So, if it is late at night and you are suffering a bad case of insomnia, I have the perfect cure.
You can check out the servo press standard I translated in early August.
It will probably become the English version of the official Japanese Industrial Standard (this is a new type of press, so there isn't an official standard in any country or region--this will probably be the first).
This is a product my company has led the world in, and, shedding all my normal humility for a moment, there are only about 2 or 3 other people in the world with both specialized servo press knowledge and the requisite Japanese/English ability who could possibly translate such a standard.
I've yet to come across the other one or two so far....
I have been recently tagged by Jill and so here we go:
Favorite person outside of family: Santa Claus
Quirks about me: Dirty kids' rooms drive me nuts. Although this is probably not a quirk...doesn't everybody hate it?
How would the person who loves you the most describe you in 10 words: [I, Louis, under duress (or at least extreme pressure) have been tasked to write this. May I succeed as well as Sarah Palin did last night.] Warmhearted, funny, strikingly gorgeous, and a gift to the world.
Any regrets in life: Not sticking with piano lessons
Favorite charity/cause: Currently the Bethel Soccer League is draining us dry!
Favorite blog recently: The Pioneer Woman
Worst job I ever had: McDonalds. Nearly 2 years in high school
Favorite Bible Verse: Ether 12:4
"Guilty Pleasure": Chocolate. I love the chocolate bars from Aldi's with almonds in them but I try to avoid them. Once opened there is no holding back!
Got any confessions: I hate exercising!
If you HAD to spend $1000 on yourself, how would you spend it? Louis and I would go on a nice vacation...possibly a cruise....of course I would have to loose weight before that could happen....you know.....being seen in a bathing suit and all.....eeewwww!
Favorite thing about your house: I love it all but if I had to pick 1 think it should be my kitchen, laundry on the second floor, basement, two car garage, location....(oh yeah...one thing)
Least favorite thing about your house: It gets dirty
One thing you are good at: Cake decorating [Louis again--how about cooking, making friends, serving others, making knock-out desserts??]
One thing you could change about your circumstances: I don't like this question...
Who would you like to meet someday? Jane Austen [Louis again--Heck, she's already walked on her grave (at the cathedral in Bath)....isn't this a wee bit greedy?]
Who is your real life hero: Depends on the day...sometimes it is the doctor who gives me a prescription for whatever is ailing my kids....or Louis when he walks through the door after a long day (his and mine), the speedy grocery clerk, the neighbors who don't mind when my kids go to their house to play, my kids when they do what they are asked, etc. etc. etc.(get the picture?)
What is the hardest part about your job? Listening to fighting kids [Louis here--at least she can take solace in the fact that the kids don't listen to her (or me)]
When are you most relaxed? When the kids are all in bed and I am reading a good book!
When are you most stressed? When the kids come home from school and there is homework, soccer practice, dinner etc. CHAOS!
What can you not live without? Chocolate....Okay that is not really true. I CAN live without it but I just don't want to!
Why do you blog? I don't blog a lot. Louis is our main blogger. I enjoy reading them though and when I have something I think is worth remembering then I blog.
Who are you tagging?: Erin, Kelsey, Jessica, Kim, Bubs, Jill G., Shara, Alise
(Unless, of course, you don't want to do this....no offense)
Rules:
1. Answer the questions
2. Link back to whoever tagged you
3. Tag eight bloggers to do the same
I regularly enjoy an LDS blog called Ongofu. Yesterday's post was a beautiful video that represents what the church and people suffered to get where it is today. It was very inspiring. Take a few minutes and see for yourself.
Erin crashed her bike this evening and hurt her foot (again!)
As she was limping by to go to her room, I made suitable sympathetic and soothing noises and began to give her a reassuring goodnight hug.
She shrugged it away, and when I asked why, she retorted, 'Even your hug is sarcastic!'
What's a dad to do?
Conversely, on Sunday when I got home from church, I heard the following on the baby monitor.
Cindy: 'Ally--are you ready to get out of bed?'
Ally: 'I want daddy to get me out!'
Cindy: 'But Ally, you'll have to wait until Daddy gets home.'
Ally: 'I WANT DADDY TO GET ME OUT!'
Cindy was about ready to leave the room when I called upstairs to Ally, letting her know that her knight in shining armor had arrived to save the day.
I can't wait to see who she marries, for she has impeccable taste when it comes to the menfolk in her life.
For all of you who are digital scrapbookers or want to scrapbook digitally I am going to brag about my sister in-law, Kim.
She is an awesome scrapbooker and during the past year decided to go digitally. Check out what she has done here.
When you are done browsing her digital blog then go over to Simply Sweet Designs, her digital scrapbooking website.
Then you can check out what Smart Computing Magazinge said about her in this months issue. (Scroll down to the green box that says "That's News to You".)
Hello! She is in a magazine! Way to go Kim! Awesome! We are very proud of you!
....Daddo is also taking some meds, and one of the side effects is having to 'see a man about a horse' more often (not to be confused with 'seeing a man about a dog' (i.e., #2)).
Cindy seems to get a kick out this, mostly because she revels in the fact that I am 'suffering' in much the same way she did during each of her pregnancies.
Who knows, maybe I'll start swelling at the ankles next! That would keep her laughing for weeks!
Cindy bought a 6-pack of Coke tonight because Kenner had a migraine and the meds weren't doing their job (the caffeine supposedly helps relieve the pain).
Cameron saw these on the counter and asked who they were for.
Cindy told him, and then asked if he wanted any.
