Colin Said...

Some Dueseys from the recent past.......

"I love Cargoats!"  (meaning Go-carts)

"I'm grounded."

"It's unanimous!"

"Dad. Right your sign-a-tee."  (signature)

After Ian was talking about a car he had seen with a trailer ball mounted on the front....... "So did they go backwards the whole way they were goin'?"

Gotta love it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

View from our kitchen on this beautiful, sunny Thanksgiving morning in Maine.

Yesterday Steph and the boys went snowshoeing while I did some work around the house and attended to some errands. I think today we'll stay inside!

Our remodelled kitchen in the new house, ready for big action!

The plans of the Queen for the annual feast.

Here we go!

So we'll probably be busy eating and patting our bellies the rest of the day. Toni and Tim will be here for dinner. Kirk, Jill, and Lindsay will stop by around dessert time, Terri, Steve, and Erin after that (Ashley, Bill, Bev, Til all in Florida).

Love to all!

Easter Sunday

The Easter Bunny leaves rhyming clues inside plastic eggs for the boys to find little presents hidden around the house. Ian was reading one of them out loud, Colin sitting right by his side, listening intently. Part way through, Colin leans over to Steph and whispers, "Hey, Mom! Ian's a really good reader!" The clue was about where we put bookbags and coats. Ian, to help his brother out, prompts: "And where do we keep bookbags and coats?" Colin thinks for a second and says, "The DINING ROOM!" As they go by me on their way to the dining room, Colin gives me a "hey Buddy" pat on the arm.




After Colin found one of his gifts and a couple of chocolate eggs along the way, he ran back to show Mommy. I said, "And two chocolate eggs to boot!" So when he gets to the living room he says to her, " Look, Mom. And two chocolate eggs to boot!"

Too funny. they were cracking us up all morning.

While they were hunting for chocolate eggs, Ian was thinking about Colin and the fact that Colin is younger. Every once in a while Ian would hand him a chocolate egg and say, "Here, Colin. You can have this one." "Thanks, Ian!" Can you beat that? Love it.







Goofy Daddy and Colin playing bouncy-ball.

Later, everyone came over to our house to have Ian's family birthday celebration. He was grateful for all the presents he got and spent some good time sharing his things and visiting. It was great to see everyone.











Hey Colin, You're busted for unauthorized enjoyment of chocolate!


Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday to You, Too!

Happy Birthday, Steph! Queen Bee for the day!

Mommy got breakfast in bed, followed by a birthday party in bed with her boys!



This is the card she got from us.




She got two stained-glass dragonflies and a special necklace and earrings that Colin picked out. Boy do they look great!







She was feeling loved!




She said that she would get to do anything she wanted on her birthday. When I saw her cleaning up, doing laundry and putting stuff away, I said, "You're not supposed to do any work today!" "No, I said I could do anything I wanted to do today." came the reply. Touchée.

So she did what she wanted to! Bless her. She wanted to take care of some stuff and she did. She also relaxed a bit and when for a walk with Jake.

We love her!

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy birthday, Buddy!

Ian had a bowling party with some of his friends. Crazy bowling! One kid got three and a half feet of air before the ball crashed down onto the lane. Another caused the bumper rail to go down. We had a ball get wedged between the rail and the median between lanes. Of course, you've got to have a few balls that go backwards when the younger ones are bowling. And finally, there was an award for Most Dangerous Ball. It went right over the rail and into a completely different lane!

We all survived and had a grand old time!


Having a grand old time.


Da goils.


Mr. Happy hangin' out with the big kids.



Ian just misses a 7-10 split.


The landing to Ian's "Flying Release" move.



Now it's time for cake!



And WHAT A CAKE! It's a Lego brick! Good job, Mamma!



Ian contemplates his wish...

Congratulations, Ian! You made it to 8!

A couple highlights from last year. Enjoy!

"Your Sherrif's Kit comes complete with deluxe yellow handgrips, waterproof tracker's boots, all-terrain ve-hicle, crossdraw holster, and shape-retaining high-visibility authentic western hat!"



Ian zooming along on two wheels. To say he got the hang of it over the summer would be a huge understatement! He was gone!!!



End of summer at camp.




Two days later it was winter. We still have fun, though!




Bear Grylls, eat your heart out. You got nothing on these guys!




Ian demonstrates using root side of a deadfall and pine boughs to make quick shelter. I am man - watch me survive!




The boys picking out our Christmas tree. Here comes 2011 !

Ian said.........

