NyQuil...zzz

NyQuil is amazing! It allows you to sleep through your wife allowing your eight year old to get in bed with y'all...in the middle. It also allows you to sleep while your eight year old takes all of the covers except for a corner of the sheet, leaving you to wake up with what could be considered in the medical field to be hypothermia. Also the NyQuil and self diagnosed hypothermia allow you to sleep through your cat ( which is supposed to be an outdoor cat, except the before mentioned wife ( whom will remain unnamed) has started feeling sorry for the outside cat with the dropping temperature and the age of the outdoor cat and has started letting the outdoor cat indoors, where she makes a b-line to our bed to sleep)... Where was I? Oh, yes!...sleeping through your cat (which you are allergic to) making biscuits on your bare arms and "love" biting your underarm...but it will not allow you to sleep through the death gaze that the outside cat is giving you while perched upon your claw punctured arms so that you will awaken and let her out.

soft shell, blue, or king...

I love my son...I walked into his room when I got home from work and he was playing. I said, Hey, son. How was your day? (I startled him) Eli said, Dad...you scared the crabs out of me...

alien nation...

Sherri and I were painting tonight at a church in Loranger and Eli came with us. As we were working, Eli started talking and asked us very seriously ..Which one of you has alien blood? 
I responded with a...what? What was the question? Eli repeated the question again...Which one of you has alien blood? I offered that it must be Sherri Harris because I know I'm from Earth. Sherri was hard pressed to come up with proof that she was NOT an alien...it's not printed on your drivers license or anything like that. Finally she asked Eli...Did you mean, which of your parents has Indian blood? Eli said yes and Sherri claimed her heritage. Eli was happy to know that he was part Indian, but it was bitter sweet...his mother isn't an alien after all. It was sad for me too...having an alien for a wife definitely would have its advantages and it would explain so much.

to protect and to save...

I woke up this morning at 2:57 because I heard voices. It was Eli talking in his sleep. I'm sure he was talking to some superhero, or a friend, or he was developing a plan to take over the world, or devising some invention. He was getting a bit loud so I decided to get up and check on him. As I made my way through the darkness of my room, feeling my way around the familiar furniture on my regular path to the bathroom...which is also where the closet is that Sherri and I share...and, which also is my regular path to Eli's room. The bathroom has just enough light coming in through a stained glass window that it appears to be moonlight casting a soft glow on everything in the bathroom. It really is nice because you don't have to turn on a glaring light...you can keep that half asleep kind of shuffle going...that is until you glance into the nice soft moonlight coming through the stained glass window that fills the bathroom that connects to your son's room (who now is talking to someone or thing with great enthusiasm) and holds the closet that you share with your wife who lovingly washed and hung up your adult sized (6 foot tall) Batman costume that has now become a shadowy figure between you and your son...I went into rescue mode...I crouched down and started feeling for something to defend myself with and to protect my family...I came up with an arsenal of shoes...that I could throw...from the darkness...it was all I had and by now my heart was pumping...I was hoping that the superhero adrenalin would kick in...the kind that helps people lift cars or hold up buildings in the case of disaster. I moved into my attack position with the element of surprise on my side...and then I realized that shadowy figure hadn't moved...at all...and my eyes adjusted to my target...and my brain sounded the all clear. This morning I not only saved my family, but in a small way, I saved Batman too.

the bigger they are, the harder to make...

This is what Eli wants to be for Halloween...he wants me to make it!

oh the possibilities....

First day of third grade

summer camp...

Eli is on his way to camp. I told him that I might really miss him so much that I may have to drive to the camp and bring him home...he went and brought me a picture of himself off of the bookcase and said, here you can see me all the time and when you need to, you can kiss this and it will teleport to me.I'm better now...

...And every last inch of me is covered with hair....

Eli took a bath the other night ( after many threats, much coaxing, and a little bribery). He was in there for awhile and finally emerged clean and smiling. Sherri noticed it first and commented how he smelled like a man...he had used my body wash...a better way to put it is he had used up all of my body wash. I know that when there is too much perfume in the air, people say it smells like a brothel...not sure what people say when an 8 year old boy uses too much of a scent...hmmm???
Anyway, he wanted us to smell him...which we could...and did...and of course we did the obligatory sniff...which I blame for messing up my sinuses. Then he announced that he is getting underarm hair and " chess hair"...which he is not...unless he has been looking through Sherri's magnifying make-up mirror, then maybe...but to the naked human eye that is squinting and trying to see something, it isn't there. I suppose I will have to hide my razor for the next few years...even at the cost of having his imaginary beard look like the guys from ZZ Top or Duck Dynasty.

Boy...Scouts!

