The Fight Against Fat-Assery...Redux

** - The following post in no way, shape, or form relates to my children, their cuteness, or their inherent funniness. It's simply a post about me. Selfish? Probably. Enjoy all the same...

Just a quick update on my battle against fat-assery...did you know that a chicken bake from the Costco deli has over NINE HUNDRED calories and FIFTY GRAMS of FAT?!?!? I ate one for lunch today, then came back to the office and Googled the "nutrition information" for it, and I was completely blown away!! I could have had almost TWO BIG MACs for that amount of caloric intake. Seems it's not just Costco's packs of toilet paper that are meant for fat asses! :-)

Battle Hymn

In case you hadn't heard, my family is made up of rabid Georgia Bulldog fans. That said, we pretty much started brainwashing both Chris and Matthew at birth to not only love the Dawgs, but to revel in all things UGA. In fact, the first mobiles that hung over each of their cribs were made up of five little Ugas, while the music played "Glory." If you're not familiar with the song (and SHAME on you if you're not!), the song is sung to the tune of the final stanza of "Battle Hymn of the Republic," ("His truth is marching on!" which becomes either a) G-E-O-R-G-I-A, or b) And to Hell Georgia Tech!) and is widely considered to be the national anthem of the Bulldog nation.

The larger song, "Battle Hymn," is performed prior to and immediately following every Bulldog game, and the ending receives a great flourish where the entire croud yells out "GO DAWGS!!" during a brief half-note rest. Hard to picture in your head? Maybe, so I've attached a photo montage of Georgia goodies featuring the song so you can get the idea.

ANYWAY...we're crusing down the road the other day listening to "Bulldog songs," as Matthew calls them, and "Battle Hymn" comes on. It's one of my all-time favorites, so I'm getting all geared up for a rousing "GO DAWGS!" in my head when, from the backseat, at the top of his lungs, Chris yells out "GO DAWGS!!" I'm not sure I've ever been prouder to be a Bulldog OR to be a dad. It was awesome! :-)

Enjoy the video!

Gobama!

In the wake of Barack Obama's historic ascent to the Presidency, I'd just like to say how proud I am to live in America. This is a man who has truly inspired tens (if not hundreds) of millions of people to once again believe in the future of our country, and whose leadership we have craved for far too long.

The Fight Against Fat-Assery

** - The following post in no way, shape, or form relates to my children, their cuteness, or their inherent funniness. It's simply a post about me. Selfish? Probably. Enjoy all the same...

I recently discovered I was becoming a bit of a fat-ass. Nothing too serious, as I was weighing in at about 222. Still, that weight put me in the "overweight" category, and I wasn't too pleased about it. This being a new year and all, I decided to get off of the aforementioned fat ass and do something about it. After doing a bit of research online (always the bargain hunter!), I found several websites that offered great workout plans, calorie counters, etc. Among my favorites so far have been:

• www.fitday.com - A great fitness, health, calorie, and workout tracker. The biggest plus? It's free! Using the calorie counter to determine exactly what I'm taking in has really forced me to look at food in a whole new way, and I've become almost obsessive about keeping my daily intake under 2,300 calories.
• http://www.truthaboutabs.com/time-crunched-workouts.html - Truth About Abs was a site that I found sort of by accident, but it's given me some great ideas about weight loss, not the least of which is the site's position on cardio exercise, which it considers healthy but not the be-all, end-all of weight loss. Instead, it focuses on resistance training. The link listed above is actually a really great at-work workout that I've started using. Essentially, you take a few minutes each hour to complete the exercises listed, then get back to work. I've found it to be a great means of staying motivated and energized at work, and it does a great job of keeping my appetite in check.
• www.thefitbastard.com - Not only is this a hilarious name for a fitness site, I really enjoy the updates and ideas that it offers.

I've only been keeping tabs on things for about two weeks, but I've lost about 4.5 pounds so far. Not exactly Biggest Loser-type results, but good enough to keep me motivated. Wish me luck...maybe the next time you see me I'll be a shadow of my former self!

She's MY Woman!

So...I was just at school to drop off a car seat for my mom (they're stealing the boys to see a movie), and his teacher relayed the following story:

Today in class the kids were talking about helping people. For example, if you know how to do something, and see someone else who's not quite doing it right, you're supposed to give them helpful hints, etc. I'm not sure how that translated to what Chris said next, but he said:

"If someone was being mean to my Annabeth, I would NOT be nice to them. I
would have to go and yell at them, because she's MY woman!"