Just as I might have answered, though certainly more creatively, he replied, "It tastes worse than fried diarrhea on a stick!"
I heartily agree!
So what were you doing last night at 10:53 pm? Wanna know what was going on at my house?
Can you see how much fun they are having? What?
You can't?
That's because it was a nightmare!
Take 1 kid who doesn't like to put much effort into things that require thinking.
Add to that a test on the order of operations the next day and a F on the homework assigment to teach order of operations.
What does that add up to?
1 grumpy and tired 11 year old. 1 diligent, trick finding Daddy and 1 Mommy who gave up about 1 hour before and now can find the humor in it to take a photo!
To Kids: "Hey Kids, Grandma won a prize at a festival."
Cameron: "What for?"
Louis: "For a recipe."
Cameron: "Not for being clean???"
Our kids have learned what it means when Grandma comes to stay.
Louis Here: And much like in the video, she has been known to sing while she works!
When we were kids and we were bored, we would always here the same poem from Mom:
The hump, the hump, the camellious hump!
The hump that is black and blue,
From having to little to do!'
Mom won 3rd prize out of a field of 125 for her 'Mexican Platter' recipe at the Pullman, WA Lentil Festival. She also won $250, which should just about replenish her lentil supply!
This is the same recipe she used to delight starving Institute college students for a couple decades. You take a thick layer of hot rice (sticky rice, I think), then cover it with mashed lentils with taco seasoning, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese, then cut it like a cake. Really, it was pretty good. However, I can't truthfully say the same about the lentil lasagna.....
It has been a long time coming, but we are so pleased to announce that today Erin scored her first soccer goal in 5 (6?) seasons of playing (she took a sabbatical last year).
Although she prefers playing fullback or halfback, the coach (and asst. coaches) felt they needed her big kicking foot (bigger than mine, by the way) downfield, so the last 2 quarters she played on the front line (she played all 4 quarters).
In the 4th quarter another girl was taking it downfield on the side and Erin was going down the middle. The other girl passed it to her, she dribbled it down to about 4 feet from the goal (I think the goalie was somewhat intimidated (much like a rifle-carrying infantryman vs. a tank?)) and Erin then gave it a good boot.....at least, that is what she intended, but the ball was rolling a bit faster than she anticipated and instead she just barely grazed it, and the goalie--though getting a hand on it--let it get by her. In retrospect, it was a good thing, as the goalie was right in front of her and if it had gone in the air at all it would've likely ricocheted off the goalie and back out again.
Anyway, this means ice cream for everyone in the family tonight.
Oh, and Erin has been dog-tired the rest of the day! Cindy and I were tired just sitting there in the high-humidity high-80s weather.
Oh yes, the final score was 1-0, so she won the game for them too!
Oh, and the rec league basketball coaches are already salivating.....
Tonight we had 3 soccer games to attend at 2 different venues, so I took Erin and Ally, and Cindy took Cam and Kenner.
Cindy called during Erin's game to tell me that Cameron had scored a goal. I later heard that what had happened went something like this: when the other goalie grabbed and then threw the ball it took a big bounce and Cameron was able to then kick the ball in midair, neatly putting it between the goalposts.
He was darn proud of his accomplishment!
To celebrate, I got Frostys for Erin and Ally on the way home (with only a short stop at Menards).
Something else I forgot to blog about regarding Cameron and soccer.....During the second week of practice, his coach ran them pretty hard, and by the time we got home and he had cooled down he was limping around like an old man, and he even used a heating pad on his calves all night! Cameron has always been in pretty good shape, but I think this humbled even him (at least a little bit!) There is also a kid on his team who is younger and can pretty much run forever at full-speed, and this has also kept him humble!
Well, I wasn't able to be home when the kids got home, but Cindy reported that they all seemed to have had a good time. They all have at least some kids from their respective soccer teams in their classes, and they liked riding the bus.
Erin said that everyone asked her the same 2 questions:
1. How tall are you?
2. How old are you?
Well 35 minutes ago my three oldest kids boarded a school bus to start their first day at a new school. The bus picks them up right in front of our house. They will be the last ones picked up and the first ones dropped off. I consider them to be very lucky.
We went to the open house last night to meet their teachers and find their classrooms. As far as first impressions go, they all seem to have good teachers. Cameron had to switch classes already. He is in the gifted program and they group all the advanced kids together. Well...there are 2 Cameron's in the 4th grade and the principal got them mixed up and put them in the wrong classes...Luckily we discovered the mix-up and got it straightened out during the open house. He is excited to be in the only portable unit (it even has air-conditioning.) His teacher is Mrs. Koenig. (Kay-nig)
Erin is extremely nervous. She came home last night really upset that she is going to a "really old school". She thinks she is not going to make any friends and that kids won't talk to her. She was doing better this morning. I don't blame her for being nervous though. I am nervous for her. Her teacher is Mrs. Reittinger (Write-in-jer)
Makenna on the other hand....I just hope she doesn't talk all day! She was bouncing off the walls last night. She is so excited. Her teacher is Mrs. Novellino. (Na-va-lean-o) She is young and seems great for a second grade.
They looked good this morning and I can't wait to hear about their day.
Erin, Makenna, Cameron, Seth (neighbor), Kyleigh (Seth's sister), Allyson.
Daddo Update: Regarding the "really old school," as Erin was griping about it during the open house, our neighbor (Seth's dad) told Erin that the school was over 100 years old. Trying to make her feel better and commiserate with her, I also chimed in, 'Yeah, Erin. That means that all of the kids that first went to this school are probably all dead now!' I'm not sure that made her feel any better, but at least I tried!
