My Latest Poem

Courage of a Man

How do you measure the courage of a man?
Could it be by looking at his nail-scarred hand?

Or maybe the soldier who goes off to war
Not quite sure what he’s fighting for.

Is it the officer who proudly patrols our street
Never knowing exactly who he may meet?

What about the men who work deep in the mine
Only able to see where their lights shine?

Could it be the firemen who battle the blaze
And seldom receive any praise?

Maybe it’s the man who faces cancer head on
Not knowing if he’ll live to see another dawn.

Is it the man who serves the Lord
While knowing many will not seek His rewards?

The man who faces his own fears each day
Should kneel on his knees and courageously pray.


© Shane Hawk 2006

More of my poetry can be found on my poetry site.

Bubby is a "Terrific Kid!"

This morning Bubby was honored as a "Terrific Kid" during an assembly at his school. Only five children from each class are given this recognition for the entire school year. Their fellow students nominate and vote for those they feel qualify. Our local Kiwanis Club sponsors this program and presented each recipient with a T-shirt, car window sticker and certificate. Terrific is an acronym meaning:

Thoughtful
Enthusiastic
Respectful
Responsible
Inclusive
Friendly
Inquisitive
Capable

Needless to say, Garrett was quite proud of himself as were his dad and I. Of course we always knew he was terrific! Way to go, Garrett.

A joke from our five year old

This comes to you courtesy of Tater Tot. "What is the baby's favorite constellation?" (just pretend you hear the JEOPARDY music playing here.............) Give up already? "The Big Diaper!"

Happy Birth-tine Day!

This year we celebrated Valentine's day a little differently...we had a belated birthday party for my mom who turned 63. Her b-day is actually Feb. 5 but she was somewhere between the east and west coast traveling on that day. I made a nice dinner of spaghetti (with homemade sauce), garlic bread and salad. After we'd eaten, the boys and I made our grand entrance with the cake, candles, song and all. She was pleasantly surprised. Happy belated "Birth-tine Day, Gee!"

36?? Wishful thinking!

What is a Mom really worth?

**This post is dedicated to you fellow SAHM's ("stay-at-home-mom's" for you lay people).

Have you ever stopped to just think what all your "job" entails? I mean really...if you're like me, you provide the following services on any given day: chef, chauffeur, housekeeper, nurse, teacher, hair stylist, CEO, school volunteer, etc. There's a site, salary.com, that has actually taken into account the numerous jobs we perform on a daily basis and calculated what we should be paid for our services in "the real world."

(Click on picture to make it larger)

Considering we are on the job 24/7, 365 days a year and get no sick days, personal days, or bonuses, I think $131,471 a year is adequate. Don't you? Since we all know that's not going to actually happen I guess we'll just have to settle for the pay our mothers and grandmothers received.....satisfaction. Being fortunate enough to share every day with our children and helping to shape them into the adults they will eventually become is pay enough. I will be the first to admit that I don't view every day as a SAHM as a blessing (we all have our breaking points, right?), but the majority of them I do. I am truly thankful that I'm able to be at home to nurse their illnesses, volunteer at school, bake cookies for countless school activities, and wait at the bus stop for them at the end of a long school day. I've been a SAHM for 8 1/2 years and have enjoyed almost every day of it. When this September rolls around and our youngest heads off to kindergarten, I will enter a new season of motherhood I suppose. I'll have 6 1/2 hours a day, Monday - Friday, to myself. What ever will I do? Oh yeah, I know...laundry, clean house, grocery shop...the fun stuff that keeps our family going. Cheers to my fellow SAHM's!

Four things every SAHM needs to know.

Fred, Barney and...Winston?

I was shocked to see a snipet of this 1961 TV commercial today on VH1. I had to check into it and see the whole thing. Who knew Fred and Barney preferred Winston? Makes sense though since Winston was the sponsor of the cartoon in those days. Boy, we've come a long way (thank goodness).

To watch the commercial in its entirety go to metacafe.com.

Could you become a U.S. Citizen?

Okay, I'm no history buff, but I thought I could at least pass a portion of the test that is required to become a U.S. citizen.....WRONG! I only got 6 out of 10 correct. I would have failed! That is so sad. I hope I'm not the only one. Follow the link below (courtesy of blogthings.com) and find out how well you would do. Let me know using the "comments" link at the bottom of this post.

You Failed the US Citizenship Test

Oops, you only got 6 out of 10 right!

Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

Upward Basketball Banquet

Last night the boys attended their Upward Basketball Awards Banquet. It was decorated in this year's colors, purple and gold. We had a yummy meal of salad, baked spaghetti and dessert. While eating we enjoyed a highlight video of the entire season, which we also purchased of course.

Aren't they adorable? Believe me, they're faking their excitement about hugging each other.

Payton and Coach Stiles.

Garrett and Coach Smith

All of the kids really enjoyed the ventriloquist (as well as the parents). At the end they received their "award"...an Upward basketball ("way cool" Payton said) and an Upward bracelet. Since Upward doesn't give trophies, like last year, I purchased one for each of them. They hated to see the season end, as did we. Although I will be happy to sleep in on Saturdays since there won't be any 9:00 a.m. games for a while!