So Eli has decided that he wants to be a boy scout...only it's his version of the boy scouts, which isn't the boy scouts at all. In Eli's version, I am his leader. I have to make up things for him to do in order to receive badges... These badges were once badges that we're given to him for participating in the Lowe's Build and Grow workshops. We have about 20 of them with different themes. Eli has renamed them all..there is one with a gingerbread man on it from a Christmas ornament decorating workshop that is now a cookie baking and decorating badge. There is one from mother's day that has been recycled into a badge for naming all of the plants in the yard with their scientific names....I even pulled out my old badges from boy scouts to add to the collection. I added cleaning up after yourself, mowing the lawn, helping around the house, and even suggested that one could be used for trying and eating new foods...Eli told me that he may not be ready for our boy scout adventure yet.

Base-ball been berry, berry , good to me...

The other day, Eli told Sherri what he wanted to get me for fathers day. He told her that he wanted to get me a baseball glove so that we could play catch together. Having my son want to spend time with me is the greatest gift I could imagine. So this morning, when I opened my present, there was my glove and an eight year old with a huge smile. I can't wait to get to the park and throw a few balls together. So glad to be a dad...

Catchers are the only guys on the team that get to wear armor...

Last night, Eli's team started their end of season baseball tournament. We one so we will be playing again tonight. The coach was short a few players tonight and asked Eli to play catcher. Eli suited up and was beaming ear to ear. He came out of the dugout waving and smiling ...and sweating. He did great in the position - staying focused the whole time. I think what he liked best about the position though was that the catcher gets to wear a type of costume...and Eli is all about costumes!

Eli being catcher

Ninja's are always prepared!

Leading the way

This past Sunday, the Mission Church's service was focused on the family and the Children's ministry. It was decided that the kids would come running into the service at a certain time with noise makers and silly-string. Eli was chosen to spray our pastor and was very excited with his job. Sunday morning came and we had no problem getting Eli up, fed and dressed before church. I asked if he was ready and he assured me that he was. He repeated the ground rules of NO SPRAYING IN THE FACE and then he added...I'm running in and leading all of the kids and I'm to jump up on stage and I'm going to yell, " For Narnia !!!!" Sherri and I quickly chimed in that he would NOT be shouting ...for Narnia!! With a little less enthusiasm he said, "Ok, what about...For America?!!?!?" I said NO...you are not shouting ANYTHING! In spite of having his dreams of leading a revolution of kids, he did a great job of following directions. Pastor Deven did NOT get silly string in his face and there were no robust calls for action from my 8 year old!

mirror, mirror...

Eli has been under the weather for the past two days so I let him sleep with me last night since Sherri was at our son's house baby sitting. Anyway, Eli wakes up and starts making assessments of the things around him, primarily ME. Dad, did you know that the skin on top of your eyes is a different color from the rest of your face? How come you have little hairs on your face? Dad, dad....dad, you have little lines on your face by your eyes. How come your lips look like that? Dad, your eyeballs are gross when I do this ( as he pulls up my eyelids to have a look)
I have decided that I no longer need mirrors in my house...I have Eli to tell me the truth.

love has limits...

Yesterday Eli brought his Maw-Maw a Valentine's day present...some pretty soap that smelled good. As we were leaving, she was hugging Eli from behind and thanking him for the gift and added...next time you sleep over, we will have to use these in the bathtub. I wish that I could have taken a picture at that precise moment. I guess Eli took what she said to mean that they would bathe together, because he got this look like he had just been given the worst medicine followed by a lemon. Sherri and I started laughing and had to explain what we had witnessed...and to make things extremely clear, Eli added, that's NOT gonna happen Maw-Maw...NEVER!

always prepared for the sneak attack...

Ninja gear...This is what Eli plans to wear to sleep, "just in case"!!! 

just a note to say, I love you...

Today is the Big Valentine's Day party at Eli's school, with a mixture of Mardi Gras mixed in. Eli will be handing out goodie bags with gold fish crackers, a rubber ball, bubbles and purposely selected bug Valentines (I picked them...they have a gel bug that clings to the window). I say "purposely selected", because Eli wanted to buy Abigail a large red heart card complete with a heart shaped box of chocolate. I figured that the bugs might help slow the romance...I'm not so sure though. Eli woke up this morning with a spring in his step and some pretty cool dance moves...we will see what the afternoon brings....

sex-ed for second graders...

