Dear Becca & Grant,
                     Well, we did go to Bi-Water Farm in Georgetown and Becca had a great time. The day before we went Grant was not feeling very good at all so I decided to reschedule the flu shots for both of the kids. Becca was so relieved that she wouldn't be getting a shot. We dropped Grant off at Mamaw's and Papaw loaned me his new GPS navigation system thingy so we could find our way and I loved it. I had never been to Bi-Water Farm and had no idea where it was at and his tool, it's called a Magellan, worked like a dream. It was a lazy slow day that both Becca & I enjoyed immensely. We first went to Cracker Barrel for brunch. I ordered off of the breakfast menu and Becca had chicken fingers and mac & cheese. I at all of mine but she didn't eat any of hers. We then browsed in the gift shop for awhile. They already have Christmas stuff out. After we left we went outside on the porch and played a game Becca invented using the giant checkers they have there while she chewed her bubble gum I bought for her there and I drank an orange cream soda. We sat there for a good long while. The day was beautiful and it was so relaxing. After we were done there we went to Bi-Water Farm. I knew she was going to enjoy it when we pulled into the drive and she got so excited to see a roll bale of hay they had made up to look like a giant spider. We paid our way in and the first thing we did was check out the baby animals. They had baby ducks, baby chicks and baby bunnies. Becca loved it. Then they had a petting zoo right next to it. There they had tons of goats with two baby kids and a couple of llamas that you could pet. They also had pigs, sheep, chickens, turkeys, and a calf; you couldn't pet any of those though. Then we went over to the Trike Track. They had a ton of big tricycles and a nice little track set up. Becca had fun riding through that. Next we went right next door to the Pirate's Cove which was really only a bunch of sand boxes and a big wooden thing built to look like a ship with wooden pirate cutouts everywhere. Becca really enjoyed playing in the sand boxes. She was there playing for 45 minutes. That's where we first saw the stray chicken. Apparently one had gotten away from the petting zoo area and she was just hanging out with all of the people. The poor chicken was probably traumatized because all of the children were chasing it around all over the place. Becca took another ride around the Trike Track and then we took a hay ride up to the pumpkin patch and Corn Maze. We went through the corn maze and went only a little way in, I hadn't even lost my bearings yet and Becca started talking about us never getting out of there. I assured her that we would. She was just a bit nervous but I knew where we where at and I assured her that I knew how to get us out and sure enough we marched right out of there. Then we browsed the pumpkin patch and we found a very nice little pumpkin for Becca and a super tiny one for Grant. Becca was concerned that we would have to walk all the way back but I assured her that the hay wagon would soon return and sure enough it did. We rode it as far as the playground. There was a soda machine there and Becca was just a bit fussy so we bought an orange soda and that seemed to cheer her right up. She was probably just thirsty. The had a nice playground with some big tubes on ropes that the kids were using as swings, tractor tires halfway in the ground that you could climb on, a wooden tractor, a wooden train and a wooden truck. Then we went across the tractor path to what they called The Little Cowboy Corral which was a bunch of giant rocking horses and a slide. Next we checked out Bunny Town which was an area where they had about twenty rabbits with miniature building made to look like a town. I then convinced Becca to go through the Lost Pumpkin Mine with me. It was in a barn but the entrance was very dark. Becca didn't want to go but I asked her if she would go if I carried her; she said she would. It wasn't scary at all. The story was that Bi-Water Farm got their pumpkins from a pumpkin mine that was worked by dwarves but there is a dragon in the mine. Becca loved the dwarves that she called little Santas, especially when they were having lunch. They were really low quality animatronic type dwarves but cute and funny for a four year old all the same. She said the dragon scared her just a little but I think she was fibbing a little because you don't smile when you are scared. She wanted to go through again and this time I didn't have to carry her. We then stopped at the Ducky Derby which was rubber duckies that you raced using a hand water pump and a length of pipe. She had loads of fun there. We then revisited the baby animals and she got to pet a baby bunny this time. Becca just didn't want to leave. We hung out for a long time in the petting zoo area and then Becca decided she wanted to try the Spooky Old Farm House. She didn't want to try it earlier because the entrance there was dark as well. She took a few tentative steps in and when she saw the skeleton band playing rock music she grinned big because she knew at this point that there would be no spooks in this spook house. There was a monster school room, a bunch of witches relaxing at home, a skeleton taking a shower and a ghost restaurant. All of the exhibits were accompanied with funny little songs appropriate for the setting. There was more but I don't remember all of the spook house things. Becca ran out of the exit and right back around to the house and in we went again. We finished up by paying for our pumpkins and purchasing some apple cider. We then bought us a caramel apple to eat as we waited for the train, actually a tractor made up to look like a train. We rode the train down by a creek and saw an Indian Teepee and a few other sites. She grinned huge the whole train trip.
      We left Bi-Water Farm and I used the Magellan to tell us where the Wal-Mart was located in Georgetown. We needed paints so we could paint her pumpkin. We bought some face paints so we could paint each others face as well as the pumpkin. We got back to Mamaw & Papaw's and broke open the paints and we had a grand old time painting each others faces and then when it was really too dark to see we painted the pumpkin. Papaw made us some popcorn and Becca and I had a ball trying to throw popcorn into each others mouths. We made an absolute mess of the deck. After the popcorn we spent nearly an hour playing a game Becca invented. She gave me the instructions everytime we started. I was supposed to be visiting the penguins at the aquarium with some fish but I didn't see any when lo and behold Becca would come waddling out as Becca Penguin and I would be so excited to see a penguin and then Becca Penguin would eat my fish and Becca Penguin would give me a big hug and the game would begin again after I was instructed on how to play the game. Grant fell asleep long before we decided to head to the house so Becca and I just let him stay at Mamaw & Papaw's and we went home. I was out of dip and I absolutely had to have some dip so even though my face was painted all kinds of different colors as was Becca's we stopped at Dairy Mart. Becca actually thought I had lost my mind wanting to stop at a store when we both looked so foolish. She thought it was funny too though.
      Next morning Becca woke up way earlier than I would have liked. We eventually got dressed and went down to Mamaw & Papaw's so we could all go to church. We were running a little late. We eventually pulled into the parking lot of Quest Community Church right as the service was supposed to start. I got Grant and Becca both settled and I went to the service. The message was on forgiveness. After church I went and got Becca and it seems like they had a pirate themed message. She had fun though and I am going to start taking them there whenever I have the opportunity. We all need to be in church somewhere.
      After church we went to Culvers for lunch. It seems that every time we go to Culvers Becca has to potty. After we had lunch we went to the Lexington Green and fed the ducks and fish. I got change from a lady at the outside bar at Regatta and she gave me a bowl for the feed. That was real nice of her. I really wanted to get a drink at the bar but I thought that would look tacky; me sucking on a mixed drink as I played with my children. I passed on the drink. Becca enjoyed feeding the fish and the ducks but when the food and the money had run out she said she wanted to do something else fun. We went inside Joseph-Beth Booksellers and she played with a train set they had there and a marble game. Both kids had fun.
      We then went to the Carnival Shoe Store to get Grant some shoes but all they had there was Nike and New Balance in his sizes and I am not paying thirty dollars for shoes for a thirteen month old so we decided to go home because we were all so very tired. I changed my mind when I decided that Grant really needed a pair of shoes in the worst way. I stopped and got Becca out and when I went to get Grant out the poor boy was sound asleep. I picked him up and strapped him in a buggy thinking that he would wake right up but he didn't. He would flop over in one direction and I would set him up and he would flop over in the other direction. We got inside and I got one of those carts with a baby carrier type thing attached and put him in that and he slept like exactly what he is, a baby. I tried a couple of pair of shoes on him and eventually found some to fit him and he never woke up during the whole process. We did a little more shopping. Grant finally woke up and he was hungry so I went to the dairy case and got some milk and fixed him a bottle right there in the store. Becca and I were hungry so we got us something to eat as well. We bought us a chicken salad sandwich to split, some Funyuns, some raw broccoli and a banana. We ate on the way home and I have never heard a child go on about how delicious broccoli was like Becca did as she ate her raw broccoli on the way home. You would have thought she was eating ice cream and cake. When we got home Becca and I played our penguin game some more after Becca painted her nose black and her tummy white like a penguin and then that was the end of our fun weekend.
      This past week Grant wasn't feeling too well. Papaw picked him up from daycare one day this past week while I worked over and he looked so puny and was coughing until he was red in the face. Papaw was concerned so he called the pediatrician and they got him in right away. He had an ear infection. While they were there I talked to Papaw on the phone and I asked him to ask the pediatrician about the flu mist for Becca. She really didn't want the shot and if she didn't have to have it I didn't want her to have a shot either. They asked about the mist and the doctor said that she would do just fine with the mist and then Mamaw asked if they could just go ahead and do it that day. They said they most certainly could. Grant got the shot and did not like it one little bit and he has to go back in a month to get another one. Becca on the other hand got the mist and it didn't hurt her at all she told me; as a matter of fact she said it was fun. So now we have the kids inoculated against the flu. Grant's antibiotics made him feel better with his ear infection. After the doctor Papaw, Mamaw, the kids and I all went to Fazolis for Italian food. I love spaghetti.
      Becca had an ear ache incident as well. I left the kids at Mamaw & Papaw's Thursday night and when I was about ready to go to bed I got a call from Mamaw and in the background I heard Becca screaming like a banshee. I grabbed my clothes and all the stuff I would need for work and headed on down to be with her right away. I was almost there when I realized I had forgotten the children's Motrin so I had to rush back and get that. Becca was very upset and complaining of her ear and her tummy. Mamaw thought about taking her to the emergency room until calmer heads prevailed. I gave her some medicine and laid down beside her and she went right to sleep as did I. I went to work the next morning from Mamaw & Papaw's.
      Today we plan on going to Jacobson Park for a small family gathering and they have a lake there so Becca has some plans to fish. We needed a fishing rod so Friday night the kids and I went to Wal-Mart in Lawrenceburg. We got her a Dora the Explorer fishing rod with a Dora bobber, we got her a lantern and a cheap Halloween jack O'lantern mask so she could scare people. She wore her mask inside McDonalds Saturday morning and everyone was scared to death. We came home and everyone was so tired we went right to bed.
