Daddy's Little Helpers....

Cameron mowed the front lawn at the old house for the very last time last Tuesday, and then he did the same at the new house on Monday of this week.



Erin was also excited to try out the mower at the new house, and she did about half of the back yard.

I am so happy!

Did I mention I was ecstatic!?

However, this lawnmower was included in the deal for the old house, so I will have to buy another one that is also self-propelled so that Cameron, et. al., can continue to make their daddy giddy with glee!

Hmmm... maybe it is finally time to purchase that hammock....

Forget about Pisces, Capricorn, or Sagittarius....

This is definitely our favorite sign...



Here is a picture of our old house 10 years ago when we bought it.


And here it is when we sold it.



As you might expect, there were even MORE changes to the inside!

Father and Son golfing

Cameron, in his winsome way, has been yammering for weeks about going golfing, so today we hit the nearby par-3 course.

As we went along, I tried to teach him golf etiquette (the last kind of etiquette he has not yet learned to flout with impunity).

For example, after I had made a big divot, he asked why I was putting the sod back in place and stamping on it.

'You see, Cameron,' I gently taught, 'A good golfer tries to leave the course as he found it.'

Puzzled, he queried, 'But you're not a good golfer!'

Obviously he doesn't realize that the word 'good' has many different nuances.

Later on, I waxed philosophic, explaining the yin and yang of golf, commenting on how if I made a bad shot something good could still come of it, then I added, 'I usually don't make very good shots.'

'Yeah,' he chimed in, 'You usually suck!'

Edward Scissorhands?

Last night was the Father and Son campout, and, as usual, Cameron played with fire most of the evening and all the next morning.

His face was pale gray with the smoke (he had no idea), and when we got home I tried to get a picture taken of him, but as soon as he walked in the door, Erin exclaimed, "Cameron! What happened to your face?"

He promptly went into a bathroom and cleaned it up.

Or so he thought....

He now looked like he had applied a heavy layer of black mascara around his eyes.

It was kinda creepy!

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get a picture of this either.

So this reasonable facsimile thereof will have to do....



Of course, we did learn some things:
1) Dutch oven pear cobbler is heavenly, but blueberry stinks (fortunately we did half-and-half!)
2) Sleeping in the back of a van is MUCH quieter and MUCH warmer than in a tent.
3) Little boys sleep much warmer in the middle of the night when they actually get INTO a sleeping bag rather than just heaping it on top of them! (I traded him my toasty warm one for his cold one at 5:30 AM.

Does not compute! Does not compute!

So this week, Cindy is having the family do kind things for each other in secret, and then leave behind a little laminated picture of a teddy bear.

On Tuesday night as the kids were getting ready for bed, Erin got Makenna to help her clean up the sink area in the the kids' bathroom.

As they were busily putting things away, putting things in order, and wiping the sinks down, Erin excitedly commented, 'This will be our special gift for Mom!' She then propped up the teddy bear on the back of the sinktop.

I kept quiet, but in my mind I was thinking, 'This is you kids' bathroom sink. Why is cleaning up your own messes a present for Mom?'

When I mentioned this to Cindy that night, she snorted and said, 'I know exactly what she meant!'

Love the mud!

This is what happens when you try to ride your bikes through a muddy field.
Your shoes get stuck in the mud and come off....the wheels won't turn anymore and your brother has to come "unstick" your bike after he has gotten his out. Then you get to hose them all down....and no you can't put your bathing suits onl....it is only 54 degrees outside!

Up close and personal with nature

This was the view from our morning room this morning. Cameron was eating his breakfast and started hollering that there was a deer. It had walked across the top of the hill in the back yard and then mosied down, grazing all along the way. Beautiful!


Last night the kids found a bird in our window well. They were playing in the basement and saw it struggling to fly out. We have a robin's nest in the backyard and assume this was one of the babies from there. We assume that because momma and pappa robin were extremely distressed watching baby robin be "stuck" in our window well. They were flitting all around and when the kids went outside to peer down the well they got an earful from momma and poppa. Louis eventually helped the baby get out and hopefully the little bird family found a safe place to stay the night.

Shakespearean it was not....

Erin had a friend over after school yesterday, and a couple hours later they cajoled me into going to the basement to watch a play they had come up with.

The play consisted of play-acting an argument between Erin and her friend.

As I expected, there wasn't a discernable difference between this play-acting and the real thing!

I guess you could say they have 'practiced' quite a bit over the years!

Parental Units--That's all we are!

Being Sunday, I declined Cameron's suggestion to rev up the chainsaw to cut up more 'firewood' for their firepits (see below).

Cameron then scornfully exclaimed, 'I'm hungry! Since you won't get out the chainsaw, why don't you make yourself useful and cut up an apple for me!'

That kid had better watch out, or he'll find himself at the Emergency Room again!

Cliquishness

The 3 older kids are down the basement having their usual fun and fighting, and then it reaches a new level, so I go down to investigate.

I see that Cameron and Makenna have barricaded themselves in under the basement stairs to have their own club.

Then Erin begins complaining to me, 'They won't let me in there because I don't have any stitches!' (Makenna had some stitches on her lip 3 1/2 years ago.)

I just hope they don't start up a 'Non-Daffy Club,' as there would be no members!

A photographic chain of events

1. The kids can't play on the new grass in our yard, so on Saturday they shift operations to the periphery of the yard and then Cameron and Erin decide to create fire-pits.

Erin's is aesthetically pleasing....



Cameron's is more utilitarian....




2. Against Cindy's better judgment, I let Cameron use a hatchet to cut firewood for their firepits.



3. Cameron ends up in the emergency room with a nice gash that requires 4 stitches.




Supplemental Narrative

Much like the Obama campaign, outward appearances can be deceiving. (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Actually, after using the hatchet for a number of hours, Cameron went to bed Saturday night with nary a mark and with a small grin of self-satisfaction.

At 4:50 AM, we awoke to a big 'THUMP' and then a slight scream, followed by Cameron crying his way into our bedroom cupping his bloody arm.

Cameron had fallen out of his bed and hit the steel mattress supports on the way down. As such he, got his first taste of an Emergency Room.

Sadly, this hasn't slowed him down a bit....

The grass is always greener....

On Thursday I got back from a short business trip to Mexico to find this:



The soddin' sodders had done sodded our yard.

My understanding is that we now have to spend about $1000 in water bills over the next couple months, not to mention non-stop moving of sprinklers, etc., in order to finally enjoy the new lawn.

Cindy and I were up past 11 PM that first night!