I'm sure it's nice for Annabeth's parents to know that their daughter is well taken care of!

Procrastination and Birthday Wishes

OK...I'll admit that I'm WAY late in posting this, but I'd like to wish my sister a very happy birthday (it was January 9th). The boys were kind enough to seranade her on the big day, and I thought it would be nice to share that video here. Enjoy...and Happy Birthday, Annie! :-)

The Karaoke Kid

As further proof that Chris is apparently my Mini Me-style clone, he's developed a love affair with music...as well as the singing that comes along with it. Since Holly and I aren't always in the mood for his particular brand of songs, however, we bought him a small MP3 player for Christmas (Note to those of you concerned that we're spoing our children: this is NOT an iPod, but rather a cheapo player from Target!). It's a 1gb model that holds about 250 songs or so. Before putting it under the tree, I filled it with his favorite kid's music, as well as a bunch of oldies and mom-and-dad songs that he's come to love.

Of particular interest to him right now are two songs by (I couldn't BEGIN to make this up!) Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers: All The Gold in California, and Broken Lady. So now, out of his bedroom every night, we're seranaded by the melodious sounds of the five-year-old sensation, The Karaoke Kid! You really haven't lived until you've heard a little kid belting out a heartfelt love song from the 70s!

Jesus is NOT funny...He is LORD!

I swear, if Chris doesn't grow up to be some sort of street-corner preacher I'll be absolutely shocked! We were in Houston for the holidays (visiting the in-laws...more on that in another post), and I was asked to give the blessing at Christmas dinner. When I had finished, Chris chimed in to say, "And thank you for making Jesus our only present!"

Naturally, this kicked off a chorus of laughter around the dinner table, and apparently my laughter was the most noticeable to Chris, who delivered the following rebuke: "Dad, Jesus is NOT funny...He is LORD!" Never let it be said that our child doesn't have a spiritual side! :-)

Under The Sea!

In an effort to cram the weekend full of as many activities as we possibly could (we were already planning to celebrate Christmas with the family, and Holly had a girls' night out on Saturday), we decided to celebrate Chris's birthday with a family trip to the Georgia Aquarium this weekend. As seems to happen with greater and greater frequency these days, we invited Annabeth and Kyra along for the fun (their folks were invited, too). Much madness and hilarity ensued, the details of which I'll spare you for now. But...since the kids were so darned cute, I thought I'd share the newest video montage of adorable-ness. Enjoy!

Number 5 is Alive!

References to classic '80s movies aside, it's time to celebrate Christopher's FIFTH birthday! It's hard to believe that we've had our Little Buddy for five years already, and it's incredible how the time has flown by.

We love you, Chris!

A Note to MiMi

So we're on the way home yesterday, and Chris says, "I want to send a note to MiMi on your phone!" The following is an exact transcript of his message...just too cute not to share. Enjoy!

Dear MiMi,
I made you a present. And it's in an envelope. And I love you. And
when I go to Texas, I'm gonna' give you the card. And I love Papa Mike. And I
love going to see my MiMi. I love Christmas. And I'm gonna' get you a present at
the store. And I think you would laugh because there's a male bird on the card
that I'm gonna' give you when I get to Texas. I love you!
Love,
Chris :-)

It's a Feast!!

Not much of a back-story here, but I had the good fortune to attend Chris's Thanksgiving feast at school the other day, and thought I'd share a few pictures from the event. We had an awful lot of fun, and the food was delicious. The teachers had even helped the kids come up with a "12 Days of Thanksgiving" song! I can't remember all of the items, but I know that there were 11 Stalks of Broccoli, at least 9 Cups of Jello, and 5 Meatballs with Ketchup (the latter was performed with great emphasis, and a throwing of hands into the air).

Best of all, though, each of the kids had drawn a picture of the things that they were thankful for. The teachers had then asked them about it, and wrote down (pretty much verbatim) what the kids said. Chris drew a picture of Holly and me (complete with UGA hat...GO DAWGS!), and said that he was "Thankful for my Mommy, because she gives me lots of hugs!" Not sure why I didn't get the shout out for giving hugs, too, but I'm over it.

Anyway...here are the promised photos. Enjoy!

