As I have stated before a few times, I try not to make this blog a gushing tribute to my kids or inane banter about things they do. There are plenty of blogs out there for that. But sometimes I just have to report funny little things so when I look back later, I can be reminded of things. If there’s anything I’ve discovered in life, it’s that there is a gaping hole of my life as a child in pictures and words. I should rephrase that. There are a fair amount of pictures – I just wish there were thousands more! But I so wish I’d kept a journal as a kid. Back then, of course, it wasn’t cool at all. Lame-o! I’m sure given the choice as a lad, I would have opted mindlessly to ride my bike, or explore the apple orchards behind the house. Those apple orchards look so small when I drive by them now, but when I was a kid, it was a vast, wide open spot of land that seemed like a entire state’s length.

Anyway, a journal was out of the question. That said, I hope that my kids, when they are grown, will have inherited that same burning desire I have now to understand, see, read and appreciate the things they won’t remember. Because they are going to have a vast treasure trove of documented memories, courtesy of their parents. That’s also the beauty of the internet. Flickr. Facebook. The site you are reading now. It will be interesting, as the newest generation of young children will have unfettered access to the largest database of memories ever put down. Fascinating. I wonder how they’ll look at it or what they’ll think.

So anyway, a couple of little things:

• Stephanie is a solid keeper of memories. She writes down some good stuff. For example, she had the foresight to keep jars for each boy during the first year and just would write quick stuff down on a post-it note and throw it in there. Those are now priceless memories during a very foggy time.
• I was walking in our kitchen this past week and in between all the busy-ness and rushing and chores and running around, I stopped and glanced at a little notepad that said “Nathan – “crocodeedle.”  I asked her about it and it’s exactly what you think – it’s his precious and cute way of saying crocodile. He does occasionally say it correctly, in fact most of the time he does, but he butchered this one and it just makes your heart melt.
• Another one was “Oscratchers.” Steph and I were talking about watching the Oscars and he said something along the lines of “I want to watch the Oscratchers!” It will forever be known as such.
• One of our favorites over the past couple of years has been “Okee-dee-kee.” Now, at first glance, you would look at this and say that they must mean “okey dokey,” but that is not the case.  What they are referring to is Pinnochio. We have a little wooden Pinnochio hanging in our playroom window and it somehow came out of their mouths as “Okee-dee-kee.” So that’s what it is, even today. We can’t even bring ourselves to tell them what it’s really called because it’s too cute.
• The last one for the night is “criss-cross applesauce.” They say this whenever they want us to sit cross-legged. No idea why, but it does make us laugh every time.

My job is going great. Really good group of people. It didn’t take long for things to ramp up – I am probably as busy as I’ve ever been at a job, but there’s a lot of opportunity here and I’m really excited to be there and excited for the challenge. Oh and yes, I’ve already purchased a pair of skates. I did not take the job for the employee discount, I took it for the challenge. But the discount is a hell of a benefit. I highly recommend the Bauer X60’s. Only took me two games to break ’em in.

As you may have guessed, blogging time is greatly reduced. It used to be that I would blog while everyone else was driving to (or home) from work. Now I don’t have that option. So I sit here on a Friday night at 8:30, Sierra Nevada in hand, dinner just finished, writing. That’s the way it might be now. It’s cool. You can also catch me on Facebook and Twitter for the short-and-quicks.