I'm the Dreamer, your the realist, that's why we work...

In our family, Meagan is the one that is grounded. She is the reason we are able to survive. When we got married, her dream car was a Jetta

This is Mine

A big Beautiful truck to go with my Big beautiful Farm

There is 1000 acres for sale around here...

I only need 40 of my closest friends to each give me $100,000

After we had a couple of kids, her practical car turned to this

Because she knew what we needed, not what we wanted.

We purchased a house,

(I can't find a picture of my house

and the camera is in our practical van at Meagan's job)

A cute 1400 sq ft house in town

The key was it was affordable

When the bank told me how much we were approved for,

we were very excited (upwards of $150,000)

then I asked what kind of payment we were looking at

and the excitement turned to, "there's no way we can afford that"

I guess they plan on you spending ALL your money on your house

and not power

or water

or food

or anything else...

In fact when I told her we were looking for a payment along the range of affordable,

The bank actually laughed at me

But we bought an affordable house and

have managed to keep it through a bad economy

and layoffs

and one income

what a concept.

Meg's dream house is this

4 bed

2 bath

1920 square feet

It's a nice little home, not much bigger than ours,

Out of our price range, but hopefully soon we could afford it

It's beautiful inside and has a nice manageable yard.

Practical.

This is mine

2.2 million dollars

8600 square feet

6 bedroom

8.5 bath

swimming pool

Meagan looks and says, that's that much more to clean

(I can't keep my 14o0 clean.

Good thing I won't be a stay at home dad

by the time I buy this place)

and waterfront

for my boat

But in reality, I would be happy with this truck

To pull this boat

Or even this one

Because even then I'm still a dreamer

Meagan has grounded me

That's why I'm in school

instead of pursuing a movie career

or building giant Lego statues in Orlando

I realize I'll never have the million dollar house

or the yacht but maybe the king ranch truck

I can still dream can't I

Oh, and when I do retire, I will be in Legoland as a master builder

That's one dream I'll never give up!!

Mine...Mine...Mine...Yours!!!

This morning Callie found a small heart shaped box of chocolates that Meagan got from one of her school kids. It's pretty small, holding 4 or 5 pieces of candy but Callie walked all over the house letting everyone know that it was hers. She found it in the kitchen where I was making lunches and I hear, "Mine Daddy Mine." She then moves into the living room where Carson is getting dressed and I hear, "Mine Car Car Mine." It was at this point that he informs her that it is actually Mom's. She of course ignores him (that's the redhead in her she gets from her Nana) and moves onto Meagan in the bathroom getting ready for work and I hear, "Mine Mama Mine." Again she is told that is actually Mama's and she needs to eat a good breakfast anyway so go give it to dad. She walks into the kitchen, not to give up the chocolate but to get her daily ration of yogurt and a cheese stick. It is here that she again informs me, "Mine Daddy Mine," to which my only reply is holding up her actual heart shaped box of chocolate which is significantly larger, holding 10 or 15 pieces of chocolate. Callie promptly turns tail and bolts from the kitchen right to the bathroom where I hear,"yours Mama yours!"

Asleep...

Sometimes I do my best thinking when I'm asleep. I dream a lot, but of course I never remember them the next day, at least after I have woken up a bit. Do you ever have those dreams when you want to go back to sleep because something really good or cool was happening? I have, but that hasn't been must of a possibility since I've had kids.

Callie likes to wake up at 5:30 every morning no matte

r what time we put her down, which means she takes a nap around 11 every day too. Those are my favorite moments during the day. I can try to make her take a nap but until she is ready, it ain't gonna happen. She has a very subtle way of letting me know when it's time to nap...She tells me to sit down in the rocking chair, then she turns off the lights and climbs aboard. I love rocking with my little girl, usually it's the best part of the day. By the picture can you tell the other subtle way? Yes, she usually strips down at least one article of clothing if not all of them. My kids love hanging out in their underwear but I don't know where they get that from...(as I look down and notice I'm in mine)

Soon I will graduate college and hopefully get a job so that we can get back to normal with Meagan staying home and me working. As I think about that coming day when I won't stay with Callie anymore it makes me to want to spend the more time in the chair and not put her in bed so I can study or do dishes or laundry or play on the computer. It's times like these that I really do think I will miss staying home. I won't however miss all the chores, but I will definitely do the ones I am assigned without any argument.