Being With Her Keeps My Heart Together

Much has been made in this blog about the relationship between Chris and his "girlfriend," Annabeth. As I've mentioned on several occasions, these two have been virtually inseparable since starting daycare way back in the day...

Anyway, this morning we're on our way to work, and Chris is discussing his upcoming birthday (he'll be FIVE!) and the requisite celebratory events. We're talking about heading to the Georgia Aquarium, and Annabeth will naturally be invited. So...we're having this conversation, and Chris says, "If Annabeth wasn't with me, my heart would break. Being with her keeps my heart together!"

If there's anything cuter or more romantic than that (in a five-year-old's world, anyway), I'd love to hear it! :-)

Santa Hats!

Nothing spectacular to write about here...just a cute picture. Holly and I went on a date the other night, and the boys hung out with my parents. They went to the dollar store, and came out with Santa hats. Too cute! :-)

Sugar Bugs!

So how bad does this suck? Chris has cavities, which he calls Sugar Bugs! He had an appointment with the dentist last month, and she told us that he had two cavities, one on each of his two front teeth. Apparently, it's pretty common among kids his age, especially with the increasing number of juice box-type beverages that are available out there. With the straws going right by their front teeth, kids just really don't stand a chance. Bummer.

What's my point? My point is that Chris handlded the whole thing like a champ! We went for his follow-up appointment last week, and it was time for drillin' and fillin'. He was a little nervous going in, but we talked about what would happen, and by the time it was time for him to see the dentist he was ready to rock. It was pretty hilarious, actually...

Since he's still young and impressionable (and probably because they don't want kids to associate dentists with pain), the doctor recommended that we give Chris laughing gas to keep him calm throughout the procedure. So they stick this little mask on him that kind of resembles a football (see the picture below), and he's in La-La Land. They still had to numb him and give him novacaine, but he never even felt that happen.

The most hilarious part was the actual drilling, though. Since the cavities affected the areas directly in the center of his two front teeth, the drilled-out space ended up looking like a David Letterman/Michael Strahan kind of gap. I was concerned at first that they were going to leave it like that, but in the end it all ended up getting filled in. Chris was an angel, and I couldn't have been prouder of him.

OK...I'll grant you that this isn't the most exciting post ever, but the picture is totally worth it. Enjoy!

I'm Raising a Religious Zealot...and a Political Activist!

"Nothing can separate me from God's love."

That's what Chris said (quite loudly) out of his open window as we were cruising slowly through traffic the other day. WHAT?!? Apparently, his Sunday school class was quite an inspiration for him that morning, and he decided to share his faith with our fellow Atlantans, many of whom had their windows down, as well. I'm not sure exactly what made him decide to go quite so public with his faith in God, but it was pretty flippin' hilarious!

Along those lines...
Holly and I volunteer every other month or so at a financial planning class at our church called ReThink Money. This has been a phenomenal source of both inspiration and fiscal planning for both of us, but that's not the point of this post. The point is this: we were all set to volunteer at one of these classes Monday night, but Chris got sick on the way home from school and had to stay home with Holly while I went alone. While they were home, the two of them got caught up watching pre-election coverage. Chris was particularly interested in Barack Obama, partly because of his admittedly cool-sounding name, but also because he had "dark skin." I'm not sure why this was so ground-breaking for him, especially since his Pre-K class is exceptionally diverse, but there it was...

Chris and Holly discussed the upcoming (now last night's) elections, and how they were truly historic - regardless of the winner. Chris was, of course, fascinated by the whole thing, and was excited to talk about it at school on Tuesday. The Pre-K teachers had planned a mock election on Tuesday, but had the class vote on favorite foods in lieu of the actual candidates. I'm guessing this was meant to deter any kids who'd heard their folks talking politics from spouting off. HA! Apparently, this is impossible in Christopherland! Allow me to digress for a second before I get to the big finish...

During nap time, Chris sometimes asks his teachers to write a bunch of words on paper so that he can copy them. What can I say? The writing apple doesn't fall far from the tree! It's usually just names or random words, but yesterday we got a note from his teacher on his daily report:

"Chris is just too funny! Today he asked Ms. Mary Helen to write, 'I love
Obama, the one with the brown skin!" What the hell?!? Now he's all of the sudden a political activist in addition to being a religious zealot! Who knew? And, just when we thought his political aspirations were limited to the written word, Holly got the following e-mail from Annabeth's mom:

Subject: LMAO (that's "Laughing My Ass Off" for those not
familiar)

So, I go to pick up the girls yesterday, and Randi sees us
walking out. And she stopped and asked me if I had been talking about the
election at home. And I told her a little bit, but not much (unless you
count Will screaming at the TV anytime McCain came on…..). And she said,
"well, I’m not sure if you know Brian and Holly’s political leanings, but
Chris has Annabeth completely convinced that Barack Obama is the person to
vote for! He made a button! And they are so cute!"