      Like I said we are going to Jacobson park this afternoon. First though we are going to go to church though. I was supposed to get the kids this morning about now but it seems Becca had a bad night last night. It looks like we are going to have to take her to the pediatrician Monday and find out what is going on. Kids under sixteen can fish for free at Jacobson Park. This will be Becca's first fishing trip. I am excited about it, maybe more than she is. Papaw & Uncle Rodney have plans on cutting a road in the back of Papaw's house all of the way down the hill to the river. They have to work it out with the owner of the land behind Papaw's land but Uncle Rodney doesn't think that will be a problem. Becca and I along with Jake & Jon went down to the river almost a year ago and it was such a job to get back up the hill that we decided, or rather I decided we would never try that again. It'll be nice if we could just ride down the hill and fish a little bit or just enjoy the river view and then ride back up the hill.
      Grant has taken as many as seven steps. His problem is that he will take off when we start our walking lesson and he will do great starting out but when he does so well to begin with he gets so excited that he really can't repeat his first walk. It's only a matter of weeks until he is toddling around everywhere. I will love to see him walking like that but at the same time I will be sad to see the end of his little commando crawl. I took him to church last week in a cammo shirt, cammo socks and an army green pair of pants and the lady at the church nursery commented on how appropriate his outfit was.
      Grant also seems to be very popular with the staff at Kid's Kingdom Daycare where the kids have been going as of late. When I go to get him it's like he's a rock star on the way out because everyone has to stop and talk to him or hold him. That little boy has some charisma, unlike his Dad who has absolutely zero charisma.
      Well, I need a shower and a shave. I'm supposed to get the kids here in about a half an hour so I had better get on the ball. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  I told y'all it would be quite some time before I posted again and it looks as if I was 100% correct. It's almost 6:30 in the evening on a Wednesday. I worked two hours over at the factory and then came straight home. I checked my e-mail and performed a few other internet related activities and then opened up my blogging program and here we are.
      Mom has Becca & Grant this evening so I am here all by myself. I miss them both so bad when they're not around but I have a pretty big weekend planned for us coming up. First thing Saturday morning we have to take care of some business that all of us would probably not have to fool with. The kids both have an appointment Saturday morning at 9:20 for flu shots. After the flu shots though we are heading off to Bi-water Farm in Georgetown for their AutumnFest. There's supposed to be a corn maze, a petting zoo, hay rides, pumpkin patches and all kinds of fun stuff there. I asked mom if she wanted to go with us but she said she would be looking for a job Saturday. I certainly hope it's as fun as I was led to believe. I reckon by the time we've had some fun there they will both be feeling kind of puny from the shots so we are going to come home and relax awhile; what am I saying, those kids never relax.
      Sunday morning we are all going to church at Quest Community Church. We went once and Becca really enjoyed it because they had s'mores there and free popcorn in the lobby. It's all a little too contemporary for me but we all have to start going to church somewhere and I feel like the children's programs would be so much more dynamic in a huge contemporary church like that. Anyway after church we are going to go to Lexington Green and feed the ducks and fish in the lake there and maybe browse around in Joseph-Beth Booksellers for a little while and then we are going to have lunch at Culver's, topping it off with a big frozen custard. Yummy!
      A few weeks ago I was talking to Becca about school and she informed me that after preschool she was going to go to college. I asked her what she was going to study in college. She really didn't understand what I meant by that. I explained that Sissy would be studying how to be a teacher in college and Becca then informed me that she was going to study to be a doctor. She got an urgent look on her face and informed me that Papaw & I were going to have to build her a doctor building. I asked her what she was going to have in her doctor building. She told me she was going to have shots, band-aids, cream and emergency beds.
      Grant has a new bottom tooth to go along with the two that are already there. He's getting so big. He'll be walking any day now. He's saying more and more stuff as well. One of his first words and the most understandable is "Sadie" only it's he pronounces it "sa-DIE", the emphasis being on the second syllable. He's got it in his head that all animals on four legs that look even remotely like a dog is in fact a Sadie. It doesn't matter if it's a dog five times the size of little Sadie, a cat or even a picture of a dragon, they are all "sa-DIE" to him. His first word was of course Dada but I've often wondered if that really was his first word or was he just babbling. I've come to the conclusion that he was talking. He says Mama, Sissy, cookie, tractor, bottle, ball, hello and his favorite word of all, "Hey". I went to pick him up from the daycare that his mom has him in and when he saw me he looked at me and got the biggest grin on his face and hollered out "Hey!", like he hadn't seen me in a month. He started kicking and reaching like a tiny wild man. My boy loves me so much and the feeling is more than mutual.
      Papaw & Uncle Rodney closed up the pool last night but Becca got one last swim in it right before they shut it down. I got in with Becca night before last, the first day of Fall. The water temperature was around 70° I dove right in and while it was super cold it was so refreshing. The days have been running kind of warm this month. Becca and I stayed in the pool for probably around 45 minutes or so. It was getting very late; that's why we didn't stay in longer. I had worked over-time and Becca wanted to go back to the house with me because I had to go get her a nighttime pull-up and she wanted me to give her a bath at our house. That's why we only stayed in for the short time that we did. I didn't get in last night. I didn't have my trunks with me. Becca jumped right into that cold cold water. She was in maybe 15 minutes or so. She probably didn't pay as much attention to the cold the night before because I was in the pool and we were racing and having a grand old time. So Becca was the last one out of the pool for 2008. I promised I would take her to the indoor pool at Falling Springs this winter and she's already talking about that.
      Becca climbed the tree out front since my last post. She really and truly climbed the tree. She was probably five or six feet up. She didn't have any trouble at all going up but coming down she needed help.
      I have been getting in bed too late this week so I am going to get a bite to eat, take a shower and go to bed early. Well, I know I am forgetting stuff that should be included like how well Becca is doing at school. She's gotten all green marks so far this year; green means good whereas red means bad and orange means she could have done better. Mrs. Dykes seems to think that Becca is doing better in the afternoon class than she did last year in the morning class. I can understand that being as how her Dad is not exactly a morning type person either.
      Like I said before there's stuff that I am forgetting but that happens when you only post twice a month. Let me close this out by saying how much I love and miss my kids when they are not with me. It's like I am not whole when they are away from me. I truly believe that until you have children there is no way you can achieve your potential for love. I love my Mom and Dad, I love my sister and I love my niece and nephews but until you have kids you really only have a vague idea about what love truly is. And with that let me just say that Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Let me introduce myself. I'm Danny Marlin Lanham and I am your father. I thought I would reintroduce myself to y'all since it's been nearly a month since my last post. I really should have posted this weekend because Mom had y'all this weekend. I missed y'all something awful. Anyway, like I was saying I should have posted this past weekend but of course I had television that needed watching and serial killers that needed to be read about on crimelibrary.com. In other words I was just too ornery to post.
      Lots has happened in the past month. I'll do my best to hit the highlights. Grant, of course had his first birthday. It wasn't nearly as elaborate as Becca's. Mom had custody of the kids on his actual birthday so a few days before his birthday we had a nice birthday cake with footballs, baseballs and footballs for decorations. We also had a small cake for Grant to make a mess with and ice cream. Mamaw & Papaw were there as well as Uncle Rodney, Aunt Lynn, Jake, Jon, Allison (Sissy), Wayne who is Allison's newest beau, Becca and myself. Becca and the boys got in the pool after the cake and ice cream so Grant kind of a pool party as well. We all had a nice time.
      One day this past month Becca asked Mamaw if she could play in the mud and Mamaw without thinking to inquire exactly what mud she was referring to said she could. Well, apparently she was playing somewhere she shouldn't have because Papaw got onto her. It wasn't Becca's fault at all and Papaw apologized but I told Becca that the following weekend we would find her a nice mud hole she could play in. children love to play in the mud. Well, the weekend rolled around and Becca seemed to forget about my promise of mud play. However she did decide she wanted to go dirt digging so we got us a pail and a small shovel and found us a nice place back in Papaw's field with some really nice loose dirt and we filled that pail up. I then remembered my promise to Becca of some mud so we took the dirt back up to Mamaw and Papaw's house and topped the pail off with some water. We started out with the intention of making mud pies but I was feeling kind of silly so I spread mud all over my shaved head. Becca thought that was funny so I coated her arms with mud. Eventually Becca had came out of her shirt and her entire torso, arms and legs were covered in mud. About that time the boys got home from a day of dirt biking with Papaw and Uncle Rodney in Berea. Becca saw Jon and she wanted to belly bump him. She ran after him absolutely coated in mud and he was running away from her as fast as he could. Becca had a grand old time as did I. We both had to be sprayed off with the water hose outside and while Becca seemed to have a grand old time getting showered down with the water hose I thought it was entirely too cold. Becca ended up ruining the shorts and panties she was wearing but I think we would both agree that the experience was well worth it. We then showered in the basement. I didn't think that little girl would ever come clean. That was one of those days that I will never ever forget. That kind of thing is what being the father of a preschooler is all about.
      Speaking of Becca being a preschooler she started her second year of preschool last week. We don't have to pay for her to go this year because being as how Mom is on food stamps she got in for free which means she gets to ride the bus. Becca is going to the afternoon session this year which will probably work out better. So far she's been riding the bus to and from Mamaw & Papaw's but I think she might be going to start riding the bus from Mom's apartment complex and going back home to Mamaw & Papaw's. It's actually kind of a mess right now. Mom & I are still working out custody issues but we are working together and we remain friends so while I am sure there will be bumps in the road and there will be issues we don't agree on things will eventually work themselves out. Anyway, she loves preschool as much as she did last year if not more. She's in Ms. Dykes class again and Becca just adores Ms. Dykes and her teacher's aide Ms. Bush. The first day of school Becca helped Ms. Dykes and Ms. Bush in showing the first year students how the class was run because Becca has had a year there already and she knows how things are done. I asked Becca who was the smartest kid in her class tonight and without a hint of hesitation she said she was. I asked her who the prettiest kid in her class was and once again she didn't even have to think about it when she told me that she was the prettiest kid in class. I am tickled that my daughter has such high self-esteem. That's something I have never had even to this day.
