Sheppard Kiddos

Mad Cow disease has been eradicated

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:20:00 +0000

Neither of the kids have been beef eaters. Once in a while Addison has ate seasoned taco meat though. Just a few days ago Bryson decided he liked beef fajita meat. It seems the kitchen island Kim prepares food on is a food fantasy island for Bryson. There are many things he'll eat at the island - mainly green veggies Kim has chopped - but I'll be damned if he will eat it 5 minutes later on his plate at the table. Well lo and behold he still liked at the table too. He even told us how much he liked it.

Now for awhile I theorized that Kim had subjected him to some old Oprah reruns when she went to Amarillo and sabotaged the beef industry.

Speaking of old times, I hated steaks as a young 'un. They were tough and you needed 5 stomachs to digest daddy's steaks. Maybe those steaks contributed to my TMJ condition. Who knows. Also we didn't have fajitas in Bangs, Texas growing up. Fajitas would have been the perfect red meat introduction to my young life. I would likely be 6 feet tall if I would have appreciated beef. I would have been able to throw a pass over my offensive line too.

I'm glad Bryson will grow up without the emtional scars I developed due to the lack of fajita meat. Here's to hoping he never stops liking beef fajitas! Watching my son eat chicken and fries at a Mexican food restaurant embarrasses Dad.

Bottled soda pop

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:44:00 +0000

Nothing like capturing Mr. B's rookie mistake when drinking out of a 12 oz long neck bottle. Remember when it would somehow move into your nose from your mouth? At least its not coke as it would burn your nose hairs off. Probably why cocaine was nicknamed coke!

Sports activity day

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:14:00 +0000

After noticing how much fun the kids had at Cooper Meyer's birthday party playing putt putt golf on a father-made (Jeff Meyer) backyard course, we journeyed over to Celebration Station in OKC. They had an easy-level course which actually was perfect for them. After getting Bryson to understand how to tee-off properly (grip, stance, sweet spot on putter head) it took a lot longer to get him to wait for the ball to stop and to stop playing hockey with it. He seemed very comfortable as a rightie but I could not really figure out what side Addison was comfortable with. She actually kept wanting to be on top of the direction hockey-style instead of from the side. All in all it was very fun for all.

I could not resist the batting cages afterwards. I've noticed Bryson paying much more attention to baseball on TV - especially since I was very engaged with the Rangers during the playoffs and WS. Without asking him if he wanted to hit the ball, he immediately told me he wanted to. Unfortunately the slow pitch machine was not working and after I took 40 swings, I'm glad I didn't let him try. However, as soon as I walked into the cage, he immediately sneaks in. He wanted some action. I was betting the whole time he would show interest. He's definitely the type that doesn't want to be pressured into doing anything he doesn't want to do and it has to be his decision.

One other thing about the weekend that I thought was neat. I found the Thriller short movie like video on youtube and showed the kids. The fact that it had dancing had Addison captivated. The movie part was about the only pieces Bryson would watch. Search Thriller Vevo on youtube or within google and you'll find it. She also liked the Bad video. She may be the next Mallory Felz - Bryan Felz's daughter - who loves to put on the Michael Jackson moves as a young girl. She can put on a show.

4yrs old today

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:26:00 +0000

Alan Sheppard
@lsgsolutions
http://Facebook.com/lsgsolutions
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Boy turned girlie?

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:26:00 +0000

Addison is trying to convert Bryson to the girlie side. I walk outside right after she's painted her lip gloss on his lips and more.

Boy stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:22:00 +0000

This was the boy stuff causing Addison's issues. Just a flashlight and a few snakes. What's the fuss?

Girlie stuff and boy stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:51:00 +0000

So I go into the house for a second to get a phone number only to come outside to Addison crying saying I don't want boy stuff. I don't like snakes ... referring to Bryson stuffing his things into the storage compartment of the tricycle. I need girlie stuff. Then tells me to go get her girlie stuff. After negotiating this is what she comes back with.

IMG00461-20101107-1251.jpg

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:54:00 +0000

A Sunday drive. Fill 'er up!

Yakety Yak, don't talk ...

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 01:29:00 +0000

Nice. We've entered the backtalking phase. Kim is lucky recipient. Addison in naughty corner . Bryson starts laughing after seeing addison cry in corner. For the first time daddy has to say "It's not funny". The laugh at sibling in trouble phase has begun. Neither end anytime soon.
Alan Sheppard-LSG Solutions

Addison has peanut envy

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:49:00 +0000

I really wanted to title this as penis envy. As of this morning addison has now told me she wants to stand up when it is time to potty. You see ... Bryson commonly is asked "Do you want to stand up or sit down?". Maybe this is the beginning of another pro-ERA movement.