And I just laughed and laughed.
So, when I saw Chris, he goes "are you going to vote for Barack Obama? Because my
mom says that he is super cool. And he has dark skin!!!!"
LMAO, but sigh all at the same time. :-)

These truly are amazing times in America, and apparently my son has decided to make it his mission in life to let people know who/what they should believe in/vote for. We're going to have to have a little talk with him about that...we're not exactly street preachers in our house. Still, I'm pretty proud to know that he's not afraid to voice his opinion. Think he gets that from his mom!

Rock the Vote!

No matter who you choose to vote for, or on which side your political allegiances lie: get out and vote today! This is our country, and it's the greatest in the world. The freedom to choose our leaders has been guaranteed to us through the blood, sweat, and tears of generations before us, and it's our absolute responsibility to be part of history. Make your voice heard!

* Images Below Intentionally Placed Left and Right of Center

BOO...Halloween '08!

Halloween has officially come and gone, but it left us with a great set of photos to share with everyone. This year, we had the good fortune to go trick-or-treating with the folks from our church growth group, and we had an absolute blast! The kids loved every minute of it, and Chris was a wild man! He and one of the other little monkeys from our group led the charge from house to house, seemingly impervious to the cold that had set in by dark. Matthew was a little shy at first, but gradually warmed up to the idea of taking candy from strangers (funny how we always tell them NOT to do this!).

By the end of the night, we were completely exhausted and more or less buzzing from the sugar high. All in all, it was a great night for everyone. Enjoy the video!

Aunt Katie's Wedding!

OK, this event actually took place on September 6th, but I'm a procrastinator. I delay...it's what I do.

Anywho...if you've known us for any length of time, you're already familiar with the now world-famous Aunt Katie. While she's not actually a relative, she IS Chris's girlfriend's aunt, so she's family by default. Chris has long been obsessed with Annabeth's Aunt Katie, and has attributed many events to her influence in his life. The list of accolades attributable to Aunt Katie includes, but is not limited to, the boys' destruction of our toy room many months ago. When I asked Chris why he and Matthew had torn the room apart and essentially trashed it, he told me that Aunt Katie had made him mad, and that he was getting back at her for it. Such is the wisdom of a four-year-old...

So...the venerable Aunt Katie got married back in September, and she had the bravery (some may call it balls!) to invite the kids along to enjoy the festivities. Not only was this the boys' first occasion to wear ties, it became the social event of the fall for them. Let me say, for the record, that both Chris and Matthew were absolute angels throughout the reception and ceremony, and that they are both dance MACHINES!

The video shows off just how cute they (and their respective girlfriends) were that night. If you had the good fortune to attend Holly's and my wedding, you may recognize the music as " 'Til I Die" by Dayroom. This classic wedding song has become a staple at weddings among our UGA friends. Though not widely known, I hope it gets some added exposure here. Enjoy!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

A few weeks ago I added a post about Chris taking Karate, and indicated that there is simply nothing cuter than 4-to-six-year-olds kicking and punching their way through a Karate class. I was wrong...

As it turns out, the cutest thing I've seen to-date is kids of the same age playing baseball! Chris joined a T-ball team this fall, and last night was his first game. They actually had two weeks of pre-season so they could learn the fundamentals (like which base they're supposed to run to!), and now we're into the real season. The season will last six weeks (give or take), and he'll have two games each week.

Chris's team, the Braves, will take on teams like the Diamondbacks, Midshipmen, and Aztecs. They sound pretty ferocious until you realize that they can just barely keep their batting helmets on!

The most hysterical thing is that this baseball is NOT tee-ball...it's coach-pitch! The coach throws three pitches to the kids who, if they don't make contact, then have the option to hit off of a tee. What shocked me the most was the number of kids who actually hit the ball that was pitched...some of these kids look like Babe Ruth! :-)

Anyway, I've compiled the requisite video footage of the game and posted it below. Enjoy!