My little man dancing

Making Money from Home

So as a single income family, I've been trying to make money pretty much every second I'm awake...  I've recently tried this out and it seems to be working.  Easy way to make a bit of money while working from home.  Basically seems to be taking survey's for cash or signing up for offers, sometimes it's for 50 cents, sometimes it's $4.  Typically it seems to take about 10 minutes for each one, and they are easy to do while doing something else.  There is a mobile version so I even do it now on my commute and sometimes during my breaks. Though I'd share the link for everyone else:

Father and Son playing in stream

"What every boy needs to know about being a man"

"What every boy needs to know about being a man" Is a speech from the movie Second Hand Lions.  One of the main characters was named Hub McCann and was played by Robert Duvall.  Hub lived in a old weathered house with his brother Garth McCann (played by Michael Caine) as lifelong bachelors.  The brothers take in their grand nephew and through some hijinks which includes a lion in a cornfield and sword fighting with a plunger, help their relatively impressionable young man find a sense of self confidence. In the movie Hub gives a speech to a group of rough teenagers that he has given to countless other young men before.  I thought that it was really great and wanted to post it to pay homage to these 2 great characters. Here it is:

"Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things that a man needs to believe in the most.. That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money.. money and power mean nothing.  That good always triumphs over evil, and I want you to remember this.  That love, true love, never dies... No matter if they're true or not, a man should believe in those things because those are the things worth believing in."

I can't wait for my son to play with.....

    

    

  
      
    




  

Quotes on Fatherhood

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard.  Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass."  "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply.  "We're raising boys."   -Harmon Killebrew-


A father is someone you look up to no matter how tall you grow.
-Author Unknown-


A man never stands as tall as when he kneels to help a child.
-Knights of Pythagoras-


Love and fear.  Everything the father of a family says must inspire one or the other.  -Joseph Joubert-


His heritage to his children wasn't words or possessions, but an unspoken treasure, the treasure of his example as a man and a father.
-Will Rogers Jr.-


Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever.  -Author Unknown-


Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.  -Bill Cosby-

Make a Book for Dad this Fathers Day!

My handsome little Man

Babies love their Grandmas!

Can we keep her Daddy?...

Recently my mom came and visited our family for several days.  She lives several states away so it is rather hard to get together. Seeing her with Matty (my son) though is like seeing a breathtaking piece of artwork, she was such a shining light for us. There are things in this world that when you see them, you know that they are simply "right". My mom was a really great mother, but she seems to be born into being a PERFECT grandmother. She met and exceeded every single expectation that I had hoped would be met for her new role. It ended up that not only was she amazing with him, but she brought our whole family closer and happier at the same time. I think that she had such a positive impact on our family because she was always watching Matty, always wanting to hold him, and her devotion let my wife and I relax our muscles for a bit.. The genuine love and caring for our little boy came across so boldly that it allowed us to loosen our parenting muscles for a bit. I normally equate things to sports terms, so I guess G-ma is like the star relief pitcher on a World Series bound team. Mommy and daddy are always going to be the starters, but G-ma was able to come in and get the win for us each night she was here. We could count on her to swoop in and close it out for us without question or hesitation. We actually had our first "date night" since he was born because of the level of trust that she automatically won. That was the first time in 10 months that we had been alone together and it was surprisingly easy. If we had hired a babysitter I could see the tone of the night being quite different, but Grandma made it through with flying colors.

We are all emotional human beings. We can usually tell pretty accurately when someone is showing a genuine, pure emotion. It comes across in a hundred things a minute whether it's your smile, the way you hold your body, even what you are looking at. When someone honestly and without reservation loves you and has your well being held in such high regard, it is quite obvious to everyone in the room. I love my mom, but I love her much more now that I have seen how truly perfect she is with my most precious treasure...my son.  

   

A Letter To my Son..

Dear Matty,

  You are 10 months old now... I can't believe how fast you are growing.  It seems like just yesterday that you were just laying there in your crib, super defenseless and just practicing opening your eyes... Now look at you! You have taken your first steps, learned how to clap, you can say Mommy and Daddy, your front teeth came in (causing some sleepless nights for mommy and sometimes daddy).  You stop doing something when Daddy says "No, No, No Matty boy" while having a really sweet smile on your face the whole time.  Your Daddy has learned how to change diapers, how to make a bottle in less than 30 seconds, and to feel how amazing it is when you fall asleep in his arms.
  Matty, you make your daddy so happy when you crawl over him and wrestle around on the ground. It makes me wish that you could grow up a little quicker just simply to have more fun with you!  Well, let me think about that for a sec, you are so sweet now and I can't help but just thank God for all the blessings he has given us adding you to our lives.  Yeah, stay little and sweet for as long as you can.  I love being able to rock you to sleep still far to much.   I am looking forward to teaching you all the fun stuff that goes along with being a boy though.  I can't wait to show you how to swim, how to fish, how to pick up the little garden snakes and sneak them in to show Mommy...  Really everyday I think of something that we are going to have fun doing together my son.
  So here it is my little Matty boy, I love you so very much.  You have already enriched my life to limits that I couldn't have fathomed before you.  You have singlehandedly made me a better man my son.  I hope that some day the gift of fatherhood can be yours as well (but not to soon.. haha). I will always have a special place in my heart for you Matty, my first born son.  You are just a baby now but you have already made your Father so proud, think of all that is to come!

Always

Dad

The Prayer of a Father

Dear God

Lord I come to you humbly as your servant
I lift my family up to you God and put them in your hands
Lord watch over my wife and children when I am away working
Let them wake up happy and healthy each day
Keep them safe and peaceful as they are my treasure

Help me to be a good provider Lord, help me to be a good Husband and Father
Help me to be the father that I have always hoped to be

As always Lord, I put my own path in your hands
Lead me in the right way to make me a better man
Let my wife and children sleep well tonight Lord..
Let them dream of happiness and wake up rested

Bring your angels around this family O Lord
Watch and protect us through the night and tomorrow
Let my wife know that she is loved every minute of the day
Let my children feel their fathers presence even when i'm gone

Lord... I  ask that you grant me wisdom as the father of this family
Guide me to make the right choices to better our life

In your name I pray...

Amen

Contentment is.....

Daddy the Employer

So my son isn’t old enough to understand allowances, money, or even chores for that matter, but I have decided to treat Matty’s allowance like his salary. I am going to become the Employer, CEO of our family, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield all rolled into one. I want to pass on the knowledge that being a hard worker and meeting your deadlines inherently brings reward. If he takes care of his responsibilities he will be rewarded with his allowance, and I feel that my duty as a father will include teaching him about saving his money and also how to make his money work for him through investments and ventures. I know that he is still so little and I feel a bit silly thinking about him vacuuming for his weekly allowance, but that is one thing that I wasn’t taught at all growing up.
I don’t want him to be one of those people that think the only option is to go to work, be a zombie, and come home. I really want to foster the entrepreneurial spirit within him. I read Rich Dad Poor Dad  by Robert Kiyosaki awhile ago and it was a real eye opening experience for me. I certainly am not going to be quite as adept at making my son a financial genius as Robert, but I want to try. Some of the behaviors that I think help the mindset of a financially successful man are:

•  Understanding delayed gratification
• Not settling for the bird in the hand/being willing to take a risk
• Not needing to accumulate possessions to be happy
• Really understanding that his word is his bond
• Always staying positive in the face of adversity

I am sure that there are a thousand other attributes that need to be on this list, but this is where I am starting. Please feel free to leave a comment on what you feel is important to pass on to your children to keep them financially smart. Thanks!