Swine flu

I recently read an article about swine flu. Among other ridiculous things it said, "You should avoid people who are coughing or sneezing...".



Guess what.

My family has been coughing and sneezing since February...


So now what?

Oh, Jo-ohn!

Dear Brother-in-law,

Did you think I would leave you with just a trip to Italy with your family?

No way!

Enjoy!

One wakeboarding boat.Two wave-runners; one silver, one red!

This little guy...

Sooooo, this is the answer to the last post. No, a pipe did not burst of leak. Our 3 year old did. He decided it would be normal to load an upstairs sink with a shoe, trains, toothbrushes and toilet paper. Not totally bad, until the water was turned on and he left to wreak havoc somewhere else in the house.

As fate would have it, I came home for an hour, earlier in the day to play with the boys, as work was going to be an all nighter. Luckily we played basketball in the garage, so Kate did not pull the van all the way in; luckily I decided to pull off the door handle on the door that leads to the garage from the house (had broken earlier that day); and luckily Kate was able to open that door sometime who knows how long after the culprit turned on the faucet and with the van not blocking her view, see water pouring down from the ceiling.

It's a comforting fact to know that only the garage ceiling drywall was affected. Also comforting is the fact that the kids bathroom doesn't sit over another part of the house where more damage would have been caused.

Thanks to all who helped out Kate clean up the tsunami. Props to Kate, who despite the circumstances stayed calm, sought help, cleaned up the mess and then called me at work to break the news. Only later that night, did I come home and cut a few holes to allow some air into the ceiling area.

Such is the life with a young mischievous boy. Surprisingly neither of us was mad, but more found ourselves laughing about the whole thing. Maybe because I can clean and repair the damage myself, or maybe because it's really hard to stay mad at those brown devious eyes and ALL of his sweet energy. "Sawee mom."

What happened here?!?

Progress

Wow! I can tell I'm really entering a new phase in parenting. The kids are finally allowing me much more privacy. For example:

When I was going to the bathroom today, and Briggs interrupted me to ask if he could have something to eat, he closed his eyes!

I thought this day would never come!
















(once again, I reach for the sarcasm sign)

Mendocino... aaah...

Let us return to the 2009 blog give-away...

This one is for you, Mae.

This is one of the more obvious gifts, I have to admit.

If you were to ask Amanda what she would buy if she had a million dollars, she would say, "Sea Arches in Mendocino."

If you were to Ask Amanda if she could live anywhere in the world, she would say, "Sea Arches in Mendocino."

If you were to ask Amanda where her favorite vacation spot is, she would say, "Sea Arches in Mendocino."

Are you seeing a pattern here?

So my make-believe gift to Amanda is...

An all expense paid trip to the Bahamas!

... just kidding. How about, "Sea Arches in Mendocino."

So not only do you get the house, but the two golden labs, Jake and Lucky, come with the house. And you are also the proud new owner of the Gallery Book shop in town. You have to make a living somehow, right? Money doesn't grow on trees!

Just kidding! In this fantasy world it does. (Well, not actually a tree, more like a low growth shrub of sorts...)

I just thought it would be fun to have complete access to an whole inventory of books - AND- you are right across the street from Out Of This World, the second best shop in the village.

So tonight you can pretend that tomorrow you get to pack your things and move to Mendocino, where you can fall asleep to the distant sound of the Fog horn, then wake up and work on your garden, play catch with the dogs, have afternoon tea, then curl up with a good book in front of the fireplace.


Enjoy!

Hootenanny

So my neighbors decided to have a hootenanny tonight. Therefore, I can't hear myself sleep. They are loud, don't get me wrong, but it's my convictions that are keeping me up more (read: Your strong desire to hoot and holler to "Love Shack" does not justify your keeping the ENTIRE neighborhood up.) I know what you are thinking: "Love Shack?"... I know... I live in Pleasantville.

Sooo...

I'm posting recent picture of my kids being raised by technology.

My two boys doing what they know how to do best (wait, second best. The first best is drive each other nuts.)

I love this one of Ty. My mother was well into her 50's before she mastered the art of the mouse. No offense, Mom. Just making a point.

This is what the feet look like after a long, hard day of playing. I dare you to click on this and see every detail in those chubby toes!

And this one brings all sorts of happiness to me because of what Ashlynn is doing! I have breed my own little bookworm!

More of the 2009 blog give-aways are coming. It's just that being a philanthropist is hard work! Now I know how Oprah feels! (please note that I am totally making fun of myself...)

And...

I told my kids the other night at dinner that I thought I would implement a new rule. They don't have to eat *fill in the blank* that they don't like if they can make a rhyme about it.

I know. It doesn't make sense. But I thought it would be fun.

So the offending food that night was Lima Beans. Yeah, right! Like they can make a rhyme about Lima Beans!

Ashlynn (in less than 1 second): Lima Beans, collard greens, peachy keen, Veggie Tales!

Dang you, Veggie tales!

I guess it was a silly idea anyway.