Flamingoed

This is what we saw in our front yard when we woke up Wednesday morning.
I guess this means we have officially been welcomed to the neighborhood.

A wolf in sheeps clothing

Sunday afternoon....Allyson is in bed napping.

Makenna: "Mom, Can I go in my room and get 5 pennies."
Mom: "No."
Makenna: "Please. I know just where it is. I'll be really quiet."
Mom: "What do you want it for?"
Makenna: "I want to buy a stick of gum from Cameron."
Dad: "I will let you borrow 5 cents. When Allyson wakes up you can pay me back."
Makenna: "Thanks."


Monday morning....two hour delay for school because of dense fog...kids are playing the the basement...mom cleaning up in the kitchen. Makenna comes running upstairs.

Makenna: "Mom, Can I have a quarter?"
Mom: "No."
Makenna: "Please Mom! I really need one."
Mom: "Why do you "need" a quarter?"
Makenna: "So I can buy a stick of gum from Cameron."
Mom: "How many pieces are you going to buy?"
Makenna: "Just 1."
Mom: "Why do you need a quarter for 1 stick? Yesterday it was only 5 cents?"
Makenna (exasperated): "Cameron said it was on clearance yesterday. Today it is only on sale!"

Erin walks into the kitchen waving around a dollar bill

Mom: "Erin, what are you doing with that dollar?"
Erin: "I am going to buy some gum from Cameron."
Mom: "How many pieces?"
Erin: "4."

Cameron enters with a sheepish little grin on his face. He has definitly swindled his sisters and he knows it. They, of course, are clueless.

I know Cindy likes Elton John's music....

...but this might be going a bit overboard!



(Actually, Ally loves these glasses and puts them on by herself!)

Fishing season arrives....

On Friday night I took Cameron and Kenner to the pond at work to see if anything was biting yet.

Within a couple minutes Cameron had landed the first one.



Then Kenner landed one with some limited help from Daddo (I only baited the hook, put the hook in the water, jerked to hook the bluegill, then let her hold onto the rod for a couple seconds.)

I soon picked up my rod and went off on my own, hoping with a kindly father's hope that this would spur Kenner to try to do more by herself--that she would pull herself up by her bootstraps and be self-sufficient. (That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!)

And it worked!

By the end of the night she had caught two fish, having loaded the hotdog onto the hook, jerked, and brought them in without any help from Daddo. (I use the word 'brought' instead of 'reeled' as they were fishing about 2 feet offshore...)

A budding reader!

Messing up?

Cameron is quickly becoming crazy about doing embroidery. Since I showed him last week he has completed 2 projects. They are not difficult and only use a back stitch but he does them very well.
Makenna has been watching him and for the past week has been begging me to let her do a project too. I needed to buy another hoop since they have taken over mine. I got her a hoop and this afternoon I put her project together and got it ready for her.
After her first two stitches she said she "messed up". She handed me the project and sure enough her thread had come out of the needle. I fixed it and got her started again.
Anther stitch...."I messed up again." I fixed it again and got it started again. Another stitch...."I messed up AGAIN! UGGHHHH!" She handed it to me and the needle and thread were still together.
"How did you mess up Makenna?", I asked.
Her reply..."It keeps ending up on the bottom!"

We both got a good laugh when I explained that it needs to go through the bottom, then it goes through the top, then through the bottom etc. etc...

Now THATS what I call a "GARBAGE" can!

[Posted by Mommo]
Last Saturday I made my trip to Target before it closed to buy the new garbage can I had wanted. I had looked several places, priced them out and thought I was getting a great can for a great price. It is stainless steel with a press down lid instead of a foot pedal. I was so excited for it. We used the can for several days before having to empty it. Many times I commented on how much I loved our new garbage can. I know...it is just a garbage can...but I loved it. I loved it until I had to empty it. The one flaw in design is the inner "lip" that does not raise up when you need to remove the garbage bag. I had been stuffing all I could into the can for days. Finally when I tried to take out the bag I could see there was going to be a problem. The "lip" does not allow the bag to come out without every single thing you put in the can getting stuck on it. By the time I wrestled the bag out I had so many rips and holes in the bag that garbage was spilling out on the floor.
This only happened twice! After the second time I called Target (which is my favorite store) and asked them if I could return a gargabe can I had bought 5 days previously, used since then, no longer had the box for but hated! Their reply....

Yes!!

We are currently using our old can. If you would like to see a photo of our "returned" can so as to know what NOT to buy you will have to check out the post below with photos of our kitchen and look near the end of the counter. (Sorry I didn't get a close up but at the time who knew there would be a reason to!)

Our students are like sauerkraut in our hands!

Yesterday Erin came home with a headache.

After she explained why I certainly understood! Her teacher had shown them some global warming propaganda--including Al Bore--I mean Gore--in his misnomered film, 'An Inconvenient Truth.' Leni Riefenstahl would be proud of him!

I went ahead and clarified a few things for her, such as, yes, there appears to be global warming (even though temps have been stable for the past 10 years) but the jury is still out on whether it is man-made or earth- (or sun-) induced, that the 'Hockey Stick' temperature chart has been pretty much debunked, that Greenland was called Greenland long ago for a reason--and not because the glacial ice was green--that the polar bears are doing fine overall, that Ohio won't be beachfront property anytime soon, and besides, there could be a lot of benefits from a slightly warmer earth.

Then today she came home with another howler. Her teacher had made the comment that Al Gore should have been president--he got more votes than Dubya.

This provided another teaching moment. I told Erin that presidents in the US were not elected by the number of votes, but by electoral college delegates from each state, and that the next time she should make the comment, 'It's a good thing that Gore lost Florida by 500-odd votes--and all hail the electoral college!' (OK, I added the last bit!)

Still, she has great teachers this year, and as long as I can deprogram her, it's good for her to hear many different viewpoints!

Radiance, Thy Name is Cindy

Before my talented nephew Caleb flew off to Hong Kong on his mission, I asked him to try his hand at making a sketch of Cindy and me. He kindly agreed, and I sent him separate photos of each of us to meld together into one.

I later found out that the photo I sent of me didn't have enough contrast for him to pick up all my rugged face contours, and that he was struggling.

Still, when I saw the result I am sure that my reaction was the same as anyone who ever saw Cindy and me together. "Wow! What is a fox like that doing with a balding geriatric-ward wanna-be? He must have a lot of money or something! Maybe it's blackmail!?"

Fortunately, our scanner cannot scan the both of us so I am just posting her result.



