My favorite "King of the Hill" quote...

I'm married to you because, you know...(awkward pause)....the love?!?!

Wheelin' at Circle Park near Buffalo, WY - Father's Day 2010

To see all the pictures, click here:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Is it SOAP or PAINT?

Matthew made paint in Summer Enrichment that is also SOAP!

It's blue and it smells good, too. :o)

Sigh.....

....well the house needs a new roof and the car needs hail damage repaired.
Thank goodness for insurance.

We've been having a good time working outdoors and getting some of our projects completed. That is definately a summer time plus!

We are just hanging out with our kids and enjoying them while the sun shines!

This past weekend we went out past Buffalo, WY and rode 4 wheelers. Well, we rode 4 wheeler, as the orange one crapped out. Carborator issues I guess. Should be up and running for the next trip. We mostly just let Nathaniel ride while we spent time with our friends.

We spent Father's Day picking up the house, working a little in the house (laundry, etc) and then we headed out to the golf course with our friend and neighbor, Tom. We had a great time at the driving range and then challenged each other on the putting green. :o)

Our next event....4th of July Parade! Will post pictures. Hint.... Michelin man meets cub scouts!

A Father's Day gift from Matthew

Matthew's Father's Day gift to Craig. He drew a picture of our home.

Click the picutre to see it larger.

Golfing - Father's Day 2010

Matthew's First Day of Summer Enrichment

2002 S AUTUMN COURT

The Twisty Thing!

Craig and Matthew were just making some brownies. Craig said, "Don't move the mixer, I'll move the bowl." Matthew replied, "I'm moving the twisty thing!" ... aka ... the mixer...

Buster the Farting Kid Goes to the Park
By Matthew Stevens
Illustrated by Matthew Stevens

(book coming soon!)

Once upon a time there was a kid named Buster. He was a good kid you know, but there was one thing about him, he farts when he gets sad. He also farts when he’s happy.

One day he went to the park. He played for about an hour, and he heard his stomach rumbling.
Then he farted, and the whole castle BLEW UP!

Then the park manager came and said Buster had to rebuild the whole thing. He tried picking up a block of wood, but he couldn’t. He tried farting, and it worked!

Each block of wood Buster came to, he farted, and it fell back into place.

Then the castle was finally rebuilt.

Buster went home, and nobody ever knew what happened.

Oatmeal...

This morning, Craig made Matthew oatmeal for breakfast. When Matthew asked why oatmeal, Craig (the awesome Dad) replied, "Because it's a cold, snowy day and it'll warm you up."

Craig then went out to start the cars and when he came back in, he checked on Matthew and asked him how much of his oatmeal he had eaten...

Matthew responded, "One inch and one centimeter."

We decided that is 7 y/o for "not very much"!

Come visit us Grandpa Nute!!!

This morning Matthew said he was out of snack at school. He usually takes a box of Cheezits or crackers, etc. Well, this morning before school, he chose a box of Ritz crackers.

After they got in the truck...

Craig asked Matthew, "Do you have your snack?"

Matthew replied, "Yup, in my backpack."

Craig, "You like Ritz, ha?"

Matthew, "Ya, they're good."

Craig, "They're really good with peanut butter on them."

Matthew sighed and looked down at his bag, "Ya, I remember the good times."

Craig, "Good times? What do you mean?"

Matthew, "I remember me and Grandpa used to eat Ritz crackers with peanut butter and watch fishing shows."

Awwww....We miss Grandpa Nute!

Matthew & Mom

Conversation with Matthew...

I picked Matthew up from school today. Here's the conversation that transpired between his school and getting back to work...

Matthew: "I haven't been on Webkinz in 2 days. That's a long time."

Mom: "Yup."

Matthew: "They can't sleep forever, huh?"

Mom: "Nope, you'd better check on it."

Matthew: "Yeah, Michael slept for two days. That's a long time. How does he do that??? That's like more than 24 hours."

Mom: "I know!"

Matthew: "That's like human hibernation! Like, we should put it in Ripley's. But, you need a picture. Do we have a picture of Michael sleeping?"

Mom: "Yeah."

Matthew: "Does it have to be the same time the picture was taken?"

Mom: "Probably not."

Barnyard Moosical!

The First & Second graders at Paintbrush elementary present: BARNYARD MOOSICAL!

Matthew's Soccer Game 04-12-10

Matthew says his new nickname is "Buckaroo Bonzai"!

Memory lane...

Michael Aaron Pratt, 2 years old.
Christmas 1993

Martina McBride and Trace Adkins concert... 4/9/10

"I'm Tired", by Robert A. Hall"


I'll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce,` and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth around" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros, and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe , the freedom of the press of China , the crime and violence of Mexico , the tolerance for Christian people of Iran , and the freedom of speech of Venezuela . Won't multiculturalism be beautiful?

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.

I believe "a man should be judged by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin." I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois.

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fund-raising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America , while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue, or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global` warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and car-pool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.... Those are the citizens we need.

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois , where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet as well.

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers, and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate

Owl City Street Team!

www.owlcity.com
GREAT MUSIC!

Michael got me started on Adam Youngs' music. It's so soothing and easy to listen to!
I have joined the Owl City Street Team to help promote his music.

I invite you to check out the web site/music...

UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA, 2007-2009

This kind of puts things into perspective!
UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA, 2007-2009

Matthew riding on 2 wheels!!!

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."