A couple of weeks ago Ian had a sleepover with two of his buddies. They were all talking about sleep and going to bed, being scared at nighttime, etc...

I was in the hall when I heard Ian say, "Sometimes - I'm scared o' my snoring."



Today he asks me: "Dad - is Mother Nature God's wife?"

Meet Henry

New Posts, New Link

Below find some new pictures and goings-on. You may have to scroll down a bit through older posts that you have already seen, but they are there. So browse through "Older Posts" at the bottom of the entries on this page. If you get to "Upta Camp" you've gone far enough.


Also, check out the new link to the right. It has Ian's Cub Scout stuff on it.


Enjoy!

Road Wary

As most of you know, Jake had a near death experience recently. He ran out into the road when he saw a neighborhood friend across the street.

Just before reaching the centerline, he realized something big and fast was approaching to his right. He pulled up just in time to not get hit in the head and body, but did get hit.

I remember seeing a flurry of black, a pickup truck going by, and then Jake spinning around in the road, legs flailing.

Well let's just say I've been calling him "Lucky Jake" lately. A bad sprain is nothing compared to what could have happened.

Anyway, a couple of weeks have made a big difference. His bandage is off and his limp is almost non-existent.

Little by little, we're going to build up his strength with on-lead walks. In the mean time, he's getting more stir crazy than we are!

I hope he has developed a respect for the road. A close call that will save his life?

There's a lot to be thankful for.

Hiking with Michelle and Reid

We had a nice, relaxing walk through the woods with Michelle and Reid last weekend. It was good to be outside for a while, especially with the unseasonably mild weather we've been having.




Hey, Little Buddy! Reid loves hikin'!






A bit windy but still nice. In the woods we were sheltered and quite comfortable.





Ian and Colin checked out some trees that beavers had started to work on.





We also found some otter tracks and an area it had cleared away leaves while foraging.





Hiking always seems to have this effect on us! Yay!




Veterans of the trail.





Ian streamside in deep thought.





Taking in the scenery.



We're lucky to have a break from Winter and to enjoy the outdoors. It's good for all of us!


Thanks, Michelle.

Kids!

The other day, Ian was getting ornery as we were driving.... something he wanted. Well, he started to cry a bit, and then it turned to some angry shouts at us. Frustration!

A quiet moment.

Colin: "Just be happy!"

Ya gotta love 'em.

Pix Problems!

I'm going to try to get a new USB cable this weekend so I can start uploading photos again and breathe some life into these posts!

I tried to buy one around Christmastime but they were all out.

I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do!!!

Ian

Ian was sick today. He started to get sick at 1:39 a.m.

He stayed home with Mommy and Colin today to recover. He's always such a trooper. He doesn't complain and gets back to normal quickly.

It's 7 p.m. and he's been feeling better for a few hours now. He doesn't have a fever so we're relieved and can't wait until he's all better!

Colin Said...

The other morning I said, "Well, it's time to check the weather."

As I opened my laptop to get on weather.com, Colin said, "Daddy... I don't want weather today."

As far as computers go, we have a small "laptop" that Colin uses. It's something that Steph brought home from school and has a few educational games on it. Colin enjoys it as it hinges open and has a digital display with letters and numbers on it.

The other day he asked for it: "Daddy, I want my panooter!"


Am I crazy or does that beat the Family Circus obligatory dashed line tracing the little kids' steps around the yard!?? Bil Keane eat your heart out!

Please Stand By...

I've written a few new entries and I'm trying to update but I am temporarily unable to upload photos!


Be back soon.


T

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!





Ian carving his Jack O' Lantern.





"Um ga' yooz diff!" ("I'm gonna use this!") Hard to say with the mouthpiece in - Safety first!





The gooey, fun part! Dig right in theyah!




Ian is proud, Colin steps on thumbtack.





Bobbing for candy. Yeah, I know.
















Bobbing for brothers!




Twick o' tweat!




Ian, the Ninja with fiancée Emma, the Fairie.





Thank moo!

Steph made this whole costume for Colin! Quite a project. It came out great! It has a hood with ears, too. It took a long time to convince Colin to wear it but, finally, after Auntie Toni said, "You've got to put on your hood so you can get some candy!" on it went! He doesn't have it on in the pictures but he wore it for a while.




We put a bright LED white light in Ian's pumpkin to make him visible (especially important this year because his costume was flat black). It makes the whole thing light up and looks like a glowing orange ball wherever he goes. Colin had a blinking light on his costume, too.

We all had fun and the boys made out like bandits!