This is the phrase I 'woke up' to yesterday (Father's Day). Actually I wasn't really sleeping but rather resting my eyes. Mom was nice enough to let Audrey and I sleep in while she was up with Josh. Well, actually Audrey did the sleeping in as I was awake while she kept nuzzling up against me pushing me further and further off the bed until I basically had half my body dangling from bed. It was still fun to cuddle with her as she slept.

Note: Read the blog disclaimer from the main blog page - it refers directly about this post.

Anyway, I could hear Mom and Josh banging away out in the kitchen making breakfeast (french toast). I could hear the collaboration going on when it came time to use the mixer.

Mom: "OK Josh, turn it on a little bit."

Josh: "TURN ON!!" The mixer roars to full speed.

"No Josh, not that much, please turn it down a little bit." I'm envisioning egg yolks flying all over the kitchen, lol. Then the blender turns off. "Can you turn it on a little bit Josh?"

"TURN ON!!!" Again, the mixer roars to full speed, but this time Mom just deals with it and quickly mixes the batter. They continued banging away in the kitchen and after 30-40 minutes, I heard Josh heading for the door to 'wake me up', so I closed my eyes and waited.

Josh: "Daddy, wake up! Wake up Daddy." Josh was now at the side of my bed but my back was to him. "'Appy Father's Day Daddy." Josh then proceeded to utter a slew of 'Thank you Daddy'. For those of you who haven't seen Josh in a while, he 'usually' gets his Thank You's/Your Welcome's mixed up. Even though this time, neither were 'really' appropriate. What is was doing was unwrapping my present (pulling tissue out of bag) and saying thank you for each piece he put on the bed. He was going pretty quick and I barely turned around in time to see him lay the actually present on the bed and give his serious thank you with the 'confirming' nod of the head. Whenever Josh is really serious, he punctuates his statements with a 'Slingblade' nod or 'yep'. Seeing my glasses sitting on night stand, he also quickly grabbed those and handed them to me with a 'Thank You' so I could see.

I knew Mom, Josh and Audrey were working on a 'Special Project' all week, and Josh was so proud to give it to me. They were 'decor plates' made at Paint Your Plate in Rochester and had Audrey's foot print and Josh's hand print on two small plates. They will fit perfectly with the decor of the office in our house that we just finished. Josh especially thought it was funny when they put paint all over Audrey's foot.

So this was the start of Father's Day and we had quite a busy day. We went to a park in the morning, fed the geese in the afternoon, went on a peddle boat ride, and finished off with a park visit to Silver Lake. Of course the whole time Josh was entertaining us with his one line quips. I thought I put a few of my favorite Josh'isms here:

• What's that way over there? - It's pretty entertaining, but right now Josh is all about 'learning'. He is constantly asking 'What's that?' as he points off into the wild blue yonder? The problem is, this kid always points off into the direction of a ton of things as we are driving by at 40mph. So I'm probably confusing him by giving him false information all the time...oops :) It is fun though when you realize that Josh thinks Mom and/or Dad are 'all knowing beings' that can answer any question he might have. Thankfully, right now the question is only 'What's that?'...I can only imagine what is coming.
• 'Da bigger! (always 'frantic' lol) - As Mom has said in previous posts, Josh is all boy now - well I could think of a few feminine moments but I'll leave those out ;) He is obsessed with trucks, bucket loaders, bobcats, etc. He spots bobcats a mile away putting an Eagle's eyesight to shame. If he's not spotting them, he's memorized where they all are in Rochester and will say 'Bobcat coming up'...its pretty funny watching him in rear view mirror as we drive. He's sitting back there constantly scanning back and forth making 'statements' and just calmly moving on to his next item of interest. It's almost as if he's having a conversation with himself. Note, 'Da Bigger' is translated 'The Digger' or 'Dump Digger' and just refers to the big catapillers with a scoop in front (I'm not up on machinery names - sorry).
• Heard that! - We've created a monster! Josh is a self proclaimed fart monster OMG. It was so funny in the beginning (hell it's still funny we are just trying not to encourage it by laughing) that Mom and Dad always laughed it off. Josh the majority of the time, stakes his claim with self-righteous 'Josh BOMBED!' statement. But every once in a while, he'd slip one out and would be either too concentrated on another task or didn't know anyone was around to proclaim his manhood too. If I was around, I'd joke, 'I heard that!' and Josh would start laughing and then of course declare his bomb. So now, instead of telling anyone that will listen that he bombed he laughs as he says 'I heard that'. His latest was last night at Perkins. He let loose just as someone was walking in the resturaunt and of course had to tell them 'I heard that', luckily they didn't know what he was talking about. What's worse, is we can see Josh trying to fart, especially in the bath tub. He loves the bubbles...but hey, who doesn't? ;)
• Sun is hiding, yep! - This is a new one recently. Whenever the sun is setting, just has his little conversation with himself anouncing that the sun is hiding.
• Huh?! - Josh's response to any question he doesn't know or couldn't hear is 'Huh?'. I'd kind of make fun of him because it wasn't always the correct response (i.e. if he couldn't hear, instead of saying 'What?', he'd grunt 'Huh?!'). Anyway, I'd start making fun of him by repeating it because it was kind of cute. Now, every night when I'm putting him to bed (or naptime if I'm home) he'll do his 'Huh?!' and I give him one back and he just starts dying of laughter. I don't know why he thinks it is funny, but it's pretty fun. Also, as I walk away from his room down the hallway, he keep the 'banter' going back and forth as long as he can (until I start to walk upstairs).
• Yep, mmm hmmm. - The all time best :) Of course Josh has several one liners that crack us up, but I don't have time to write them all (although at times I wish I had video of them all to show to him at a later date), this one remains at the top of the list. It's so funny watching Josh talk to us and himself at the same time lol, giving his consenting 'Yeps' behind his and/or our statements. The other day I put him down for bed and he sat there and talked to himself and his 'Yep alter ego' for about 30 minutes. Blanky...yep! Cover up...yep, mm hmm! Tractor book...yep Drawer broken...yep Sun hiding, mmm hmm. Lol, that goofy bastard makes me laugh every day.