Augusts in Ohio are usually pretty unbearable--85~90 degree weather, high humidity, and warm muggy nights (i.e., the AC is left on 24/7).
Well, for the first time in the 10 years we have lived here, we are now in DAY 9 of some of the most delightful weather imaginable. It hasn't reached 85 on any of these days, the humidity has been negligible, the windows have been kept open 24/7, and the nights are cool and sometimes downright chilly!
For example, 2 nights ago we had a little s'more party at the neighbor's house, and we were hovering around the fire not to roast our marshmallows but to keep warm! I even put on some heavy jeans before going over, and never regretted it once! Yes, eating s'mores around a fire pit with a full moon filling the darkened sky is not to be missed!
Anyway, now that school will be starting (on Tuesday), this next week looks to be warmer and more humid, but Cindy just can't get this small smile off of her face, and it seems to be growing as the days pass. Her smile should be wrapped around the back of her head at approximately 8:45 on Tuesday morning!
Yesterday afternoon 3 of us manly men in our little neighborhood helped a 4th neighbor erect an 8x12 shed in their backyard.
As we were working away, I made the comment that we should have the womenfolk (who, along with a bevy of kids, were sitting in lawn chairs watching our masculine labors--actually, the ladies were just gabbing and sometimes gazing lazily in our direction between breaths) get us some dark wide-brimmed hats so that we could look like Amish at a barn-raising.
The shed owner then commented that while it was an idea with some merit, it would also mean we would have to forego our battery-powered drills.
We all chuckled, because we all knew that that dog wouldn't hunt, and returned to our labors. (I later found out that Cindy had said basically the same thing to the ladies.)
We finished with just enough light left to find the pizza and dessert (that the onlookers had gorged on long ago--especially Kenner, per the reports) and just enough light left for the mosquitoes to also begin feasting.
Did I ever mention that we love our neighborhood? There are so many good neighbors and a real sense of friendship and community in our little 11-home world.
Holding Allyson as I cheered Kenner on during her first soccer game on Saturday (it ended up tied at 1-1), I felt a small pocket of air in my esophagus working its way up--a proto-burp, as it were.
Snuggling Allyson close to me, I nuzzled her ear and let loose.
For whatever reason (though I can't think of any offhand as of this writing), she was completely unphased.
I was quite deflated--either she had blithely ignored it or, even worse, it had lacked the punch to even register.
Then, in a moving gesture that almost brought tears of joy to my eye, she cocked her head to look at me, then turned her head around so that her other ear was near me, and exclaimed, 'Daddy! In my other ear! In other ear!'
Sadly, I had only had that one burp, so in this one case I couldn't fulfill her deepest wishes.
As a sidenote, in the past month or so Erin has mastered the skill of burping at will (a skill I was never able to develop, though not through lack of trying)--and this despite not having been around any of my brothers since last summer. (Of course, Uncle Wezzo has been relatively close (in DC) for a couple weeks, so perhaps there is some telepathy going on?)
Yesterday after work I was in the kitchen with a hugely smiling and twitterpated Ally (she usually becomes that way when I walk in the door....), and as she twirled around she came to the fridge, where she stopped long enough to push the water dispenser, causing a little bit of water to run down the fridge/hit the floor.
It wasn’t a real big deal, so I just said in a rather gentle tone, ‘Ally, don’t do that.’
Her smiling visage instantly transmogrified into a eclectic mix of a self-condemning scowl, a tearful look, and a Mt. Vesuvius glower. (If she would have had a travel-size cat-o-nine-tails handy, she probably would’ve engaged in some self-flagellation!)
“I go to time out!’ she sobbingly declared.
‘Ally,’ I kindly imparted, ‘You’re not in trouble. You don’t have to go to time out.’
“YES I DO!” she retorted, and half-sobbing and half-glaring all the while, she ran into the den to her standard time-out corner.
....after slamming the den door shut a couple times....
As Cindy commented, Ally was acting like she was PMS-ing.
As posted a time or two below, Allyson likes to bark like a dog (especially at zoo animals, etc.), and now she likes to act like one too!
FOR BEST RESULTS WHEN LISTENING TO THIS VIDEO:
1. SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG PAGE AND HIT THE STOP (PAUSE?) BUTTON ON THE MUSIC PLAYLIST.
2. TURN YOUR COMPUTER SPEAKER VOLUME UP.
Kudos to Erin's new camera and its (albeit primitive) video software!
Allyson dug deep into the diaper bag during sacrament meeting today and came up with a baggie of animal cracker cookies.
Eagle-eye Makenna, sitting on the other side of me, zeroed in on them and began begging Ally for a cookie.
Ever the gentle-hearted, Ally genially handed her one.
Makenna downed it head-first, and immediately waved at Ally and began pointing at her own widely-opened mouth in an animated fashion.
Obviously remembering some friendly sibling play last week, Allyson pulled out another cookie with her cute little fingers, eyed Kenner speculatively, then sang out, 'FETCH!' and threw it under the pew in front of us.
It is good that dogs are usually not present at church, as any Labrador Retriever would have suffered an acute case of inferiority if it had been able to see Kenner flawlessly execute a plunging lunge for the floor and come up with the cookie.
(Let me add that this was just about the same time the speaker (Pres. Heap) was talking about how good it was to have lots of kids.)
Vindication was never so scrumptious!
Chocolate pecan pie?
Pasty white in comparison.
A good ribeye?
Tasteless filth.
