Familial Research and Development

Not much to add to this song. Either you get it or you don't. You're either committed to being as He showed us how, or you're not. You're either a star shining brightly or you're a black hole. You choose. Clay Walker, The Chain of Love He was drivin' home one evening in his beat up Pontiac When an old lady flagged him down her Mercedes had a flat He could see that she was frightened, standin' out there in the snow ‘Til he said I'm here to help you ma’am, by the way my name's Joe She said "I'm from St-Louis" and I'm only passin' through I must've seen one hundred cars go by this is awful nice of you And when he changed the tire and closed her trunk and was about to drive away She said how much do I owe you?; here's what he had to say You don't owe me a thing; I've been there too And someone once helped me out Just the way I'm helping you If you really want to pay me back Here's what you do Don't let th...

Growing older. Growing wiser. Realizing you really do have limits. Things you used to get away with as a kid (jumping from a high place and landing on your feet) somehow as you age, your body says uh, uh, uh-don't you even think about it cowboy/girl! Toby Keith, As Good As I Once Was She said, "I've seen you in here before" I said, "I've been here a time or two" She said, "Hello, my name is Bobby Jo Meet my twin sister Betty Lou And we're both feeling kinda wild tonight You're the only cowboy in this place If you're up for a rodeo I'll put a big Texas smile on your face" I said, "Girls... I ain't as good as I once was I got a few years on me now But there was a time, back in my prime When I could really lay it down If you need some love tonight Then I might have just enough I ain't as good as I once was But I'm as good once as I ever was" I still hang out with my best friend Dave I've known him since we...

Truth and reality can be strangers. Eventually though you have to look at the human in the mirror. Online personalities are not the truth as we are, but rather the truth we pretend to be-the one we wish others to see. So topical. I've had several friends who have dated online-and it hasn't worked out, repeatedly. There was one that did-but of the 5 others I'm aware of, that's not a good statistic to go with! Brad Paisley – Online I work down at the Pizza Pit And I drive an old Hyundai I still live with my mom and dad I'm 5 foot 3 and overweight I'm a sci-fi fanatic A mild asthmatic 've never been to second base But there's whole ‘nother me That you need to see Go checkout MySpace 'Cause online I'm out in Hollywood I'm 6 foot 5 and I look damn good I drive a Maserati I'm a black-belt in karate And I love a good glass of wine It turns girls on that I’m mysterious I tell them I don't want nothing serious 'Cause even on a slow day I c...

Heard this song played over and over and over again in the IMAX theater at Moody Gardens. Liked the words so I looked up the song when I got home. Reminds me of Frog and Princess. Dave Matthews Band, Steady As We Go I'll walk halfway around the world Just to sit down by your side I would do most anything, girl To be the apple of your eye Troubles, they may come and go But good times, they're the gold And if the road gets rocky, girl Just steady as we go Any place you wanna go Know I'll be next to you If it's treasure, baby, you're looking for I'll search the whole world through I know troubles, they may come and go But good times, they're the gold So if the road gets rocky, girl Just steady as we go When the storm comes down you shelter me When I don't say a word but you know exactly what I mean In the darkest times, oh, you shine on me You set me free, keep me steady as we go So if your heart wrings dry, my love I will fill your cup And if the load gets...

Perspectives change. Values change. Understanding changes. Knowledge changes. Decisions need to change. Tim McGraw, Don't Take the Girl Johnny's daddy was taking him fishin' When he was eight years old A little girl came through the front gate holdin' a fishing pole His dad looked down and smiled, said we can't leave her behind Son I know you don't want her to go but someday you'll change your mind And Johnny said "Take Jimmy Johnson, take Tommy Thompson, take my best friend Bo Take anybody that you want as long as she don't go Take any boy in the world Daddy please don't take the girl Same old boy Same sweet girl Ten years down the road He held her tight and kissed her lips In front of the picture show Stranger came and pulled a gun Grabbed her by the arm said "If you do what I tell you to, there won't be any harm" And Johnny said "Take my money, take my wallet, take my credit cards Here's the watch that my grandpa gave m...

