Ice Cream

When Andy is eating ice cream, don't bother asking for a bite, as he gets so lost in the treat he seems to disregard the English language.

Pumkin Fun

Had a blast this past weekend with Andy at the pumpkin patch. Later that day, we painted pumpkins with Cayce and it was quite an adventure. Believe it or not, Andy actually wanted to paint a train on his pumpkin...and I know this is probably hard to believe, as his obsession with trains has only lasted for 4 of his 5 years on Earth.

This is Andy on a tractor at the pumpkin patch.

Andy is walking through the corn maze and I thought that was an awesome picture. That maze was more challenging than I thought it would be!!

Andy posing with pumpkins.

Like Father, Like Son

Andy went cruising in his Chevy Silverado tonight.

It was super cute because there were so many kids
out tonight since it was such a pretty night. The

boys aged 3 to 6 wanted to be him, and the little girls wanted to be sitting next to him....he was the "bad guy" cruising up and daown the street. It was hysterical.

When we got home he made sure he got the parking spot in the garage....meanwhile Dad's Tahoe is in the driveway!! HAHA.

Circus Time

Went to the circus last night with Andy. We were in the first row, so the view was pretty good. Even with the good seats, however, I could not get a good pic of my favorite part...the motorcycle riding bear. The look on that bear's face was priceless...content and relaxed as he could be.


The trapeze was right over our heads!

Saturday Fun

Andy and I have a tradition - on the first Saturday of every month we go to Whataburger for breakfast. He gets a cinnamon roll ,and I get a taquito. Then we go to Home Depot for the building project.

Today Andy built a firehouse bank. He did a great job. The fire department was there with a couple of firetrucks for the kids to explore, and that got those kids really excited. Andy has the sun in his eyes for the picture on the firetruck - he looks upset, but he was having a blast.

I like the bank. As you can see on top of the bank, Home Depot is trying to teach the kids a good lesson - There are dividing walls inside the bank to keep the money separate, for saving, sharing, and spending. Andy emptied my loose change from the Tahoe into his bank....pennies and nickels into the saving and sharing slots, and quarters into the spending slot!! Smart little cookie.

Andy's First Day of Kindergarten

This is my big 5 year old on his first day of Kindergarten. He has been going to pre-school for a few years at the same school so it was not a scary day for him. He is doing a great job with his reading, actually reading words from a third grade reading list! It is fun looking at his school work and seeing his progression with his handwriting and math skills. After his first week of Kindergarten I asked him, "What did you learn this week, son?" - He replied, "Nothing, Daddy, I already knew all that stuff."

Summer Fun With Andy

Andy and I had a great time this summer. One day we went to the Dallas Aquarium. This place was more amazing than I expected - The animal exhibits are unbelievable, and I would highly recommend that anyone, regardless of age, visit this place.

We also went to the Great Wolf Lodge. Andy just talked and talked about the water slides and all the fun we were going to have - BUT it turns out that Andy is somewhat of a big talker when it comes to water slides. We had a blast but Andy is not quite ready to go down the big slides. We spent our time in the "kiddie" pool, but he had a blast.

Kenya Medical Mission

I just spent a week in Kenya on a medical mission trip. We had a great trip and had the opportunity to serve many people. It was a surgical trip, so as the only family physician I was asked to take on the "minor" cases, so I spent most of my time excising superficial lesions, and then scrubbed in to assist with more complicated cases.

This is Ahmed, the director of the Muslim Hospital called Tawfiq Hospital in Malindi, Kenya. That smile never left his face. I taught him the Gig 'Em sign and how to say "Howdy." I am going to take him some real cowboy boots from Texas if I ever return to Kenya.

To the right I am excising a lipoma. Below is Dr. John Bailey assisting in a mandibular resection.

At the end of the week we took a safari. This lion is the first animal we saw, and he was chilling out like he owned the place.....I guess he did. The safari was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, and I will definitely do one again someday and take my son. If you click the pic of the lion you will get a closer look at some awesome detail.

My Little Boy is 5!!

Grace.

Sam.

Lily.

Andy and Nathan.

I cannot believe that Andy is 5 - what a fast ride is life! I remember when he was a baby and drooling, sucking his fist, watching Baby Einstein, and filling his diaper! Tonight, I put him in bed and he read ME two books - cover to cover and he got every word right.

He has gone from obsessions with trains and cars, to an interest in space, rockets, and planets. He got a science kit for his birthday, and we have had fun with the volcano and the planetarium.

Happy 5th Birthday, Buddy!