Kroger’s Private Selection Peanut Butter Swirl ice cream?
Unadulterated crapulence!
Yes, vindication is sweet.
Especially when it comes in the form of an unsolicited 3rd-party comment from a medical doctor.
You see, Cindy was trying out a new primary physician yesterday, and as she tells it, at one point during the interview the lady doctor paused, then asked,
“Is that your natural hair color?”
“Why, yes it is!”
“That’s just amazing! Your hair and eyes are....almost the exact same color!”
At which point........ (let me savor it!) ......Cindy ruefully replied, “Yes, well that is what my husband has always said!”
In my ecstatic reveling, I have decided to forgive Cindy for forgetting to mention that she has never agreed with my color diagnosis. For that matter, neither have the kids.
Yes, they ARE orange! Orange orange orange orange ORANGE!
I wish I knew how to dance a victory jig!
*(Cindy here:
My hair is red....Are my eyes red? I wouldn't call them so. Louis calls my eyes ORANGE...is my hair orange? I would plead NOT! What does that leave? Heck if I know.....whatever you call it, the doctor called them beautiful! I will go with her expert diagnosis.)
(Louis here: For the record, I fully agree with the doctor's diagnosis as to the beauty of her orange (OK, orange-ish) eyes!)
Check out my nephew, Ben, and a group of his friends. While at EFY they took place in a talent show. Ben....the center one....taught them all the dance. The girl taking the video apparently has a thing for him....as if you couldn't tell from all of her giggling. :)
Cindy called to tell me that she was getting ready to take the kids to a free showing of Shrek the Third at the full-price theater today (a summer reading program incentive).
In the background I could hear the dog throatily barking at her feet. (As we don’t have a real dog, this would be Allyson.)
As we were talking, Cindy made the comment that she would have to ‘Kick Kenner’s butt in gear’ to get her to get ready for the movie.
Cindy called back less than a minute later, saying, “I see that I’ve gotta be careful even around 2-year-old ears. Allyson has been repeatedly saying, ‘Kick Kenner’s butt!’ and ‘Gonna kick Kenner’s butt!’”
I couldn't resist not posting this picture!
DISCLAIMER: Any resemblance between the sibling love and happiness displayed in this picture and what is usually on display between siblings in our home is purely coincidental--depending on the day, anyway.
As you can see, Obama isn’t the only one sporting a self-fashioned halo nowadays. (Of course she hasn’t talked about how her mere presence will make the ocean levels fall, heal the planet, and lead to all sorts of other yet-to-be-specified ‘changes’ that all our 57 states have been waiting for, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time!)
Yes, Erin the Most Merciful does enjoy using and using and using and using her camera. She loves to take pictures of herself, nature, TV shows, more TV shows, and most anything else that may or may not catch her eye.
May her blessed name be praised for 100GB hard drives!
She goes through batteries like crazy, but since she isn’t paying for them with her own money she doesn’t seem to mind the expense. (Hmmm, that reminds me of our beloved Congress for some reason....)
Cameron blew like the wind during the exciting Cub Scout Regatta, but just as in the case of the Pinewood Derby, top honors were not to be. 
He was actually astoundingly prophetic. Before the races he informed me (with no regrets, wistfulness, nor any trace of sorrow—it was actually more of a kind of perverse pride), “I won’t come in first--I always come in second!”
And he proceeded to do just that!
Atta boy!
On Monday the kids got a taste of their heritage—some real horse-riding! And they liked it so much they did it twice! (Or maybe three times—I had to leave early for a dumb videoconference with Japan.)
Allyson wouldn't get within 3 feet of one. She made me hold her and if I approached a horse she scrambled over my shoulder in the opposite direction like a cockroach from roach spray, and spouted some nonsense about 'No! No horsey! No! No!'
Erin now says she wants to own a ranch when she grows up and have lots of horses. Kenner wants a horse. Cameron just smiles quietly to himself.
....with better looks, wider shoulder straps, less creepiness, more brains, less cosmetic surgery, and less money....
(Hat-tip to the Drudge Report for the Paris photo.)
Cindy just called (at 11:20 AM) and told me that the kids were all out front in their pajamas ‘playing with their frogs.’ (They found 2 last night, and built little box homes (prisons?) for them.) The kids are looking for grasshoppers and other delicacies.
As we were talking, I heard Kenner and Erin saying they had found another one. Cameron chimed in to say they found it at the little brick and wood dam he had built in the neighboring lot.
Cindy then commented to me, ‘That frog is probably now saying, ‘I’ve been dammed!’’
(We get a lot of mileage out of the homonym 'dam'!)
Yes, the excitement that goes on at our house is just awe-inspiring.
At approx. 10:45 last night, as all four kids were finally settled in their beds, I heard a gentle call from Erin’s room.
“Dad? Dad?”
I walked in and sat down on the edge of her bed, and said to her, ‘What’s up? Do you need to have a daddy-daughter talk?”
She smiled embarrassingly before handing me a set of still-warm earrings and pointing to the location on her bookcase where she wanted them placed.
At least she did ask for a goodnight hug afterwards--though she didn’t bother to sit up--so I guess she does know how to show at least some affection to her servants.
As Kenner and I were driving to WalMart to buy her a new bike (a birthday present that is one month early due to the implosion of her existing bike--which it too small for her anyway...), Elton John's song 'Bennie[sp?] and the Jets' came on the radio.
I said to Kenner, 'Kenner, I was just a little bit older than you when this song came out!'
She said saucily, 'It must be really REALLY old!'
