Alarm Clock

I went back to school this week so the whole family is again on the work routine. We have been having trouble getting Ian up in the mornings. He is following the true Murphy tradition of sluggishness so Linda bought him an alarm clock. He slept through it on Friday and I wound up late for a meeting (I can't really blame him for that tough).

To give the non-Murphys a little background... My dad would regularly sleep though alarms for an hour or more. Chris (my brother) was the same, and in high school he wired in a extra loud speaker into his alarm clock so he could get up. Michael (also my brother) would throw whatever was on hand at us when we tried to wake him up. Suzie (my sister) seems to wake up just fine. Being the little brother, I was always the first one up. I would sit on top of Suzie at 6am and pry her eyelids open while asking "Hey SUZ! Are you awake?" Its fun being the little brother.

Nowadays though, I have to set my alarm a full half hour early because I will regulary reset it for a half hour later while I am still asleep (and have no memory of doing it).

This is what happened Saturday.

6:15 - Connor wakes up later than usual. Linda gives him his first breakfast. Linda checks her email. I stay in bed. Connor plays around the house and watches some TV.

7:00 - Ian's alarm clock goes off. We forgot to turn it off from Friday but that doesn't matter because Ian sleeps right through it. I hear it, get out of bed and in a daze manage to press a button that stops the horrible ringing. I go back to bed.

7:30 am - The alarm clock goes off again. Apparently it has a second alarm and I had only turned off the first one. It was ringing for a full two minutes. I decide to get my camera to record the moment. I debate on getting the same alarm for myself so I can get up on weekdays.

Tommy - "Ian, are you awake?"
Ian - .....







I reset the alarm for 8:30. Normally we let the boys sleep as long as they want to on the weekends. For Connor that is not as long as we would like. We had someone coming over at 9:30 and Ian and I were going to Karate class at 10:00 so we had to get him up.


7:30-8:30 Connor plays around the house and generally makes a lot of noise. Linda and I chat about what we are going to do that day. I have breakfast.

8:26 - Connor decides that Ian has slept long enough and goes to do his little brother best to wake up Ian.

Connor - "IAN!"

Ian - ......

Connor whaps Ian on the back repeatedly to wake him up.

Connor - "IAANNN!"

Ian - ......

Connor goes for the climb on top method. He does this to us too sometimes. I wonder if Connor will ever try the prying eyelids method. At this point Ian is awake but pretending to be asleep. He is trying really hard not to laugh.

8:35 - Ian trudges out to breakfast. Connor follows


Connor gets his second breakfast. Apparently this is why he wanted to wake up Ian.



8:50 - Ian is fully awake and super happy! Thankfully he has a little brother alarm clock!

Happy Birthday Linda! July 25!

Hi! Welcome to my first blog. Today is my lovely wife Linda's Birthday! Terri offered me the use of her blog Theresa's Life to honor Linda but she also suggested I use my own. Linda has been encouraging me to blog since she started blogging. Apparently I like to tell really long stories. She has mentioned this to me at least once or twice a week for the past year. I am mostly just putting up some fun pictures for this first post.

This first picture is at Norrie Point off the Hudson River just before I proposed. Linda is quiet by nature but she speaks her mind. She is a very strong woman that I am lucky enough to be married to. She keeps all of us laughing at our house and is really fun to be around.

Our first picture after getting engaged. Linda has a wonderful smile and brightens the room when she is there. (Yes I know that is really sappy!)

In 1998 Linda ran the New York City Marathon. She trained for three months and finished the 26 mile run strong. Go Team Snoopy!

Linda in Ecuador with her cousins in 2001. She had a great time there with tons of family and went again back in 2002.

In 2001 we moved to Arizona. Linda was incredibly supportive of me getting my masters degree. She is always thinking of other people. This is her on the hiking trail in Sedona.

Linda loves taking pictures and blog about them. Her blog is these are the days . (If you are reading this you probably know that already.) She used to do a lot of scrapbooking and that has evolved into her blog. It was pretty hard to find pictures of just her because she has been the only one behind the camera for the last two years. But I just got my own camera so... watch out!

I was practicing with my new camera. This is Linda being silly.

This is Linda being serious.

But she is the real photagrapher in our home. Here are a few of my favorite pictures that she has taken of our sons. I don't think she has ever left the house without her camera. I tease her about this a lot but she really does get great pictures.

Connor at the park glowing with happiness.

Connor asleep. Linda has a knack for getting real life shots of the boys.

Me and Connor last summer. What are we looking at? Who knows... Linda has a great eye for good pictures.

A very excited Ian at the Fourth of July Parade in 2006.

Ian trotting off into the distance in Flagstaff.

Here is one lucky shot of Linda and Ian that I took in Houson TX while we where visiting Jesse and Tewlyn. There is that same awesome smile!

Linda is a wonderful person. A loving wife and mother. We have been together for fourteen years and married for almost nine. She is the anchor and heart of our family. Happy Birthday Linda!