STIX 'N STONES

Division In Our Family & A Friendly Wager

Today is a day where there is division and confusion in our family.  It happens every year at this time and it's completely unavoidable.  Yet we anticipate this day and even enjoy it.  Sounds strange, huh? 

It's called the "Red River Rivalry."  It's when the Texas Longhorns play the Oklahoma Sooners in one of the great rivalries in college football.  Texas is playing for a chance to be in the National Championship game and Oklahoma is playing to upset Texas and a chance to play the Big 12 Championship game.  But there's even more at stake in the Allen household.  Since Shelley is from Oklahoma and I'm from Texas, we're playing for bragging rights for an entire year. 

As you can tell from the picture, our kids are pretty confused about the whole thing.  The big question they have in their mind is, "Who do I cheer for?"  If they ask their mom they get one answer, and if they ask their dad they get a different answer.  Last I heard, they agreed to cheer for both teams.  

As far as Shelley and I are concerned, we're having a friendly wager.  If Texas wins, then she has to wear a Longhorn shirt and hat one day this next week.  If Oklahoma wins, then I have to wear a Sooner shirt and hat this coming week.  I have NEVER worn anything that has the words "Oklahoma" or "Sooners" on it, and I don't want to change that trend. 

Will it be burnt orange or crimson red this year?  What do I say?  HOOK 'EM HORNS!

A Friendly Wager With My Brother - Steelers vs. Cowboys

My brother (Daryl) is an avid Dallas Cowboys fan.  I am an avid Steelers fan (Click Here to learn more about that).  Daryl is 3 1/2 years younger than me, lives in Atlanta, GA and also has 3 kids.  When we were kids, we had the kind of relationship where we would "dare" each other to do bizarre and crazy things just for the fun of it.  We always liked to have a good laugh.  Since we live so far apart now, we don't often get to see each other so both of us miss those crazy times together.  However, at Christmas this year, our familes will be together for a brief amount of time.  That combination, along  with the Steelers vs. the Cowboys today provides a much awaited opportunity to get our competitive juices flowing!

              

So here's what we decided to do.  If the Steelers win against the Cowboys today, then Daryl has to dress up like Santa Clause at Christmas when we get together.  And if the Cowboys beat the Steelers today, then I have to dress up like Santa Clause at Christmas.  This isn't just limited to the time when our families open presents either.  The one whose team loses must also appear in a very public place (like a mall) dressed up as Santa in order to further "humiliate" the one who lost the friendly/brotherly wager.

Let's just say I HOPE I DON'T LOSE!  GO STEELERS!  PLEASE BEAT THE COWBOYS!

My Wife and Evan Make It On TV!

Around 1 week ago, Shelley went shopping at one of her favorite grocery stores - Aldi's.  She's a thrifty shopper and always knows how to find the best deals.  I'm extremely grateful for that!  On the particular day she was shopping, KDKA Channel 2 News happened to be doing a story on "Saving Cash Without Using Coupons."  Shelley was filmed while shopping, briefly interviewed, then filmed again while bagging her groceries (with Evan as the "cute" factor in the grocery cart).  I now consider my wife FAMOUS.  Isn't that what happens when you make it on TV?  Click Here to watch the brief news segment that I'm calling Shelley's "Claim To Fame!"   

Division In My House? = Red River Rivalry

This coming Saturday is one of the most competitive and intense days of the year in my house.  I guess you could say there's even "division" in the home on that day.  Why?  Because the Longhorns play Oklahoma in one of college football's great rivalry matchups.  Shelley is from Oklahoma and I am from Texas.  Both of us cheer for our separate teams very passionately.  And since they "collide" on the football field Oct. 11th, Shelley will be cheering for the crimson red, and I'll be cheering for the burnt orange.  This is a game that we look forward to all year long.  We have a lot of fun with it.  Both teams are ranked in the top 5 in the nation which makes this game all the more intense this year.

Shelley has already started trying to get our 3 boys to cheer for Oklahoma this year.  I found this out when one of my kids "leaked" the information that "mommy told me not to tell you that she wanted us to cheer for Oklahoma on Saturday."  We all started laughing pretty hard.  I'll probably try some sort of bribe myself to get them on my side before the big day arrives.  Last year we agreed that our kids would wear the colors of the team who won the game the previous year.  That means they will probably be dressed in OU gear.  Ahhhh! 

To be honest, I'm pretty nervous about the game this year.  In my opinion, OU looks extremely tough to beat.  I'm not sure if UT's rookie defensive backfield can compete with OU's offensive fire-power.  However, don't misinterpret my objective outlook on the game.  I'm cheering for UT with all my might!  HOOK 'EM HORNS!!!!!

