Light Bright

Watching the light show at southpark meadows makes me think about next year's home light display......

Belated Lights

We will not win the award for best neighborhood light display, but we *may* win the award for most speedily-put-up light display. I slapped our lights together in just over an hour, including giving life to mr and mr penguin! Merry Christmahanakawanza!

Son's Batman Pumpkin

He was really psyched about this one!

Pumpkin Carving

The kiddos each got to pick a design and daddy got to carve. Up next: mom and dad's pumpkins!

Unicycle Football

Yeah, you heard me. It was awesome.

Birthday Cake Spelling FAIL

It was supposed to say "Feliz Cumpleanos a Special K"

Oops



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-Ben
(sent from my mobile device)

Overheard at the Dinner Table

Logan does a great job eating his dinner, even a second helping of broccoli. He then says he's due a dessert, wait, he'd rather have candy instead. The candy was from his birthday piñata yesterday.

He proclaims, "CANDY IS HEALTHY FOR ME."

We correct him, "Sorry, son. Candy *tastes* good, but it really isn't healthy for you. It won't help you grow up to be big and strong."

Logan quips, "WELL, I ATE SOME CANDY YESTERDAY AT THE PARTY AND IT MADE *ME* STRONG!"

I got nuthin'.

Happy Mommas Day

Here's to all of the lovely ladies in my life:

• Mi Suegra: refined, fiery, and full of passion for life, thank you for raising a wonderful daughter, and thanks for all that you do for our children.
• My Oma: a Legendary woman who I admire for her character, her example of service to others, and her awesome stories and one-liners.
• Sis: she is the epitome of the do-it-all mom, and funny, smart, sassy, and beautiful to boot. Love ya, Big Sis.
• My wifey-poo: I couldn't ask for a better mother for my children. Fiercely protective, caring, and selfless with her kiddos, and a loving and loyal wife... XOXOXOXOXOXO!
• My Momma: Love ya, mom. I owe everything I am (I mean, the good parts) to you.

May all of you ladies have the love and happiness you deserve.

Con mucho amor,

Your son-in-law/grandson/brother/husband/son.

Dad Eliminated from Home Top Chef

Yes, it's no secret, I enjoy cooking.  That's why when my lovely wife took a new job, I was happy to help out in the kitchen preparing food for the family.  I am your typical hack of a home chef, which, when combined with watching 5 seasons of Top Chef, fills my head with delusions of grandeur.  Those delusions were brought swiftly to reality, when, in my own home, I was asked to pack my knives and go home.

Chef Dad is woefully eliminated from the competition

So, let's cut to the chase.  As you may remember, Chef Dad was thrilled to teach the children the joy of eating Tilapia.  So Chef D makes that number again tonight, with mashed potatoes and broccoli.  Well, the time change had us a little behind (the oven lied and said it was still 5:30, instead of 6:30), so I was rushing to get the chow to the table.

I have been using the flaking method to see when fish is done cooking, but I had a fatal flaw... I was only checking at the edge of the fish, so as to not break the filets right in the middle.  So, mom's piece of fish, was, let's say, "seared."

Not only was mom's fish underdone, but she also found a few pinbones... and let's just leave it at this: she out-did the moment where Padma spat out a contestant's food in Season 5.

Maybe I can learn from this mistake and return as a wildcard later in the season.

Tired: Shout; Wired: Zout!

Ok Folks, let's be clear.  This post will only make sense to Mr. Moms, Soccer Moms, or those who obsess about spots on clothing that need to come out.

So, laundry is my preferred chore in our family, and it's one that I'm less likely to screw up.  It's pretty simple: wash, dry, fold, put away.  Well, that is, unless your child has spewed chocolate milk on a white shirt, or tagged their clothing with a not-so-washable marker.  Also, Mr. Dad has a tendency to get coffee splatters as he's stumbling, bumbling and fumbling towards that first cup in the morning.

For as long as I can remember, Shout has been what I've known to use to get stains out.  However, the method I learned required that: a) you instantly strip out of the piece of stained clothing, b) you get it wet, and c) spray shout on it, and hope for the best.  Then, after you dried the clothing, you either had success or failure, having baked in any uncleaned portion of the stain.

Enter my awesome OCD coworker who saw me splatter myself with coffee, and kindly offered up his Tide Stick.  Then, he proceeded to tell me about an illicit, dangerous substance, gauranteed to remove even the most vicious stains, even after drying....... ZOUT.

The stuff is sweet.  I chose some of the most destroyed and beloved white garments of my childrens', most of which contained copies amounts of marker and chocolate milk stains.  I followed the directions (spray, rub in, wait 5 minutes, then wash / dry), and was pretty pleased with the results.... no more stains!

Yes, I may be a loser for writing about this, but I'm one loser that's pretty pleased with himself.

Germ Theory

It's been a rough couple of weeks for the family, as we've passed around step and flu. The silver lining? At least the kiddos are learning about good ol' classic germ theory, and about basic ways to stop spreading germs.

Slow Saturday

Yes, it's a slow morning here so far, but son is eager to build with the marble set.

Flu Day Two

So, it's day two of being home with nasty flu stuff.  Last night, me and the daughter quarantined ourselves in her room, so that a) we can hopefully not spread the love to mom and son, and b) daughter was waking up frequently with cough, water needs, etc.

I was very proud that daughter was very capable of understanding the nebulizer and self-administering what is normally a very scary treatment for kiddos.  The noise was what bothered her most, but throwing in some mind-numbing TV as a mitigating measure sure helped!

Indian Wedding Bliss

We were very happy to see our friends wed in Dallas last weekend.  Here is one of my favorite pictures.... DINNER!  This was an awesome spread, and I think I ate for 2 hours straight.

Playing Hookey is no Fun When You're Sick

Well, we had great fun attending a friend's wedding last weekend... but when we all got back to the Austin area, it was clear that Natalie was not doing well.  On Monday she was diagnosed with Flu and that evening I wasn't feeling that hot either.  So it looks like the two of us are sick buddies for the next day or two.  So far she's been a trooper, and has been in a decent mood.  She was a little picky with her food today, and was certainly not happy about a shower, but she's fast asleep now, and we're hoping that Dad and daughter feel better tomorrow, and that magically, no one else will get it.... here's for hoping!

Toaster is Toast

Our family has had the same crummy toaster for 7 years. It has always sucked. Why did we never spend a few bucks to get a toaster that worked properly?  I dunno.  So now that I have been officially making the Odom family breakfasts every morning, I'm fed up with this sorry excuse for a bread-browning box.  Now, we finally got a decent toaster, and I let the kids punish the old toaster, in Office Space (link NSFW - language) fashion. Take that, sucky toaster.

Young Artist's Reflection on Lt. Dan

This is Logan's illustration of Tio Dan sleeping.

I will not tell a lie.

Yes, it has begun.  Lawdy help us all.

Bring Your Daughter to Work Day?

So, the plan was to bring Nana in for a half day and then take her out for some fun and shopping. Instead, some meetings stacked up, and she got to come with me to NINE meetings starting at 8am through 4pm. She was well behaved and some cool ppl at work helped make her day more fun. Here she is, less than 5 minutes from the office, konked out.

Logan at the DR's this AM

Bouncy Boy

The kiddos really enjoyed the inflatable jumpy thing that MeeMee and Don got them.

As you can see, it is also doubling as the coolest bed ever!