      A few weeks ago I taught Becca how to blow bubbles with bubble gum. She was so proud of herself. Mamaw & Papaw told me they wish I had never taught her how because for days after that they could hardly get her to take the gum from her mouth to eat. Becca is really proud of herself but I don't think she could be as proud I am. I bought Becca a big bag of Dubble Bubble brand bubble gum because Hubba Bubba was getting expensive. Pieces of Dubble Bubble are much smaller than pieces of Hubba Bubba so she ended up swallowing a few pieces. Papaw told her that if she wasn't careful she would be blowing bubbles out of her butt when she went to the bathroom. Becca thought that was funny.
      Grant has been growing like a weed. He's been saying "Sadie" for quite some time now as well as "Mama", "Dada", "Hi" and "Hey" but he's seems to be picking more and more words as time goes by. He says "tractor" and Mom told me he said "duck" the other night. He said duck as he showed her his rubber duckie in the bath the other night of course later he showed her one of Becca's plastic lemons from her kitchen set and told her it was a duck as well. It was the same color. Like I said before one of his first words was "Sadie" but apparently he'd been under the assumption that all creatures like Papaw's dog were called Sadie because one day the middle of last month he saw a dog in our front yard and called it Sadie. He's said "dog" since then so maybe he's figured it out. He's just way too cute. He's standing on his own for a few seconds at a time now as well. He's started to crawl regular instead of the command crawl he's been so fond of; of course when he really wants to move, like when he's trying to away from me he reverts back to his commando crawl for speed. He's getting to be a handful. Becca has discovered that she can grab Grant under his arms and carry him about. That's actually been a big help because if he's trying to get into something he's not supposed to be into and if Becca is closer than I am I can just ask Becca to move her brother and she cam pick him up and move him away from whatever it was that he was trying to get into. Becca does love her little brother and I can tell that Grant loves his sissy just as much.
      Papaw Lawrence is in the hospital at UK so Aunt Mary came up and brought a cold bug with her. Becca and Grant caught it and gave it to Mamaw. It's really knocked her for a loop. I took the kids home with me after Becca got off of the school bus this afternoon to give Mamaw some peace and quiet. We came home and I put in a burned copy of Beauty and the Beast but to my great disappointment it didn't work like I wanted it to. I'm going to have to burn it again using different software and maybe it will work. So I put in a burned copy of The Lion King that I burned using the software I should have used for Beauty and the Beast and it worked perfectly. Becca watched the show as I fixed supper while Grant crawled around all over the house. Well, not all over the house. We keep all of the doors closed leading to the bedrooms and the bathroom. I fixed the kids a hamburger patty with steak rub and ketchup, broccoli with cheese sauce, sliced potatoes, peas and tropical fruit. Becca sat in the living room in her dining room chair with the booster seat using her Dora the Explorer TV tray as a table and ate almost her entire patty and a few bites of her veggies. She didn't touch the fruit which I thought was the best thing on her plate. She was engrossed in the movie but eventually she told me she wanted to watch something else because it was too scary. She told me this right before Timon and Pumba showed up so I told her that the scary part was over, the part where Simba's dad gets killed in the Wildebeest stampede.
      She did enjoy Timon and Pumba though but eventually she got bored and wanted to go outside. She wanted to climb the tree out front. She loves "climbing" the tree out front. She never really climbed it much before she just kind of stepped into the place at the base where it splits off and called herself climbing the tree but this time she really climbed that old tree. I was a nervous wreck. Eventually Mom showed up to take the kids back to her apartment. It's my day but I don't want to get them up at five in the morning so they will either be staying with Mom or with Mamaw & Papaw when I have them during the week. I wish they could stay here with me but I don't think that's fair to the children to be rolling them out of bed so early. The great thing about life before school is that it's probably the only time in your life when you get to sleep in every morning worry free. Anyway, Mom showed up. Becca wanted me to climb the tree so I did. Becca followed me up the tree. She's had been climbing the tree great but she hasn't gotten the hang of climbing back down again. She got up there right below where I was at and she got scared. Eventually I just had to take her by the arm and lower her down to her Mom. I hope that doesn't scare her off from climbing trees. All the while Grant sat at the bottom of the tree just watching. Eventually he got bored and started to fuss but Becca was so into climbing that tree that she told me to just let him cry. She loves her brother but there does seem to be limits. Another great day with my kids.
      It being September the pool time is coming to a close. One day last week Becca and I got in the pool after I spent twenty or so minutes skimming the leaves out of the pool. The wind was up because what was left of Hurricane Gustav was coming through so while the water was very nice the wind made it crazy cold outside the pool. Becca was doing back flips and forward flips; just showing off all the great things she has learned through this past difficult but wonderful summer. We started a game we called "Leaf Patrol". When a leaf would fall into the pool we would race to it calling out "Leaf Patrol, Leaf Patrol!" as loud as we could and when one of us had it we threw it out of the pool. Eventually I decided that Becca looked like a talking leaf so I had to throw her out of the pool. She shivered and hollered from the cold as she jumped right back in. Eventually I tried to block her from jumping back into the pool because she seemed to be really enjoy being so cold. She would run around trying to jump back into the warm water. Once again, another absolutely great day with my daughter.
      Well, It's ten o'clock and I need to take a shower and go to bed. I have to get up just a hair earlier in the morning. They changed my time at work. I recently got a new job as a utility operator which paid twenty-five cents more on the hour but then they changed up things and offered me a choice of a couple of jobs. One of them was a really easy job but I would lose my twenty-five cents. I opted to go with that job because I didn't want to have the pressure of learning new jobs. I hate learning new jobs. Anyway, I need to close this post out. I usually promise to post more often and then I end up not posting again for weeks at a time so this time all I will do is promise to post again sometime. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
            I think I am coming down with a case of cellulitis, my arch nemesis. I felt bad today at work but I got better so I thought maybe it wasn't cellulitis at all but when I changed into shorts after work I noticed the swelling in my leg. I feel like crap right now. I'm going to take an Excedrine PM and go to bed very shortly. I can not miss another day of work because I have missed way beyond too many as it is. I pray that I feel better in the morning.
      I promised that I would take Becca to Jake and Jon's middle school football scrimmage. She was very excited about going but ended up being bored out of her head. She had to go pee while we were there. There was one of those nasty port-a-potties there. She took one look at it and told me that I was going to have to hold her above the potty because she didn't want to sit on it. I don't blame her.
      I came home a little early because I felt so bad I thought maybe Becca & Grant would think I was cross with them when in fact I'm just sick and I turn into a big baby when I am sick. I just wanted to check in real quick before I take a shower and try to go to sleep. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                     Well, I missed the kids this weekend something fierce but I did get some stuff done which wouldn't have happened if I had the kids. I mowed the lawn, trimmed around stuff with the weed eater, edged the sidewalks and even clipped the hedges. Of course I ended up cutting the wire of my expensive noise reduction headphones in two. That made me a bit ticked off. I also cleaned out the garage and am now able to get that new car in out of the elements. Oh how I wish I had never bought that car. I then cam inside and after a half an hour break I spent about two hours cleaning the house.
      Today I went to the grocery store and bought about twenty-one dollars worth of stuff and to Wok-n-Go for some Chinese food to eat while I looked at some television. I watched an episode of Monk, and episode of Psych and an episode of Eureka. I also did some laundry while I watched television. The washer wouldn't work on the second load but after it cooled down some it did work. I think it may be going shot which is not really something I'm real happy about right now.
      We had lots of fun a few weeks back when Mamaw, Papaw, the kids and I went to the Louisville Zoo. I remember going to the Knoxville Zoo when I was just a wee lad and I loved it. I went to the Jacksonville Zoo when I was courting my first ex-wife and I didn't enjoy that one as much. It was in the dead heat of the summer in Florida so you can imagine how hot it was and it stunk to high heaven. I really enjoyed the Louisville Zoo though. I love seeing all the exotic animals. My favorite was the gorillas. They also had pygmy hippos near the gorillas and I was looking forward to seeing them but I never did. I will be taking the kids back there often and I am sure I will see them soon enough. Becca had a good time as well. She enjoyed the petting zoo which I thought was kind of lame. All they had were goats. Growing up I had all the goats I could stand on account of my grandfather, Bambi Dee raising goats. They have an awesome splash park at the zoo called Glacier Run. That's what Becca enjoyed the most; that and the train ride around the zoo. She loves a train. She also loved the conservation carousel they had there as well. She liked that kind of stuff more than the animals. I liked seeing all the animals. Maybe I'm just a big kid.
      Well, I think Mamaw & Papaw are coming over and bringing some fish from Long John Silvers with them so I had better get off of the computer, I prefer Captain D's fish though. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  This is the longest period of time between posts since I began posting. Lots have happened since last I checked in. Earlier in July we all went to Richmond we to watch Jon's Woodford All-Star baseball team lose to Mercer county. We stopped at Cracker Barrel after the game and had the worst experience of our lives at a Cracker Barrel. They didn't even have Becca's favorite Cracker Barrel toy in the gift shop, a jack in the box. We swam a whole lot. Mom & I took the kids to a small festival behind McDonalds where Becca road the same pony she rode at the county fair.
      We went to the Louisville Zoo while I was off on vacation and we all had a grand time. Becca liked the splash park best of all.
      I am having trouble with my internet connection so I am a little distracted. I will post again this weekend as Mom has the kids this weekend. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Happy Fourth Birthday to Becca! She had a pretty good day as far as I can tell. I was working for most of it. She spent the night with Mamaw & Papaw and got up to a birthday breakfast that she didn't eat. She had a birthday mower ride and she did all of the fun stuff she usually does when she's at Mamaw & Papaw's. Mom came to pick her up and the two of them came up to meet me at work. We went to see the new Disney/Pixar movie Wall-E at the AmStar theatre in Nicholasville. She had been looking forward to it for weeks and weeks and when the movie got going she became bored out of her head. She kept talking about playing the arcade games while we were in the theatre. I eventually took her to the lobby before the film was over and we played games. She insists that she loved Wall-E; I'm sure she did, just not enough to actually watch the whole thing.