   

 

Texas & Hurricane Ike

I just got off the phone with my parents who live in Texas.  They actually live directly in the projected path of Hurricane Ike.  Their county (Brazoria County) is under mandatory evacuation.  I found a recent Hurricane report on the internet that said the following: "(Hurricane) Models are honing in on a landfall location from the Freeport-Lake Jackson area to Galveston, Texas. Water level rise will be life-threatening in some coastal Texas counties especially Matagorda, Brazoria, Galveston, and Jefferson County."
However, even with the mandatory evacuation and the report of potential life-threatening danger, my dad claims that he and my mom are going to ride out the storm in their house.  I knew he would take that approach.  He's been through too many hurricanes in his life to budge on this one.  I promised to keep tabs on my parents as they face the fury of Ike!

Our First Family Camping Experience

During my time off recently, we took our first family camping experience!  I've gone camping many times as a kid, but it's been over 15 years since my last experience.  Russ and Jamie Horne (Pastors of Sharpsburg Family Worship Center) invited us to go to their property near Tionesta, PA along the Allegheny River.  We had an absolute blast over the 4 day/3 night time together.  Russ and Jamie have 5 kids and we have 3, so there were a total of 12 people camping.  There was never a dull moment, from canoeing, fishing, hiking, attending a rodeo and more.  I've put together some pics below to recap some of the experiences we had:

This is to prove that we had a genuine "Redneck" experience!

This was the tent we used for camping.  We did  sleep
on an air mattress to make things a little more comfortable.


 
One of the several canoe trips we went on.  We even saw some
bald eagles in their natural habitat.  It was beautiful!


Evan's "bathtub" while on the campground.  Notice the
hand pump that we used to get water. 


The Allen and Horne kids hangin out on the swing overlooking
the river.


An amazing night at the rodeo.  There was barrel racing,
bareback horse riding, roping, steer wrestling, bull riding,
and bull fighting! 

PAIN On Independence Day Weekend!

On Friday, July 4th, our family went to watch fireworks at Hampton Park.  We had a great time together.  After we got home and put the kids to bed, I noticed an unusual pain in my lower left side.  As it began to quickly increase in intensity, I knew what it was - a kidney stone!  Although it's been about 8 years since my last one, the pain is unmistakable and unforgettable. 

By the time Shelley got the kids out of bed so she could take me to the emergency room (which was only about 5 minutes), the pain was so intense that I was on my knees and feeling extremely nauseous.  It was difficult to even walk to the car, but I made it.  8 years ago when I battled my first kidney stone, a female nurse at the hospital said the following words to me, "I've given birth to both kids and kidney stones, and the kidney stones were the most painful thing I've ever experienced in my life."   Since I'll never be able to make that comparison, I'll just take her word for it!  It was certainly the most physically painful thing I've ever faced.     

Anyway, I arrived at the hospital around midnight on July 4th (what a way to end a holiday!).  The doctors then confirmed what I already knew to be the case - I had a kidney stone.  Once they got the pain under control, they released me to go home around 3am with some additional pain medication to take if necessary.  The doctor told me to return to the hospital if the pain got out of control again.  Well, around 8am the pain got out of control again, so I returned to the hospital for another 5 hours.  They had to give me stronger medication that the nurse referred to as "the big guns," in order to lower the intensity of the pain that I was experiencing.  It was the only thing that seemed to work.   

With the change of medication and a different strategy on taking the medication, it's been under better control since they released me this last time.  Based on the location and size of the stone from the CT scan, here's what the doctors suggested: keep the pain under control through proper medication and allow the stone to pass out of the body in a natural manner.  What fun!  Therefore, I've pretty much been in bed since Saturday.      

P.S. My mom told my wife (because I haven't been well enough to talk on the phone) that my dad had a kidney stone on July 4, 2004.  Very interesting.  LIke father, like son?  Sooooo, did you have fun on Independence Day?  LOL.   

Birthday Celebration

Yesterday Kyle turned 6!  We celebrated his birthday with a mini-personalized cake, some family games and then finally...we all watched "Alvin and The Chipmunks."  We had a great time together!  On Monday we're throwing him an "official" party at Chuck E. Cheese's with some friends.

By the way, when we turned our heads, Evan (2 yrs. old) had his own "private" birthday bash with a variety of ingredients.  We have a rule in our house. . .When Evan is quiet, you better go check to see what he's doing!  

A Day At The Museum

I took some time off this week and my kids had their Spring Break, so we were able to spend some family time together.  On one of the days we went to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.  As you can see, my boys were especially fascinated with dinosaur remains and other large creatures. 

M&M Guy

Tonight we had an M&M night in the Allen house.  We created a virtual M&M character online.  The boys were laughing pretty hard, especially with the unique hairstyles we tried on our M&M guy!  Click Here if you want to create one of your own.