Penis v. Peanut
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Months ago my son tells me "I have penis", daddy have penis and addison have penis. Niiiiice. This is not going to get you a date dude. Maybe sloppy seconds. Call me conservative but I'm not ready for my kids to be taught the medical terms of their private organs. Even baby A was dropping one of the PG-13 rated private-oriented terms.

After a handful of "penis" shocks thrown at me during diaper change (I won't comment on the duration elapsed over the "few") I had to start replacing the shock word with peanut. It seems to have caught on; however. I have to wonder what is going on in his head after a birthday party recently where peanuts in a shell aka ballpark peanuts were served. And even more wondering when we were sent home with a bucket and we sat outside Sunday for an hour in our chairs shelling and eating peanuts.

As a proud macho father I'm theorizing he's going to love calf fries or lamb fries.

Alan Sheppard-LSG Solutions

7 mos later

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 01:21:00 +0000

What has happened since March? Too much to wait till September to write. Lot's of talking. We are finally - mostly - able to communicate. Bryson doesn't really articulate well when he's upset. What else? Unexpectedly climbing up the big slide with no fear (Bryson) at the park across from Granpa and Granna's this spring. Jumping off the diving board at Nanna's and Big Daddy's. Jumping off the cliffs at Lake Tenkiller (both). Tubing behind the boat (Bryson with Daddy). Addison is demonstrating on a regular basis her need for shoes as a typical woman and sometimes additional needs past normal like her mother. For two weeks in August, Bryson really was so much clearer in his speech and then he went back to the old speech. Weird. I think I need to feed him more of Daddy's cheesy eggs. Swinging the baseball bat correctly - out of the blue - in Sept - with both hands and hitting ball off tee. We hit the tee more than the ball. I'm just glad he finally caught on to the swing action. If he's like me, I may not learn it the first time but I'll take a break a few days or weeks, go back to it and it voila. Addison is all about her music (Songs!). The movies Cars, Bugs Life, Tinkerbell and Snow White are big hits in our household. We stayed with Granna and Granpa for 7-9 days in preparation for next years vacation bible school. We also made Granna reach the point where she was ready for us to go home. The iPad has turned into a great learning tool. Bryson is climbing in and out of his bed and we haven't converted to a regular single bed just yet. He stays in it all night. He was sleeping on the floor in his Thomas train car tent. Then Daddy demonstrated how the tent fits inside the rails/walls of the bed. Talk about super cool. Both jumped into the 50 percentile in size and we re-enrolled in school for the fall with kids our age now.

What hasn't happened? Pedaling the tricycle.

The Blackberry isn't made for this blog post

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 05:08:00 +0000

As we get older day by day in our youth, we seem to just get braver and braver yet it doesn't ever correlate to our so-called smarts. Addison, weeks ago, has decided to become the first of two, relatively (she's a girl as we know), to demonstrate that she can be a rebel and a maverick. Rebels defy rules. Mavericks ... well they do stupid human tricks sometimes. .

Addison, weeks ago (the same weeks referenced above), had decided she doesn't want to sit in the booster chair at the dinner table. Of course she is two and a half now. She'll be dating and driving soon. She already can count to 10 when she feels like impressing herself. Daddy came home weeks ago; yet minutes after she made that decision that rebellious night. Daddy notices Bryson is in his booster chair and daddy thinks ... "This was not Mommy's idea." Fast forward three weeks (without a booster chair). Daddy hasn't made it home as a meeting with a few employees ran late. Everyone starts dinner without Daddy and Daddy doesn't blame them one bit; however, rebels gain confidence and decide to also try the maverick lifestyle. Maybe Bumper had some nostalgic channel on that day because Addision decided to stand up straight in the dinette chair and take the nestea plunge on the ceramic tile floor. That is going to leave a mark. Per Kim, she lost consciousness, she was shaken and she finally came to with a loud cry. Seconds seemed like minutes. It didn't take but a few minutes for a 2/3rds size golf ball knot to develop on the lower back of the skull. It made the hair push out. Kim loads up the kids and takes off. Kim calls me back. Addison is no longer crying yet solemn and Kim said she looks tired. Daddy requests Mommy to do two things at once. Talk to Addison and drive. Right now it appears Mommy is mad at Dadda. That sounds like a true - false perception question but you know what I mean. Dadda hears Addison's voice and she starts the chatty kathy role after Kim mentions Nana and Big Daddy. Whew! We meet at the After Hours Minor ER and they tell me go to Major ER. You need a CT scan. Yep, you are right, doc. Off to Mercy Hospital where they were born 2.5 years ago. Three hours later we leave with a negative (that is known as a fine and dandy report in Bangs, TX) report saying all looks fine. She actually did everything the doctor asked her to do such as say Aaahhhh and follow the light on the instrument they stick in your ears, nose, mouth and maybe other holes (I was passed out on the last colonoscopy). Meanwhile Bryson made some new friends and didn't want to leave the waiting area. Made it home about 11:30pm. We got to take turns waking her every two hours throughout the night. She had no problem waking this morning at 8:30 and chatting. Big relief for Dadda that morning. Mommy is wore slick and I'm calling it a real night myself - 24 hours later.