Fidelity starts when you stop looking. When you start focusing on your one and only. This is what gives you a glimpse of eternity. When you're both on the same page-you 'get it' and then you get 'it'. Brad Paisley, She's Everything She's a yellow pair of running shoes A holey pair of jeans She looks great in cheap sunglasses She looks great in anything She's I want a piece of chocolate Take me to a movie She's I can't find a thing to wear Now and then she's moody She's a Saturn with a sunroof With her brown hair a-blowing She's a soft place to land And a good feeling knowing She's a warm conversation That I wouldn't miss for nothing She's a fighter when she's mad And she's a lover when she's loving [Chorus] And she's everything I ever wanted And everything I need I talk about her, I go on and on and on 'Cause she's everything to me She's a Saturday out on the town And a church girl on Sunday She...

Small town people want to keep their small towns, but then they raise kids who know, love, and appreciate small town life. Tim McGraw, Where the Green Grass Grows Six lanes Taillights Red ants marchin' into the night They disappear to the left and right again Another supper from a sack A ninety-nine cent heart attack I got a poundin' head and an achin' back And the camel's buried in a big straw stack I'm gonna live where the green grass grows Watch my corn pop up in rows Every night be tucked in close to you Raise our kids where the good Lord's blessed Point our rocking chairs towards the west Plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows Where the green grass grows Well I'm from a map dot A stop sign on a black top I caught the first bus I could hop from there But all this glitter is gettin' dark There's concrete growin' in the city park I don't know who my neighbors are And there's bars on the corners and bars on my heart I'm gonn...

High maintenance girls don't get it-they're pretty to look at, but don't touch and mess up their hair, their clothes, etc. And tell me I'm wrong, but from what I see all the girl can talk about is herself, her wants, her clothes, as though these are the things and stuff that make her wonderful. If she wants a real and a lasting relationship-she needs to step out of her high heels and walk barefoot for a spell. Toby Keith, I Wanna Talk About Me yeah yeah that's right We talk about your work how your boss is a jerk We talk about your church and your head when it hurts We talk about the troubles you've been having with your brother About your daddy and your mother and your crazy ex-lover We talk about your friends and the places that you've been We talk about your skin and the dimples on your chin The polish on your toes and the run in your hose And God knows we're gonna talk about your clothes You know talking about you makes me smile But every once in awh...

A fun song about looking and not touching. That's something that society is having a hard time with getting. Thanks to the 'big screen' where we 'learn' to do what we want. Some people don't get it that you have no 'right' to touch another person-not with your hands or your mouth-until and unless the other person gives you permission. Maybe why I think this is such a cute song. It says yippin' she's a good lookin' but that's as far as you can go with it! Trace Adkins, Honky Tonk Badonkadonk Turn it up some Alright boys, this is her favorite song You know that right So, if we play it good and loud She might get up and dance again Ooh, she put her beer down Here she comes Here she comes Left left left right left Whoo Husslers shootin' eightball Throwin' darts at the wall Feelin' damn near 10 ft. tall Here she comes, Lord help us all Ol' T.W.'s girlfriend done slapped him outta his chair Poor ole boy, it ain't his fau...

Fun common sense way to say 'don't drink and drive'. Tracy Byrd, Watermelon Crawl I was driving thru Georgia in late July On a day hot enough to make the Devil sigh I saw a homemade sign written in red Rind County Watermelon Festival Ahead Well, I wasn't in a hurry so I slowed down Took a two lane road to a one horse town There was a party going on when I got there I heard a welcome speech from a small town mayor He said we got a hundred gallons of sweet red wine Made from the biggest watermelons on the vine Help yourself to some but obey the law If you drink, don't drive, do the watermelon crawl When the band started playing the watermelon queen said Let me show you something that you ain't never seen She grabbed me by the arm said come on let's go She dipped down spun around and doe-see-doed She rocked back on her heels dropped down to her knees Crawled across the floor then she jumped back on her feet She wiggled and she giggled beat all you ever saw Said...