      I took Mom and Becca back to the Explorer at my work where we left it. We stopped at White Castle and had a few little square burgers and a milkshake on the way over there. I went to Wal-Mart when I dropped Mom and Becca off and got some birthday presents for Becca and Jacob.
      Grant has a little cold, an ear infection in his right ear and he's finally having some more teeth pop through so he had a pretty rough week. He now has a tiny tooth on the top to go with the two on the bottom. It seems like Becca had a mouth full of teeth by the time she was his age. Grant has started waving and clapping. He sometimes gets the two confused. He's such a pleasure to watch. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  It's been awhile since I posted. There's been stuff going on around here that has diverted my attention as I am sure you can guess. Becca has been making great strides in her swimming. When she first decided she wanted to swim without her floaty suit it was so that she could dive to the bottom of the pool to retrieve little pool toys. As I mentioned in my last post earlier this month she was so excited when she touched the bottom of the pool with her feet when she jumped into the pool. As the month progressed she became braver and braver under the water. She got to the point where she could hit the bottom of the pool with her butt and then she got to the point that she is able to dive and retrieve those elusive pool toys resting so tantalizing on the bottom of the pool. She swims so well under the water and now she can swim under the water with her belly touching the bottom of the pool. She still hangs out right next to the steps but I am proud of her that although she has absolutely no fear of the water she knows her limitations and takes intelligent steps to keep herself safe. If Becca is able to spend as much time in the pool the rest of the summer as she has so far this year she will be an excellent swimmer by August.
      Grant has not started crawling in the traditional sense but he gets around anywhere he wants using an army type belly crawl. He crawls using his elbows and toes and can get around super quick. He is such a squirmer. It's became a real job to change his diaper because he always wants to be flipping around. That little boy has become quite a handful. He has started waving and even clapping. Grant is becoming more and more interactive and as a result he is becoming more and more fun.
      Becca and I had a big week this week. Mom had planned on going with us to the Woodford County Fair Thursday night. Mom has had some problems with her leg and was going to be unable to go with us Thursday so Wednesday evening after I worked two hours over I came right down to Mamaw & Papaw's and Becca and I went to together to the fair. Becca and I had an absolute ball. We stayed a little over two hours. Becca had so much fun but I wasn't able to get as many pictures as I would have liked so I told her that we were going back Saturday evening so maybe Jon, Jacob and Allison could ride some rides with her so I could get some pictures. Allison has a friend named Becca who we call Big Becca and Little Becca and Big Becca really hit it off so my Becca wanted to ride some rides with Big Becca.
      During our two evenings at the fair we had cotton candy, funnel cakes, corn dogs, a bucket of fries, a lamb gyro, a snow cone and tons of soda. All of the traditional fair food. After we ate Saturday night my Becca decided she wanted to join Uncle Rodney and Jacob in watching a tuck pool. I didn't think she would really be into a truck pool so much so as we walked over there I noticed that they had pony rides and a petting zoo so we stopped and I let Becca take a pony ride and pet the llamas, sheep, goats and the calf that they had there. Becca had such a ball. After we had finished with the petting zoo I was ready to head for the house but she hadn't forgotten about the truck pull. Uncle Rodney and Jacob had graciously waited on us to get done. I hadn't expected them to wait but being as how they are good people they did. So we all went to the truck pull. We staked us out a spot in the grass near the starting line. I thought that once Becca heard that first truck rev the super loud engine she would be ready to leave. The truck roared off of the starting line with the weight sled behind it; Becca covered her ears and I thought we would be leaving. She turned her head and she had the biggest smile on her pretty face. She loved it. We watched maybe a dozen trucks pull and then we finally headed to the house.
      This morning Grant, Becca and I met Mom in Lexington so we could try out Quest Community Church. It's a very contemporary type church. They have a coffee bar right in the church and you are welcome to take your drink right into the sanctuary. The children's areas where larger than some churches I have been in. They are into a series of messages based on current films which is certainly different in my experience. I personally prefer a more traditional church with good old fashioned hymnals and old ladies with blue hair but I understand that those kinds of churches have lost their appeal to younger people and I certainly want Becca and Grant to grow up in church and I want them to love church. Quest will be good for the kids and I need to get back in church as well.
      Well, it's late and I have to hit the proverbial hay. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Becca is with Mamaw & Papaw right now. She was supposed to go with them to Dairy Queen and then come on home if she wanted to or go home with Mamaw & Papaw if she wanted to do that. It's 10:13 right now so apparently she decided to go home with Mamaw & Papaw. Grant is fast asleep in his room right now. Mom is still at work up at the Cardinal Hill unit at Samaritan Hospital.
      Becca has been learning to swim the past couple of days. She's been doing absolutely fabulous. Saturday Becca rode down to Mamaw & Papaw's while Grant and I planned on going to Wal-Mart. Grant fell asleep before we got going so I decided to take a nap as well and we ended up sleeping most of the day away. Grant and I decided to go to Kroger instead. We bought nearly $200 dollars worth of groceries. Mom was at her friend's house playing board games. All the while Becca was being taught how to swim without her floaty type swimsuit by Big Sissy, Allison. She did really well so I was very excited to get down there and check this out.
      When I arrived I got in the pool and she took right off with a very impressive little dog paddle. Mamaw was blown away because she said that she did okay with Big Sissy but she was doing so much better with me. That made me feel very proud because she trusted me so much more than anyone else. She did so well for a three year old with just one day of real swimming experience.
      Today she worked with Papaw while Mom & I were at work. I got there after work and went right into the pool. The water was so much warmer than it had been. Becca and I worked on swimming for hours. She really excelled in the water. She can swim like a fish underwater just like her Mother can. She was jumping into the pool with no fear and swimming when she emerged from the water. She was out there playing with the boys and I without any floatation device at all. Becca still needs someone right next to her to grab her from the water when she goes under. It doesn't freak her out when she sinks below the water because we have assured her that we will always be there to get her. We have emphasized to her that she is never ever to get into the pool and try to swim when an adult is not in the pool with her. The highlight of her day was when she jumped into the pool and her feet touched bottom. She was so excited she got out of the pool and danced a little jig. Watching her learn to swim has been a true joy. This will be something I will remember my entire life. Poor Becca's flat beat down when after a hard days play in the pool.
      Grant spent a long time in the pool as well. He was in his little float most of the time but when Becca was out of the pool or wearing her floaty suit I got to play with him in the pool. He seems to love the water as well. He's getting cuter every day. Papaw has got him whispering. Papaw will start whispering to him and he will whisper right back at him. Grant also has figured out how to click his tongue and he does it all the time.
      My kids are so great. I am so blessed to have two such wonderful little people in my life. Well, it's almost eleven now so I am going to close this post out. I don't reckon Mom is posting here anymore but I am and Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Today is Memorial Day. We plan on going to Mamaw & Papaw's today for a cook-out and hopefully the first dip in the pool of the year later today. Mom won't be joining us because she is at work right now working a double shift. She should be getting off her in a few hours and she will most definitely want to go to sleep. Mom's gotta pay for her new car.
      I had a very nice day with the kids a few days ago. Mom had a bout with pneumonia this past week so one day I came home and took the kids for a nice walk along the bike path along Falling Springs Drive and then we went to Arby's and then Becca and I played in the back yard for a good long while. We had lots of fun.
      Well, I reckon this is going to be a short post because I'm just not into writing right now. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Becca is vacuuming her room right now with the new dirt devil extreme power multi surface stick vac we got this past week for spot vacuuming. It's lightweight and she actually does a very good job with only she wants to empty the canister five or six times for every room she does. Grant is in his pack & play having a grand time.
      Oh boy, have we ever had some kind of crazy weekend this weekend. Thursday as I sat down to pay some bills online I went to the bank site and to my utter confusion it said that we had a negative available balance of two-hundred and seventy dollars. I called Mom at work and asked her to check her debit cards, the Community Trust card and her Bank of America card and both of them were missing. I went to the Bank of America site and we were twenty-five dollars in the hole there. Some charges had already shown up there. Someone had charged sixteen dollars worth at Gold Star Chili and another eleven dollars at Chic-fil-a at the Fayette Mall also they had charged nearly twelve dollars at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. At this point I knew we had been the victims of a crime. I canceled the cards and told Mom to call the police. They came out and took a report. I determined that we had been ripped off for over a thousand dollars. Mom was very stressed; so stressed in fact that she had a cigarette. She quit smoking years ago but the stress of all of this made her weak I suppose. I have faith in your Mom that she won't let the cigarettes get a hold of her again. After her shift she was anxious to get home to the loving arms of her husband and to her sweet children. She went out to her car and she found that the small television that she had intended to take to Mamaw & Papaw's along with Grant's boom box was stolen. So she had been robbed twice in the course of only a few hours.
      Friday we all went to the bank and reported the debit card fraud. They determined that there had been two transactions at Bath & Body Works for a total of three hundred dollars, two hundred at an athletic apparel store called The Finish Line, a girly store called Cosmic all at the Fayette Mall and an attempted transaction for twenty-six dollars at White Castle. They also said we would be getting our money back after ten days or so. This smacks our budget flat in the mouth. We're glad that we won't lose any money.
      Saturday morning we decided to go on and go to breakfast at Golden Corral like we had planned originally. We were there and as I was preparing to pay I discovered that I had left my wallet at home and of course Mom's debit cards had been stolen and Golden Corral doesn't accept checks so I headed out to cash a check at Wal-Mart for some cash of course I forgot that they always check your I.D. for checks and of course I didn't have my I.D. with me so I had to go back to Golden Corral and get Kristie so she could write a check because she did have her I.D. with her. We got some money and went back to the restaurant and had a nice breakfast. The last two times we went there for breakfast it has been fantastic all except the service which has been abysmal both times.