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Footnotes:
1. The summer of 2008 where Daddy back flipped off the 2nd highest cliff at Lake Tenkiller and did an incomplete 540.

Catching up

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Lots of new pics at click here My battery went dead before the game started. No pun intended on something going dead relating to the game.

Kids are picking up words like Bounty paper towels. Addison continue to speak in full sentences yet in her own language. She can even tell stories and express her emotions and concerns in her own language. Rosetta has yet to publish this language. It is a derivative of Kim speaking when she's in a hurry or hyped up. I still think my wife was raised by a Vietnamese nanny but as she's gotten older, it is easier to understand. Speaking of my wife, our kids think it is normal to walk on their toes when barefooted!

The kids finished their first semester of half day school 2x/week. That started back up for the current winter/spring semester and we've added a music class on Tuesday morning. We are also doing gymnastics each Wednesday after work. I mention after work ... it is a workout for the parents too. Kim and showed up in work clothes one day and about lost 5 lbs of water weight in that hot gym. Kids are learning to walk on a beam, jump (that has yet to be closely mastered), hand stands up against pads, trampoline, etc. Their favorite is sliding into the foam pit. Good upper body work to climb out of that one and Bryson wants no help getting out. He likes the challenge. The trampoline will hopefully help them figure the jumping business ... up and down that is. Bryson's favorite things are the donkey kick because he likes to say hee haw loudly and the headfirst slide down the 45 degree pad. They aren't quite there yet but are enjoying the assisted somersaults downhill and assisted handstands. Bryson's first day, he stared at the girls in leotards jumping over 10 ft in the air. I don't know which part of that combination kept him mesmerized.

Maybe some day my kids can pick up where I left on in the wakeboarding world due to aerial awareness in the gymnastics.

Punishing Kids in Dark Areas - No Concussion Involved

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:54:00 +0000

I just punished my son for not wanting to cooperate. IOW, he was not being a team player. I made an example of him though. I didn't have a trainer do my dirty work for me though. I took care of business directly. I have moved the naughty corner to a dark electrical closet in the house. If this closet isn't doing the trick, we'll switch to the equipment shed aka the garage. This shed does not have a ventilation fan but does have plenty of tropical plans putting out carbon dioxide for his lungs. This form of punishment will not backfire considering I'm the daddy! For those that are in the dark - pun or no pun? - you need to read about the Texas Tech U-Mike Leach-Adam James-Craig James debacle.

New Years Eve Party

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:04:00 +0000

Kim and I are bringing in the New Year after we put the kids down. We will partying in our dreams and probably will be in a state of deep sleep at midnight. I'm sure the annoying noise toys usually heard at the strike of midnight will eventually be ringing in Kim's head in the wee hours of the morning and she'll finally go back to sleep around 5am. I'll hear the commode flush 10 times.
Alan Sheppard-LSG Solutions

Customer Service Training

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:37:00 +0000

I've decided to home school our kids in a unique specialized class ... when they begin their teen yrs. These skills are a lost art not found in todays youthful workforce. It will be called Customer Service 101 then 202, etc. Call me for franchising opportunities of my next business.
Alan Sheppard-LSG Solutions

Finally - since July

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:19:00 +0000

See more at http://picasaweb.google.com/shepuurd

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 03:02:00 +0000

addison and bryson both were diagnosed with RSV. They are in good spirits ... jumping on the bed like monkeys. They are both stuffy with an ugly cough. We missed out on this their first two winter seasons so it is our turn. Insurance paid for the first year of shots since they were preemies. This picture was taken last week before they both got sick.