----------------------------------
And guess who we saw at WalMart? Brad Christiansen[sp?] and family (4 kids now)--they have moved back to the area for another 5~7 years while he gets his Ph.D. (They are currently living in base housing.)
This morning I was at Louis' work trading cars with him. His car had been sitting in the hot sun for several hours and when I put Allyson in her car seat this was the conversation
Allyson--- "Daddy's blue car."
Me---"Yes this is Daddy's blue car."
Allyson---"Blue car hot!"
Me---"Yes. Daddy's blue car is hot."
Allyson---"NO IT"S NOT!"
Okay then....I guess it's not. Whatever.....
There are new things going on at our house this summer.....
1. Cameron will now take off his shirt in public and when he is swimming.
2. Popsicle rationing is a thing of the past--Cindy has bought a ton of those cheapy long and clear popsicles, and doles them out freely--batting nary an eye (see below about the tic in her eye, though....)--to the kids and the kids in the entire neighborhood.
3. Allyson, thinking a Democrat must be president because of all the popsicles she has been given at no cost to her (as far as she knows), now asks for them as soon as she wakes us. (Right after asking if Daddy is home, of course.) Sadly, the answer to both is usually 'No.' (Clarification: It is always 'No' to the popsicle question.)
4. The kids spend their days outside playing with friends instead of inside watching TV or playing on the computer.
I'll try to think of more later....?
UPDATE: At 10 PM tonight, just a couple minutes after I had already told Allyson it was bedtime, she looked right into my eyes, and said in all seriousness, 'I want pink popsicle!' Her look of expectation was so precious that, well, what could I do?
'No popsicle. No way, no way! It's BEDTIME' I cooed to her.
She was rather depressed!
An impromptu s'mores party with the neighbors
In the vicinity of the missing letterbox (near John Bryan Park)
The kids on the BIG slide
Cameron getting his Tarzan fix:
Walking along the gorge near John Bryan Park.
Five of the Seven Dwarves: Fishy, Monkey, Cheeky, Tonguey, and Silky
At Young's Dairy/Petting Zoo
After a 2-year hiatus, the 3 kids are again all playing soccer again.
Sigh.
Practices started this week.
Sigh. Sigh. [I.e., double-sigh].
Cameron and Erin both needed new cleats, socks, and soccer balls.
Whimper.
Let me see if I can get this straight.
Erin on Tuesday night;
Kenner on Wednesday night;
Cameron and Erin on Thursday night;
Cameron on Friday night;
And Kenner on Saturday morning.
[Insert lung-collapsing sigh here.]
On the flip side, as I have been the parent in attendance every time so far, I have almost finished reading Jonah Goldberg's fine tome 'Liberal Fascism.' (No, it's not an oxymoron like the term 'Conservative Fascism' would be.)
In the last month (or maybe it's been longer--I'm just a guy and I don't keep good track of such things. Case in point: I mentioned to my Mom on the phone yesterday that Cindy hadn't really suffered too badly from allergies this year. Standing nearby, Cindy shot me a look that ricocheted off my watch and poked me in the eye and then wryly and dryly commented (I don't know how she was able to comment 'dryly' as her tone was dripping with mild perturbation) "Two months! Two SOLID months of sinus misery! Why do you think I bought a gross of tissue boxes, sinus medicine, and 3 more bottles of that ACF stuff?" But I digress....)
Let me try again....
In the last month[??], Cindy has suffered from a twitchy right eye. It doesn't happen every single minute[?]. As a matter of [possible] fact, it only occurs occasionally. We have not yet ascertained the root trigger of this malady, but there seems to be some sort of causal relationship between the onset of the symptoms and the close proximity of kids and stress [now I am being redundant!]
Accordingly, maybe it should be labeled a 'nervous tic.'
It seems to be mildly annoying to her, and I just wink back at her.
Yesterday I took the afternoon off and we all went to John Bryan Park to letterbox (a partial flop because the letterbox wasn't there but there was a nifty covered bridge), to have a hotdog picnic (a flavorful success), to hike along the river (a great success), and to eat Young’s Dairy ice cream and pet their animals (both rousing successes!)
More on the above later, I’m sure.....
Anyway, as we emerged from the trees at the end of our hike, I felt someone’s hand grabbing my right bun. Looking over to see if Cindy was engaged in some rather out-of-character PDA, I instead found myself looking at the top of Kenner’s mop of hair.
‘Umm, Kenner,’ I said, ‘You can stop grabbing my butt now.’
She looked up at me and exclaimed, ‘I’m not grabbing your butt! I’m feeling your wallet!’
Pondering that reply for a second, I then dared asked, ‘Uh-huh....And why are you feeling my wallet?’
“Because I like it!” she sang out gaily.
I plan to tell this to any future suitors....it should scare them away nicely!
Just an update to the previous post.
Cindy called me at work the next morning to tell me that the cooperative spirit that permeated the house that day was merely a fluke. She then went into great detail about what each child was doing that day in an attempt to drive their dear mother crazy and thereby make their own day miserable.
Sometimes it's good to be at work!
The kids have been out of school for about 6 1/2 weeks now (but who's counting?) Most of the time I feel like the days fly by in a blur. Nothing really ever get done. The laundry hampers are filled almost before I have them emptied. The house is constantly a mess. We go through 150 Popsicles a day and still (or so it seems) they can't get enough. Friends, sprinklers, free movies, bowling, bike riding, sleep-overs, a trip to the zoo and still "I'm bored" is one of the most common phrases around here!