So anyway, yesterday was a great day. I'll be posting up pictures and movies either tonight or tomorrow. It's amazing what kids do to you (any parents reading know this), but you realize just how much your parents loved you. The number of smiles Josh and Audrey bring to my face each day is amazing and to realize how much they love/need you is a great feeling. I plan to soak it up for as long as it will last - I wish teenage years would never come ;) Both of them are great kids and being raise by an exceptional Mom, making Josh one of the most caring big brothers I've ever seen (we'll see if he remembers what he's learned when Audrey is taking toys and pestering him) and also one of the best behaved kids around.

I love being a father and husband and each day, those two roles are very satisfying and drive me to be a better person.

As anyone who has kids know, some days are longer than others - well, yesterday was definitely LONG. It started out a bit earlier than usual - 7ish (note: both Josh and Audrey sleep till 8:30 or so usually). I have been extra tired these days as well. Audrey has been waking up 2-3 times a night for about a month now - I think she's working on cutting some teeth. And, Terry and I have gotten addicted to the "LOST" series and have been staying up way to late these days. Every night, midnight comes around and we are starting another episode because we are dying to see what happens next. Well, I was counting on my afternoon nap yesterday and well, it never happened - READ ON.

After breakfast, we went to Oxbow zoo to visit and feed the animals. We were having fun until Audrey started to fuss - well then it was a chain reaction and Josh started to fuss. The worst part is that I left my baby carrier at a party this past weekend, so my hands were tied with just Audrey. Josh was getting more ticked by the moment. His "listening ears" were definitely turned off and he miserably chanted "deuce (juice) cup" and "(s)nacks". Well, I forgot the diaper bag in the car so I trekked back to the car holding two tired and hungry kiddos.

Then I had a brilliant idea (at least I thought) - a Picnic lunch! Everyone (particularly Josh) thought that was a great idea. Well, a picnic can get really messy, and of course today it did. Between, Gogurt and breast-milk all down my shirt, I think I won the messy award. After our tummies were full, we decided to pack up and head home. Unfornuately, by that time, everyone was over-tired - so the big question remained "was the ride home was going to be really quiet or really loud?" Today it was of course - REALLY LOUD! But, after all the tired tears, Josh still was able to muster up a "cuppa minutes outside, mama?" once we approached our driveway. I, tired and cranky, replied "cuppa minutes in bed Joshua." Thank goodness, when we got home, Terry was on his lunch-break. I was feeling much better about things with another set of hands. The craziness subsided for a little while, but then all hell broke loose again. Joshua and Audrey decided to go on a NAP-STRIKE! So, the over-tired and cranky saga continued the rest of the day. Lots of tears and tantrums - It was UGLY to say the least!!

PARENTS: The lesson of this story is "Hungry or tired kiddos equals disaster. So, when out and about with two toddlers, as soon as one starts to fuss - pack up and retreat right away! You'll regret it if you don't."

At the end of each day though, regardless of how it goes, I still love my children and my husband dearly and am so thankful they came into my life. You guys are my world!

