Pumpkin Hunting

Halloween wouldn't be Halloween without a pumpkin patch. And it just so happens that here in VegasLand, we have one of the coolest pumpkin patches ever! Gilcrease Orchards opens their farm up to the city and sells their harvest for the Fall. They have apples, squash, zuchinni and of course, pumpkins. They even sell freshly made apple cider....and crack apple cider donuts.

Collin had a blast, but he does pretty much anywhere we go where I allow him to just run free and be a kid.

Since Collin is way too little to be wielding any knives, I thought it best to let him paint his pumpkin this year...and he had no problems with that. But he did require a cupcake beforehand. You know. For energy.

Collin is Handsome. Duh.

You guys. YOU GUYS?!?! You guys!

I.

Die.

From.

The.

Cute.

Open House @ Mitisubishi Cement Plant

The plant where The Manksi works had their annual open house this afternoon. I didn't have Collin this weekend because he is hanging with his Papa. Sad face for me, but happy face for Collin. Anyway, we were able to take Aiden. I guess every year they give away pumpkins?! This is crazy to me seeing as how in VegasLand, we pay well over $10 for a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. Speaking of, I'm supposed to be making pumpkin seeds right now...ha! I'd much rather post these first. Pumpkin guts can totally wait.

Why so many photos of these weird cylinder things? Because this is The Packhouse and this is where Manski works. This is also where our relationship started in a weird way. Since he works graves and I am usually up late working on my blog and doing school work, he and I would spend our nights talking.....sort of like a lot. Talking and sending goofy videos and pictures back and forth. I have an unending supply of pictures of Manski on top of these. So....these little cylinder thingys (which I learned are actually called silos)...are sort of special to me. Is it weird that I kind of want to frame one?

You would think that a dirt factory would be a total snooze, but it was actually super cool seeing this big ol' factory and where my Manski gets his work on every night. He got to take Aiden and I on a personal tour in a van that the company rented (one of many) just for their employees to drive around their families in for this day!

iPhone Photos: Weeks 42 & 43

The Often Futile Attempt to be a Family Man, Work a Graveyard Shift and Juggle School

Five years ago this month, my ex-wife and I moved out to Big Bear, CA to start fresh, help my mom out with my dad, and hopefully give our daughters a better place to grow up. (Andria was in the oven at the time.) It was perfect timing, moving from the beaches of Ventura county to the mountains of Big Bear at the beginning of winter. Freakin' brilliant!!! It took me till Janurary to get the job at the cement plant where I am now, and it was said in the job description that I would be required to work day, swing, and graveyard shift. At the time, I did not think that I would have to worry about it. I figured I would be able to work day shift for a long period of time . . . Boy was I kidding myself. I worked all three shifts for almost two years, and then I got the position that I am in now, and December marks 3 years of graveyard for me.

I guess I cannot always complain when I get to see this at times.

Working a graveyard shift, when sometimes having to pull a 12 hour shift, and then trying to go home and be a family man is something that the word hard does not even start to cover. Get off work at 7 am, home around 7:30 am, get the oldest ready for and off to school, get the youngest off to the babysitter, then go home and attempt to go to sleep. I say attempt because now I would be all wound up from running the kids around and couldn't sleep. Unless it was one of those days that I was running the kids around with one eye open. Then I would, again, attempt to wake up to get the kids and help the ex with dinner when she got home, or go in to the room to go into a coma until it was time to get ready for work. It seriously killed me. I felt like I never got to see my family. I felt as though the only thing that I was accomplishing for my family was bringing home the chedda. I felt half, or more, worthless most of the time. I tried to make the most of it, but it seemed futile.

Chasing Dale at Grandma Ginger's house

The Janurary after I had gotten into the position, Jennifer and I decided to separate, which obviously ended in divorce. Later that year I ended up with Aiden's mom, and cycle started all over again.

Glow stick bath time

But then I decided to make things harder on myself, and my kids, by starting school around spring time this year. Get home, get Tamara's kids ready and off to school, get back home, eat something, go school for a few hours, go into a coma state for a few hours, wake up, go back to school while making dinner, and then get ready for work. Sound a bit hectic? It was actually worse than it sounds, but somehow I was able to deal. Well, for a minute. hahaha

Bath time in the kitchen sink with the Boo Boo

Madison thought the she would come over and be a comedian, (about what, I do not remember) but her getting drenched was the end result!!!

The biggest problem that I have had over these amost three years of graveyard shift, is not being able to spend more time with my family. Family is very important to me. My kids are very important to me. I love to be able to sit there with my kids; play a board game, put together a puzzle, tickle torture them, give them baths and get my own bath while I am at it, have tea time with the girls, chase Aiden around the house because he just cannot play in one spot for more than 5 seconds. But I cannot do it enough. Being on graveyard and going to school robs me of one of the greatest treasures in life: playing with my children while they still want to play with me. Playing with my children before they get to cool for me, and prefer to go play at their friends house instead. Playing with my girls before they are going out on their first date and I am answering the boy knocking at the door with my 12 gauge short stock shotgun. (don't worry . . . it won't be loaded . . . at least not with lethal rounds . . . sandbags or rubber shots? hahaha)

No, she was not given those at Mardi Gras.

Does anyone have some similar issues? Anyone juggling a ridiculous work schedule and trying to be a parental figure at the same time?

