So it was time to put the kids to bed last night and as I was tucking them in, Kendall climbed into bed with Hallie and pulled the covers up to her chin. She then proceeded to scooch her way right up against big sis.

I spent some time with Hallie as I always do tucking her in while Kendall laid there and Jack ran around like a Banshee (my apologies for not being pc if there are any Banshees out their reading). Well, after I was done tucking Hallie, I stood up and looked at Kendall and said, “Come on Kendall, its time to go to bed.” She replied with a grunt of “uh uh” and a shake of the head. Wait a minute… Has my baby learned the fine art of back talk and refusal already? I then said, “Come on Kendall, let go night night.” She responded by grinning at me with her big brown eyes and said, “Bye Daddy.” WHAT???? Did she really just dictate what she was going to do AND tell me to leave?

What choice did I have at this point… I asked Hallie if it was OK for her to stay in the bed with her, and Hallie obliged. Her is the picture I took when I went to look in….

Melted my heart. She was holding Hallie’s hand and was very comfortable. I picked her up and took her to her bed so that she would not fall out or disturb Hallie in the night.

What really scares me is that she already has the attitude of, “I run stuff around here”. She is only 21 months. What is it going to be like when she is 16??????

I am a week overdue in posting but maybe that is because it takes that long to recover as a 34 year old attending a concert for pre-teens! And yes, you have probably surmised by now that I did not load up the kids in the ‘burban and drive all the way to “Big Sky Country” all by myself.

Thanks to my good friend Ken Arkell (thank you so much for all you have done for us by the way Ken) who was kind enough to give my little one front row seats to the hottest show in town for youngsters… Hannah Montana (aka Miley Cyrus). For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, it is a 2 1/2 week affair that includes a huge bar-b-q cook off, Livestock Show, Rodeo and every night the Rodeo ends with a concert.. Someone asked me the next day how I liked Hannah Montana. My response was I had a great time with my kids and to see them laugh and have fun was awesome. I, however, could do with out ol HM myself.

As you can tell by the picture, we did it up big. We got to the grounds early to take in some Carnival rides outside the arena.

And of course we had to eat some Corndogs and fresh squeezed lemonade as you haven’t truly been to a carnival until you have done so.

After the carnival we headed into the rodeo to watch the events. After watching the opening ceremonies we headed up to get some drinks and when we returned the rodeo clowns had taken over our seats! Jack had some fun with that! It should come as no suprise that Hallie’s favorite event was the barrell racing and Jack’s was the bull riding. Jack made me laugh when they opened the chute (that was right in front of our seats) and the bull came flying out and the cowboy immediately went butt over bootstraps. Jack started laughing so hard and turned to me and said… “Whoa that guy biffed really fast!” I love kids perspectives. Here is a pic of my little cowboy taking in the bullriding action… (I love this photo)

After the show, the wheeled out the stage and got the sound all hooked up. While they did this, I took the opportunity to go and buy the kids some cotton candy and some lightup twirly doodle things (that is the technical term by the way) and it is a necessity to have these if you are a kid at the rodeo concert.

You can see all the photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lyonsfamily/sets/72157604082444980/

On a separate note (and I will post more in detail in my next post) but I will be keeping my late wife’s spirit alive by participating in the 2008 Relay For Life event in Houston (The Heights) on May 16 or 17. If you will remember, we had a really good team last year and it was an evening that was very special to Julie. She really enjoyed herself and although very emotional for her, it was an event that touched her deeply and she talked about it alot and looked forward to participating in it year after year… so I will take on her dream.

My sister in law, Angie has set up a team page, so please, if you are available, please join us and help us raise the funds that will help those you know that are currently battling this scourge or will someday be battling… All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. Please join or help if you can… http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeHighPlainsDivision?pg=personal&fr_id=6558&fr_id=6558&px=4186491

Untli next time…. YAY GOD!

-Brendan

It has been another long drought since I have posted last. I think part of that has been a lack of inspiration in conjunction with fatigue. Every time I have started to write a new post, I have deleted it as I have felt that anything I write at this point will seem rather insignificant compared to the last post. I keep waiting for another message from Julie to share with all of you.

Posts, however, should come a little more frequently now though as basketball season is over and the fatigue should not play as big a role in my lack of inspiration to post. I worked my last game last night and with the added bonus of closing out the season working with Brad. It was a lot of fun and a good cap to the season. I will take a break from basketball for a bit and get ready to work a couple of offseason tournaments and teach at a few local clinics. So although the season is over I have not lost basketball completely as an outlet… it will just be less frequent. I have a couple of basketball stories that I would like to share with you but I will do it in another post as now is not the time.

Kids are still doing OK. Carrie took Hallie out this past weekend for a girls weekend of beauty shops, candy stores and a trip to The Gap for girlie clothes. She got a new fancy hair cut… I am told it is “layered” whatever that means… Dad’s are not programmed to raise girls on their own. If that was the case they would all wear baseball hats with t shirts and jeans… LOL. What do you think…

No new news to report on Jack or Kendall other than that they seem to be doing well and are enjoying just being kids. They had a good trip on Saturday with April and Jenn to the Zoo as I drove to Tyler to referee a game. I picked them up and they were konked out completely as they had crashed from their sugar high (I have the half eaten bag of blue cotton candy to prove that they were spoiled with sugar by A and Jenn). By the way, thanks to all who helped me with the kids in some way shape or form during bball season. You all were a tremendous help to me.

(Jack rocking out to his ipod and Kendall pushing her baby stroller all over the floor. Its an empty stroller as she doesn’t seem to want any part of the baby doll that goes with it. She takes it out and hurls it onto the floor and then takes off with the stroller. She does not have the nurturing personality that Hallie has always had… LOL)

All for now.

YAY GOD!

-Brendan