Joshua, Audrey, and I spent last week up at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Josh constantly reminds me that "gampa and gamma" have a "red house." I think it's so cute that he remembers that because we don't get up there too often. He knows all of his colors now (even silver - Uncle Tom has a silver van), and now we are working on shapes. As Terry mentioned, Josh calls Grandpa and Grandma's van the "Red hot van" for a very entertaining reason. When we were making the trip back to Morris, the air conditioning went out - note it was 96 degrees outside of the van and a 100+ inside the van. We all were praying that the AC to kick back in - but it didn't. Uncle Paul came to the rescue. He lives in St. Cloud and so nicely lent us his car for the remainder of the trip. Thank goodness for Uncle Paul!

Another big excitement at Grandma's was "Gampa's tractor lawn mower". Overall, it was a very fun week - visits with the Great grandparents, a trip to the zoo, and many park dates. Audrey, as usual, was up for anything - she is such a good little sister. She is getting so strong these days and is proud as a peacock when she's perched up on someone's lap or jumping in the "jumperoo."

On Saturday it was Grandma's 55th birthday. Joshua now can recite the entire "Happy Birthday" tune with his serious "baritone" voice. It cracks me up! Sunday we made the trip home and Joshua and Audrey were so excited to be reunited with all their old toys - they were like brand new to them! This week, we are back in our old routine of breakfast, morning play dates, lunchtime, naptime, playtime, dinnertime, and finally bedtime. (WHEWW!) Everyday is a busy day at the Aney house.

So Josh is learning more and more phrases as he gets older but lately, but he has two favorites (ours too). The first being, 'X cuppa minutes' (translated X a couple of minutes) where you can substitute X with anything he wants to do...play, go upstairs, walk, whatever. It is the 'best' when we are getting home from an errand in the car and it is bath time (reminder for all you that Josh has probably already spent several hours outside playing with Mom and Audrey), and Josh gives Mom and Dad the guilt treatment by saying 'play cuppa minutes' in his most pathetic, dramatic, sad voice as if we've had him chained up in the basement for hours on end ala Sloth. When 'cuppa minutes' fails, he busts out the 'one minute' line a few times. It's amazing how fast he (kids) catch on. Its fun watching him learn new phrases and words every day.

So his other favorite is 'Gooooood listening Daddy'...in his most sincere voice. The ironic part about it is he always says it when we was being 'bad'. Ann must be complimenting Josh by saying Good Listening Joshua when he does something good. Only problem is Josh only says it after he was 'scolded' lol. For instance, tonight while I was reading him his books for bedtime, he was only getting one more book that we had already picked out. But he was getting a bit fussy and decided he was going to whine about wanting a different book. I told him to get the one we agreed on (the one that didn't have 50 pages) but he continued to whine.

"You get the tractor book or no book at all"

"Other one Daddy"

"Joshua, bring the tractor book or else you are going to bed with no books", in a bit sterner voice.

"White book, white book!", pointing to the book he wasn't supposed to have.

Then just to make a point I said in a very stern voice, "OK Josh, go to bed now, you are not getting any book," and I started to get up as if he was going to bed. Of course Joshua now turned into Ismail and starts sprinting towards me with his hands up signaling that I can't get up and conceding,

"Tractor book, tractor book!" So I lift him back up on my lap to read and he gets his face about two inches from mine and says in his sincere voice, "Gooood listening Daddy," as if he was clueing me in on a fact that I might have missed. I had to do all I could to hold in my laughter. I just responded with,

"Thank you Joshua."

Last week, Dad had the entire week to himself. He got a few web updates done, but not as many as I wanted. I got the week to myself because Ann, Josh, and Audrey went up to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the week after Audrey's Baptism (5/28/2006). The trip started out very rocky. You'll have to post some comments to this post asking Ann to explain why Josh repeatedly says 'Red Hot Van' all the time when pointing at Grandpa's van. Anyway, I kept myself busy with work work, did a little website maintenance on the side, and even went to a party (Eric Butorac was in the States for a break from tennis tournaments and his family had a get together) where I stayed out too late and partied a 'bit' too hard.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know what was updated.

• Added some new movies from 'older' footage we had on camcorder. I didn't get all of the movies I wanted but I plan to do one every other night or so and get all of the 'viewable' movies out there so anyone interested (mostly family) can watch.
• Added the 'Baptism' picture gallery. As I mentioned, it was Audrey's baptism (read Ann's blog Family Fun for more info on the baptism) and I put up a bunch of pictures from the weekend as almost all the Hennen's came down for the big event.
• When Ann gets back from Morris, I'll be putting up a 'Week at Grandma's House' picture gallery too. So that should be out a few days after this post.