I guess I should have posted this last week, but . . . better late than never. This is when I was with the band King Size Zero. (Holly thinks this picture is funny. IDK!!!)

As I sit here, desperately holding back the tears of regret for not being able to be there more for my kids, I then think about the wonderful woman that has been brought into my life. A woman, who like any woman, has her selfish tendencies to want to be with me every chance that we get, but then thinks about my children and will tell me straight up "I am not going to come out to you this time because you need to go out and see your daughters." A woman that wants nothing more than for me to be able to build a solid relationship with my children even it means sacrificing time with each other. Now, as I sit here, frantically stopping my welled up eyes from running over, I will leave you here. 

One Day Lessons

Things you can learn in one day with your toddler:

I may have woke three times last night and crawled out of my crib to the door, but now that it is time to actually be awake, I'm good. I'll stay right here. And be all cute so you can't wake me up, thus making you ten minutes late for work.

Chicken is good. Cheddar broccoli rice? Not so much, Ma. But thanks for trying!

Also, Wheel of Fortune is an incredibly exciting, edge of your seat show that warrants exclamations of, "Ttttteeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!" when a contestant chooses said latter and gets it right.

Your body? No longer yours. It is now my personal gym and I will step and squish you in parts you did not know existed.

All in one day, folks. I'm telling you, having a toddler is some seriously insightful business!

Music . . . The 5th Love of My Life

In you may be wondering how I captured Holly's heart . . . I simply sat down at a piano beneath the waning moonlight. As I looked down the length of the lustrous grand piano, there she was. As she walked ever gracefully toward the bar next to the gazebo, I started to play Liebestraum by Liszt. The intertwining notes were caught by her ears. She stopped mid stride. As she turned to lock eyes with mine, her hair . . . If you were buying any of this, I'm sorry. I just could not help myself.

This is the piano that I grew up playing and learning much of what I know today. (not much in my humble opinion)

So, how did I end up putting music as my 5th love? Let me "a break it down". (Yes, that was a DJ Lance reference. Don't hate.)

     1. Holly

I mean . . . DAYUM!

     2. My kids (this includes Collin)

     3. My dog Oreo . . . I mean come on . . . How can you not love that face?!

     4. English: editing, writing, and definitely reading

     5. Music: listening, playing, and performing

According to my ma, I have always been seriously into music as a kid. She says to this day, "You never sang or hummed the main parts of a song, you were always listening to what was going on in the background, and you sang or hummed those parts instead." So, I guess that isn't normal?! Psh! I don't know, but what I do know is that I am no musical child prodigy. I am simply a person that loves music more than most people can understand. Thank God I found Holly. An amazing woman with the same love and respect for music.

I started playing the piano at some point in elementry school. I remember telling my Uncle Ernie (Who is an amazing musician. I cannot begin to explain how much I look up to him as a musician), "I want to play the saxophone like you." So his retort ends up as, "Not until you learn how to play the piano, read the music, and learn the theory that sustains it all." (No this is not verbatim. I'm 28 years old and this was like 18 - 20 years ago. Geez) So, we end up finding a piano teacher that is about three blocks away from my house. Which ends up being two houses down from my grandparent's house. I went to this teacher until the end of 8th grade of sometime in 9th grade. A couple of years before I left this teacher, I started venturing off, musically, on my own. I would spend HOURS in Henson's Music Store back home, just perusing the sheet music in search of something that popped out at me. Something finally did one day . . . Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. And learning to play classical music was all that I wanted to do, but that was not a direction that my current teacher was able to do. So I left that teacher, and was in "piano teacher limbo" for a couple of years, because I became a BAND NERD. That's right . . . I was THAT cool guy!

In junior high, I picked up my dad's alto saxophone and strolled my happy butt into Mr. Butler's classroom to learn how to squak on the sax. When I got into high school I joined the marching band (football field show) for the first semester, and concert band for the second semester. I guess that over the years I became a decent saxophone player, but to this day, I prefer to remain humble . . . and I am very stubborn about it. What I will do for you all though, is let you in on what I did, musically, in high school: Freshman year - I did not get to march in the show, but I got to help out in field set up; got to perform in concert band. Sophmore year - got to perform in the field show with the theme based on the concert piece Africa; performed second chair in concert band. Junior year - got to perform in the field show with the theme based on the movie, The Mask of Zorro; got to perform in concert band, first chair; performed in jazz band, was awarded the Louis Armstrong award for soloing. Senior year - got to perform in the field show with the theme based on the Broadway production Miss Saigon, was section leader, we won multiple Sweepstakes awards that year; performed in concert band, first chair, section leader; performed in jazz band, lead alto sax, was awarded the Louis Armstrong award for soloing. I guess that would be considered the modest version.

For a few years, starting in about my junior year in high school, I played saxophones in a ska core band called King Size Zero. That was an amazing experience. My dream was to eventually play jazz for a living. Not necessarily as a frontman, but to just be on stage, performing, sharing my passion with others. Now that that dream is not going to be coming to fulfillment, I will share my passion and love for music with my children and Holly. I can only hope and dream that they will be as passionate about music as Holly and I are, and that they will strive to excel in music. So do your kids play any instruments, or do you want them to if they currently don't? Do you have a particular passion for music or play an instrument yourself?