Grandma gave him a wooden train whistle, a train shirt, a bike helmet, and something else I can't seem to remember!

Sorry for the sideways footage... I'm new to this!

Grandpa and Grandma Moon sent out monkey pajamas (which fits Tristan's personality very well) and a car carrier that zips out to become a mat with roads and such.

Momma and her Monkey Boy!

Great Grandpa and Grandma Strong, Great Aunt Carla, and Great Uncle Randy sent out my favorite gift. A 1938 Hot Rod Pedal car. They had it painted up with a couple cool items and also had the Strong family "Coat of Arms" and motto placed on it in several places. We took it out for a spin that night. Tristan just started to pick up the pedals and how they worked before it was time to head in.

Tristan is indeed a Hot Rod when he's on this machine!

In other news... Tristan did receive undies for his birthday... he's still trying to figure out where they go!

Good grief. This might not have been a good idea!

With the underwear means the beginning of potty training another kid. Which to me is basically like trying to catch a greased pig.

Tristan has shown interest in the potty chair for the past 2-3 months occasionally squirting a little hear and there with not much consistency. With the underwear we've now had a couple of really good days and a couple of really bad days.

This morning appeared to kick off a not so good day! Tristan managed to poop in his undies then head to the potty chair... leaving me with a trail of intestinal joy.

In other notes... expecting a baby is a great deal of fun! I'm pretty excited about the whole process. Mainly watching Samantha's belly grow, picking out a name, setting up the cradle I made when we were expecting Aundrea, watching Samantha's belly grow, dreaming about sleepless nights, buying tiny diapers, watching Samantha's belly grow, and wandering through the baby departments!

The one thing that I don't like is the extra chores that tend to fall to me during those nine months! I always try and do my part on a regular basis (I'm sure Samantha wishes that I did a little more!) but during the pregnancy my chores seem to compound. I'm not complaining... I absolutely don't want Samantha doing anything that involves chemicals up to and including cleaning the bathroom. It's just not my favorite thing on planet earth! That's ok... I guess once the baby come's I'll make sure she get a good dose of a husband that doesn't "do" house chores!!

Down and Out

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Last week I managed to contract Strep, probably from one of the students I work with.

I've had Strep in the past and managed to bounce back fairly quickly from it's rottenness. This time however I haven't been nearly as fortunate.

My problems probably compounded when I decided not to go to the Doc's last Friday, by that point I was already full blown sick for two+ days. After an unbearable weekend I decided to listen to my wife and head in Wednesday.

With Samantha being pregnant I am more burdened with trying to stay healthy and my choices last week jeopardized that.

I've attempted work the last two days just find myself done around noon both days. I've been absolutely beat both days.

The worst part is the antibiotics have had minimal impact. Hopefully my health improves soon.

On to other things...

Wanted to share my thoughts on the weekend AFC/NFC Championships from Sunday.

Finally the Jets put their money where their mouth is and managed to lay a stinker of a second half as Peyton dismantled their "hollowed" defense.

I am surprised at how well Mark Sanchez looked early in the game. Although I consider his hype to be short lived he did show that he can at least do what's asked at times. I am still a believer that he will NOT be a starting NFL Quarterback in 5 years whether through injury or poor performance he'll either be 2nd or 3rd string, in the booth (at the worst he could take over for Chris Collinsworth on NBC), or trying to get a job coaching in college (yet another reason why maybe he should have spent some time there).

Concerning the Vikings and Saints, I am still a little disturbed about watching the BEST QB of all time get abused the way the Saints did. Not that I believe that there were 15 or 16 dirty hits on the old guy, but I do believe there were 3 or 4.

My point is if you watched New England games this year and there happened to be an inadvertent wind that messed with Tom Brady's performance then more than likely there was going to be a defensive penalty called. Consistency would be nice.

I don't fault New Orleans pressure. No doubt their goal was to hit Favre and they did. Favre still played fairly well considering.

Ultimately I am concerned with the number of times that the Vikings put the football on the ground or turned it over. It's not logical that the ball can hit the turn that many times and still allow a team to be in the game in the fourth quarter, let alone make it to OT.

I've heard a great deal of criticism of Favre interception in the final few seconds of the 4th quarter. Remember the penalty right before that? That was the killer. If Brett makes the completion then Ryan Longwell trots out and the Vikings are moving on. He didn't and becomes a goat.

I hope he returns next year and that the Vikes find a way to protect him and then give him another shot.

In the Superbowl, I am going against popular opinion (and my gut) by saying that the Saints will put up more points than the Colts and take home 44.

Spilling The Beans...

Strong Baby #3 is on the way!

Much to the delight of Aundrea and Tristan!

Crap. We're going to be outnumbered.

The Squeakquel

Last night I had the best night of the new year!

Aundie and I headed into town around 6:00 so I could get a haircut while she played for a bit at Grandpa and Grandma's. After that we headed to the theater to watch the 8:45 showing of Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel!


I don't think I remember the last time that I laughed so hard during a movie. Half of my laughter came from Aundrea's laughing! The movie was funny too!

Aundrea picked up on many of the more subtle jokes which surprised me a great deal!

We also shared a bag of popcorn and a large drink (which cost more than the movie) She sat most of the time on the edge of her seat (shoveling popcorn and navigating the cup all by herself) and then spent the last 20 minutes on my lap. It was a pretty neat experience for me and her as well!

The chipmunks have changed a little bit in twenty years...

Yeah, I can remember being around Aundrea's age and thinking the Chipmunks were basically the coolest thing ever made!

It's pretty cool to know Aundrea thinks the same thing!

Shame on us

I just finished watching TLC's "Brace For Impact" which chronicle's the Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009.

If your not familiar with the date, or the flight, it's about Capt. Sully Sullenberger and Co-Pilot Jeffrey Skiles.

Still not sure what I'm talking about?

How sad of a deal that is. Although your not alone. Apparently many of us have forgotten about a real life dynamic duo that saved over 150 lives by landing an Airbus in the Hudson River.


Even Times Magazine forgot, as they selected Ben Bernanke as their "Man of the Year".

Captain Sully was such an easy shoe-in for anything significant about 2009, especially anything about "Man of the Year".

Of course, I guess he didn't get sworn in as the first A-A President (goodness, there's only been forty-some president's... who cares!), nor did he guide his team to the Superbowl or the World Series, nor did he make headlines for two months for having an insatiable appetite for women, nor did he become famous as "the King of Pop", nor did he overdose on painkillers or anything else popular among the "stars" of today.

The dude is married, has a family and really just lives a normal life like the rest of us.

He should have immediately signed a contract with Pepsi or Nike. He should have been made the first Billion dollar Pilot in the world. The guy did something more important than a Congress that will never get health care right. Yet I believe we haven't given the guy the kind of honor's that he is due!

If you get a chance check out the hour long documentary, it's a great salute to an extraordinary individual... individuals really. Again, the show is called "Brace for Impact" and is very well narrated by Harrison Ford.

I'll now publicly say that I would rather meet Captain Sullenberger more than ANY individual currently walking the face of the Earth!