Halloween At The Brysons

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year. Even though I'm 36 years old I don't think I'll ever really out grow October 31st.

Some highlights from this year:

We had a Halloween Party for several of Ridge's buddies. The kids all came dressed in their costumes, but for some strange reason I was the only adult dressed up. (Very lame) By the end of the party we had all consumed way too many empty calories and all of the kids went home with sugar induced hangovers.

After nap-time, we decided to carve our jack 'o lanterns. I decided that this was the year that I was going to introduce power tools into the mix and carved the pumpkins using a RotoZip. Worked great, though it did make a bit of a mess on our dining room table. Ridge hated the loud noise from power tools and said I was "killing his pumpkins." He ran screaming from the room and wanted to have nothing to do with the carving procedure.

After the pumpkins were carved and placed outside to keep the evil spirits at bay, Ridge, Colton and I donned our costumes. Mommy however did not dress up (Lame) Ridge loved the part of dressing up, as well as I did. I've waited two and a half years for Ridge to go as Superman so I could dress as Jor-el. Unfortunately, we have nothing but old people in our neighborhood and the cleverness and all around awesomeness of my costume was lost on them. One person even thought I was dressed as Barbara Bush. I did however run into one fellow geek on our trick r treating rounds who exclaimed "Superman, Son of Jor-el!" That made my night. Colton went as monkey, though I think he looked more like an Ewok than a monkey. Mommy and Colton joined Ridge and I trick r treating for a while until it got too cold and Mommy took Wicket back to Endor.

Ridge totally LOVED and I mean LOVED, trick r treating. As we walked from house to house he would shout "Hey Dadda, I bet they have candy!" and run as fast as he could to knock on the door. However, it took him a while to grasp the concept of, when the door opens you DON'T run inside of the house, which he did several times.

Once we got back home, he poured his loot of candy out on the floor and ran his fingers through it like it was pirate treasure. "Look at ALL that candy!" he shouted over and over.

After we put Superman and the Ewok to bed, Danielle and I ended the night watching cheesy horror flicks well into the night and snacked on roasted pumpkin seeds. Couldn't have asked for a better night and I can't wait until next year.

Alpha Male

My oldest is growing up way too fast and he's trying to establish his dominance as the head of the household. He did this tonight by marching confidently into the living room, picking up the TV remote and proudly announcing "I'm the man!" He's a crafty little guy; even at 2 years-old he realizes HE WHO CONTROLS THE REMOTE, CONTROLS THE WORLD.

Labor Day Weekend

Lake houses, boat rides, BB-Q, interstate traffic, college football, grandparents, in-laws,"Chase Ridge", rock throwing, sun bathing, swimming, aunts, uncles and cousins, naps, key lime pie, good books, carrot cakes, chips and dip, cicadas, SPF 30, pirates, my beautiful wife and my two incredible boys.

Life is good.

Six Years Ago

Yesterday as we were driving back from South Carolina, Danielle, the boys and I stopped just outside of Atlanta to eat lunch. Ridge had just woke up from a long car ride nap and was grumpy and Colton needed some milk ASAP. The first restaurant we found was some low-rent Olive Garden knock-off called Johnny Torrino's or something- one of those chain places you find in the 'burbs. Anyway, as we were getting out of the car to go inside the restaurant, Colton decided to lose his lunch all over Danielle. She was covered in regurgitated breast milk.

Inside as we dined on our crappy pseudo-Italian food and Ridge munched on his kiddy pepperoni pizza, Danielle looked at me and said, "Do you realize six years ago at this very moment I was eating lunch with my brides maids right before our wedding?"

Of course I knew it was our anniversary, but it did make me realize how much our life has changed since then. First of all, when we were newly married, we would not have been caught dead in a restaurant like Johnny Torrinos, at least not by choice. I guess you could say we were kind of elitist snobs back then, at least when it came to where we ate. Kids change that in a hurry.

Six years ago, I never would have imagined that I would be sitting across from my newborn son and my wife covered in baby spit up. And I never would have thought I'd be sitting next to my two year-old son watching him spill Coke all over the table as he attempted to drink out of a "big boy" cup. It seemed just like yesterday I was watching my beautiful bride walk down that aisle.

It absolutely boggles my mind how our lives have been turned upside down since that September evening back in 2003.

We honeymooned south of Cancun at an amazing resort called Royal Hideaway. We vowed to return for our Five Year Anniversary. That didn't happen, mainly due to the fact that neither of us could leave Ridge, who was just one year old, for that extended period of time. We would have missed him too much, plus money was and still is tight since Danielle quit her job. We simply didn't have three grand to drop on a few days of R&R south of the border.

Our anniversary celebration last night was far from a luxurious five star resort. After the boys were tucked into bed, we dined on PF Chang's take-out on our living room floor while we caught up on episodes of Entourage.

We may not be living the high roller lifestyle we did when we were DINKs (Double Income, No Kids) but I for one wouldn't change a thing. The Good Lord has blessed me with two amazing boys and my wife is just as beautiful to me now as she did the day I said "I do."

And now, as I'm writing this, I hear our youngest one filling his diaper, so I gotta go. Six years ago today, I was lying on a white sand beach with my new wife without a care in the world. How things change...

Cars!

Open House

On Wednesday Ridge's school had an Open House for the kids and parents to meet this years teachers. Ridge was a little nervous at first, but after quickly discovering that his new classroom had a plethora of toys in which to make a mess with, he felt right at home. While Mom filled out paperwork (which is her self-designated role in our marriage) Ridge and I built carefully constructed castles out of cardboard blocks and violently leveled them to the ground Godzilla-style. We also pilfered through the classroom's well-stocked library of children's books and scattered toy pots and pans all over the kitchen play area.

Ridge also met a few of his class mates but was unable to determine over the course of the Open House whether they were "cool" or not.

Colton however slept through the entire visit; content in the knowledge, that starting next week he can enjoy a few hours on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, safe from the clutches of his big brother.

Bucket Head

Typically after supper, Ridge and I play a game that Ridge gleefully refers to as CHASE RIDGE. The game is played by Daddy chasing Ridge as fast as he can around the kitchen. The rules are simple: continuously chase Ridge until he is bored with the game. If you stop to rest at any time during the game you are yelled at and severely scolded by Ridge.

Tonight however, Ridge decided at add a little twist to our nightly sporting event. Ridge demanded that I wear a plastic bucket on my head while he chased me through the house with a toy lawnmower. I was given strict instructions that under no circumstances was I allowed to remove the bucket from my head during the game. After about ten minutes I thought I was going to collapse from carbon dioxide poisoning.

Good times.