Temple Photo

I took this picture on the day we went to the Temple with Jewel, Tanis, and Crystal and their families.  I may have messed with it too much, but I thought I would post it because it has been so long.

Our dog Yoda

Actually this little Chihuahua/Yorkie cross belongs to one of my teammates at work.  He and his wife are taking a week-long vacation and our family jumped at the chance to babysit.

Yoda is so well behaved and the kids love him.

But the real surprise is how well he and Heather have hit it off.  The rest of us are all holding our breath that this week goes well : )

- C

Crazy Haircuts

Mason and Tyson had been complaining about their long hair.  I thought it looked good but I guess they were too used to having their hair buzzed like mine.  We finally gave them haircuts yesterday but not without playing around a bit first.

- C

Deacon's Three

Does this mean that we don't have a baby anymore?  We had a late birthday party for him last night and Heather made a Superbunny cake (his favorite character from his Max and Ruby cartoons). 

I can't remember the other kids being this cute when they were this age, but it might be that I am old enough now to better appreciate how precious this time is. We are so glad that he is a part of our family.  

I just wish there was some way to slow the time down...

- C

Best Wife in the World!

Today I was supposed to be working on a school assignment.  My efforts were soon interrupted by an email from the Dairy Queen Blizzard Fan Club (of which I am a longstanding member), informing me that this month's Blizzard of the Month was "Turtle Brownie".   We live less than a block from a Dairy Queen but the problem was, we didn't have any of the half-price coupons that I sometimes get from being a club member.

The craving would not go away so I signed up for some new hotmail addresses and then used those to set up new Blizzard Club accounts under fake names.  I created three such fraudulent accounts and even claimed that today was the birthday of one of my fake identities.  But despite all of that "work", I didn't get a single coupon emailed to me.

When the kids got home from school I drove Ella to an appointment she had. Guess what I found when we got back...

It turns out that while we were gone, Heather had made a pan of brownies from scratch, toasted pecans on the stove, and made her own caramel sauce from brown sugar and butter and evaporated milk, and then blended it all into a homemade blizzard.

I started out really wanting to go to Dairy Queen, but now I feel sorry for all those people who have to go to the store to get June's flavour of the month.  I don't know what I ever did to be such a lucky guy.

 

- C

Rooftop Rootbeer

The other night, we enjoyed the chance to climb out onto the roof and enjoy a pop while we watched the town together. The only problem with this tradition is trying to limit the number of times we walk on the shingles. We have settled on an agreement with the kids; once a month, and any time that the power goes out at night (to watch the stars).

The kids are all hoping for a power outage soon.

- C

Annual Cleanup - Ella's Discoveries

The other day, Tyson asked us when we were going to do our yearly cleanup of the riverbank and green space in front of our home. So tonight, after a delicious supper, we headed out with a huge garbage bag for the trash and a smaller bag for pop bottles. The kids buzzed around like bees, ranging out and returning with handfuls of garbage.

When we were about halfway to the end of the green space, Ella reached into the long grass overlooking the river and exclaimed, "I found a hundred dollars!" Heather and I both doubted it was real money but sure enough, she had found two folded up $50 bills. I have no idea how that money would have gotten there but we told the kids that they had been blessed for doing a good deed.



If that wasn't enough excitement, when we got to the end of our route, Ella noticed a bundle of flyers hanging from a tree branch which drew her attention to a whole pile of flyers. It looks like whomever was responsible for delivering them, just came and dumped them over the side of the cliff.



Further down the path we found a second dump site. A quick sampling showed that the flyers comprised at least three different editions - the most recent dated only a few days ago. I asked the boys if they wanted to go on a stakeout with me this weekend.

We'll park the van across the street from the dump sites and sit in the back with some treats and a thermos of hot chocolate. I should report the littering to the police in town, but it might be helpful if I could also give them video footage of the offender.

Plus, it would be good experience for the boys to solve a nice easy case like this.


The kids insisted that I include this picture they made with their Easter rabbits (based on a t-shirt I showed them).

- C

The First Slurpee In a Year

On Monday night I told the kids that we were taking them to swim with tropical fish and then took them to the local pool. Last night I told them that we were going white water rafting as a family. Even though I answered all of their questions (should we take our towels? Will they have life jackets for us there? Is it close to Bayport?), they still didn't guess that we were just going for another public swim.

The kids had another great time at the pool, but before heading home, we stopped at 7-11 for a special treat. Ella had just gotten her braces removed that day and we celebrated by letting the kids each get their own slurpee. Ella has been so patient this past year and really did a great job of looking after her braces. Heather didn't want to share a slurpee with me so I didn't get one. But maybe I'll wait for my own special celebration...

when I've made my last payment to the orthodontist.


(The pants in this picture were hand-made by Jewel for Mason when he was this age. Deacon loves them and we think they are so cute on him.)

- C

Deacon and the Egg

When Heather was making pancakes yesterday morning, Deacon picked up one of the eggs and started carrying it around. It looked cute to me, maybe because it is so fragile and not something that would normally be trusted with a three year-old.

I took him over to the front window snapped a few shots while he held it.















I'm really happy with how they turned out and have resolved to try using props again some time.

(Disclaimer - I don't mean to brag about my picture taking. I posted these pictures to brag about how my genetics have helped to produce such beautiful children).

- C

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I always associated this holiday with Shamrock shakes from McDonalds (Heather made some herself this year), but I had been missing out on some great Irish food.



Heather made a breakfast of scrambled eggs, deer sausage, and these green clover pancakes.





The kids and I worked outside raking leaves and tending to the raspberry beds. A hotdog roast may not be strictly orthodox, but it was fun and allowed us to burn up some branches from our pruned trees. Almost as soon as we finished lunch, Heather began preparing our St. Patty's supper.





I called our local butcher looking for brisket and was surprised to learn that he already had some made into corned beef. Heather boiled it for four hours and then cooked potatoes, onion, cabbage, carrots, and parsnips in the same pot.



We ate the meal with a fresh loaf of Irish soda bread and some of the apple juice we made last year. In summary it was a great day. I'm giving the blog another try precisely because I seem to forget these kinds of days if I don't write them down.

To be clear, Jewel does not get credit for our return to blogging.

- C

I am a dork!!!!

Sorry all. I am a total looser and as such I don't feel that I can blog until I can regain "cool-ness"!!!

Till then....