Today it seems as though we are living in a fantasy world. I decided that instead of complaining about the kids never helping with the mess in the house I should be more pro-active. A year or so ago I had a great chore system that worked great...for a while. Then it lost its power. It has now been resurrected. The kids all had chores to do before watching TV, sitting at the computer, talking on the phone, or playing with friends. This included getting dressed (Erin hated that stipulation!), brushing teeth, and combing hair. I am just amazed at the difference in our home today.
These are some of the things that have gotten done today.
1/2 bath cleaned
full bath cleaned
family room cleaned
walls scrubbed
basement picked up and vacuumed
beds made in all bedrooms,
all bedrooms cleaned
3 loads of laundry washed and dried
trip to the store
dinner made for a friend
babysitting for a friend
Now it may seem the miracle is the "getting done" of all these things, but to me the real miracle is that all these things got done without fighting. Can you believe it? Makenna helped Cameron scrub the toilet because she wanted to. She and Cameron read their scripture together. They helped each other pick up in their rooms and enjoyed playing together.
This makes for a super-happy mom! I even had time to do some reading this afternoon. Ahhhhh...the stars were in alignment today!
Yesterday after swimming at the Y, we took the whole family to the bargain theater to see a flick called 'Nim's Island.'
Aside: We had told the kids we would take them to the 3-D version of "Journey to the Canter of the Earth," but when Cindy went beforehand to buy tickets and found that there was no matinee price and that it would thus cost the family $50 to see it, she snorted in derision and walked back out.
And not to be the movie critic (okay, okay, yes, I admit that I do love to be the movie critic, right Alise and Kira?), though this movie had a lot of potential and also Jodie Foster (did she owe someone a favor?), it was just mildly entertaining. The kids liked it well-enough though.
Anyway, I held Ally on and off at first, and during the off times Kenner kept begging to sit on my lap. I ably fended her off, reminding her that Ally would not be a happy camper if she saw Kenner on her marked territory.
However, Ally later fell asleep on Cindy's lap and, precocious child that she is, Kenner brought that to my attention, so I had to resignedly acquiesce.
Soon thereafter, as she was sitting comfortably on her 'Lazy-Dad' theater seat, Kenner felt the need to comment, 'Dad, you have bad breath!'
No, she didn't get off either--she just kept on watchin'!
Cameron was playing around on Miniclips.com and found a cool application--and right away he began asking for a picture of Ally's face.
I found this one for him: 
A couple minutes later (admittedly with a little help from me...), she looked like this....
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(The scary thing is that we have seen kids who look like this 24/7!)
I must have gullible written across my forehead! Last night I was "tucking" Erin in bed and she asked me to push on her back. This is almost a nightly ordeal. She sprawled out on the floor and as I started to loosen up her back by massaging it etc. After a couple of minutes of this I tried pushing on it. Up her back I went. Nothing. A little more massaging and then I tried again. Up her back I went. Nothing.
"Erin, I am just not getting anything tonight." I said.
"I know," She said (Laughing hysterically). "Dad already did my back!"
What a STINKER!
Allyson has a couple of new phrases. I think they are related to being 2. This was the conversation this morning when I got her out of bed.
Allyson: Is Daddy home?
Me: No. Daddy is at work.
Allyson: NO HE ISN'T!
Me: Yes. Daddy is at work.
Allyson: NO HE ISN'T!!
Me: Yes he is.
Allyson: NO HE ISN'T!
Me: Yes he is.
Allyson: NO HE ISN'T!
And so it goes.
Her other phrases are things such as...
"I don't want it."
"I don't like it."
"NO NIGH-NIGH!"
"I don't like you. You are mean." (This one we can blame on the older kids.)
Of course with a smile like this she can get away with it.
Late last night I helped Erin get started on a free online beginning Japanese course (Mango Languages). In no time at all she was saying “Hello, how are you?” in perfectly pronounced Japanese.
A mere 30 minutes later she had already turned it into performance art (i.e., she was hamming it up big-time!)
She took the phrase ‘O-namae wa?’ (‘What is your name?’) and, reminiscent of a sick mynah bird who has watched too many Chinese B-movies, repeatedly squawked out a throaty ‘O-namae waaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?’
Ditto with any other phrase with a ‘wa’ at the end.
Konnichi waaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA....
Anata waaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA....
She was having a grand old time.
I then drilled her on the Japanese for 'What is this?' (Nan desu ka?)
She then started pointing at Cindy (who was oblivious to it all as she read her book) and making strange faces and saying 'Nan desu ka? Nan desu ka?' The obvious nuance (?) was 'What is this thing lying on the bed?'
However, it was 11:15 PM, and we finally shooed her out and to bed.
O-yasumi nasai!
This afternoon Cindy again said that phrase so dear to my heart: "I think I need you to push my back!"
I cracked my knuckles and cackled with glee!
Now, since Cindy tends to tense up when I push (something about it hurting....), I have recently resorted to doing it unexpectedly while I am innocently 'loosening up her back.'
It started off very promising--I got one good crack with just minimal pressure during the loosening process. Then I continued loosening up her back and then PUSHED. One crack. I PUSHED again. A couple small cracks.
'I think that's good enough!' she gasped, but I kept on loosening, and then PUSHED again after she had foolishly relaxed. A BIG pop.
I then asked her to push my back. After she managed to raise herself from the floor, she loosened me up for a couple minutes, then pushed up and down my back a number of times.
"Nothing," she said.
"That makes sense," I replied, "As my back hadn't been hurting in the first place!"