--Pericles

IMG00241-20100109-2331.jpg

After spending the day with his friend Beau (it was Beau's birthday party day).....

Matthew came home and the following conversation transpired...

Craig:  "Hey Matt, you missed the Cowboy's game."

Matthew:  "Who did they verse?"

Craig:  "The Eagles."

Matthew:  "Who won?"

Craig:  "The Cowboys."

Matthew:  "The Eagles are getting easy for the Cowboys to beat."

Craig:  "Yeah, this year."

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

IMG00223-20100107-0713.jpg

My sister Kris and I bought these gloves/mittens.  I wasn't sure if I'd ever use them, but I have to tell you...

I wear them ALL THE TIME!  They are getting a little tattered, but they are really handy.  I feel silly with them on, but they are very functional!

Great purchase!  $4.99 @ Kohls

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Random pictures..... 2006-2009

This is what it looks like when I am a "superstar" in the car!

I think this was 2006.  Craig played Jesus in the Church Christmas play.

Matthew at a dr. appointment in Albuquerque. 7-2008

Those crazy big paper shorts!

August 2009.  Michael took this at the side of our house.

October 4, 2006.  My sons relaxing in the backyard pondering some important things I'm sure....

A good Banagrams win for me!

8-2009

Craig was giving Matthew a haircut and I wanted to show my skills, too!

8-2009

Mom and Matt golfing... 8-29-2009

Matthew 8-29-2009

Cutest golfer EVER.

8-29-2009

Craig & Matthew

8-29-09

Matthew & his friend Beau.

MMM cookie dough!

October 2009

Lost tooth #5.

December 7, 2009

Cowboy themed program at school!

I love it!

12-18-2009

While hanging at work with Mom one day we learned that blue Gatorade CAN indeed turn your tongue blue.

October 2009

Sleepover.  Beau & Matthew.

October 2009

A beautiful gift made for my wonderful Mother-in-law's birthday.

October 2009

A loyal scout!

10-2009

Feeling accomplished...

Today I feel very accomplished.  There's an art center here in Gillette.  I went there with a co-worker for lunch and a pottery demonstration one day when we first moved here.  It was really impressive.  They feature all types of art done by local artists.  Everything from pottery to photography and much more!

In December, I took my jewelry there and asked what I needed to do to be a featured artist in their gallery and also on their website.  They said my work had to be approved by the board.  Well, in late December, IT WAS! 

I checked today and my work is now online!  How EXCITING is that!  Check it out when you have time!
www.avacenter.org

Thoughts...

Well, so far 2010 has been extremely busy.  Our older boys visited over the Christmas break.  Nathaniel left yesterday and Michael will leave on the 9th.  We enjoyed them so much over break and are sad they have to go back.  I admit though, we are kind of getting used to having a smaller "nest" to tend to! 

This week, I am tired.  I am feeling a little stressed about things in general.  I've been trying to get over that, but it's harder than usual...

It snowed in November and there has been snow at our house ever since.  I have to say...I really enjoy it!  We have been blessed with WONDERFUL neighbors.  I have never lived anywhere so welcoming.  They make our neighborhood feel very homey and a nice place to be. 

There's a whole name thing going on there, too... 
Craigs parents are Kenny and Beth - our neighbors across the street are Ken and Beth. 
Craigs brothers name is Joel.  We had a next door neighbor named Joel and have another named Beth.
THEN, to top it off... Another neighbors last name is Craig!  Silly, but weird!

Hmmmm...that was just a bunch of rambling...

Michael walked Matthew to school today....

I think Michael (18) enjoyed walking Matthew (7) to school today.  Here are two of the conversations they had while walking the 3/4 of a mile. 

Conversation #1...
Michael:   "Well, Good Morning."
Matthew:  "...is it still morning?"
Michael:   "Yup, it's still morning 'til 10 am."
Matthew:  "Why?"
Michael:   "Well, that's when McDonalds stops serving breakfast.  That's what I go by at least, because McDonald's seems pretty smart."
Matthew:  "Oh."

Conversation  #2
Matthew:  "Hey Michael, how cool would it be to make one big snowball made from all the snow in the whole world and throw it at someones face?"
Michael:   "Well, if you could somehow make that snowball, it would be too big to throw."
Matthew:  "I know, but it would be cool..."
Michael:   "Yeah?  Who would you throw it at?"
Matthew:  "School.  Then I wouldn't have to go.  Who would you throw it at?"
Michael:   "Obama."
Matthew:  "Why?"
Michael:   "Because he sucks."
Matthew:  "Oh yeah, well I would split my big snowball in half and throw one at school and one at Obama."
Michael:   "Yeah?"
Matthew:  "Yeah."

HAPPY NEW YEAR....2010!!!

AFTER CHRISTMAS WITH NATHANIEL

Nathaniel joined us on the 27th, after a long day of traveling...

We had planned his flight to arrive into Rapid City, SD so that we could take the kids shopping when we picked him up; however, due to weather and road closures, we had to change his flight to fly into Gillette.  We were trying to avoid him having to spend the night in the RC airport but it ended up he had to spend about 8 hours in the Denver airport.  It all ended up OK and we've been having a really fun visit.

Christmas Eve 2009...

This year, we had Michael and Matthew with us.  On Christmas Eve, we did our traditional opening of one gift.  Michael opened a pair of jeans we got him (too big, sorry Mike) and Matthew opened Lego Space Police from Washington (which he built that same night).

It was quiet and relaxing.