Caleb's equally talented mother, my sister, felt the same way about my half of the picture, so she tried us both with watercolors.

The result was basically the same, a rendition that recalls Esmerelda and Quasimodo. As such, again, only the better half is being posted.



In both cases, how I turned out was certainly not due to a lack of talent, as you can see from Cindy's results. I guess I will just have to live with the fact that my rugged handsomeness, as it were, just cannot be captured on paper.

At long last....

We finally took some photos of the new house for the curious-minded:

The rustic front yard:



The morning room:



And Cindy's nirvana:

Held captive by the Amish....

During our moving prep 10 days ago we moved all the dresser drawers from our better furniture to the new house beforehand, and Cindy came in to find Ally in the following predicament.



A genuine Amish prison!

A stitch in time saves contention....

Yesterday while listening to general conference via the Internet, Cindy got Erin started on some cross-stitching to help her pass the time. (There is more than one way for a kid to gain an understanding of the concept of 'eternity' during general conference!)

Cameron, seeing an opportunity to compete, also showed interest in this new craft, and he was also soon busily stitching.

When he came home from school today, though it was sunny and 70 degrees he plunked down on the couch and an hour later he finished:




(Cindy here...It is embroidery--not cross-stitiching. There is a difference. I also think that Cameron was not so interested in competing as he was in doing a craft. He is very competitive but I didn't see it this time. He has a knack for embroidery too. He is already planning his next "bigger" project.)

There's no princess at this house....

At Christmas time Cindy bought me a handy tool carrier.

Aside from showing her love, this was also an effort to prevent fruitless searches and fruitful mutterings as I looked for tools. As she explained it, 'Now you have something to carry the tools you use often. Additionally," she added while smiling quietly to herself, "You don't have to leave tools lying around the house anymore. Once you use it, you can put it right back in your handy-dandy 'tool purse!!."

For some reason she enjoys using the term 'tool purse.' But please note that it outweighs even the heaviest female purse by at least 15 pounds!

Anyway, I told you the above to tell you this....

Erin borrowed a hammer yesterday from my tool purse, and, naturally, she forgot to put it back in. Thus when I was hanging a small wall unit in the downstairs bathroom and I needed a hammer, well, it wasn't there!

Erin looked for it, but to no avail.

However, 10 minutes ago (9:20 PM) she came downstairs and handed me my hammer, relating, 'I found it in my bed. I think I slept with it last night.'

I guess not everyone can have princesses for daughters.

Sigh (of relief!).

Day 6 and Counting

Yes, yes, we know--everyone is clamoring for pics of our new residence of 6 days.

Though we would love to satisfy your desires (lust-filled or otherwise) regarding this matter, the truth is that we haven't taken a single picture of the house--inside or out--all week!

And let me get the usual 20 questions out of the way....

1. Yes, there are a lot of full boxes sitting around the house.
2. No, the only permanent curtains up yet are the ones in the den which we completed about 10 minutes ago.
3. Yes, the kids love the neighborhood--the small park, the quiet lanes that are perfect for bike-riding, and the climbing hill out back.
4. NO! YOU CANNOT WEAR SHOES ON THE CARPET! DID YOU HEAR ME KIDS!??!!
5. Yes, the same goes for any FOOD too!
6. No, the basement isn't full yet.
7. Yes, the kids love to play in the basement--they especially like riding about on their scooters.
8. No, we have not found a home for the empty boxes yet, but we are actively looking.
9. Yes, being outside of town is somewhat inconvenient, but Lowes is only 3 miles away.
10. No, there isn't any sod laid down yet.
11. Yes, even on Day 1 we could park in the garage (thanks to the moving helpers who worked miracles and even offered to move all the food storage to the basement!
12. No, the kids have not changed schools--the big change comes in September.
13. Yes, we have a new email address (floydlc@verizon.net) (though the old one still seems to work).
14. No, we haven't heard any roosters crowing.
15. Yes, the sun does shine directly into the morning room in the mornings--right in Cameron and Allyson's eyes!
16. No, we are still able to get by without cable or satellite--the rabbit ears should last a couple more years!
17. Yes, feel free to come by to visit--we can easily put you to work!
18. No, we have not yet run out of Ben-Gay, but we are pushing major cracks out of each other's backs on a near-daily basis.
19. Yes, this list is getting quite long.
20. No, we have not caught up on our sleep yet!

A taste of things to come?

Erin is rather twitterpated about the new home.
The first day there she rang the doorbell, and then declared, 'That is the most wonderful sound in the world!'

But that was not enough for her! As I was working at the new house and Erin and Kenner were wandering around, Erin came up to me and excitedly requested, 'Dad! I want you to pretend I am in trouble and tell me to go to my room!'
Being in the middle of reading some instructions, I just grunted in response.
She asked me again, this time even giving me a script, 'Dad! Say, "Dang it Erin, go to your room!"'

What else could I do?

As she told Cindy later, 'I just wanted to know what it would feel like to get in trouble in the new house!'

I don't think she has to worry much about missing out on such feelings!

Do I detect a hint of minty freshness?

I took a break this PM to participate in the adult Pinewood Derby using Cameron's car with extra weights and a last-minute modification--a spark plug socket taped onto the top! (I had to work in the clerk's office towards the end, but it seems I tied for 4th with 4 other contenders).

Anyway, as we got into the car, I smelled a terrible odor emanating from a back seat in the back seat.

"ERIN!" I yelped through watering eyes, "You need to stop that!" (She had been 'active' (as in an sulphrous gas-spewing active volcano) all night.)

Makenna, always quick to come to Erin's aid, sang out, 'I think it smells good!'

Erin added, 'It smells minty!'

Yeah, like a mint and a steaming pile of fresh horse dung, minus the mint!

UPDATE: As I was going up and down the stairs lugging boxes, every time I reached to top of the stairs I was smelling something that was less than pleasant. I poked my head into the girls' room....and immediately regretted it.

I sure am glad that the kids are not bloggers yet, as they would probably find payback for Daddy for such as the above rather easy--even child's play!

Painting Bug and Barfing Bug

Well, it is 10:20 PM on Day 3 of painting in the new house. 7 rooms are done, and only one important (and big) one left to go. Now if Cindy can decide on the paint color we will be well on our way! (It didn't help that she had a major flu attack all of yesterday and is still feeling less than stellar today....And Denna came over and helped out tremendously with the painting yesterday (she's a real pro!), and we found out today that she now has come down with something akin to what Cindy had!)

