Wordless Wednesday

CSN Stores Review and $60 Gift Certificate Giveaway!

Our family has made CSN Stores one of our main online places to shop, mostly because of the huge variety of products you can purchase from their 200+ Stores. 

We recently moved into a new home that was just remodeled but they failed to put any ceiling lights into a couple of the rooms. The first place we looked was CSN Lighting!

For now, just as a temporary fix, we decided to go with floor lamps. CSN Lighting has so many nice, modern floor lamps that are really affordable!  I really liked this one!

When we get ready to purchase permanent ceiling lights, I would love to go with something simple but modern like this one for our living room!

Since our dining room is a little more elegant, I really liked this chandelier!

Even though the kids bedrooms have lights, our two oldest boys have a sports themed room so I thought this light would look great in their room!

I'm glad I found CSN Stores. I love their selections, their outstanding customer service and how quickly everything arrives! 

GIVEAWAY

CSN Stores is going to give one lucky winner a $60 Gift Certificate to use in any of their 200+ stores.

Mandatory Entry:

Visit CSN Lighting and come back here and leave a comment on something you liked there!  Please make sure you leave an email address so I can contact you if you win!

Extra Entries:

Be a public Follower of A Dad's Take (1 entry)

Subscribe to email updates from A Dad's Take (2 entries)

Like A Dad's Take on Facebook. (1 entry)

Like CSN Stores on Facebook  (1 entry)

Blog about this giveaway (5 entries)

Thank you and good luck!  All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. by July 13th. A winner will be chosen by random.org and winner will have 48 hours to respond.

***Disclosure Statement: This is my honest opinion about CSN Stores and their products, this is not a paid post. I received no compensation for writing this***

Blood, Sweat and Tears!

Who knew watching 7 and 8 year olds playing baseball could be such an emotional roller coaster? It was one of the most exciting weekends ever since I started my job as "Dad" and I was reminded of just how much things like a baseball game can mean to a child!  We had to be at the tournament Saturday morning by 8:45 a.m. and it's just under an hour drive from our house so we had to leave early but got there in plenty of time. Right before we left the house, we saw on the weather that we had a heat index warning. Yuck! Here's Drew, all ready to go! His coach bought them all these cool pawprint eyeblack stickers to wear.

Wasn't long before the Bulldogs took over the park! It's like a big community party! All the kids play together and the little one's bounce from tent to tent eating and playing.

My big guy hanging out in the dugout waiting for the 1st game to start! Gosh I can't believe how big he looks in his uniform. Seems like yesterday he was hitting off the tee and running to 3rd base first. He was so cute to watch when he was smaller! He never knew where to run when he hit the ball! Sometimes his coach would run with him just so he would actually run the bases. lol

Batter's up!

We lost the first game 0-7. Ouch. But we made it up by winning the next 2 games to make it back the next day for Semi-Finals!

In between games we had a picnic lunch!  We packed a couple coolers full of food and so did Grandma and Grandpa so we had enough for a feast!

And of course here I am, right in the middle of it all!

Day 2! Ready to rock and roll but boy was it ever hot! We did our best to try to keep the boys in the shade when they weren't on the field!

I love seeing a group of boys who just love to play ball! Andrew was smiling ear to ear the whole day.

The last game we played was awesome. Our boys played like they had been playing together for years!  We kept the lead the entire game. It came down to the last out, the last inning, the last batter and BAM! It ended as fast as it started. We lost by 1 run. Talk about heartbreak!  Our boys fought so hard and put 110% effort into it and lost it all. Despite all of the cheers and words of encouragement from all of the fans, the heartbreak was so evident by the hung heads and the tears. It broke my heart for them!  I couldn't wait to get out of there so I could wrap my arm around Drew and tell him how much I loved him and how proud I was of him. He is so soft hearted and just cried and cried on the way home. It made me wonder if we don't put too much pressure on them at such a young age. He loves the game, don't get me wrong. He loves playing baseball more than anything. I just hated to see him so disappointed. Of course, we dried those tears right up with a stop for ice cream!

What a weekend!  And to think, we get to do it all over again in a couple weeks!