Wednesday would be the last full day of our vacation so we wanted to make sure we got the most important parts in. Like fully enjoying the Gulf. Like finishing the IMAX movies we could fit into our schedule done. Like going to the 'Bahn'! We did the French Fries with the seagulls again. We actually swam in the Gulf and we spent 3 hours at the 'Bahn'. Free life jackets. Free tubes... and loads of fun! By Wednesday Ben was so tuckered out he slept ski-wampus on the bed. We warned Ben on the first day that if he wandered off without one of us he would end up with a monkey on his back. Who would have guessed that he would choose a monkey and he'd actually end up with it on his back! It's kind of a camouflage green color monkey. The walkway out to the plane was broken so we got to go down one set of steps and up a ladder to get on the plane. Well, that was a first for me! Dove of course, loves to ask, now do you know where the ramps are made? Okay-everyone say it wit...

In the Discovery Pyramid at the very top, was the discovery room where the emphasis was on bones. The very first thing you walk into is a display with someone standing erect in front of a ‘pond’ (acrylic I’m sure) and a tackle box beside him. He ‘clearly’ had the form of a human and was the ‘Emperor’s New Suit’ on so you could see his bones. You walked through a tunnel that has a diorama on the side of two girls looking out over a handrail, a grandfatherly figure walking with a cane and an adult and child. As you walk and look the figures turn to figures of bones. It was cool. There were a whole lot of interactive things about exercise to take care of your bones and eating habits to take care of your bones, etc. I was fascinated with a display of skulls. There was a polar bear skull in the case-lots bigger than a human skull. The giraffe skull was interesting-I now have it cemented in my mind that the horns of a giraffe are bony. Dove got so worn out by the time we were about through w...

In the introduction to the Rainforests pyramid you walked through displays and interactive displays. We stopped to put a puzzle together. It was a huge puzzle and as a group of 4 other students came by they decided to help us get that puzzle together!. The pyramid of rainforests depicted those from around the world-by far the North American rainforest was the driest. Houston and Galveston are hot and humid-the Rainforests were more hot and more humid! I loved the orchids, the plants, and the macaws.

The Paddle-wheel ride was fun. It was not fun when David broke the happy thought that the paddle-wheel was actually functional. (insert smiley face here!) It was a pleasant ride, got some good pics of Moody Gardens from the waterfront-and of the Dinosaurs Alive Animatronics Exhibit under the white tent (okay so the pic is of the white tent!). They played old South music on a sound system that sounded old. If you have ever heard the song, Back When, and wondered what Tim McGraw meant when he said, ‘clicks, and pops, and white noise-man they sounded fine’ well, you will after listening to it for an hour! And for those who are interested in 'maritime' or naval-type stuff may find it interesting that the security notice on dock was MARSEC 1. (whatever that means!)

Ben had fun walking through the 3D display of animatronics dinosaurs-including the life-sized TRex! It was a fun display and although science can only guess (thank goodness) at the sounds dinosaurs made, it was a loud and noisy lot! Yes-Ben was duly concerned on a couple of turns through the display. But he was always curious and interested. Through every display-the whole trip. It’s like his mind is a little sponge and he can’t get enough of learning! Ben dug through the kids-intereactive-fossil dig and finally asked the adult in the area since the sign said you could keep one small 'found' fossil-how he could get one loose (the big white, firmly attached fossils wouldn't budge) and the adult said, 'Oh, there are some small ones in there-keep looking.' While the kids weren't watching, he went and got a bag of sharks teeth and started 'salting' the fossil field!

The Aquarium was awesome because at the very bottom you were walking through the main aquarium. You could see the underside of the manta rays and leopard sharks. It was dark so you could see the light filtering in from the top of the aquarium-it was really cool. Even the shark cage we stuck Ben in…ooops-did I admit to that? And yes-that lovely tile mosaic image-that's from the ladies bathroom! Now you know what's in there guys!!

We thought we'd swim on Monday-Ben waded and fed sea gulls, we did not swim. We watched group after group of brown pelicans soaring overhead. Maybe we'd swim on Tuesday. Naw-there was so much to do at Moody Gardens. So by Wednesday we swam. In the Gulf of Mexico. Better then. IF we got sunburnt we would be miserable only the last afternoon and on the way home-not the whole vacation. But, we put on plenty of sunscreen so we didn't burn. Turns out that on Monday there were yellow 'caution' flags flying on the lifeguard station-so wasn't a good day to go swimming, wading? Yes! The Gulf water is so very warm and so very salty-nearly as salty as the Great Salt Lake!