isaiahisms

we decided to head up to the parking lot just below the "Y" and have a picnic dinner. we drove in and parked among the throngs of college students "hanging" out there. as soon as we find our spot and begin to enjoy our amazing view of utah valley, isaiah proudly announces, "dad, i have to go potty - pee, dad." groan. we just got here. so dad says, "well, lets turn around and go home" (a 5 second drive). isaiah replies, "no dad, i'll just go here and find a bush." chuckle, chuckle. "isaiah, you can't go pee here because there are too many people around." isaiah thinks for a moment and says, "dad, i don't care - they can't stop me."

Led Zeppelin, GnR, and us guys - Together Forever

I guess since the blog is titled, "The Crazy Crowfoots" I should include more tidbits about my family and not have it be all about me, me, me. So in other news Isaiah has really taken a shine to heavy metal music. Now before I continue I would like to point out that I have introduced him to various genres of music and in no way shape or form have I favored one over the other. Pavoratti and Salt-N-Peppa, Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. Blacklodge singers and Blackstreet, Janice Kapp Perry and .....well actually Janice Kapp Perry was all Monika but you get the picture. As early as last year my then 2 -almost-3-year old son knew Bob Marley Songs by heart and would come into our room early in the AM and sing, "get up, stand up...stand up for your right!" However he also knows primary songs by heart and many other things......now that I think of it, he can quote movies ("Party on Wayne......), memorize story books, imitate people (me) and throw a ball like a major leaguer! Like I was saying Isaiah really loves the sound on the guitar and rhythmic beats of rock music. It all started when I was driving a few months ago and the kids in the back were screaming their heads off. I thought I would play a CD really loud and make a fun game out of trying to get them to shut up. So I reach up and grab the first CD I could get (A Knight's Tale Soundtrack) and put it in. The first song? We will Rock You by Queen. The ever famous boom, boom, clap! Boom, boom, clap! Boom, boom, clap! surged through the speakers and the kids as if discovering sweet mana from rock heaven stopped their crying and started nodding their heads to the song. I looked at Monika and she at me and we both started smiling. It was awesome. Not only did we find a way for some peace and quiet, we also found a way for us to enjoy the time in the car as well. Upon this discovery I being who I am and never the type to kill a party started whaling away on my air guitar. Isaiah and Makayah loved it! He picked his up as well and started jamming to the music. Although he has not been practicing as long as I have he was still pretty good. A natural I dare say. So sweet was the moment of driving to the store, windows down and my son in the back rocking out to We will Rock You. I was proud as could be. Well the song came and went and the kids wanted more, and more, and more and more. They have listened to that song so much that they wore the CD out! So some time goes by and I am sitting in front of Itunes at our house listening to music and Isaiah comes up to me and says, "Daddy, I want a CD." So I reply, "Sure, what do you want?" He replied. "This one that goes.....boom boom clap, boom boom clap and I AM IRON MAN!!!!! DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DA NA NA NA NA....." you get the idea. So I sat him down on my lap and picked at random some songs I though he would like. I tried to turn him on to some of the classics you know, Biggie, 2pac (all clean of course) and others but Isaiah was not having it. All he would say is "Dad, just turn it off," or "play a good one now." Trying to please his inner rock god I scrolled down my 3 thousand or so song list and Isaiah would only stop me at the songs with either a hard steady beat or whaling guitar solo. And it was not just any rock song either that caught his ear. He is very particular, a pre-school connoisseur in Spiderman undies and mismatching socks. He liked Black Sabbath's Iron Man, but none of Guns and Roses. He loved Led Zeppelin's Immigrant song but not Rage's Bulls on Parade. He wanted AC/DC's Thunderstruck but not Aerosmith's Sweet Emotion. It was if he was sampling all 31 ice cream flavors before committing to a cone of HARD ROCK-Y Road. I was in awe as I watched him listen to the first 30 seconds or so and then either give me a nod or shake of the head as he deemed what was worthy of his 3 year old ears. The kicker were his eyes as he was thinking, "yeah this is good" or "turn this crap off" I could see the little wheels turning away as he concentrated. He was in top form. At last the playlist came to an end and we had about 16 songs or so, not all rock, but most. In the end he had chosen about 12 rock songs, 3 or 4 techno songs and some from the Curious George soundtrack, go figure? Having obtained his approval I inserted a CD into the mac and with a buzz and some whirring our future memories started to form. If I die a young death, let it be known to my children that I was a cool dad. Not just a father who lets his kids do whatever the heck they want, but someone who offered them guidelines and showed them all I could about the world and everything good in it. Now I am 100% positive there are those out there who are thinking that I am a terrible father who lets his kids listen to devil music, drink coke and eat nothing but candy. And truth is not too far from the accusations, however there is much more to the Crowfoots than all that. I love my kids. I cherish my kids and I teach them the gospel. I spend time with them and the time I spend is doing something we can build a mutual appreciation of for years to come. Music, sports, camping, movies (kid ones, not the Godfather), books (Recess Queen anyone?) family history (I just bought books about Chief Crowfoot for the kids when they get older) and yes even the scriptures. They know about Jesus, Nephi, Ammon (not the uncle, the prophet) and all the others with cool stories. They also have their classical music CD's, and lullaby and preschool mixes as well. However now they have something a little more appropriate that they can crank up and wail away on air guitar as they jump off the couches and furniture with their dad playing to thousands of screaming imaginary fans, and you know what? Somehow Barney songs just don't quite have the same effect.