Erica our daughter is about to have her baby and Eli overheard me talking to Sherri about it. Eli from his room: Dad, how is her baby going to come out? Will it burst out of her stomach (as he made a clawing like sign) I told him that babies don't pop out like that. Eli: so how do they get from her stomach to the outside? Are the doctors going to cut her open and let the baby spill out? I told him that there was a special way to get them out. That wasn't good enough for Eli. He thought a moment and asked if they came through the belly button, to which I said no. He went back to thinking...sure of the answer he said Dad, they come out ( and pointed at his bum). I said NO! But I could see that the questions were going to keep coming and the body parts were getting fewer. I was starting to feel the sudden warmth of the interrogation , I know that I started sweating, things began spinning and I was afraid that I was going to have to explain the great mystery of life at 7am (and my sock puppets aren't ready yet...) and a voice from the bathroom came gloriously to my rescue and I heard Sherri say, "Tell him they use a special portal" it was perfect! It was in Eli language! I said Eli, they come out of a magic portal that God created. Immediately Eli's mind wrapped around the idea and he was making swirly movements with his hand and telling me that when the portal opens a blue light comes out with sparkles and the baby materializes on the other side...he imagined and swirled and talked for about 30 minutes...I was safe
My wife is a genius and the first and second grade have been spared sex ed class!

bow...

Eli loves being a member of Club Penguin...I wonder if they know he plans on HIS penguin being the King of Club Penguin, which would involve all other penguins addressing him as "Crown Champion"... :)

8 years...

It was about this time(3:43am, Jan.27th) that I was introduced to the most amazing person. You may know him as Elisha James Harris or Eli. I know him as the Wonder of my world. I remember everything about the moment that Sherri told me that I was going to be a father. She told me to wait until we were sure before telling people...I got on the phone immediately to let people know. There was a moment about two weeks before he was born that I had a mini melt down because I didn't think I could meet the challenge of being a good dad and the responsibility that comes with the job. Luckily there was a friend and a dad around that assured me that all would be ok. On the 26th of January 2005, Sherri told me that the baby was on his way. I had friends over that night and Sherri asked me to tell them that it was time for them to leave and go home...she didn't want me to tell them why we were asking them to leave but I went in to the living room and told them that it was time to go because my baby was coming! Most people would be heading for the hospital, but not us. Eli was a home birth ( I never really thought that I would be a part of a home birth...I imagined a Lucy and Ricky (I love Lucy) kind of birth where the woman goes in, has the baby and the man paces back and forth until the nurse comes and tells him that he is a father). The home birth wasn't so bad...actually...my wife is an amazing woman, able to put up with home birth, remodeling, me and so much more... one of these might send lesser women over the edge...but not Sherri, we were right in the middle of a kitchen remodel and we had NO running water in the kitchen and NO appliances (actually, we just had four walls and NOTHING ELSE! Babies really don't care about that, they just want to know where the food is and who the supplier will be. When the moment came and I caught my baby in a towel, I didn't even look to see what we had, I was in shock...awe... I was caught up in the miracle of life that I had just taken part in. The mid-wife told me to take a look and see what we got. I looked and we had an Eli! He was an answer to a promise. I remember crying out of love, exhaustion, emotion, fear...it was at this time Sherri decided on his middle name...James.
We have had Eli for 8 years now. I still don't know everything about being a dad, but I've learned that you learn as you grow and you are equipped as you need it. I know Eli has changed my life - for the better and I can't imagine what my life would have been like without him. He has taught me so much about myself, about God's love, and about the world around me. I love that he is a story teller, a hero, an artist, a singer, a dancer, a dreamer, an explorer, and he calls me dad. I am so blessed and so happy to have a son named Eli and I love the adventure that we are on!
Happy 8th Birthday!

a natural born comic...

I took the trash out and by the time that I had gotten back inside, Eli had put another bag in the can and proudly exclaimed, " I'm faster than a speeding cow!...did you like that dad? I made it up." I love my boy :-)

sleep????

My morning started at 5 with Eli coming and getting in bed with us...only Eli doesn't JUST get in bed, he takes over the bed. First he needed more room so sherri and I were pushed to the edges of OUR bed. Then he needed water at 5:05 which made me get up, go into the COLD kitchen, which woke the dog, who now had to go outside, which brought Eli into the kitchen to see if I was staying up. I sent him back to bed and I put the dog up...5:10. I go back to bed to find that Eli has the light on because he had to blow his nose...done, lights out. More bed adjustments are needed because AGAIN, Eli needs his space. 5:20, Dad, is your birthday in summer? (While I understand the excitement of Jamesapalooza, 5:20 is no time for these questions!) No son, It's in the spring...go to sleep. 5:22...is spring before summer? Yes, go back to sleep. 5:25...I need more water...can you hand me my water bottle (water bottle handed off and returned) 5:30...dad can you scoot over some more and mom can you move down? Eli, this is our bed! Go get back in your bed if you aren't happy! 5:45...can you get my water bottle? Are you getting up soon? Soon, but not now! Go back to sleep!! 6:00... The alarm goes off...Eli totally misses it and is fast asleep! Nice!