      The Taurus was making terrible noises from the passenger side rear wheel as headed out. We took a wild hair and decided to go by Cartown Kia on the way to get groceries. Lo and behold we ended up purchasing a brand new blue 2008 Kia Spectra. Another budget buster. It's supposed to be very good on gas and I have a feeling the maintenance expenses for the Taurus was going to keep growing.
      We took the car down to Mamaw & Papaw's to show them and they were opening the pool. Sadie was once again the first one in the water. Jacob & Jon also got in the water but of course the water is just way too cold right now so they didn't stay in. Becca wanted to get in at first until she saw how the boys reacted to the cold water and then she didn't want to have anything to do with the pool just yet.
      So as you can see we have had a rather full and not to mention stressful weekend. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Greetings & Salutations, dear reader. It's late Saturday night here right now; it will be Sunday morning before this blog entry is actually posted to the internet. All of us had a pretty good week this past week. I didn't get enough sleep but of course that is the way it is sometimes.
      Earlier in the week I had to go pick up Papaw Lawrence at the UK Medical Center where he had to spend a few days. Auntie Mary was having some surgery in Hazard so she couldn't come to get him. I went to get him and looked for the parking garage where it had always been but they have moved the garage on me. The hospital garage is now very far away from the actual hospital. The old garage was actually attached to the hospital. It's so far away that they have shuttle busses running back and forth from the garage to the hospital. Anyway, I got Papaw Lawrence and headed home. I had to stop and purchase a can of Grizzly Snuff and I asked him he wanted some cigarettes. He only had a few in a pack but he told me that he had enough so I didn't buy him any. Mom ended up having to buy him six packs over the next three days. He had the same problem with food. I would ask him if wanted something to eat and he always told me that he didn't so I didn't feed him. Kristie told me that he would always say that and I should have fed him anyway.
      Becca really enjoyed seeing Papaw Lawrence. She really put on a big show for him.
      One day last week I went to pick Becca & Grant. Mamaw & Papaw were fixing a whole chicken on Papaw's new drill with the rotisserie attachment. They were also fixing corn on the cob, squash and biscuits so we decided to stay for supper. The chicken was absolutely delicious as was the corn and squash. We all had a very enjoyable supper. For dessert Mamaw brought out some blackberry preserves for the biscuits. Grant had been having small bits of chicken, squash and apple sauce for supper. I decided he should have some dessert too. I gave him a tiny bite of blackberry preserves and he flat out flipped. I pulled the spoon out of his mouth and he followed it with his little open mouth. I gave him another bite and he grabbed the spoon and started chewing on it. I was going to give him a little more but when I pulled the spoon away from him he had a bloody fit. He likes blackberry preserves better even than chocolate ice cream.
      Later that evening Becca rode around on a new trailer Papaw got for his mower. While Papaw was mowing with Becca riding in the back he saw a baby rabbit, a sibling of one of the many that Sadie has been dining on of late. The rabbit was scared and froze. Papaw picked him up to save him from the jaws of death belonging to a tiny Jack Russell. Becca was about as excited as I have ever seen her. We had a very good time at Mamaw & Papaw's. You decided to stay down there for the night. I went home and sat up too late.
      Thursday Mom drove her dad, Papaw Lawrence back home to Hazard. I think he was starting to get on her nerves just a bit. Papaw Lawrence has always been best taken in very small doses. She dropped the kids off at Mamaw & Papaw's and headed on down there. She spent a little while chatting with Aunt Mary and then headed back to the house. She brought us all fish from Long John Silver's when she got home. I went to bed as soon as I had something to eat and ended up sleeping nine hours. I really wished I had felt well enough to let Mom go to bed because the drive really wiped her out. I really enjoy driving and long road trips but your Mom does not.
      Friday we got Mom a fifty dollar gift card for Starbucks for Mother's Day which is today. Becca wanted to give it to her yesterday and Mom wanted to get it yesterday so we went on and gave her her gift. I think she really liked her Mother's Day gift. Mom has seriously cut back her Starbucks visits since we started using a budget.
      Well, that's it for today. I'm closing this out now. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Grant and I are sitting here in the living room early on a Sunday morning watching Curry Man and Shark Boy wrestling the Motor City Machine Guns on TNA Wrestling. Oh Oh, Big Poppa Pump and the Maple Leaf Muscle just ran in on the match. Wrestling is so silly but I like it for the cartoonish aspects of it.
      Grant had a jar of Country Breakfast baby food for breakfast. It had oatmeal, ham and eggs in it. He had a hard time eating it, or rather I had a hard time feeding him because he was interested into everything except his breakfast. We eventually finished the whole jar and now he is having a bottle while sitting in his new larger car seat. Grant will not be in his bouncer as long as Becca was because he's always reaching for stuff and ending up getting stuck half in and half out of his bouncer.
      I was expecting our economic stimulus rebate direct deposit Friday. It's supposed to be close to $1,800 and I already had it budgeted. The money never showed up and I got worried. I did some research and discovered that since I use Turbo Tax and my direct deposit initially goes to their bank I would be getting a paper check instead. That means we won't get our money until the end of the month. It's all good though because as long as I know when we will be getting it I am in good shape.
      Grant's two bottom teeth are coming in real nice. He's sitting in his seat just hollering up a storm. He's a happy boy. He's as big a show stopper as Becca ever was.
      Mom wanted me to put some ringtones on her pink Razr phone this past week. Verizon disables that feature but I found a way around that by hacking the phone. I added some ringtones to my silver Razr and then I tried doing the same to Mom's phone. I ended up destroying her phone. I think I got a ringtone in there twice and it confused the phone so it just kept continually shutting down and powering back up. I had to order her a new phone off the internet. I didn't get any kind of discount because we are in the middle of our service plan. I got Mom a tiny red phone called a Juke for $212. It has an MP3 player on it. I think she likes it more than her pink Razr and while your not supposed to be able to add your own ringtones there is a way to do it and it's much easier than doing it with the Razr.
      Yesterday we all went to Golden Corral in Nicholasville for the breakfast buffet. I had been disappointed the past few times we had been to Golden Corral but this time it was really good. The service was absolutely abysmal but the food was wonderful. I love breakfast food. We then went to Kroger and went over our budget by twenty-eight dollars. We came home and then Mom left to go to the UK Medical Center to visit her father while the kids and I stayed here. Mom picked up some chicken from Kentucky Fried Chicken with her blow money on her way home. I had a piece and went straight to bed.
      I don't think I have mentioned this yet. A few weeks ago I had Auntie Lynn shave my head. I had my head shaved before but my head is so round that it looked like a basketball. I haven't shaved my goatee since Christmas so it's pretty long and it gives my face a longer look so the shaved head works for me now. I like the look.
      Well, Becca should be getting pretty soon so I had best close this out. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                     Well, I'm finally getting around to posting again. It will be short because I have to go to bed here in just a little bit. Becca is spending the night with Mamaw & Papaw and Grant is sound asleep in his room. He has learned how to hold a bottle on his own and I think he prefers it that way. He can take as much as he wants whenever he wants and he doesn't have some giant trying to force feed him when he would rather just look around awhile. I'm all for that. It means less work for me. He has his two bottom front teeth coming in. Grant and I went grocery shopping last night and I opened up a box of teething biscuits for him to chew on while we shopped and he absolutely loved them. I had to find something to keep him busy because he always wants to be pawing at my list, calculator or pen. He really is very interested in everything.
      He had his very first tractor ride with Papaw last week. He figured out quick what made the tractor go and he didn't want to stop. Grant swung on the swings for the very first time last week as well. He really didn't know if he liked it or not. Becca knows that she loves to swing; the higher the better.
      Our budget is still limping along. Mom & I are having a number of heated conversations regarding the budget and whether or not we should be so strict or not. It will all work out in the end. Even with the disagreements we have more money right now than we have had in the past six months and all of our bills are paid so we are actually doing okay but it's just that I think we could be doing so much better. After one of our disagreements we both went out and took part in some retail therapy. We have to stop that kind of thing though. Whenever I needed some cheering up before I would go out and buy something for myself or one of the kids. Spending money has always made me feel better but it's also made me broke.
      Well, it's way past time for me to go to bed so I will close out this post. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Rebecca and Grant,
   Grant, your first little tooth bud has finally popped through. You have another one that is coming in right next to it. I was so excited to see that little white bud pop up through those gums. I called Mamaw and told her and she was excited too. So was Daddy. You're getting to be such a big boy, but you are still so little. Becca, you are the sweetest little thing. Today when I dropped you off at school you said "You sure will miss me." I said that I sure would and you said "I sure will miss you too, Mommy." Then you picked me two or three dandelions when I picked you up from school and you even picked one for your brother, Grant. Tonight you sat in the floor and watched cartoons together and you shared your ice cream with him. You are going to be the best big sister ever.
   I am sorry I haven't written very much in this blog but I work a whole lot. Daddy made the comment today that I could work every day if I wanted to because every off day I have they call and ask me to work. It's nice to know that I can pick up the extra hours if I need them but I much prefer spending most of my days off here at home with you all and Dad. I don't get to spend that much time with you as it is and I want to cram in all I can.
   I wanted to take you both outside today but the grass is kind of thick and around this time of year (first of spring) snakes can be out and about a lot. I think Daddy will mow real good Tuesday when I am off and maybe when I am off next weekend we will be able to spend some time outside, if the weather is nice. I didn't even think about it but I guess I could have put Grant in the stroller and let Becca ride her beloved scooter up and down the sidewalk. That scooter is neat but I think for your birthday this year you just might get a bicycle, Becca. They are fun and better exercise because you have to peddle them and I do believe you are now too tall for the cute little tricycle you got a few years back.
   Daddy mentioned that he missed the days that we could be together in the evenings and have dinner together and such and I do, too. I know that I have to work though if we want to manage to have an extras and save any money. I want the two of you to be able to go to college and have whatever you desire in life. You are both so smart that doing the work shouldn't be a problem. The problem is getting up the money. That's where I come in.
