Day 45 - Me & My Valentine

Here I am with the love of my life. She fought taking this picture because she "looks horrible". She hasn't looked horrible a day in her life to me. She even tolerates the non-celebratory way Valentines Day has been observed the last few years because I work too darn much. Who could ask for a better Valentine?

Day 43 - Sword fighting

Here's a shot of me doing what I do best - cause trouble. This is me and son #2 Noah having a Nerf sword fight in Wal-Mart. It was a draw because we had to clear out for other shoppers, but let the record show that I got the most potentially fatal strikes in due to my longer reach and Jedi reflexes.

Day 31 - Rosebud

Today Tammy and I got out in the snow with the boys. What I anticipated to be a 15 minute "do my duty as a father" kind of thing turned into two and a half hours of fun with the neighbors. Besides getting pulled around by their four wheeler, they also let me try out their Radio Flyer. Let's just say they don't call it "Flyer" for nothing. There has been talk of an after dark event as well.

P.S. Click here for those of you who don't get the rosebud reference

Day 30 - Snow Dudes with their Quiver

Snow Dudes with their Quiver
Originally uploaded by mattguthrie

Here are my two snow dudes, reluctantly coming in after an hour and half of sledding out on the street in front of the house. Every good snow dude needs more than one option depending on the conditions. This was their second trip out of the day. The best part - they spent the last twenty, thirty minutes working together.

Day 25 - Homemade Armor

Gourd Helmet
Originally uploaded by mattguthrie

No, it's not a scene involving the Lost Boys from the movie Hook. This is my youngest son, reluctantly showing off his latest creation. He is in the process of creating his own suit of armor constructed out of gourds. You can't tell from this photo, but you can actually raise and lower the visor.

Day 22 - What's missing in this pic?

Me & the boys
Originally uploaded by mattguthrie

This weekend is Tammy's annual scrapbooking weekend. She goes away to the beach with two of her friends and all they do is scrapbook. They literally have to rent a UHaul trailer in order to get all their stuff down there. It's unbelievable how much stuff they have.  You think I'm kidding.  I'm not.

So, it's just the boys and me. They look forward to it each year, thinking it's going to be a testosterone festival - burping and other rude noises, improper eating, guns, power tools, video games and movies that mom won't approve of. We get a little bit of all it in, but not to the extent that any of us will get arrested.

It's *usually* a lot of fun. But I'm always glad to see Sunday night.

Day 19 - My Heroes

Day 17 - Sights of Home

Sights of Home
Originally uploaded by mattguthrie

While spending a few days at my mom's, I decided to drive down to where I grew up - Harkers Island, NC. I took some pics of the sights and places that mean home to me, including the no-longer-owned-by-my-mom-house-I-grew-up-in. Locals will immediately recognize the bridge that took me home everyday and the daily cruising destination of Shell Point. Our old elementary school still looks the same. My siblings will recognize the volunteer fire department where my dad served as chief for many, many years.

Close friends will note the two things that are glaringly absent. The Cape Lookout lighthouse - there was just too much mist on the sound today, plus my phone would not have been able to capture it - and the Free Grace Wesleyan Church where I grew up. The buidling was destroyed in a fire two years ago after it was struck by lightning.

Day 9 - "He kicked my tooth out!"

Missing tooth
Originally uploaded by mattguthrie

Another testimony to having two boys in the house. My oldest son has resisted pulling a loose tooth. That thing was barely hanging on. This afternoon as he and his brother were "fighting in slow motion" (think The Matrix meets Kung Fu Panda), he exclaimed the phrase giving us the title of today's photo. Again I say, it's never a dull moment.

Day 3 - Scout Uniforms

Scout Uniforms
Originally uploaded by mattguthrie

Both of my boys are active Scouts. My oldest was just awarded his Tenderfoot rank (I need to put on his new badge) and my youngest is working on his Bear rank in Cub Scouts. We were getting ready for our den meeting this afternoon so I decided to take this pic. *Most* of the time they live up to the ideals of Scouting. It's a great organization and I'm thankful my sons can be part of it.

Day 1 - 01/01/10 Chair Wrestling

This is pretty indicative of life at our house.  It's always high activity.  Here you have the two main culprits enjoying some brotherly love instead of doing what they were sent into the kitchen to do in the first place. :-)