Miracles never cease

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 02:09:00 +0000

Sometimes pressuring your kids to do things they don't like to do ... such as EAT ... actually works. Bryson just ate meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans. I told him he couldn't watch the Victorias Secret special Tuesday night.

No doesn't always mean NO

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:42:00 +0000

Starting a month ago I began to notice Addison could determine when she was asked a question. Well the consistent and unanimous answer these days to all questions is no. Even when you try to correct her and say Yes, her comeback is No. Just a sign of the times to come.

Miscount

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:33:00 +0000

I was just somewhat conservative on the kids' word count. I think I've heard 20 words in the last hour out of each. They are definitely picking up on more words - especially Addison. With her, there are plenty uninterpreted words too. She can ramble on. Tonight when I came home she rattled off the letter D after the video only said ABC. Last night she pointed at her eye and said "eye" the same time her George Straight Pure Country Heartland kids song had the word 'eyes' in the lyrics. Scary but then again after playing it 100 times ...

Bob and Nicole

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 04:09:00 +0000

What a day. Addison has the biggest meltdown bc she has to leave the
skype call with granna and grandpa in Bangs. It was the first time for
Kim n me to go to an ou game. We really only wanted her to eat lunch.
The kids really like their new baby sitter Nicole. We really need one
for college football season. I never dreamed my income would benefit
OU! And in addition I have to pay state taxes! Back to Nicole ... Her
sec n third time seemed to be much better. The kids were in one
helluva mood the first time. Time to hit the hay. Oh yeah Bob the
Builder is a big hit for Bryson. It's funny to see Addison lose the
attention span b4 Bryson. We have the tool belt and all the tools. Ok
bedtime.

Dancing in the Streets

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:16:00 +0000

A and B got to attend their first Music with Miss Susan class today. Big hit with Bryson. He decided it was a platform to show off his dancing skills. I thought this was to be some sing-a-long class but leave it to him to do his own thing.

Maybe I should start posting to this blog again

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:03:00 +0000

I experience many days I'd love to communicate (actually record) the memories of the kids as they grow up so fast. I just stumbled across a way that is easier to post via email than having to use the blogging software. My blackberry makes this very possible without needing to sit in front of a computer with internet connectivity.

The kids turned two years of age Sept 7. I took off that morning to put their big toys together they did not receive at their early birthday party. They had to go to school that Wednesday morning. It also turned out to be the hottest day we had in the greater OKC metro in over a month and of course, the weather cooled the very next day. Fall practically arrived in OKC in August. It was a cold one Labor Day at the lake. I managed to assemble the new Little Tikes outdoor house and their climbing platform with slide in 2 hurried hours around business phone calls and emails. Blackberry's make the digital world convenient and make it harder to separate from the business. Always cons to pros in life. The house is a big hit. I still need to finish putting in the 3 inch screws. The roof fell off as I dragged it from the garage to outside! I have some great pics of that early afternoon. Bryson has obviously observed enough people fueling their vehicles to immediately figure out what to do with the gas pump hose connected to their house (which has four facades - store, gas station, school and soccer & basketball). He quickly took the Lil Tikes car his cousins got him and stuck the nozzle right in the car's tank inlet!!! I've got that on video. I hate observing these things with one eye closed on the other eye squinting into the lens/viewfinder so I need to watch the video. I also managed to sing happy birthday to the kids when they woke up that morning because somehow that tradition was left out at their birthday party.

Since the birthday Bryson and Addison are crawling in and out of the tub. One night bryson climbed in with his clothes on while the water was running. Their choice of food is getting broader after initially teasing us by eating anything and everything and then to eating only fruit practically. Of course chips and french fries would never be rejected. They are really understanding what we say for routine statements, questions and needs. They might be at 10-20 words apiece. Touchdown, ballball (baseball) and football are three of those words. We didn't practice homerun enough this summer. Choo choo, ju ju (juice), pi (Addison-pillow), shoes, bye bye, snack, water, boat and we can not forget 'smoke bomb'. That was acquired July 4th weekend. No kidding.

Well we'll see how well I can keep the news flowing regarding A & B. One of my blog resolutions was to keep it short and that is hard for me to do but if you see a quick update then realize a quick update is better than no update! Take care.

New Pics

noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sheppard) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:59:00 +0000

I finally got around to creating an album with pictures since their full term date of Nov 13. Life is much different!!!!

New Pics - Click Here