   I went to check out getting my KMA but the spring session is already over and they won't be offering another until the fall. It is four college credit hours and it will cost me about seven hundred dollars. It is a one month course and I will be able to pass medications and such and do finger sticks at work. I will get paid a little more on the hour for doing that, too. And I am all for a little more on the hour. I am going to check out the one in Lawrenceburg as well and see if I maybe have a chance of getting in a course there. It may be the same schedule but it won't hurt to look.
   I hope you guys know (Grant, Becca, and Daddy) how much I love the three of you and that everything I do is for you every day that I do it. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. a good marriage, beautiful healthy kids, a good job, a nice home, and so much more. You all mean the world to me and I love you. I am going to end this post for now because I think Becca is finally asleep and am exhausted. Mommy loves you all!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Becca & I went grocery shopping Monday evening because Mom wasn't feeling very well. We had a grand old time. I got Becca a child's cocoa from the Starbucks there inside of the Kroger store. Grant was more than ready for us to get home because he had ran out of formula earlier in the day and the main reason we went to the store was to pick him up a can. I got home and fixed him a bottle and when he saw it he perked up like a rabbit just realizing there's dogs on his scent. He gobbled down eight onces in no time flat.
      Yesterday Becca came running into the living room crying. She had stuck some toilet paper up her nose. I got a pair of tweezers from my computer maintenance kit but she didn't like the look of them. I promised her I wouldn't hurt her and she complied with my request to stand still and look into the light. I gently put the tweezers up her right nostril and grabbed hold of the offending tissue and pulled ever so gently. I expected it to be just a small bit but it just kept on coming. I know I got three inches of snotty gross toilet tissue from her nose. I threw the paper away and told her never to put anything up her nose. She said that she had paper up the other nostril as well. That paper was a little farther up there but I managed to get hold of it without hurting her. It was only about two inches. How can kids get that much toilet paper shoved up their nose?
      Friday I went to pick up Becca & Grant at Mamaw & Papaw's. I decided that I was going to get Auntie Lynn to give me a haircut while I was down there. I went down to Lynn's and told her to get rid of it all. Shave me bald-headed. I shaved my head once before but I looked much like Uncle Fester from the Addams Family. I think it looks much better this time because I have a goatee that I have let grow since Christmas and it's starting to get some nice length to it. The long goatee gives my face a longer look. I no longer look like a basketball with a face with my head shaved. I think this is a good look for me. I'll have to shave it every day because I get stubble very quickly. That's why I am able to grow a beard so quickly. It gives me kind of a dangerous look although I don't know how intimidating a man with a white beard can be. I probably look more like Santa Claus with an updated beard.
      After my haircut Becca and I went back up the hill to Mamaw & Papaw's. Jon and Jacob rode up the hill with us; it was way too muddy to walk. We had a real nice supper while we were up there. We had barbecued ribs, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, slaw with apples and rolls. After supper we sat down to watch the memorial service on television for Bill Keightley, the equipment manager for the Kentucky Wildcat basketball team since 1962 and one of the most beloved members in the program's history. He was the last link to the Adolph Rupp era. He was also Becca and Grant's first cousin four times removed. Which means that he was the first cousin of Bambi Dee who was Becca & Grant's great grandfather. I think that would have made him their first cousin four times removed. When you get that far out on the family tree determining kinship is kinda difficult off the top of your head and I don't care enough to sit down and think about it.
      Grant has the tiniest little tooth bud coming through. I check every now and then and I was so excited to see that micro tooth trying to push it's way out of his gums. He's started to sit up for brief periods of time as well. He can't get into sitting position by himself but he soon will be able to do that. He's a huge boy. Ealier today, while she was at work Mom ordered a larger car seat off of Amazon.com for him because he's just too long for the one he has now which is the same one we used for Becca. We used it with Becca for a lot longer than we are going to use it for Grant-Man.
      I've been promising Becca that we would stay up all night Friday night. She was so excited about it. She made it until midnight and then she gave up the fight. last time I told her she could stay up all night she only made it until 10:30. She's asleep right now on the sofa covered up in her pink microfiber animal print blanket sound asleep. She's snoring to who laid the rail. Who actually did lay the rail?
      Mom got about 129 hours on her check from Cardinal Hill this past pay period. She worked way too much but she brought home almost $1,000. That really helps out a whole lot. That's one of the main reasons we coul dbuy that car seat without giving it a second thought; that and the fact that we have a tight rein on our budget and know more or less where our cash will be going over the next month or so.
      Mom has decided she wants to get her Kentucky Medication Aide certification. She was thinking that it would be a twelve week course in the mornings so the kids would have had to be put in daycare for a few months. The course might cost as much as $1,000 so it was going to kill us trying to budget while paying for a thousand dollar school bill and having the kids in daycare for three months at probably $700 a month. I looked at the budget and started cutting to the bone. I slashed our grocery budget and cut out our dining out category, our new car fund, all of our sinking funds, everything that was not an absolute must was gone except a few dollars per week to our Christmas fund and five dollars per week for each of us to have some blow money. I was able to trim off nearly fifteen hundred dollars a month. I was surprised that I was able to trim that much off the budget. of course walking that fine line like that would have meant that Mom would have eventually killed dear old Dad. She already feels I'm too strict in my budgeting and maybe I am. I must remember that we are a team and I must listen to and address her concernsEarlier about where our money goes not only because it's the right thing to do but because she brings home a very large percentage of the money that's brought into the house. I told her that if she really has to order takeout while she's at work that she could go ahead and do it and we would take it out of our "Not an Emergency Fund", which is a category of my own invention. Everything that surprises us during the month that I didn't plan for will come out of the "Not an Emergency Fund" budget such as printer ink, printer paper, replacing small appliances, irregular bills I forgot about, budget shortfalls in other major categories and items such as that.
      Anyway, back to the Kentucky Medication Aide story. I did a bit of research into the course. It's an 80 hour course with twenty hour of clinicals offered on Monday and Wednesday evenings from five to ten. So that works out to only about a month or so of schooling and it's in the evenings so we won't need a babysitter. The cost is $115 per course hour but I don't know exactly what they consider a course hour. I'm thinking her class will cost us between $400 to $1,200 plus books and supplies. We can do that with no problem. It feels weird to be able to say that I am not worried about laying down $1,000 but before we just spent our money until it was gone but now we are directing our money where to go and what to do so it seems like there's just more of it. I really love this budgeting stuff. I can't wait until we really start seeing account balances growing. Already we have quite a bit more in the bank than we normally would have. Mom took one look at the bare bones budget as I am calling it told me that we would figure something else out. Luckily we might not have to.
      Mom wants to just do the KMA thing because as with the CNA thing she talked about it for years and one day got a wild hair and signed up and took the class. She says she doesn't want to spend forever planning on doing it when it would be much simpler just to do it. KMAs make about nine thousand more dollars per year than CNAs do. When the kids go to school full time Mom will be going into nursing school to become an RN and she will be a fabulous RN.
      Well, I promised myself I wouldn't go on and on about the budget but I did anyway. Tomorrow Mom and I are going grocery shopping and maybe out to eat. I think Mamaw will be watching the bambinos while we are gone. We're looking forward to it. I'm gonna go tinkle, get me a little bite to eat and a bottle of water and then I'm going to go to bed. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Rebecca and Grant,
                  Hello my beautiful little children. Right now you are at Mamaw & Papaw's house up to no good I am sure. Ha, Ha, I am only kidding. Becca, I have to say that you are still the most beautiful little girl in the world, even with all your hair chopped off. And Grant, as always, you are your regular, smiley self. You were out of milk for a little while yesterday so you were living on juice and when Daddy got your can of formula from the store and fixed you a bottle you were in my lap and you popped your head up in excitement. You are really a very tactile child; you are always wanting to hold and touch and yank on everything. You seem to be so much more alert and into your surroundings than Becca ever was, but I have a theory behind that. Daddy and I kept Becca extremely entertained because we just had the one. Quite often you will have to entertain yourself. Of course you could just be taking after Papaw and want to know how everything works and how to fix it.
   Yesterday Becca and I laid around on the couch and watched TV together all day. Grant slept a little while in the afternoon and Becca and I got to cuddle and love on each other and watch the movie Chill Out, Scooby Doo. The reason that we laid around so much and the reason that I didn't go to work -and the reason that you both are now at Mamaw's - is because I have strep throat, a sinus infection, and an ear infection. I just went to the doctor today and got my diagnosis. They put me off work until Thursday. I really enjoyed spending the day with you yesterday, Becca, and you told me that you were glad that you were glad that I was not going to my 'stay work' that day. You call it 'stay work' when I have to go in and work; sometimes I take you and Grantman just to visit. I am very lucky that my kids are so good that I am able to relax a little bit (just a little bit) when I am sick.
         I am still a little heartbroken over Becca's hair but I know it will grow back. Apparently I worked way too much in the last week or so when Daddy was off because I got sick. I am a big wimp and I don't like being sick especially with my ears involved. I feel for both you and Grant man if either of your ears hurt nearly as bad as mine when they are infected. I am sure they probably hurt worse, but you guys are so sweet & cheerful.
         I missed you both terribly when I worked so much last week but I know we did need the extra money. Becca, you got into trouble a little bit last night because you wouldn't stay in your bed. I caught you with your pull up off and the thermometer up your butt. You told me you were taking your temperature and waiting to hear it beep. You don't need to be poking anything in your tail, and I told you that. Then you had spit your water out on your dress and got it wet and I told you to turn around and let me take it off and you wouldn't let me. I asked you three times and you told me 'No'. So you got a little spanking and put back to bed. I got back up to feed Grant and you were up again putting clothes on. You got into trouble for that, too. The J on this keyboard just flipped off, by the way.
         You eventually went to sleep but it took a fight. I fixed the J. Anyway, I got back up again with Grant and you wanted to get up. I said No you had to go back to bed. You fussed a minute or two but then you went right back to sleep when you climbed back up in bed.