And then today, with Cindy somewhat under the weather, me painting, and our old house looking like it had been hit by a cluster bomb, we got a call asking if a realtor could show our house tomorrow. Cindy initially said no (for the above reasons), but then she found out that the realtor in question was a friend of ours, so she said yes.

As you might guess, the upstairs is now immaculate, and the downstairs will be by tomorrow! And there are many more boxes packed (which probably accounts for the pristine kids' bedrooms!

She is a sickly miracle worker!

The big day....

This week may be rather light blogging.

We are closing on our new home today, and I have taken the week off to repaint the insides of the house in more child-friendly paint. Cindy and I will both be up to our eyeballs for approx. 16 hours each day!

The official moving day is scheduled for Saturday.

My back hurts already!

I guess it is time to ask one of the doctor's in the ward for a prescription bottle that has the words 'HEART MEDICINE'!? I've heard it comes in handy on moving days, especially when it is pulled out in the presence of others right before something heavy is about to be lifted!

How many times, you ask?

'Well,' explained a bleary-eyed Cindy, 'It feels like I was rolled over with a steam roller at least 16 times last night!

You see, Allyson has had a mild cold, and she is usually fine during the day, but come nighttime she has coughing fits and last night was no exception.

Cindy spent 2 hours with her and then I did the same (if she keeps her head elevated she can sleep for a couple hours if you're lucky!

Anyway, Cindy felt steamrolled, but I felt more like I had been slimed, then steamrolled. (Funny, looking at myself in mirror this AM, I see that it isn't nearly as slimming as I would have thought!)

For I should add that Allyson also has coughing fits during the day if she is running around too much. So last night we were at my sister's house for Easter dinner, and Cindy brings a coughing Allyson into the room and hands her off to me.

Allyson snuggled against me, coughed heavily, then puked all over my shirt and pants. (I had deftly directed the spew so as to avoid ruining the carpet.)

It is only now that I wonder why Cindy handed her off to me. Yes, Allyson is a daddy's girl, but I wonder....

And I need to teach Allyson to chew her food better. Some of those grapes were almost whole!

There's gold in them there pots! Leprechaun gold!

The leprechauns have been visiting our house on a yearly basis.

The first couple years they hid their gold coins in the backyard, but then they must've tired of the March dampness, learned how to pick locks, and began hiding their gold inside the house.

The scary part has been that they would do it later in the day, usually while we were home! Sneaky devils!

Their gold has changed over the years too. Most years it has been chocolate coins, but this year they changed to gold foil-covered Rollos. (I don't think the kids complained any!)

So yesterday after school the kids came home and Cameron and Makenna immediately went on point and began searching throughout the house.

Cameron was the first to find the pot of gold....in a manner of speaking.

During his frantic searching he rushed into the downstairs bathroom to look inside the small cupboard over the toilet. Intensely focused on the cupboard, he kneeled on the toilet seat and--SPLASH--to his surprise and chagrin found that someone had left the toilet seat up AND had forgotten to flush a No. 1!

He truly found a pot of gold. Liquid gold, that is!

Pierced to the very core!

Today Erin went through another rite of passage in the pre-teeny-bopper world by getting her ears pierced.
From what I was told, it didn't hurt much and she just loves the studs in her ears right now.
At the time, Cindy considered telling Erin, 'You are officially a woman,' but decided to save that one for a year (or longer, we hope!) down the line, and instead went with, 'You are officially......growing up!'



Regarding her high spirits, when tonight at the dinner table I made the comment, 'Erin, for someone who says they don't like rice much, you are sure chowing down!' she pertly replied, 'Sometimes I'm not in the mood for hot stuff--except for myself!'

Wide awake in America

There's nothing that wakes up a parent quicker to full, sharp, even searing consciousness than to have a young daughter come in at 2:43 AM and say,

"I've got a bloody nose! And I don't know what did it!"

Of course, having new carpet may facilitate this instantaneous move from inert slumber to whirling action.

UPDATE: After Cindy read this entry, she replied, "I didn't think it was a big deal at the time and I didn't even think about the new carpet, but I've never seen you jump out of bed so fast! If it had been a case of a wet bed, etc., you probably would've stayed in bed!"
I don't know what engenders this lack of confidence....
I doubt if it has anything to do with the fact that I even pulled out my MagLite and checked the girls' bedroom for drips on the carpet!

10,000 BC

We do try our darndest.

And even if you don't happen to fully agree with the quote

Every generation, Western civilization is invaded by barbarians — we call them “children”

(and yes, it does depend on the day, AND on the child in question), sometimes being a parent can be downright depressing.

For example, if we were to faithfully chronicle our daily family life on this blog, it could lead to great disillusionment, possible ostracism, and not be nearly so attractive to read. (I would envision the site being blacklisted.)

That is why we tend to focus on the bright spots--few as they may sometimes be--in our lives of quiet (or was that 'cacophonous'?) desperation.

Take Ally for example. We have taught her to drink from a cup, to brush her teeth (she loves the adult-strength Crest with Scope), and to otherwise walk and talk (albeit in a limited fashion) like a regular lady.

Tonight I loaded up her toothbrush, set her on the vanity, turned on the water, and let her do her stuff. Then I turned away for a second, and when I turned back I saw THIS:



Postnote: When I showed Cindy the picture she said, 'Oh yes, she has been doing that for a day or so--she saw Cameron doing it yesterday.'

We shoulda known!

I don't think this quite qualifies as bragging.....

So, as I pull into the driveway Cameron comes over to my open window (it's over 60 degrees and sunshiny) and in a fairly conversational tone informs me of the following:

"Book 4 of Harry Potter: Page 117. My butt itches. Oooh, my _____ itches!" then prances away to do that voodoo that he do.

Baby butt cream, Cameron?

Cameron, who every day reminds me more and more of charming Little Willie* from poetry memorized during my childhood, now has a new phrase that he just loves to share.

Namely, 'My butt itches.'

The delivery is not one of a child with a sear in his rear. No, it is more like a casual conversation starter.

If you were a fly on the Floyd family wall, the conversation you hear might go something like this:

Cindy: Cameron, have you brushed your teeth for school yet?

Cam: Makenna sucks! [Then, repeatedly slapping his protruding bony butt for emphasis...] My butt itches.

Cindy: [Sigh.] Don't talk like that, just go brush your teeth Cameron.

Cam: MybuttitchesMybuttitches!

Cindy: Oh, do you need the baby butt cream?

Cam: Shut up! My butt itches!

At this point you would be begging for a flyswatter.....

