White Trash action figures

I am not kidding. This are actual "white trash" action figures. Something to aspire to live up too.

Happy Birthday Nathan

It's hard to believe that Nathan is turning 10!!! I could say that it seems like just yesterday and in some ways it does but it also seems like forever since we lived in Pensacola, FL. This young man has lived in 7 homes in his young life. We have dragged him all over creation and yet somehow he still has a smile on his face. We love you Nathan.
Opening up cards with eager anticipation

You have to celebrate the local team here.


I had asked Nathan about a month ago what he wanted to do for his birthday. I told him he could have a "friend" party OR we would give him more money as his b-day gift if we just had a small family party. About 5 days ago he informed me he wanted the money. So, since his birthday is on Monday and Chris is flying and won't be home until really late we started the celebration Saturday night. We went to Shoguns Japanese restaurant which he loved. He's a pretty adventureous eater so we're lucky there. Then, Sunday morning he opened up cards and one small gift and then after church he got another small gift.
He has counted up his money and thinks he has enough for 3-4 video games which he's pumped about. I made out like a bandit cause I didn't have to a birthday party. All I have to do is bring cupcakes to school on Monday.

Miscellaneous Mumbo Jumbo

Honor Choir Competition. This was their first one of the year. Nathan never looks very excited but they did a really great job. It was so nice to see 2 other boys from his basketball team were in choir with him. Means that you can be a jock and still enjoy the arts. I have hope that he'll continue to do something to broaden his horizons. Granted the trips to Six Flags in May (for their spring competition) was the big incentive I'm okay with a little bribery to get what I want.
Yeah, they do look a little possessed with those eyes but it was inside a church so terrible lighting. At least for a camera.

Nate is #1. Their last game of the season. We lost but the team really started to come together. Of course, that always happens at the END of the season huh?

Coach had been harping on them to get the rebound. It's nice to see so many white shirts in there trying to get the ball. Too bad their fighting over it as well. Guess you can't have everything in this life huh?

Medieval Times dinner theater

Squire Nathan
You have to be VERY comfortable in your own skin to walk around in these hats. Personally, it didn't bother me at all. I figure I didn't know anyone there and Nathan was having a blast. Why should I care what anyone else thinks. Besides, everyone else looked just as dumb as we did.

I was thinking this might be our new "time-out" chair. You can't see the spikes on the seat or arms but it might finally get my idea across, that I'm right and everyone else is wrong.

Awww, the Valentine's Day couple. So sweet right? Whatever.

Cheering on our Red and Yellow knight. We yelled as loud as we could but he didn't win. Oh well, another day.

Great Wolf Lodge for President's Day Weekend

The Great Wolf Lodge is an Indoor Water Park. It was really fun though there is NO way I would pay regular price. We got the military discount which saved us almost 50%. It still wasn't cheap but something getting out of town is worth almost anything. Our biggest accomplishment for the weekend? We still liked each other by the end of it.

The Lobby Area. The resort is very kid friendly. They had story time every evening where your encouraged to wear your Pjs. Nathan would do it but I did. After several hours of chlorine fun I was excited to get my jammies.

Waste Not, Want Not

Now, I know that Bossier City isn't the most "Green" friendly city in our country (we don't have curb recycling) but we at the Otis household try to do our part to not just waste our natural resources. So here comes the suprise. I had ordered 2 small, speciality laundry detergent bottles from an online company and this is the box they came in.

My first thought was...Did I order something else and forget about it. Nope!
So they had put my two small bottles in a smaller box and THEN for reasons unknown to me put the small box in this HUGE box. It was ridiculous.

Just to show how much extra space there was. It's a good thing I didn't pay shipping on what type of box they used.

Duathalon in balmy NW Lousiana

The happy couple glad this particular race is over. With our crazy Christmas trip and staying longer then played in Seattle we didn't get a lot of outdoor training done over the holidays. Not to mention there was a temperature difference of about 40 degrees from Seattle to Louisiana. The plus side is while is was foggy and muggy it didn't rain. I hate riding bikes in the rain. The roads were pretty slick though and the 4 corners we had to take were a bit scary.
Anyone who knows Chris KNOWS that these kinds of pictures are often what I get. If I could beat him I would but I think there's something in his genetic make-up that makes him ruin the picture. He is feasting on spaghetti after the race. I can't eat afterwards or else it'd be right back up. Chris and I were able to stay together for the first run, he smoked me on the bike (his quads produce so much more torque/power then mine), and I would of made up the difference on the 2nd run if it had been a bit longer. As it was his 1 minute lead got down to 11 seconds. I wanted to catch him so bad.

I have never run after doing the bike. It wasn't a terribly enjoyable experience. I don't think my legs have ever felt so much jell-o before. I am going to say it was the 7:45 minute pace though. That makes me feel less like a wimp. If only you could have heard my breathing. I sounded like a freigh train. My HR monitor watch had died but I'm pretty sure it was pegged at about 190bpm. No worries though. We plan on doing something like this again. We never learn do we?!