The Golden Rule

I grew up in the era where parents ruled with an iron fist. You made your parents mad; you got spanked. You talked back; you got smacked. You did something bad; you got whipped. I didn't have it as bad as some of my Greek cousins though. You have never been beat until you have been beaten "Greek Style". I have often told our teens while they were growing up, that if they got out of line, I would beat them "Greek style". A Greek style beating, as I vividly remember it: You do something that makes your parent mad, usually your mother, you were then smacked one to three times across the face or head, once you started crying, then you were smacked on the face, butt, arms, legs, and back repeatedly until you stopped crying!All the while be screamed at in Greek; "Skase! Skase Vre!" Meaning- Shut up! You see, you got the second part of the beating just for crying, and it didn't matter if you were in a public place or not. Nobody ever called the police either. I am sure the other parents were thinking "I am sure that kid deserved it".
How is it then that Generation Y, thinks everything their parents tell them is negotiable, chores are optional, being grounded means you don't get to hang out in your room playing video games but instead you hang out with you parents more and try to be as annoying as possible. What the hell! Where have the good ol' days gone. When I was grounded, I was too mad to hang out with mom and dad. Okay, so maybe my house hold is unique, as our teens aren't your normal teens, but seriously enough already. Now we have a toddler in the home and teenagers.
What you tried the first time around didn't work out so well, so...lets get back to the basics; The golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Hey, what a great way to teach your toddler! Lets teach him not to throw sand at people by throwing sand back at him....in his face! Ha! Fail! That just made it so much more fun. And yes, Apollo thought it was HILARIOUS! We had about a 45 minute sand fight, which consisted mostly of us running from the little monster as he screamed with delight at each hand full of sand he threw at us. I haven't looked, but I am sure Apollo has sand in his poop!

Dancing with Apollo!

About a year ago I made a little video of Apollo dancing before he could even walk. I used the same music as I did in this dancing video, partly because it is a fun little dance song and partly because I already had the song on my computer ready to go. You will see his sweet dance moves have come a long way. There is some extreme interpretive dancing going on with Apollo and his friend Kaelyn. Apollo is really taking notes and trying out some of his new found moves. At the beginning of the video, Apollo is supposed to be preforming a number with a group of kids from his nursery. I don't think he wanted to share the dancing spotlight with anyone...except Kaelyn of course. Make sure you watch until the end for the grand finally!

Future Rockstar!

Apollos first gig! What more can I say?...Enjoy!

Apollo and the King

One of the toughest things about moving from a place you have called home for several years, is leaving behind really good friends. For my part, I always love a new adventure and a new place to explore. For my family, I think the transition is quite a bit tougher. Don't get me wrong, I think Bend is beautiful, way to cold, but beautiful. I will miss many things about Bend. I will mostly miss the friends that I have made there. I have spent the past 10 years side by side with someone, day in and day out, and I have never tiered of his company. Working together, sharing hotels on "out of town jobs", partying, singing karaoke,hanging out after work and on weekends, death and birth...a truly irreplaceable friend. It makes it harder when you think your boys will grow up with each other and suddenly everything changes.
Meet Kingston Thomas. For all intents and purposes, Apollos BFF and probably the closest thing he would have had for a brother, close to his age. Kingston is a very "spirited" soul. He can be laughing and happy one second and have a total melt down the next. Not that this is a bad thing, he is just very passionate about his emotions. He is also very animated. Kingston can sometimes be a little rough with his friends, to say the least, and doesn't always like to share.
I only mention all this because King, or "Ging", as Apollo calls him, is very kind to Apollo.Kingston is 14 months older than Apollo. It may be that he has known Apollo since Apollo was born, and has spent many a day with him for the first 18 months of his life. I have watched Kingston punch other kids and throw things at them and then turn around and share toys with Apollo, hug him, or give him a kiss. All the same things his dad wants to do to me! Just kidding, Aaron...well mostly. So really, it leaves me with many questions; Does Kingston see Apollo as a brother? and at that age, how would a toddler differentiate between "brother" and "friend" in a way that he treats Apollo, or "Pallo", as Kingston calls him, in such a kind manner? Is there some deep embedded genetic code that says, "hey I know you, because our dads know each other so well".? Or possibly on a more spiritual/religious note, maybe we were all friends before this life and a part of that comes through in the way we relate to one another.
No matter what your beliefs are, it is interesting to note how Apollo and the King relate to each other. Yes, there is a flip side to this. Apollo loves to play with Kingston. Even after not seeing him for several months, he was very excited to see Kingston and had a great time playing with him. This is the same kid whom goes to nursery for 2 hours once a week and sees the same kids every week for the past six months, and still shows no excitement to see them and makes no effort to go out of his way to play with the other kids.When he does play with them, there is not the same chemistry that I see between Apollo and the King.
The pictures posted from top to bottom are: 1)Kingston giving two week old Apollo a kiss,2) the boys wearing matching Lakers outfits-Falcon Cove beach Oregon-January 2009, 3)Quick visit January 2010, 4)and 5)playing with bubbles- Nice, California-February 2010.