My Feelings

by: Tater Tot
February 2006

"I feel silly when I make my brother laugh"

"I feel mad when my daddy gives me

spankings and it hurts a lot"

"I feel sad when I can't jump on my trampoline"

"I feel happy when I'm getting a 4-wheeler at Toys-R-Us"

"I feel scared when my mom turns my lights off"

USA Today article...Randy McCloy

Fog lifts for Sago Mine survivor
By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Randy McCloy, like other coal miners trapped in the Sago Mine last month, wrote a goodbye note to his family.

It begins with his full name, written crisply atop a small piece of paper — "Randal L. McCloy Jr." — followed by a series of heart-wrenching farewells to his wife, Anna, and their two small children. "Anna, I love you so much. To my son, trust in the Lord. To my daughter, stay sweet."

The remainder of this article can be read at USAtoday.com.

Protect Your Child

A friend passed this link along to me and I wanted to pass this valuable resource along to you. When you go to this site, enter your street address and it will show you a picture and the address of any registered sex offender living in your area. It will also tell you what crime they committed. I was shocked when I typed in our address. There were more than I would have ever dreamed of.

Just TALK to me

Darrin handed this to me today and just snickered. Is he trying to tell me something? What??

Two by Two

In the past four days we have been to the pediatrician's office two times. First it was for Bubby. Diagnosis: right ear infection and pink eye. He missed two days of school. Now, not to be left out, it's Tater's turn. Diagnosis: right ear infection and croup. Croup? This is our first experience with this particular ailment. He's to be out of school for five days. Bubby is feeling better and trying his best to get caught up on the mountain of work he missed at school. Tater isn't getting much sleep at night as that is when his cough is really bad. Week before last it was out dogs, Bo and Chase, that were sick and on meds. Seems like whatever it is in the water is taking it's toll on our household two at a time. I sure hope Darrin and I aren't next. We'll just stick to Coke and stay away from water as a precaution.

Congrats Steelers!

Okay, I am not a huge football fan...not even a fan really. But, this video caught my attention. Dedication to (almost) anything is to be admired I think. So, I bring to you "It's Not About the Game."

Open wide boys!

Yesterday it was time for the boy's annual visit to the dentist. They love to go....just for the waiting room. I must admit, it's pretty cool as far as kid's standards go. They have train tables, a video game center, a loft with built in tv, etc. Once we were able to drag them away from the fun stuff, they both got their teeth cleaned, x-rays taken, the works.


They loved watching "Finding Nemo" on the ceiling mounted tv screen while they were being worked on. Now how many times have you ever heard a child ask to go back to the dentist? Of course we're not in such a big hurry...that one visit set us back almost $400.00 . I guess someone has to pay for all the cool stuff, huh?

Last night we were off to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. It's nice to just have to travel all of five minutes to get downtown to the civic center. Anyway...we got there an hour before the show began (as they suggest) to meet and greet the clowns and join in on a little pre-show fun. The show actually started at 7:30. The boys had a great time but were sooo tired by the time we got out at 9:30, which is 30 minutes past their bed time. But...it was the circus for Pete's sake. They only come to town once a year so it was worth it. They have done away with the 3 rings this year and there's only one big ring. We all liked the old way better. They also had a little story line that ran throughout the entire show which was kind of interesting. Payton was bored and ready to go....until they brought out the motorcycles. That's right up his alley. Of course Garrett enjoyed in from beginning to end. On the way home he said maybe he'd be a clown when he grew up. I told him that was really possible and might just suit him to a T. I told him there was actually a clown college he could go to. He said, "wait, how long does that take?" Since he's already informed us that he's NOT going to college (yes, he's only 8), I assured him that it was probably less than a year. He was all for that and is set in his career path now! We'll see I guess.... As always, for more pics visit flickr.

Monster Jam

Tater got tickets for "Monster Jam" in his stocking at Christmas time. He was so excited when the time to go finally came! They boys favorite is the "Grave Digger."
It was an extremely loud, fast, testosterone filled two hour but the boys (and even mom and dad) really enjoyed it. Tater was so excited that he could hardly contain himself. He smiled, laughed and jumped up and down the entire time.
After the show the boys posed for some pictures with their favorite monster truck of all. Then, daddy stood in line with them to get all of the driver's autographs. The evening was a hit of astronomical proportions! You can check out more pictures at flickr.

Chuck E. Cheese

This past Sunday we took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese. There was no reason really, just for a little excitement I guess. We usually only take them on their birthdays so they were really surprised when we pulled in the parking lot. Luckily we did have a coupon which included 100 tokens with the price. It's nice because all rides and games are one token each. Needless to say, they had a blast. They changed things around a bit since our last visit and even added a few new games. After 2 1/2 hours, we left with about 25 tokens to use next time. They accumulated a ton of tickets which they redeemed for one bag of cotton candy and a teeny tiny plastic lizard. But, they were happy!