Gooooooooooo Bulldogs!

Let's go to the hop!

I love Fridays because of all of the great blog hops!  I am having so much fun getting to know all of the great Bloggers out there!  And best of all, I get Saturday off of work!  My son will be playing in his first baseball tournament of the season! He will be playing 2nd base for the Celina Bulldogs!  Go Bulldogs!  It's an all day tournament with 3 games. Going to be a tiring day but can't wait to watch him play!

Have a great weekend everyone!

My First Award!!

I have really enjoyed making my blog and am very grateful for all of you who have been stopping by and reading my tiny contributions to the blogosphere. I know I am in the minority (havn't found that many Dad Bloggers as of yet) however thanks to the few Dad's and all you Mom's for the great support. It has been fun reading all of your blogs too and I am enjoying getting to know all of you. Having said all of that, I am excited to have received my first Blog Award!

Thank you to Jessica @ Punk Rock Mama for the award!  I am honored to accept it!

The rules say I have to share 7 things about myself and then pass this award on to 15 other Bloggers so here goes!

1.)  I was born and raised in Southern Ohio but live a few hours North now where my Wife is from

2.)  I would love to move somewhere down South like the Carolinas!

3.)  I tan really easy so my kids tell people that their Dad is Mexican (I'm not. lol)

4.)  I love the Cincinnati Reds!

5.)  My favorite thing to do is watch my son play baseball.

6.)  This year will be my 10 year wedding anniversary

7.)  I used to travel all over the country doing disaster work after hurricanes and ice storms. I spent several months in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

Drumroll please......I would like to pass this award along to the following Blogs!

1.)  Krystal @ Life is 2 Good

2.)  Brittany @ Not Your Average Teen

3.)  Stephanie @ Sharing the Pages of Life

4.)  Alex @ Ma What's 4 Dinner

5.)   Crystal @ Three Jewels In My Crown

6.)  Jia @ Color Me Untypical

7.)  Beki @ My Modern Guide

8.)  Beth @ A Trio of Boys

9.) Shelley @ The Trials of Big J and Little J

10.)  Deanna @ Deanna Time

11.) Tina @ The Making of a Modern Mom

12.)  Lindsay @ A Little Kloep

13.)  Nicolle @ Babee Love

14.)  Mike @ Puzzling Posts

15.) Heerow @ Go Heerow

A Daddy's Prayer

Dear God,

It's me, Nick. I know you don't hear from me near enough. I don't go to church as often as I should and I know I do things that probably aren't very pleasing to you. But God, I have a special request today. You see, when I have gone to church in the past, I have heard the Preacher always talk about the fact that you might be considering coming back some day. I don't know all the details of that, but God, if you could do me just one small favor.  You see, I have these 4 awesome children that you gave me but one of them is a daughter.

She can be so great but I think she could possibly have multiple personalities. One minute she is sweet as can be and the next, she will be biting my head off or throwing the biggest fit I've ever seen. She is only 7 now and is already talking about "cute boys."  She spends a lot of time talking on the phone and talking in a language that I don't understand. (TMI? ROTFL? BTW? IDTS? BFFF? OMG?) I spend a lot of time confused when I hear her and her talk.  She also likes to put boys names inside of hearts all over every piece of paper in the house and she LOVES to put her Mom's lipstick on and leave kissy prints on the mirrors. She snaps her fingers and puts her hands on her hips like she deserves celebrity treatment.  So God, if you could just do me one favor, if it's not asking too much, if you are going to, in fact, return to Earth, would you please make it happen before Emma is a teenager? I just don't think I am going to be able to handle all of that.

Love,

I'm So Lucky

I work every weekend and this weekend was no exception. I didn't even leave to come home until midnight last night and I have a 45 min. drive. Then I had to stop for gas so by time I got home, it was almost 1 a.m. When I came in, my wife had me some supper cooked, thank God because I was starving. She told me that Emma had stayed awake as long as she could waiting on me until she finally had crashed about 5 minutes before I got home. I went into the living room where she was sleeping on the couch and this is what she was holding in her arms. It must have taken a lot for her to stay awake that long!