Stun-gun Coyote (not my real name), it is about time!

So listen....I have had a little victory today, a small tidbit of personal triumph I guess you could call it. Turns out that today my homeboy "Rabid Fox" (not his real name but a pseudonym to protect his real identity) and I each scored our personal best on a practice LSAT under actual test conditions. I have scored higher in the past... but not under actual test conditions elbow to elbow with other wannabe law students. Although my score was not exactly the kind of thing I want to display in the sky like the Batman logo, I am still happy with the progress that I am making. Leaps and bounds it may not be, but the battle is raging forth, onward to victory, that illustrious goal of acceptance to a law school. Sooner or later it will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine. Anyone who knows me knows that patience is not one of my strong suits - I cannot stand stupid people, or drama queens - however persistence, good old fashion effort with a capital "E", and the prospect of working a dead end job for the rest of my life while others whiz past me in the fast lane as I putter down the road in a one-eyed Chevy Luv truck keep me motivated. Today, oh day of days I can sit back, look at my progress and say, "It is about damn time I started to show some signs of improvement. Finally daddy is running with the big boys!" Of course immediately after these words depart from my mouth I will take a deep breath, grit my teeth, look at the still incredibly long and hard road before me and take another step, and then another, and then another.....

Elders ET and Yoda

Here is a picture of me and my comp in the foothills of Las Vegas, it was around Halloween time and we had some masks in the back and decided to take a picture. I just found this not too long ago.....good times, good times

A weak, weak, week.

As most people know I am planning on attending law school and am currently putting my application together. A big part of that is the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), which by the way is in 2 weeks. I realize that its looming date finds me extremely unprepared and despite success on practice tests in my study, I have not faired well in actual test conditions. Therefore I am pushing my test date back again. Those in my family are starting to get frustrated, I am frustrated and embarrassed. So I guess I will not be turning in my application early as hoped. Oh well, the good news is that I feel good about my decision and have a great friend who I will be studying with on a regular basis. Good ol' RF the genius! I often tell my wife that she married beauty, not brains and that I am sorry I could not have both. She of course smiles at me, give me a hug and says "that is all right with me." I am lucky to have her.

Let's mix shiz up

As I was sitting back one day checking out the blog, I realized that it was a bit more feminine than would prefer. I mean that is cool and all, since it is mostly housewives who are into this stuff, but still, I would like to be able to show "my friends" my blog. I want to "Samanize" things a bit. For years it has been Monika taking the reigns, now it is my turn to showcase my beautiful kids, hot wife and all the stuff people brag about to their friends. I took the liberty of adding music that I like, (Monika too) but mostly me. Also I put pics on the side that reflect another side of the Crowfoots that I think make us unique, and so I hope you all like the new format. Probably most of the house wives out there will find it a bit immature, childish or down right rude, but guess what... who cares? If it offends then I guess you can blame it on me, if it is cute, blame it on my wife. Either way we have each other's back and are laughing (her) or gushing (me) quietly in the background while our spouse takes charge in displaying our family in the light they feel is appropriate for the time. So thanks for visiting, hang out for a bit, listen to some music if you like, check some pics or vids and then be on your way. Peace!

sadly, it has come to this...

hey friends and family, i just received some weird emails from strangers in the land of blog...so, we will most definitely be going private. it's such a hassle, i know, i've been putting it off for as long as i could. so if you could all send me your names and email addresses, that would be lovely!! love you all...friends and family that is. ;) please send the emails to schweetiemb@yahoo.com (i will only add if i know who you are...so please send your names as well -thanks again!) p.s. if you haven't already noticed, sam's made a few 'improvements' to our page ;)

Local Cookin

Here I am @ my buddies performance in South Calgary the last time I went up to Canada. I hadn't seen him in 10 plus years and the night we reconnect I decide to see his band. They are really good - although you cannot tell by the audio of my ghetto-ass camera - they have a bass, keyboard and drums and they ROCK! The name of this band: "Thee Thems" Jon Clark, ya did good son, ya did good!

Best Buds - Father and Son

Me and Zayah, we really are best friends

bunk buddies

isaiah and makayah have been sharing a room for about a month now. back in june, makayah began crawling and diving out of her crib, and she just wouldn't stop doing it, no matter how many times she got hurt. silly baby. so, we bought a bunk bed off of craigslist for $75 and spray painted it white - i just couldn't stop there! i wanted to make the room a little more neutral. bye bye jungle room. i admit, i was a little sad to see it go. i painted isaiah's jungle room when he was only a year old. it was good while it lasted...and i think the new bedroom is just as great. at least the kids seem to think so. just after i finished painting (i tried to keep isaiah and makayah out of the room as best i could - but isaiah was so tempted, he kept trying to sneak in) anyway, like i was saying, i finally let isaiah in and he looked around his room, wide-eyed, and said, "wow! thank you for painting my new room mom, IT'S PERFECT!" and then he gave me a hug and a kiss. that's all i really wanted. :) i love making my kids happy. here is the before picture of isaiah and his jungle room. taa daa! the new "jungle" room. although i had to paint over my previous work, i really enjoyed having a blank canvas again. the bad thing is, if/when we ever move, it'll be sad to part with it. but for now, we'll all enjoy it. the best part...an extra room for our office!! yay!