         Grant you got up two or three times last night and Mamaw said you have been tugging at your right ear. We're going to give you the antibiotic Becca didn't need and hopefully get you feeling better.Well, I am going to end this and go lay down a minute. I don't feel well. Mommy loves Rebecca and Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  My vacation is over and I have to go back to work in the morning. Maybe with me back to work Mom won't feel like she has to put in so many hours. She's going to get 105 hours on her next check. She needs to ease off the hours or she will get burned out. I had a pretty nice vacation. Sunday, as I have already mentioned, we went to Cracker Barrel and had a great breakfast. Most of the week just the kids and I hung out. Thursday Mom & I took the kids down to Mamaw & Papaw's and we went clothes shopping for Becca and Grant for the summer. We went to Sonny's Bar-B-Q in Nicholasville. I enjoyed it but I don't think Mom is all that crazy about it. We then went to the Goodwill over there to see if we could find some cheap clothes. We got quite a few pieces of clothes for the kids and a Casper the Friendly Ghost video tape for Becca. She loves it. We then went to Wal-Mart and busted the budget on summer clothes. We had a nice time.
      Our budget was a total disaster this month but we knew that it would be because we had never tried a written budget before or any budget for that matter. We learned that until we get all of our categories fully funded we will have little glitches. This past month we were hit by Easter that we hadn't planned on, a birthday for a set of twins that Mom spent way too much money on, her son, Dylan's birthday which I don't begrudge her spending on at all, Kristie had a minor issue that hit us pretty hard, and I had to pay taxes and insurance on the Explorer. We had money for all of these things though because I knew exactly where our money was at and where I could cut in order to cover these other unplanned expenses. Gasoline threw us off as well. I only budgeted $55 or so per week for both vehicles and we found out that that wasn't near enough. Next month I have budgeted nearly $70 per week for gasoline. I hope that's going to be enough. I have set up a new category soley for unplanned expenses called our non-emergency fund.
      After twenty-two years of dipping Copenhagen, the most expensive smokeless tobacco on the market I have decided to go with a value brand called Grizzly Snuff. It tastes very similar to Cope at almost half the price. I think it's even a little more moist than my beloved Copenhagen. I am proud that I was able to cut that huge expense from our budget. I freed up nearly fifty dollars. We're going to have to save for a new computer monitor for the desktop. We don't hardly use the desktop much at all so we're not in a real big hurry but there are things that have to be done on the laptop. So we will wait until we have at least $500 in the non-emergency fund and then get us the cheapest black flat panel monitor we can find. I think we are going to have to pay around $200.
      I realized that I hadn't thought about an automobile replacement fund. I set one up but I have no idea where the money will come from because after I save 15% for retirement and $215 towards college and take care of basic stuff there's just no more money to stash away into a new car fund. It'll work itself out. Maybe we will find more places to cut the budget. When we get our last credit card and Dell paid off we will have a little more to work with. Well, enough about the budget.
      Becca is on spring break next week so she doesn't have any school. I'm gonna close out this post out now. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Oh Boy, Becca got herself in some deep doo-doo yesterday. Mom was at work and Becca was running around the house getting into everything like she always does. She came up to say something to me and I noticed she looked different. She looked like she had bangs. I asked her if she had cut her hair again. She then informed me that it was an accident. She had butchered her hair up right. She had really short bangs and the left side of her hair was cut to about six different lengths. I told her that it was not an accident and then she told me that we didn't need to tell Mom that she had cut her hair. I don't think that would have worked. She had given herself a miniature mullet. It was heart breaking. I told her how sad I was and she started to cry. I called Mamaw and told her and when Becca talked to Mamaw she told her that she loved her new cut because she was now pretty like her Mom. Mom had gotten herself a haircut earlier in the week. I suppose she wanted a haircut because her Mom had gotten a haircut. I wasn't going to spank her even though she really deserved one then she smarted off to me about her hair and then she got a spanking. Becca fights like a bear against a spanking. She got four good swats on the rear.
      I decided that she needed her hair fixed and she needed it fixed now. I loaded up both Becca & Grant and after I put some gas in my thirsty Explorer we headed off to Cookie Cutters, the children's hair cutting place that we take Becca and will one day take Grant. Cookie Cutters is way out of our way; over very near Hamburg but we have discovered that if someone does not have experience with children they really can't do the job. The stylist at Cookie Cutters had a consultation with her colleague about what could possibly be done to her hair. They asked me what I wanted to do and I told them I wanted to save as much length as possible. Becca had the most beautiful long hair. The stylist informed me that Becca could have a mullet and the length could be saved or they could give her what they called a pixie cut and it would just be a cute short haircut. I opted for the short cut. I really wished that Mom was there to help me make the decision but I couldn't get in touch with her. Mom & I have been together for so long that lots of times we know what the other one would want. The stylist cut your hair using a razor which kind of blended the hack job into the cut. For a short cut it looked nice but I absolutely hated for her to lose her hair.
      After the cut we went to Culvers for a burger and a frozen custard. I asked for a triple burger and the girl told me they didn't have a triple. They just had a burger where three burgers are compressed into one. I took all of my frustrations with Becca out on this poor girl. I asked her in a not too kindly voice if the sandwich had three patties and she said it did and then I informed her that three patties means it's a triple and then I told her she needs to use some common sense. I was so incredibly rude. Actually I bit that kid's head off. I must have gotten her flustered because after I pulled off I noticed that I didn't have my fries and realized she didn't give me my drink. I was probably a little too hard on the girl but sometimes the ignorance of some fast food employees just irks me.
      We then drove down the interstate and got off at the exit nearest Mom's work. We drove over there and went upstairs. We saw Mom walking down the hall and I told Becca to run up on her. She did and Mom kind of looked at her like she didn't know her then a look of horror cam over her face. She looked at me and shot daggers at me with her eyes. She demanded to know what I did to her child. I told her that Becca started it and I had to have it fixed. When I asked Mom if she liked it all she said that was that it would grow back out. Mom was very upset because Becca's hair had just gotten long enough to pull back. All of the women that Mom works with were almost as sick over Becca's hair as her Mom & I were.
      Becca was supposed to go to bed early but she really didn't but I told her it was earlier and she believed it. I told her if she got out of bed even once she was going to get another spanking. She had been reminded just how mush a good whooping stung so she almost listened to me. She got up once and as I got up to pop her on the but she screamed that she had to pee so I gave in and didn't spank her. She did in fact urinate. I then told her that she had already peed so the very next time she got up she would get a spanking and I meant it. She went back to bed and hollered to get up for about a half an hour and then she went to sleep. She's been asleep ever since.
      Becca is a good girl but she's a three year old girl and they tend to get themselves into all sorts of messes. She's exploring her limits and the limits of her Mom & I. She's been a hand full lately but I'm sure it's just a stage she's going through. Grant is still the happiest boy you'd ever hope to meet. As Papaw said the other day, he is the most patient baby he'd ever seen. Papaw is looking forward to mowing with Grant and I am sure that if Grant had any concept of what mowing with Papaw entailed that he would be excited about it as well. I think Papaw is Grant's favorite person outside of this house. His favorite person right now seems to be his big Sissy. Becca can get a smile out of him just by looking at him. The other night Grant was having a very uncharacteristic fussy spell. He didn't want to be in his jumperoo that Mamaw & Papaw got for him, he didn't want to be in his bouncer or in my lap. Becca wanted a bath so I put Grant in his bouncer and let him fuss while I prepared a bath for Becca. I decided to put Grant in the hall looking into the bathroom so he could watch Becca take a bath. Becca was blowing bubbles with a bubble wand in the tub and Grant watched her and giggled and laughed at her. He does love his big Sissy.
      Gotta close this out. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!

Dear Becca & Grant,
                  Yesterday was Easter Sunday. We didn't go to church. I feel kinda bad about not going but we haven't gone to church in a coon's age and I always thought of those people who go to church just at Easter as Easter Christians and I didn't want to think of myself as just an Easter Christian. I'm probably worse because I didn't even take my family to church on Easter Sunday. It's been a long time since I felt at home in a church. I felt at home in the church I grew up in, Versailles Assembly of God which eventually became Kingsway Assembly of God when they moved to Kingsway Drive and then they became known as King's Way Assembly of God when they moved again to Versailles Road across from the castle. I even courted met and courted my first wife in that church. I also felt at home at Mortonsville Assembly of God when I went there with my family when I was a teenager. Since then I just haven't felt like I belong anywhere. We tried Kingsway but they have become too upscale fro my taste, we tried Mortonsville but the entire congregation was maybe ten to fifteen people and the average age was was probably sixty and we tried Woodford Community Christian Church but it just doesn't feel like home. I know it's probably an excuse because I love to sit up on Saturday night playing on the computer. I think in a few weeks we are going to go back to Woodford Community Christian. I know these kids need to be brought up in church just as I was.
      Instead of church, after the kids saw their Easter baskets and had too much candy for the a.m. we all took a shower and headed out to Cracker Barrel. It was around 11:30 when we got and we decided to have breakfast. Both Mom and I got the Sunrise Sampler and Becca had an egg and a piece of Sausage. Becca ate Mom's grits, a biscuit and a good portion of my baked apples in addition to her food. She was one hungry little girl. Mom and I where hungry as well. It's the best breakfast I have had at Cracker Barrel in long time and I love Cracker Barrel. When I was a child I loved Cracker Barrel because I always associated it with going on vacation because that's just about the only time we ever went but now, while some of those old vacation associations still exist I mainly like it because they have wonderful grub. Grant even had a few bites of grits and a few bites of gravy. We all had us a country breakfast.
      After we ate we went to Wal-Mart and purchased a head of lettuce, a few tomatoes on the vine and loads of junk. We kept within our budget though and I am real proud of that. Cracker Barrel wasn' tstrictly in the budget but I knew I would be off this week so I decided to use our overflow income for having fun while I'm off. By the way I'm on vacation this week.