"You are a brat!" she laughed. "A real turd!"
Then she commented that her neck still hurt.
I quickly offered to try once again.
I began loosening her back, and stopped to massage her neck. Then, in a brilliant flash of inspiration, I got a nice hold on her pretty nape and quickly twisted my wrist.
According to Cindy, I got about 14 cracks in that split second.
I really should take up chiropractic!
We went to Vandalia's fireworks display (on July 3rd), and Ally quickly decided she didn't like the sound or the view, and this is how she spent the first 10 minutes or so.....I took care of her ears, she took care of her peepers:
Later on we got her to look at some of them--she liked looking for ones that looked like 'Spiders! Spiders!' to her.
(The best part of the Vandalia fireworks is that we can park close to the entrance, watch the fireworks, pack up quickly, and be home in 10 minutes.)
Tonight after a hard evening of playing in the yard (and me working in the yard), we had a back-cracking party. Kenner, Cameron, and Erin had backs that popped like Jiffy-Pop. Cindy's back didn't crack at all.
But then when every one of the kids eagerly volunteered to push my back (Allyson was jumping up and down in excitement!), the pushing and shoving and name-calling began, and the kids were unceremoniously herded to bed.
Mine really needs pushed (I dug out a ton of dirt from under the trampoline and moved that good dirt to our new raspberry planter).
As a matter of fact, that sounds so good I think I'll go have Cindy give it a try right now!
Ahh, the joy of a back popping--especially when the crack can be felt all the way up at the upper neck!
(Cindy has turned into quite the pro! Just one more reason to love her!)
Erin has used her new digital camera to do a lot of goofy things--take pictures of pictures in her Hannah Montana magazine, do a photo shoot with Makenna, take a cubic butt-ton (see Jer, you did teach us something!) of pictures of Allyson, but the kicker was when she coaxed Cameron to pose like Uncle Rico did for his glamour shot in Napoleon Dynamite.
Here is Cameron....
Then she had me give it a try....
But after a long search, I found Uncle Rico's pose in all its glory (I had to take a screenshot from a YouTube video....)
We're not worthy! We're not worthy!
Update: Of course, Erin is still a photographer in training, and didn't coach us as Deb ably coached Uncle Rico, with, "Okay, hold still right there. Now, just imagine you're weightless, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny little seahorses."
Speaking of Kenner, last night I pulled out her remaining loose front tooth. (Photo to follow shortly, I'm sure....)
Cindy had brought her by work at lunchtime for me to give it a try, but it was still pretty firmly entrenched, so at 10 PM last night she came in to have me give it another tug, and that time it was a success.
At 2 AM (or was it 4 AM??), Kenner came into our room to inform us that the tooth fairy had left $1.50 in quarters in the tooth fairy pillow.
She then walked down the hall and Cindy heard what sounded like Kenner telling Erin.
"She's waking up Erin!" she exclaimed, and leaped out of bed and galloped down the hallway.
Full of concern, I did the only logical thing and went back to sleep.
As I ferried Kenner to a friend’s house yesterday, as I am wont to do, I started singing along with a song on the radio.
From the passenger seat I soon heard the well-worn comment, ‘Dad, I hate it when you sing.’(Even Allyson will yell out, 'Stop it!' whenever I start singing.')
Trying to find out what part of my singing didn’t appeal to her, I asked her one of those probing questions that daddies often utilize.
‘And why is that?’
With a big smile and in a conversational tone--as if she were elucidating something for the benefit of someone not quite firing on all cylinders—she replied, ‘Because you sing terrible.’
I tried another parry, ‘Oh, I don’t know. When I sing, I sing just like a pretty bird.’
Pondering this for at least 0.006 seconds, she then retorted, ‘Then birds sing terrible.’
Who can argue with that logic?
As stated in the previous blog, we have now officially had a cookout and eatout on the patio.
And as presciently foreseen in an earlier post, on Friday morning Cindy looked out to see a skunk moseying around in the middle of our back yard.
Cameron suggested that I shoot it, and when I mentioned that it would stink up the backyard for weeks, he then suggested that we buy enough tomato sauce to cover the entire backyard, as that would get rid of the smell.
I decided to let the skunk move on and find other uses for our tomato-based food storage....
Today was finally the big day.....
After 6 hours digging it out a week ago Saturday, then another 4 hours (from 8:30 to 11:30 PM) last Friday night filling it back in with gravel, this arrived.....
20 minutes later it looked like this....
Our own little angel (Concrete Angel??--click on the song on our playlist at the bottom of this page...if it is working today....) watched amusedly as Daddo played in the big mudpie....
and the final rendition looked like this....
I am really going to enjoy removing the grill and picnic table from the garage! Of course, then I'll have to spend a couple more hours rearranging everything in the garage!
Sigh....
Today Allyson got her first haircut. At first i didn't want her to get her hair cut because it was so cute!! Even though i was only like an inch and a half shorter:0. Here is a picture of her before 
The music leader in Primary stopped me after church on Sunday to tell me that during singing time she had said, 'I need one of the girls to volunteer' to do something (I don't remember...(remember, I'm a Dad!))and a sweet little voice called out,
'Camerina is here!'
Cameron (a.k.a. 'Silent Cam') has finally decided to contribute verbally in his class.
We are both pleased and very worried! =)
(Mom update--- This was only muttered under his breath and he was not aware that it could be heard by anyone other than his friend he was trying to get a laugh out of. He is still 'Silent Cam'.)
(Daddo Update: Wouldn't you know it--it certainly did sound out of character...)