DISCLAIMER: Please do not be alarmed or send us your favorite home remedy, for there is no true butt itch. Cameron has just found a new phrase to annoy the family. Actually, he has a massive quiver of phrases at his command that he lets fly, but this is the only one suitable for posting. For example, there is now another 'thing' he says that itches him greatly, but this is a family blog and thus will not be aired.

*A sampling of Little Willie poetry at its finest:
1. Willie, whose ideas are swell,
Threw his sister in the well.
Mother couldn't find her daughter,
Now we sterilize our water.

2. Willie saw some dynamite,
Couldn't understand it quite;
Curiosity never pays.
It rained Willie seven days.

Et tu, basketball?

Because of the big snow on Friday and Saturday, Erin's Saturday basketball tournament was postponed.

Naturally, with the high percentage of church-going folks in Ohio, the league triumvirate conveniently rescheduled the games for Sunday morning.

Our kids are pretty good sports about activities that fall on a Sunday. All three of the older ones have missed a veritable cornucopia of birthday parties and sports team parties, and they don't even get upset about it anymore.

(Actually, they often get more upset about having to go to church than not being able to go to parties. And conversely, Cindy and I end up being more upset with them at church than we probably would've been with them at home. Such is life....)

So anyway, she missed the game, the team lost by 2, and we later found out that this was a single-elimination tourney, so now the season is over.

Erin was less than crushed. She smiled sweetly, and confirmed, 'The season is over?'
She then continued, 'That means you are taking me to the mall to get my ears pierced! Would this Saturday work for you? It works for me!'

Erin did have a good year. She had an excellent coach (i.e., a knowledgeable but laid-back coach who placed higher priority on letting all the girls get to play than in just winning), and she became more aggressive (if anything Erin does outside of attacking Cindy's delicious desserts could be called aggressive) in pulling down rebounds and also got better at finding the open gal and making good passes to them. Though probably 8 inches taller than any other girl in the league, a ball hog she was not. But she usually managed to score 4~10 points a game, and by the end of the season was pulling down 10 or more rebounds a game.

Pottering around....

Well, it has now officially been 12 days since Cameron began reading the first Harry Potter book.

This evening I had to take him to the library to return Book 3 and check out Book 4.

He also checked out Book 5 just in case he finished Book 4 too quickly.

It is obvious that he reads as fast as he retorts!

(But we like him a lot better when he is reading.)

UPDATE: As Cameron and I were driving to the YMCA on Tuesday, he modestly theorized that there was no one else in his class who could even read a Harry Potter book. Always analytical, he went on, 'Take Xxxx for example. Books can only be renewed once and so there is no way he could finish it in that length of time.'

Live and learn

As some of you may have noticed, Cindy and I have added links to our 'Bookshelf' to our Favorite Links site.

Clicking on the links will take you to pages that show our favorite books.

Tonight Cindy wanted to upload a picture of herself for this other site, but she couldn't decide on one.

She then decided to go upstairs.

I was thus left to my own devices.

The rest is history!

Just call her 'Pippi.'

UPDATE: Naturally, I put a humorous picture on my Bookshelf too!

UPDATE 2: Cindy already did a switcheroo! I am just glad in my heart of hearts that she doesn't know my Bookshelf password!

Akin to 'Pronoun Trouble'?

Allyson has become an Internet addict. One day I had the terrible idea of showing her pictures of cute doggies on the Internet. This was fine for awhile, but soon it didn't soothe her cravings, so we progressed to harder substances----elephants, peacocks, and her new favorite, snakes!

So, whenever I am at the computer she runs over, climbs up the desk, deposits her cute little bum in my lap, and says, 'Snake!' or 'Chocklit doggie! (chocolate labradors)' etc.

It's really irritating.

So if any of you have little kids, give it a try! This is our favorite site (click on 'Galleries' for different animals).

Anyhoo, being so young, her pronunciation is less than perfect. A perfect example of this is heard when she sees a fox. She knows what it is by sight, and can say the word, but her little tongue has 'issues.' You see, she gets the 'f' just fine, but the 'o' sounds more like a 'u', and her 'x' sounds like a hard 'k'.

You do the math!

She's plumb salty in her talkin'!

It finally comes out....

Erin, like most girls her age, is 11. Also like most girls her age, she doesn't like math.

In fact, if you were to ask her, she would likely say something like, 'I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WANT ME TO DO! THE TEACHER ONLY EXPLAINED IT FOR 5 MINUTES AND THEN EXPECTS US TO DO IT! I HATE MATH! MATH SUCKS!'

Naturally, this week she was invited to join the math club.

And she accepted!

You see, Erin does fine in math. With just one small caveat. Namely, she is good at math when she turns on her brain. Sadly, this is a rare thing when she is in 'homework mode.' When doing her homework, she would much rather have us explain it to her using the actual problem (this is also known as 'trying to con your parents into doing your homework for you'). We seldom acquiesce.

So anyway, getting to the point of this post, as you may have noticed Cindy has made a lot of changes and enhancements to our blog. Sadly, during this process she lost a lot of the elements and had to redo them from scratch, and then I had to play with the html code to keep the elements she had redone from scratch.

Then she found out that the links to her friends' sites weren't working. I found the problem and got them up and running. With fecund tears of gratitude (which she stoically kept in check just inside her tear ducts), she said, 'You know, I guess she gets it from me....' Puzzling over this enigmatic statement, I asked, 'Uhhh, whaddya mean?'

She replied, 'I guess Erin gets it from me. When there are problems like I had with the blog today, I would rather just have someone fix it for me rather than try to figure it out myself!'

OK--they got it right this time....

Well, for once out of 5 times, the local weathermen got it mostly right! (At only 20% accuracy, could it be that they are recent transferees from the Seattle area?)

And for the first time in our 10 years here, we even had a BLIZZARD WARNING! Alas, except for a couple gusts in some areas overnight, the wind never really reached the requisite 30 mph.



Anyway, the snow blower got some heavy usage this morning, and we probably have 10 inches on the ground, with 2~3 foot drifts in places.

UPDATE: Oops, Cindy was logged in when I posted this.... so it is under Mommo!

4th Time's the charm?

Well, the local weathermen are forecasting 6~10 inches of snow starting tomorrow morning thru Saturday morning.

I can hardly wait for the 'Winter Storm Advisory' to change to a frightening WINTER STORM WARNING!

Hmmm.....the last three times this happened, we got a lot of....what is it called?....Oh yes, RAIN!