      Finally we went to Samaritan Hospital and up to the Cardinal Hill floor where Mom works. They had the Easter Bunny up there and they had a big Eater Egg Hunt. Becca ran right up and hugged the Easter Bunny. Grant & Becca also posed fro a picture with the Easter Bunny. After the picture Becca secretly informed me that she thought maybe the Easter Bunny was actually a human because she had human hands and not bunny feet. Becca is one smart cookie.
      She may be one smart cookie but lately she has not been her golden child self. Part of it is my own fault and I readily admit to that. When Mom worked the doubles at Cardinal Hill it was just simpler to let Becca lie down with me in Mine and Mom's bed than to fight with her about going to sleep in her own room. She has become used to sleeping in our bed and it's now nearly impossible to get her to sleep in her own room and when we do we end up waking up with her between us. I also feel like she is going through a stage where she just does not want to sleep by herself. She will drift right off when I lay down with her but Saturday night it took her two and a half hours to go to sleep in her room. I was trying to clean up the house a little while I listened to the Financial Peace lesson that we missed a few weeks back on my iPod. I even ended up getting so frustrated that I took her television out of her room. That's when she really had a meltdown. She ended up waking Mom up and she was able to get her to go to sleep.
      She's also taken to telling little fibs when she thinks she's going to get in trouble. The good thing about it is that she is a terrible liar. Maybe she just hasn't had much practice but she just can not lie to save her life. Becca's been doing real good with her potty training. We let her run around the house totally naked because we feel that if she doesn't have the security of a pull-up she will be more likely to go pee in the potty. Anyway, Saturday she was sitting on one of her many toy buckets in the living room watching television when I heard the unmistakable sound of someone urinating. I asked her if she peed and she looked back at me and told me thawasn'tt she didn't. I knew that she did. I told her to go dump the bucket. She told me there was nothing in the bucket. I got up and checked it out and sure enough there was some pee in her toy bucket. I asked her why she lied to me and she told me it was because she couldn't wait. I told her I was not asking her why she peed in the bucket but why she lied about it. She once again told me it was because she couldn't wait. I never got a straight answer out of her. Later that same day she brought some strawberry syrup into the living room and asked if she could have some strawberry milk. I told her that she could not have any just right now. She blew up like a big ole' bull and stomped back into the kitchen. I heard her throw the syrup bottle. She hollered out as soon as she heard me coming her way that something fell off of the counter. I got in there and I asked her to show me what dropped. She looked around and spotted a package of paper plates that I had knocked off the counter as I fixed breakfast that morning. She was busted again. I suppose all children eventually learn to lie but we must pound it into her head that she can not get away with lying and that there will be severe consequences for lying. She's a good girl and she'll do fine if Mom & I correctly do our jobs as parents.
   Last Saturday Becca and I went to see the new movie out called Horton Heres a Who based on the Dr. Seuss book by the same name. Becca really liked the movie but she was so tired. I thought she was going to nod off a couple of times but she stayed with me through the whole movie. I asked her if she liked the movie as we headed to the car and she told me that she did but she didn't like the fact that she dropped her popcorn. We stopped at Starbucks and got us a cocoa and a cappuccino for the ride home. Becca loved her cocoa and I hated my cappuccino. After she finished her drink she fell asleep. We went down to Mamaw & Papaw's to pick up Grant. Everyone was down at Uncle Rodney & Aunt Lynn's house. We went down there and Becca ended up playing with the boys until almost ten O'clock. Becca and I had a nice day.
   Mom started her second shift job this past week. She has really busted her butt this past week. She's worked twentyone hours of overtime this past week and will be getting a fifty dollar bonus for all the overtime she has put in. Mom doesn't make any extra money on the hour when she works overtime usually. We're doing very good with our new budget. Things have come up that have knocked us off but I kind of knew they would so I planned accordingly. Still when I have to put out money I hadn't planned on spending and I have to steal from another category in the budget it hurts. Mom has a bad habit of spending money before we actually have it. We do have the money but she might buy gas or take Becca to eat and spend money in a category that won't be funded until our next paycheck. It's really no problem because there's always money in other categories to cover it but it just irks me. The other day she called me and wanted to know if she could get a burger even though she had no cash and I told her that if she didn't have the cash she couldn't spend any money on burgers because that's not how we do it anymore. I felt guilty because she hadn't planned on working a double so she didn't take enough food from the house with her so I called her back and told her to go ahead and get a burger. She would just have to be better prepared next time. She had left her debit card at home to avoid temptation. She had a paid off credit card with her and asked if she could use that and then pay it as soon as it showed up on the online statement and I told her that we would use the credit card under no circumstances at all. She took it quite well and agreed that I was right. Of course after we got off the phone she said she looked at one of her co-workers and told her that she was just about tired of Dave Ramsey. She's absolutely on board though. She's a good wife. To be fair she absolutely had to buy gas early because I hadn't budgeted enough to get us through the week. Like Dave Ramsey said, the budget will not work the first month. I've been riding with Papaw to work for so long that I really had no idea how much we would need for gasoline plus Mom started driving to work five days a week instead of two so that throws us off too. I got pretty close on the gasoline budget though. I budgeted fifty-five dollars a week when I actually think, or at least hope it's going to take sixty-five dollars a week. We had Easter that I really hadn't planned on, Alicia's twins had their first birthday and Mom felt like she needed to go out and spend too much on them, I had to pay taxes on the truck other small odds and big ends came up. As a result of figuring out that life can throw a budget off I have added another category to my budget called our non emergency fund. This money will be for things that pop up and isn't a big enough deal to dip into our regular emergency fund but still might need to be taken care of. Things like printer paper, ink cartridges, forgotten birthdays, minor holiday spending, replacing worn out laptop computer mice, and stuff like that that really doesn't have a home in our budget. Even Becca is getting into the act. I printed out a copy of our budget and ended up giving it to Becca to draw on the other side. She colored on it for awhile and said that she knew the perfect place for my budget. I thought she was going to put her art work on the fridge but when I went in there she had my budget displayed. I don't think Grant really cares one way or another. As long as he has the occasional fresh diaper and a bottle of formula he's just fine.
   I am more at peace financially right now than I have been since Mom got her big settlement for when she was almost killed by a car as she rode her moped. Even then we were going through some pretty rough fallout from terrible decisions and poor money management so I am even more at peace now than then. I am more at peace right now than I have ever been in my adult life. SInce we left Powhatan Trail we have done okay financially. We've always had the money we needed and even some to blow, maybe too much to blow but we somehow never managed to come out ahead. I would look at the charts on Quicken and our spending was almost exactly equal to our income. We managed to save nothing. This budget has really opened my eyes to where our money was going and if we could manage to eat out twice a month instead of twice a week and quit spending so much money on spoiling out children we might be able to help them pay for most of their college educations. I have one concern though and that is the fact that by having my kids so late that they will be in college about the same time that I will be thinking about retirement. Where do I concentrate most of our savings. Right now we are paying $215 a month for preschool and when Becca gets out of preschool we are still going to put that money back so that Grant will already be funded for preschool when he gets ready to go and when we get him funded for preschool we are going to start putting that $215 into their college saving fund. Will that be enough? Can I manage to save 15 percent of my pay toward retirement and still make significant contributions to their college fund and if I can do that will we be able to save for things like cars and maybe the occasional toy? I plan on putting seven percent into my 401K because that's the maximum company match and eight percent into a Roth IRA. That's after we get our debts paid off which we really don't have that much of and put back 10 to 12 thousand dollars as an emergency fund.
   I have opened up a savings account with ING DIrect online bank to keep my emergency fund and an ING Direct paperless checking account that pays a small amount of interest. I have thought about opening up a checking account with Charles Schwab online bank because their checking account pays as much interest as the ING savings account, you get actual paper checks for free and you can use any ATM machine anywhere and there is absolutely no charge at all. They even refund the money charged by the bank that owns the ATM. It sounds like that would be the way to go but ING Direct has such an easy to navigate system and moving money about is so easy and simple whereas with Charles Schwab it's a little more complicated to set up an account and I really don't understand how you would move money from our brick and mortar bank to Charles Schwab. I may get a Charles Schwab account and have my check deposited into that account and then I could simply write a check to the brick and mortar bank if I felt the need. I am going to have to research this some more. Charles Schwab is a name that I trust though so I am not afraid of getting ripped off. They are a real FDIC insured bank as is ING.
   I have the checking account set up because I want to put our sinking funds in there. Things that one would normally buy on credit but instead we are going to save for them. I just think that having multiple accounts and spreading our money out would help keep us on track better. If we had this account for just this purpose and another for that purpose we would be less likely to use those monies for other things. Plus I have to pay $5.50 every month to Community Trust, our brick and mortar bank because we always fall below $500 during the month. I might see if I can find a no fee checking account somewhere. I think Community Trust has one. Maybe Mom & I will go over there and ask about it this week. After we change our direct deposits we would close out the account with the fee.
   I know the past two or three paragraphs have been probably the most boring you have read to date but as I was writing it I realized I wasn't really addressing the dear reader but instead was thinking about these things by writing them. I am excited about our financial future and our future in general. It's just that I have concerns. Dave Ramsey talks about how if you save X amount of dollars from the time you are 20 you will have millions of dollars by the time you are 65. Well, I am not twenty years old and I am starting kind of late in the game and that kind of scares me. I have made some absolutely abysmal decisions regarding finances in my life and I'm afraid that maybe I've waited too long to really get on the ball. I would like to live in comfort in my retirement. Is that going to be possible or am I going to have to go back to Kroger after a 40 year absence? We'll see. I'm going to have to crunch some numbers and educate myself on how money and investing really works. I have always considered myself a marginally intelligent guy, actually I have sometimes boastfully considered myself an extremely intelligent guy but investing and finances has always been something I could not get a grasp on. I can fake my way through most conversations on most any topic at all buy when you start talking about mutual funds and the like my eyes kind of just glaze over and a little bit of spittle starts to drool out of the right side of my mouth. I am a financial idiot. I can't even spell it apparently because my spell checker just yelled at me.
   well, kids it's time I hit the proverbial hay. I think we might make a day trip to Hazzard this week. Another budget buster there. Daddy loves Rebecca & Grant!