Category: Dan Gould

Yesterday, was a guys day! Stephanie had work, a hair cut, dinner with a friend, and coffee/book review gathering discussing the book they are reading. Thus, it left the boys and I here all alone. It was fun, we went to the pool, ate ramen noodle, watched TV, and then went to sleep.

The pool was awesome, we went right around 4:30ish, so there weren’t a lot of people there. However, I did get hit on by another mother. As I was throwing a football back and forth with Josiah and pushing Jackson in his Crab, a lady with probably a 1 and a half year old came right up to me to talk.  She even got in the water, talking about how her daughter wanted to come see the baby (Jackson). As she was talking, she commented on Jackson eyes. I was able to say that He got the blue eyes from his mommy. The lady didn’t stay much longer after that.

Maybe I am blowing it out of proportion, but I have never gotten in cold water, the water in the pool is still pretty cold, went up to a complete stranger and started talking. It made me wish my wife was there with us. When she is gone it’s just not the same!

Today was a hard day for our 4 year old. It was the last day of school for summer. There will be one day that he can’t wait for summer but today wasn’t one of them. He had to say bye to his two other Super Hero friends that have been in his class all year. He has learned so much from his teachers and we are so thankful for what he is learning.

Tonight as I was grilling some BBQ pork steak, Josiah was swinging on his swing singing as loud as he could a song he learned at school. “The B-I-E-L-E, yes thats the book for me, I stand alone on the word of God, the B-I-E-L-E.” He gets his poor spelling from his dad. One of these days he will spell it right, but until then it sure is cute hearing him sing this without shame!

Here are some pics from today. We swung, ate, and then hit the pool. Josiah is getting more confident in the water now that he has a life jacket vs arm floaties.

Today I joined the family for lunch at pei wei, my wife’s favorite asian food.  From there I got tricked to spending the rest of the afternoon at McKinney Trade Days.  Brings to life the saying, One mans junk is an other mans treasure.  Not all spots were like that.  Some of them had some things worth buying.  The highlight for me was watching Josiah ride a horse for the first time.  He had a blast and wasn’t scared.  Probably helped that there was a little girl on a horse already.

After all this,we went home and got out Jackson Birthday present and let the boys play with it . . .

They had a good time, got wet, and realized the water was cold.  After playing for a little while Jackson went in and Joe changed, just to come back out get get even more wet . . .

I guess thats bond to happen when they play with a water table.  He had a blast though and started running through the hose also.  Great way to end an 85 degree day.

Tomorrow we will celebrate Jacksons 1st birthday.  He had a cupcake on his actual birthday which was the 13th.  Here is what was left of the cupcake with yellow icing.

I am sure tomorrow will look the same!

Josiah got a package from Nanna a couple of days ago. Every-once in awhile she will send him a care package. This time it had six-lets and clothes inside. This afternoon, Josiah went to change into some shorts, so i thought. But instead of shorts, he put on one of his new outfits. As I walked into his room this is what he told me, “This outfit make me look soooooo good!” Here is a pic of his new outfit that makes him sooooo look good. Thank you Nanna!!!

Today was the second part of Josiah’s b-day. He loves Thomas the Train, and today was his special day to see Thomas in person, It was awesome! He got to see Sir Topham Hat, Thomas the Train, the Conductors, watch a Magician, get a tattoo, jump in a bounce house, ride in one of Thomas’s Coaches as Thomas pulled the train, as well as drive a little train by himself. The day was great, both Jackson and Josiah were pretty good and the excitement was priceless. We had a blast as a family. Josiah was in Thomas Heaven . . . especially when he was the first one to be able to load the the train after the conductor shouted, “All aboard!!!”

What a day! My wife described it as a Star Wars convention for kids. I thought that was pretty funny . . . when you think about it, that isn’t far from the truth. Anyways, we had a great time and if a day with Thomas is going to be in your area and you have a Thomas Fan, we would encourage you to check it out. Here are some pictures from today.