How cute is that?  I am so lucky to have such great and thoughtful kids.  I love it when I get home from work and they come running up to me to hug me because they are so happy for me to be home. It feels so good to be loved so much. It's a love that only a parent can explain or understand. They are growing up so fast. Much faster than I would like for them to. But I love watching what wonderful children they are growing into. I saw this poem one day. I have no idea who wrote it but I really liked it.

Tiny handprints grow so fast

Their awkward groping soon will clasp

A ball, a book, a sweetheart's hand

A diploma, briefcase, a wedding band.

Tiny handprints grow so strong

It doesn't take them very long

To snap a shirt, to paint, to draw

To work hard, to drive a car.

Tiny handprints grow to be

A person that is quite unique.

A wonderful mix of so many things

With his own feelings, thoughts and dreams.

Tiny handprints, grow to rely

On his parents to bring him up just right

His parent's pray that when he's grown

He'll say their job has been well done.

Tiny handprints are ours to love

The sweetest gift from God above

A miracle that never is surpassed

How sad they grow up way too fast.

I hope I can always remember my children just as they are today. Sweet and innocent. Loving and caring. I want so many things for my children and I can only hope that I can be a good example...the kind of Dad they can look up to and respect and not be ashamed of. I hope that I can be the kind of Dad that when my kids introduce me to their friends, they proudly say, "This is my Dad."

I hope all of you had a wonderful Father's Day weekend!

Another week gone......Happy Friday!

Happy Friday and a Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there! Hope your day is great!

When Parent's Disagree

My wife and I were raised very differently so we have completely opposite views on raising children. Maybe it was the "opposites attract" theory that brought us together because we are different as day and night. When we met at age 18, I could probably count on both hands how many times I could remember going to church as a child.  She grew up with her Dad being a Minister so she went to church every time the doors were open. She could count on both hands how many spankings she got when she was a kid......there's no way to ever count how many I got!  My family only sees each other on Holidays.......she talks to both of her parents and her 3 sisters daily, sometimes several times a day. We always ate dinner in front of the TV when  I was growing up....her family sat together, gave thanks for their meal and then ate together. You get the point. And now we have 4 kids ourselves and I can't tell you how many times a day we clash. Example.

Today, our 5 year old walked into the living room with a fork in his hand. He wanted a book his sister had and she wouldn't give it to him. He reached out to hit the book with the fork and instead, accidentally stabbed our 8 year old son in the nose with it! I immediately sent him to his room. I didn't care if it was lunch time. I didn't care that he was crying to get out. He needed some type of correction and that was the best solution at the time. Not even 2 minutes later, my wife walked into his bedroom and told him to come eat. This is a common occurance at our house. She said she didn't want him to miss lunch. I thought he should have stayed in their 10-15 minutes and then he could have come out and ate his lunch. But she couldn't bare the thought of him missing out on eating lunch with  the rest of us. Maybe I'm too harsh. Maybe she's too easy. I don't know but it seems so hard to compromise when it comes to raising our children.

Are we the only one's who have this problem?! 

*The picture in this post is NOT my own and was taken from another site on the internet*

Wordless Wednesday

A day at the park.

Monday!

Today is the day! First day of Summer Quarter. Yuck. I would have loved to take Summer off but if I want to graduate before my kids make it to college, I need to keep moving. I managed to get a decent load this quarter though thankfully. Taking an Economics class and a Keyboarding class online and then a Desktop Publishing class just once a week.

I am starting to feel like a broken record since the kid's Summer vacation began. For some reason when Summer starts, the kids think all rules go out the window. We have scolded our 5 year old over and over again about climbing the doorways in the house. Every time I turn around that little monkey is at the top of a doorway and I have been saying over and over again "Josh get down from there before you get hurt." Well over the weekend, he finally got hurt so maybe he will finally stop. He fell from the top, face first and has a pretty nasty bruise on his nose.  Oh well. Guess it goes with the gash across his forehead. That boy scares the daylights out of me. No fear at all! 

Anyway, Happy Monday. Hope you all have a great week.

My First Friday!

Wish I could say I'm glad it's Friday but that just means a weekend of work. Lucky me.

Hope you all have a nice weekend!