The scoop on poop!

So, those of you that know me well, know that I have an aversion to all bodily excrement's, especially POOP! How I came to have a baby ,not to mention two boys that were 6 and 8 when I met them, in my life, I will never know. Truth be told, I felt as if I should have ran along time ago. Never the less, here I am the father of the most amazing baby in the world; perfect in every way, except that he POOPS! I know that I have some "yet to be documented" allergy to poop. I claim to have a doctors note excusing me from having to change any poopy diapers (I would have this note if I could get a doctor to write it for me: A little help please Em'.). You think this note would get me out of having to change diapers? NO!.
My wife, who by the way has no allergies nor aversions to poop, sees fit to make me change a couple or so poopy diapers a week. I know she does this for her own (and now Apollos) pleasure. The gagging, dry heaves, coughing, watery eyes, and apparent look of horror on my face-puts Melly into hysterics every time. Needless to say, Apollo is very amused by this as well. I have a super sensitive nose. It is not unlike the way a "super taster" can taste things that the rest of us can't, well, I can smell that poop from farther off and apparently way better than the rest of my family. The butterflies start fluttering in my stomach and the terrifying images of me having to change the diaper if I speak up about it, race through my head. I wait...Finally I can't stand it any more. I have to speak up because no one else seems to notice, plus the fact that my poor baby has to walk around with a turd in his pants just kills me. So, I do what any self respecting man would do in my place..."Mel, since Aden has been back talking all night, don't you think he should have to change Apollos diaper?" "He has a poopy diaper?...", she replies, (as I think how can I be the only one that smelled that?), "Aden, get in here and change Apollos diaper!" Yes! I dodged the bullet this time.
Seriously though, put yourself in my shoes for a moment. If you were a "super smeller", you would have to shove your nose into a jar of Vicks after changing a diaper just to get rid of the poop smell too. And as if this is not bad enough, there are all the mental images seared into minds eye, of all the poop that I have had to see. Wow, there are alot of different types of poop! And who would have thought that so many things pass through with out being digested! Can somebody please tell me why we eat corn, peas, beans, raisins, or peanuts anyways; they come out whole! If they come out whole, then we aren't digesting them, and if we aren't digesting them, then we are getting little or no nutrition from them (please correct me if I am wrong). Its not that they pass through whole that bothers me, it is the fact that I have to see them whole...IN POOP!...and now I can't look at them the same when they are on my dinner plate.
Yes, I know that you are thinking one of two things by now; 1) This guy is messed up, or, 2) this guy is sick, talking about poop. If you think I am sick, well chances are you have not had children yet, and you wont think I am sick after all when you do. I will tell you that I think I may be a bit of a germ phobe, I do visit the antibacterial bottle several times a day at work. But who wouldn't be a germ phobe when you become an "insta-dad" overnight to a 6 and 8 year old set of boys...especially ones who do not share my aversion to poop. The stories I could tell you about those two and poop. Better yet, stop by for a nice family dinner with my wife's side of the family, some how they always get on the poop stories...much to my chagrin!

Happy Birthday Olivia!!

Happy First Birthday Olivia!!
Apollos favorite and cutest little cousin!

Meeting the baby.

Lets be honest, babies are funny looking when they are born! That is at least my opinion, however, you cant help falling in love with them anyways. There is something about newborns. People, especially women, seem to melt around a newborn. It was simple magic to me to watch friends and family meet Apollo for the first time and look at him with so much affection and admiration.
This is one of my all time favorite photos of Apollo with family. Aunt Emily was meeting him for the first time and Grandpa Joe was there to share the moment. This is how I will always remember grandpa. He absolutely loved his family. I was fortunate enough to see this side of him often. We are so lucky that we live in a time where we can take photos and videos to capture the moments with the one we love. As time goes on, and we grow older our memories begin to fade. There is nothing better then finding an old photo, and reliving that moment. The memories can come rushing back, bringing up emotions and feelings that you experienced at that very moment, even smells or sounds can be experienced as well...at least for me.
Nothing can replace the conversations or physical contact though. There is always so much more that we wish we would have said or questions we wish we would have asked or conversations we wish we would have had. A new void opens up in your heart and you fill it with all the memories of the ones we have lost. Cherish every moment with the ones that you love. you never know when they will be gone....