Andy and his cat

Andy and his cat, Hershey. Andy's mom sent me this picture - the cat follows him everywhere. I need to get the boy a dog!!

Trip To The Fire Station

Andy and I went to a Fort Worth Fire Station this weekend, to visit my buddy Brian Taylor, one of Fort Worth's finest. Brian showed us both fire engines, and through the entire fire station.

Andy got to see where the firemen live, eat, sleep, work out, and keep their boots and hats in their lockers. As you can see, Andy got to climb all over the fire trucks, sit in the chairs, check out the hoses and controls, and see the lights and the very loud sirens, which startled him a bit. All the firemen were awesome towards Andy, and he has talked about it all weekend! Thanks, Brian!

Good Easter Weekend

To the left is a pic Andy took at Mandy's wedding on my iPhone - he just stood right up in his chair and snapped it - it was cute. Welcome to the family, Jonathon.

Above is a pic of me holding Lily - next is Sam showing off his Easter loot.

Dad is constipated and James finds it funny...meanwhile the kids show off their Easter goodies with Mammy.

This is Andy riding the motorcycle ride at the traveling carnival - we went Friday night. Afterwards we went to IHOP and had pancakes...at 9 PM.

Root Beerer

My son informed me tonight that he likes root beer, or "root beerer," as he calls it. We were in the car so I directly went to Central Market to get the kid some root beerer. It occurred to me that he also enjoys ice cream, so I thought I would pick up some ice cream to make floats. We went into Central Market, and you can't step 10 feet into that place without someone asking if they can help you, so I say when fellow asks if he may help me... "yes we would like some root beerer." The man took a double take at me and said "uhm, ok we have many different kinds of root beer, please follow me." Central Market has about 20 different kinds of root beerer, and when the man asked what kind of root beer we liked, Andy promptly answered "plain root beerer." Andy is a root beerer purist. There are so many kinds of root beerer at Central Market, that it is difficult to choose a root beerer, even among the plain root beerers. We finally decided on a 4 pack of "Mr. Frost" Root Beerer, as the man on the front of the bottle looked a lot like Santa Clause, AND it said on the box "caffeine free," and Andy read that and thought that sounded very important. I will assure you that what this root beerer lacked in caffeine, it made up for in sugar. As I write this, it is 11:15 PM and I just got the boy to go to sleep.

After we decide on the Mr. Frost's caffeine free root beerer, we head towards the ice cream section. The selection was easy, I was to make floats, and you have to have vanilla for that. Plus, as with root beerer, Andy is an ice cream purist, and "plain white" ice cream is the way to go.

We took our stash towards the check out, and on the way out we ran into CG and Jenna Mathews, the parents of my Uncle Tom Mathews - Andy recounted his story of the catfish we caught at the lake last week. This time the catfish had grown to about 12 feet long - and it put up quite a fight. This transient social encounter gave us the opportunity to show off our 4 pack of Mr. Frost's caffeine free root beerer to the Mathews. They were impressed.

We paid for our goodies and I explained to Andy that "no he did NOT need a balloon this afternoon," and we went out to the car. Once we were in route, I brought my surprise to Andy's attention. I explained to him that we were going to put two of his favorite goodies, plain white ice cream and root beerer, into a glass together to create a float. Then my phone rang. It was the office. I became a little distracted with some issue...then I finally hung up. I looked over at Andy. He was very upset. He was pouting. I have never seen Andy pout. His arms were crossed and his face looked disgusted. "What's wrong I said?" Andy replied..."I do NOT want my root beerer on ice cream and I do NOT want my ice cream on root beerer." The sound in his voice and the look on his face was priceless and I hope that I never forget it.

So...tonight we had pizza and root beerer for dinner. Then, for dessert, plain white ice cream.

Gone Fishing....

We had a great time at Kat and Tom's new lake place. Andy caught this catfish! He thought a "dogfish would be smarter."

This is a view of the sun coming up from the back porch.

Views of the house.

It's a beautiful place!

Andy on a road trip.

The New Office Opens!

After nearly 5 years of practice, I am expanding. I opened in September of 2004, and now I have formed a new partnership with Dr. Wyatt Webb. Our satellite office in North Ft. Worth is open. We have partnered up with Premier Rehab, owned by a friend of mine for this location. Our new 11,000 square foot facility in Southlake will open in May of 2009.

Today in Ft. Worth I saw a grand total of 2 patients! Well, you have to start somewhere, right?

Special thanks to my employees Lenora and Glenda. They have worked so hard to get this office put together. I would not be where I am without great employees like them!