I don’t understand our boys! Josiah the oldest who is now 4 threw a fit when we didn’t let him get in the pack and play with his 10 month old brother Jackson. While Joe was crying on the outside to get in, Jackson was crying from the inside of the pack and play to get out . . . So we did what any good parent would do . . . COMPROMISE! Here’s what happened next . . .

Yesterday the weather was awesome here in Texas. It was a little too windy for a bike ride so we took a walk and pulled the boys in a wagon. It was a good time and they both actually did really well sitting together for the adventure. Fun Times!

Today, I joined my 3 year old (for only one more week) Josiah at his school for dad and donuts. It was fun seeing his excitement. As we ate the donuts there were two things that he had made for me. It was a fact sheet about me form his perspective, and then a poem “Daddy’s Footprints” with his footprints on it! Here is how Josiah answered these questions/statements:

My Daddy’s name is: DANNY
He is 2 MONTHS old.
My Daddy’s favorite sport is: FOOTBALL
He likes to eat: SANDWICHES
My dad spends most of his time WORKING ON THE COMPUTER
When we are together, I like to PLAY TRAINS

It is interesting to hear his point of view, obviously some of them are way off but others hit close to home. Kid’s are kids for only a short period of time. One-day he will grow up to be a teenager then an adult. I want to learn how to enjoy each phase of life with him so he know that his Dad and Mom ALWAYS cared more about him and our family before anything else!

Daddy’s Footprints

“Walk a little slower, Daddy,”
said a little child so small.
“I’m following your footsteps,
and I don’t want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast,
Sometimes they’re hard to see;
So walk a little slower, Daddy,
For you are leading me.

Someday when I’m all grown up;
You’re what I want to be;
Then I will have a little child
Who’ll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right,
And know that I was true;
So, walk a little slower, Daddy,
For I must follow you!”

There is a great responsibility in being a Dad. Sometimes easily overlooked, but every second we are modeling what it means to be a Man, Father, Husband, Friend, and most importantly a Christian. When we do these things we develop and model character, trust, integrity, love, patients, a humble spirit . . . and the list goes on and on and on. I want to take advantage of every second, don’t you?

Father help me be more like you, because he wants to be more like me!

Its been a long, but fun day with the family. It all started with one of my sons friends b-day party. Hayden turned three today and had a party at Going Bonkers. What a fun place!!! Josiah and I played in all the ropes/nets and slides together. It’s a lot easier on the knees than the tubes and tunnel stuff typically at a fast food places play place. It was so much fun! However, after watching the staff rush the party through I don’t know if I would pay to have a birthday party there. It seemed like we would just get done with one thing and we had to move on to the next. But this was just the beginning of out long day!

Next we went to one of my favorite places Steak N Shake. It was the usual good food. But the best part came when Josiah (3) asked if he could go pay. So I gave him some money and the ticket and he went to the counter and paid. You could tell he felt so grown up!!! As he sat on the stool he told the manager that he was ready, then he looked to my wife and I who were watching him from our table and winked at us. Where he gets this stuff is beyond me, but it was so awesome to see him be so proud of himself!

After Lunch we went to the Lewisville Mall (also known as the vista ridge mall). Not that we needed anything, we simply went to hang out and walk of all the good Steak N Shake we ate. Walked the whole mall, bought one pair of shoes that would send my wife on a hunt for shoes that would fill the rest of our day. After we left the mall we had to go to DSW, Famous Footwear, Payless Shoesource and the Shoe Pavilion, all to find out that non of these places had her size in the shoes that she wanted. After Josiah cried through the whole last store we took him to Toys’R’Us. He loved it. AND we actually walked out of there with two boys not crying and no toys. Suprise.

We ended the night at Ihop for dinner, all to remind ourselves that the time changes tonight. Fun day, alot of memories, tiered boys and feet! We are so blessed!!!!

Yesterday, 65 . . . Today, 30 and snow. Some of the biggest snowflakes I have ever seen . . . and I have seen a lot of snow!