And the one time there wasn't a grand WARNING announced in solemn tones with great fanfare? Oh yes, 5 inches of snow!

PS: Cameron's mind started running in high gear when I told him how much snow we might get. I am hoping it is only visions of sledding and snowmen rather than visions of walloping his sisters with snowballs.

Mmmmmmm.....Cod!

Who would have thought when we sat down for dinner last night that Allyson would be the last one at the table. Usually she is done eating before everyone has food on their plate, but tonight she was an eating machine--she never paused as she shoveled in morsel after morsel. Apparently we hit upon a winner. Breaded cod with LOTS of tartar sauce--as a matter of fact, she ate her first serving of tartar sauce before she ever got any fish! I have given her fish once before and she chowed down on it then too. Louis suggested that we should try feeding her sushi next!

[UPDATE from Louis] Mmmm....sushi!

Harry Potter read-a-thon

Christmas of 2006 brought to our family the first 4 Harry Potter movies. We had never let the kids watch them, neither had they read any of the books. Needless to say, over the course of time since then they have watched and re-watched the movies many times--including the latest one that was added to our collection this past Christmas.
This past Christmas Cameron asked for the Harry Potter Scene It DVD game. It has been played so many times you would think every possible question would have been seen....but new ones still keep popping up. Cameron is typically the winner, and he is not shy about letting the world know--especially the world of losers!
Last Saturday he insisted we get Book 1 from the library. (We actually have all books but they are in our storage unit until we move.) Louis took him and got the only copy of Book 1 they had. Cameron dived in, and over the next 2 days he gave us constant updates as to what page he was on. Monday evening just before FHE he made the big announcement that he had completed it-- 300ish pages in 2 1/2 days. (This is from a kids who "hates" chapter books.) NOTE: Which is not to say that he doesn't like to read--he devours non-fiction books about sharks, snakes, other creepy-crawlies, and science in general.)
Tuesday morning before leaving for school I was given the charge to get Book 2 and 3 from the library. I took the only copies at the library, and as of last night (Wednesday) he was halfway through Book 2.
We certainly enjoy the quiet (and peace) during his reading spells!

I smell a rat....

About 2 months ago Cindy finally made it to the top of the reserve list at the library and got a copy of the Disney/Pixar movie Ratatouille.

We all watched it a time or two over the course of a couple weeks--it was a thoroughly enjoyable morsel--and then returned it.

Then about 2 weeks ago, Allyson began saying 'Tooey! Tooey!'

What could this possibly mean?

Growing disgusted with our lack of comprehension, she added another word to her vocabulary.

'Watch.'

But instead of 'Watch Barbie!' Or 'Watch Emmo [Nemo]' she said 'Watch Tooie!'

When asked, 'Do you mean Ratatouille?' she replied with her trademark 'A-huh!' followed with her usual heart-melting grin.

We put her off for a week, but she kept at it, so on Saturday Cindy called a friend and luckily they had it. Allyson has now watched it another 6 times or so and is quite content.

SLAM! Slam!Slam!Slam!Slam!Slam!

So, tonight I drove Erin to a friend's house to deliver a blank copy of a homework assignment, and when we got home and walked in the door, I made the offhand comment to no one in particular, 'There's my good deed of the day!'

I then soliloquied further, 'As a matter of fact, that's about the 10th good deed of the day.'

Cindy, with respect radiating from her tiger eyes, adoringly asked, 'Yuh-huh. And the other ones were???'

I began enumerating the many acts of kindness I had done at work, at home that afternoon, and crescendo-ing my way through to the evening, easily making it to ten.

'See,' I modestly trumpeted , 'I did do a lot of good deeds today!'

'Ahhhh,' Cindy evenly replied, 'So you're saying you've been acting like a mother today.'

A blessing in disguise

Allyson was sitting next to Louis watching a Barbie movie (what else would she be watching?). When I came into the room Louis moved a pillow that was next to Allyson so I could sit down. Almost immediately upon sitting next to her with Louis on the other side she looks up at me and says rather forcefully, "Moov, Moov." In other words " MOVE IT RIGHT NOW! YOU ARE NOT INVITED TO THIS DADDY-DAUGHTER PARTY! YOU ARE NOT WANTED! GO AWAY!"

I said to Louis, "Where does this come from and why is it directed at mom? After all, I am the one who nursed this child for over 12 months, have wiped her rear end more times than I can count, spent endless hours rocking and holding her, take care of her day in and day out, bathe her, launder her clothes, prepare food for her, entertain her, etc., etc. So why at mom?"

Refusing to give into her selfish desires I stayed put. I'll show her I thought--it's wet willy time (without the wet...only the willy). Surprised to find a finger tickling her ear she jerked away with a loud "OUCH!"

I said to her (and indirectly to Louis), 'Ouch? Ouch? If you want to know what an ouch is, I've got a 6-inch scar across my mid-section from giving birth to you and you won't even let me sit by you.'
The thanks I get.....

Oh well. On the bright side....Daddy is now the favorite. Let Daddy hold her, take care of her, change her diaper, put her to bed, feed her, etc., etc.

Some things can be a blessing in disguise.

History Lessons

With Grandma in town, we made a family trek last Saturday to Greenville, Ohio to see the Annie Oakley historical sites.

Annie was the shooten-est tooten-est gal that ever shot a handgun or rifle. Born and raised in Greenville, she became famous throughout the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s for her extraordinary shooting ability (while still young she made money by shooting birds for local markets, and the birds she killed were in high demand because she would invariably kill them with head-shots and thus not damage the meat). She spent many years touring with the Wild West Show as one of its main attractions, including touring with the show in Europe, where she met Queen Victoria and other royalty.

Part of the reason we chose this trip is because Erin just completed a book report of one of her biographies. (She had to draw a picture for the cover of her report, and since nowadays are nowadays, she couldn't draw even a picture of a gun (that would get her suspended or kicked out of school), so she just drew her face--or a reasonable facsimile thereof....)

Annie is there to greet you as you drive through Greenville:




She is standing there beside you at the Annie Oakley exhibit at the Garst Museum:



And her final resting place is about 8 miles north of town (the map and written directions from the museum don't help much!):



On the way home we drove through a town (a wide spot in the road) called Ludlow Falls and we were even able to find the Niagara-esque falls!



Thus endeth the history lesson.

Icicle Imp

'Nuf said!

Sledding in the backyard....

This morning the kids went out back to sled on our hill, and Allyson wanted to go out too so we bundled her up and then I took her for her first ride down the hill.

As you can see, she really enjoyed it--especially the snow that flew up in her face!



Now we can say that all of the kids have sledded on it!



It was worth the tears! (I thought so anyway!)

Oohhh....I feel giddy!!!!!

It's so electrifying I can't stand it!

Hillary Clinton will be less than 1 mile away from our home today on a campaign stop at the local high school!

As a precaution, I am putting X's of tape on the windows just in case her shrillness breaks the glass (this is an old WWII trick to keep windows from shattering completely).

Fortunately, this patron-saint-of-governmental-control-of-as-much-of-your-life-as-possible has become somewhat muted in recent weeks....

And Obama, who says less in 45 minutes than even Dubya, will be in the area on Monday!

Catch me before I swoon! [Insert heavy sarcasm here.]

Then again, McCain was in the area on Wednesday, and I can't say that he really thrilled me either.....

The prognosis is not good....

Speaking of snow, the local weathermen have done a stellar job this year of prognostication.

In the past month we have had two 'WINTER STORM WARNINGS' and both have turned to rain before they hit our latitudes. I had to drive to Columbus to pick up the Mother at the airport on one of these WARNING days, and instead of the forecasted snow and ice, there was just a steady rain.

Then on Tuesday night the weathermen said, "Oh, maybe a dusting up to an inch or two overnight" and, naturally, the next morning we woke up to four inches and more coming down (we ended up with six).

And don't get Cindy started about the school superintendant that only tends to cancel school for one of two reasons:
1--The above-mentioned weathermen merely FORECAST a winter storm.
2--There is more than 1/16th of an inch of snow on a given morning and/or the weathermen are forecasting that it could possibly turn to worse weather during the day. (I.e., as happened yesterday.)

Anyway, the kids only spent 2 days at school this week.

If you want to get into a LONG conversation, just ask Cindy how her week was!

We hardly pneu you....

Cameron has been suffering (and making us suffer) with a bad cough at nights, etc., and yesterday Cindy finally took him to the doc.

The diagnosis? A mild case of pneumonia.

A first for our family.

He came home with a nifty 'breathing therapy' device and some sweet antibiotics.



Any resemblance between Cameron and Hannibal Lector is merely coincidental, whether talking about the above picture or their respective egos.

Needless to say, he was out playing in the snow in the afternoon! (Hey, it's a mild case! And besides: Out of sight, out of trouble!)

Click.....Click.....ClickClickClicketyClick!

Erin has reached the point where she has to order her shoe sizes off the Internet, and she is in proud possession of a new pair of Sunday shoes.

These shoes are of a type she has never worn before.

They are a stylish black, and--best of all--they have hard soles.

Since she first tried them on last night she has for some reason found excuses for always walking around on the tile floor.

And strangely, that 'Click-Click' even makes the sound of her walk sound like a grown-up!

The big question is, how many excuses will she find to stroll around on the hardwood gym floor at church tomorrow?

"Touch me not...

"...for ye shall wither even as a dried reed"! or so the story goes, and I'm sticking with it for awhile.

This morning I noticed that Erin had left her cd player on when she left her room. ("That's odd." I thought to myself, "She always turns things off when she leaves the room. NOT!") As usual, I entered her room to turn it off. When I touched it there was a shock of static electricity and now her cd player won't turn on.

That'll show her huh?

Actually she was less than disappointed. "Now you get to buy me a new one and I get to choose which one it is. Ha Ha Ha!!" she said with a wicked laugh and sinister grin!

This would explain Valentines day?

Size does matter!

Today I was in the car with Cameron. Very offhandedly he mentioned that he was 1 oz. bigger than both Erin and Makenna when he was born. (The girls were 7lb 9oz and Cameron was 7lb 10oz.).
I said, "Yes you were but you were also 1/2" shorter than them."
His reply, "That is because my brain was bigger."
After a moment of thinking he then added, "I should have weighed 3,000 lbs."

For only the 3rd time in our married life....

...I was finally able to convince Cindy to make a 'Brownstone Front Cake' for our family guests tonight.

This is a homemade chocolate cake that is only slightly less dense than lead, and the icing is about 10 times denser than that! (Did I mention that the frosting consisted of 1/2 lb of butter and 2 cups of sugar--and that's if you halve the recipe?)

Mmmm....

Intellectual Curiosity

As everyone was called in to the dinner table tonight (we had extended family over), Erin continued to lounge on the couch.

She looked like she was deep in thought, as if cognitively chewing on some of the adult conversation she had been listening to.

I asked, 'Erin! What's up? You look like you're deep in thought!'

She grinned and replied, 'Deep in thought!? On a weekend? Ha!'

She then s-a-u-n-t-e-r-e-d into the dining room for dinner.

The Difference Between Men and Women

Things are progressing nicely in the new house, and I took some pictures today of what is often referred to as the ‘Man-Cave’ (i.e., the basement).



It is a dank, dark space filled with a dazzling array of possibilities and Cindy is even now figuring out just what those possibilities are. As such, I have decided to provisionally name it ‘The Cave of Fear.’ I’m sure Cindy will come up with a much better name in the future, such as ‘The Cave That Louis Built,’ or ‘The Cave of Loud Kids That Can’t be Heard Upstairs,’ or maybe even ‘The Cave That Never Seems to Get Finished—So Quit Lollygagging Around and Get That Drywall Up Pronto!’

I also took a picture of what, logically, must be ‘The Woman-Cave.’



It is a bright, cheery space filled with a dazzling array of my past and future paychecks, and I am even now figuring out just how much it will finally cost. As such, I have decided to provisionally name it ‘The Cave of Fear II.’ I’m sure Cindy will come up with a much better name in the future, such as ‘The Cave That Merillat Cabinets Built,’ or ‘The Cave That Had Better Never, EVER See Kids Holding Sharp Objects Playing In It,’ or maybe even ‘The Cave That Actually Holds All the Stuff We Like to Keep in the Kitchen.’


All I can say is, it’s a good thing I also know how to cook, so I can spend at least some time there.

Ally's newfound joys....

Much like a Great White, Allyson has recently found joy in a new food to her--white and fleshy PB and honey sandwiches. She chomps into the soft white underbelly of each sandwich half, backs out, then thrusts her sharp teeth in for another go. The sides of her mouth soon turn a frothy red--I mean brown--as she tears deeper and deeper into the sandwich.
When only crust is left, she burps and tosses it away, shouting out 'Moa! Moa!' (Toddler language translation: "Mother, could I please have another delicious sandwich at your earliest convenience or right now. Whichever comes first.")

Then on Friday or so Cindy bought her a set of 7 little Disney princess dolls (plastic 4~5-inch figures). Allyson was entranced then, and the entrancement continues still. She is definitely a girly-girl!




PS: There is little doubt that she has now watched her various Barbie movies a total at least 300 times--it is to the point where I find myself at work subconsciously humming the various songs in the various movies!

Lost in Translation....

Erin (with a LOT of help from especially Mom) completed her science project last week and made her presentation to the class on Tuesday.

(Her project was to have both short and tall kids and adults blow up balloons in accordance with certain rules in order to see if taller people had more lung capacity than shorter people.)

She came home from school on Tuesday rather perturbed. She said that the science teacher had listened to her project report and then had said it was a stupid question and that of course taller people had more lung capacity than shorter people because they had bigger chest cavities.

Hearing this, Cindy shot off a less-than-happy (jugular-searching?) email to the science teacher, asking if this were true.

The science teacher quickly responded....and then we found out what we like to call....

THE REST OF THE STORY (with apologies to Paul Harvey)

You see, after Erin had completed her report, the teacher had asked her some questions (as he asks of all the kids after they finish their reports in order to make them think more and to prepare them for what the judges might ask them). He started with,

"Erin, this may be a stupid question to ask, but wouldn't taller people have higher lung capacity than smaller people because they have bigger chest cavities?"

As you can see, the nuance(?) is slightly(!) different in this context.

After reading this, Cindy probed Erin's memory and came to find out that Erin hadn't really understood what the teacher was trying to ask her, so she didn't interpret it in the spirit it was meant.

I guess this is how parents get in trouble with teachers!

Cindy quickly sent back an apologetic email.

UPDATE: And we also found out that Erin will probably be going to the next level of competition.

Black Beauty

Alas, when I came downstairs this morning, Beauty was in the same position as last night (see the post below from last night), but this time she was truly bereft of life.

And, strictly speaking, our beloved goldfish Beauty is not black....at least not yet.
Perhaps a more accurate description would be 'Blackening Beauty.'

As in life, even in death she kept a stiff upper lip, now harmoniously mated with a stiff lower one.



Soon after Makenna came downstairs and espied not-so-buoyant-yet-not-yet-floating Eternal Sleeping Beauty, tears formed in her eyes. Alas, this was not due to Beauty's demise, rather it was because Cameron was threatening to flush it before she could. He then tried to convince her that she actually HAD flushed one of the unfortunate three predecessors to Beauty.

Before Erin and I left for her BB game, we, naturally, fished Beauty out and gently laid her on a cellulose bier....



...then Makenna gently carried to her final resting bowl....



....and then sent her to her watery grave. (As the kids are not too good about flushing, 'watery' is probably just about right....)

Life is fleeting, but it is a wonderful world.....



We also find solace in the fact that the local sewer raccoon will be eatin' good tonight!

Ya gotta watch'em close!

Cindy and I drove out to look at the house after I got off work today, and it was a good thing we did!

They had all the cabinets unpacked in all their beauty....



(for the cost, you would have thought they were diamond-encrusted and ruby-studded!), but their pre-installation arrangement wasn't quite right.

As there was a blueprint handy, I took a gander and quickly ascertained that it wasn't correct--it just showed the standard layout, not the one we had finally decided upon.

We made a quick trip home to get the final drawing and made sure it was put in the house for the carpenter who starts installing them tomorrow.

But still, overall we've been very pleased with the job that's been done, and with our eagle-eyes we have caught both mistakes before they resulted in rework!

Minding your p's and q's

We are so very pleased to announce that we now have a child for whom the 'Time Out' child discipline strategy works--she sits there with an air of remorse until we come and get her (about a minute), and after such time-outs she is a much better behaved child.



Pity it didn't take on the boy!

On her last flippers....

Cindy called me at work today to report the sad news.

Beauty, the goldfish that has shared our home for the past 15 months, appears that she is about to shuffle off this mortal coil.

All day she has been like this....



Cindy was kinda sad (she formed an attachment to the poor creature over the course of time as she changed the water and saw the look of love in Beauty's eyes.

Coldhearted me, I'm not too concerned. I have a quiet assurance that Beauty fulfilled the measure of her creation. Besides, we can always get another one for a quarter!

After school Cindy told Makenna. Makenna began jumping up and down in expectant excitement, clenching her hand and pumping it up and down, shrieking, 'YES!! YES!! I finally get to flush one down the toilet! Life is GOOD!' (OK, maybe I added that last bit....)

In anticipation of the flushing...errr, I mean 'funeral'....I found Monty Python's 'Dead Parrot Sketch' on YouTube, which contains perhaps the most touching eulogy to a 'bleedin' demised' pet e'er soliloquied in the English tongue. (It starts at about 2 min. 20 secs into the video.)
And coincidentally, the very beginning of the sketch even has a cameo of one of Beauty's (presumably) English kinfolk!

God Bless the leaf removers!

Here in Huber Heights we have a leaf removal/collection by the city. This is to keep leaves from clogging up the drains etc. What usually happens is each fall if you want your leaves collected you need merely rake them to the gutter or parking strip. When it is your neighborhoods turn for the collection a hugemongous (pronounced "hue-gee-mon-gus") truck with a long hose (think of snuffle-upagus' trunk) attached will drive up and down the streets sucking up the leaves. This is followed by two dumptrucks. One of them to put the leaves in and another to put them in when the first one is full. They will usually make 3 passes through each neighborhood to get all the leaves. This year the leaf collection was slowed a bit, only 2 passes, because of some early snow storms. In last weeks paper it was announced that the final collection would still take place.
Today as I was taking the kids to school I was met or rather blocked from going up the street because of the leaf collection. Mind you the leaves are wet and have been sitting for several months now but does it really require 3 tractors, 1 dump truck and a utility truck?

Tender moments

As Cameron bounced around the room, as he is wont to do, he hit the couch armrest with great force with his posterior. Having a bony butt (it hurts when he sits on your leg!), there was not enough padding to prevent pain, and he began squirming about to alleviate the butt sprain.

After about 10 seconds, he slowed down his thrashing about and moaned, 'My butt hurrrrrrrts!'

Continuing, with a slightly different, even intriguing different tone, he plaintively asked me (I was sitting nearby),

'My butt hurrrrrts!' [Sniffle] 'Will you kiss it?'

Skipping around the room, he kindly asked everyone else the same question.

Funny, he didn't act like he was hurt!