Trying to get into the good graces of my kids (or was it just an attempt to clear out a corner of the basement??), yesterday evening I assembled the trampoline. 
I completed it at about 10 PM, and the 3 kids still awake jumped on it for a good 10 minutes before we shoo-ed them to bed.
They spent a lot of quality time on it today too....(that's a neighborhood kid, not Camerino, in the background.)
Allyson loves to be on it, as long as she is being held and her feet don't touch. Tonight, from her lofty perch she would slap me on the shoulder and repeatedly command, "Higher! Higher!)
Let the fights, injuries, and crying begin!
Well, Cindy took my usual laurels away from me, being the only one in the family who never got sick.
Sickening, to say the least!
On the flip side, she didn't get to spend a day lounging in bed, then the bathroom, then the bed, then the bathroom, then the bed, then the bathroom.....either.
Anyway, we are all in good spirits and looking forward to the 4th.
Cameron has been up doing both toilet tricks.
Then Kenner woke up saying her 'hair itches.' Cindy checked it out, and I didn't hear any gnashing of teeth, so hopefully things are OK.
Cindy commented that she was looking forward tomorrow to getting what everyone else has had--something about liking to spend all day in bed!
Erin got hold of the digital camera and took a lot of pictures of her and the other 2 girls.
I can only assume that this was a 'tough' photo she was planning to put on her blog. 
It might be more aptly named, her 'stubborn look.'
Our good neighbor (our BEST neighbor) from our old house and daughter came over on Saturday to see the new house, and though it took awhile, Allyson finally warmed up and had a great old time with his cane. 
Cindy noted below the episode of the spade-bludgeoned mice and the gassed mouse, but that is not all the kids have been playing with.
Cameron and a fried found an old pile of side and were able to somehow catch a wolf spider--it was about as big as my thumb! It was quickly gassed.
The kids have also found a ton of little 1" frogs. Then on Friday when Steve and Ammon came over, they found a big toad, and great fun was had by all. (Except perhaps for the toad, though he was eventually released on his own cognizance a couple hours later.
What's next? A skunk? (And who will be gassing whom?)
Answer: In the late afternoon I came down with the same case of Diabolical Dib-Dabs and Pharoah's Revenge that had kept Erin home from church today, so in between exciting episodes (and reruns....ooh, unfortunate turn of a phrase, that...) I fitfully napped. So now I am wide awake (but not, as you might think from reading these posts, hopped up on anything) and sick of being in bed.
UPDATE:
12:59 AM.
I am at the computer.
I hear a commotion upstairs.
I hear the sound of running feet.
I hear Cindy telling Cameron to RUN to the bathroom.
I hear strangely wet sounds.
I try running up the stairs, but I get dizzy.
I saunter (stagger?) instead.
I find a trail of brown throwup down the hallway.
And a big clump right by his door.
It continued into the bathroom and around the toilet.
Wow, that kid has a spew range, bless his heart!
I had to sit down, and commenced cleaning up in the bathroom.
Cindy worked on the carpet.
I then joined her.
I find that they had chocolate muffins with (for?) dinner.
Upset stomachs--the gift that keeps on giving!
Cindy is now spraying every door handle in the house down with Lysol.
Cindy's parting comment: "Now I know why pioneers had wooden floors! And why people are going back to them!"
My advice to Cameron:
1) Remember the trash can in your room!
2) If you feel the urge to fluff (i.e., emit flatulence), DON'T!! Go sit on the toilet first!!
Erin is also suffering from too much sleep, and is now watching a movie.
Kenner at the beginning of church today, without any preamble:
"I wish you would have named Cameron 'Jesus,' then he would have been born good!'
Postnote: He was an angel in sacrament meeting today! Kenner? Not so much....but not too bad either.
As you may have noticed, when you come to our blogsite now, there is an auto-playlist of music that I like (Cindy will be adding to it shortly, I would assume...)
Coldplay's first big album (Rush of Blood to the Head) had the song 'Green Eyes,' and it is perhaps my favorite one on the entire album. (Okay, okay, after 4 kids, I must admit that the song 'Fix You' on their second big album (X&Y) has also had its charm....)
But I digress....
Cindy, as you know and as she'll never admit, has orange tiger eyes, and every time I listen to this song at work, I substitute the word 'orange' for 'green' in my mind and smile quietly to myself as I softly sing along, nodding my head in total disagreement.
The lyrics can be read right here.
For a couple weeks Erin, and then Kenner, and now even Ally(!!) have taking to singing a recent song that they like. I didn't listen to the lyrics too closely at first, and assumed they were singing 'Keep feelin', keep keep feeling love...' but then I heard it on the radio and was surprised to find out that the real lyrics to the chorus were:
'Keep bleedin', keep keep bleedin' love...Filled with my usual empathy, I confirmed with Erin that my old ears were hearing right, and then made the comment (to no one in particular), 'This is Kenner's theme song!
Keep bleedin', keep keep bleedin' love...
Keep bleedin', keep keep bleedin' love...'
We have been trying our hand at "letterboxing" this summer. Friday was our second time and the kids just love it. For those that don't know...letterboxing is when you find a hidden cache using the clues you can find here.
Some of the clues are more difficult and require hiking, compass reading, etc....We have not done any of those yet but I am interested in some compass reading after being at cub scout camp and learning a little about how to read and use them. Anyway, this photo is of where we found one of our "treasures". We went to a cemetery in Troy, OH and followed the "clues" to get to this huge tree. We had to pull out some huge mushrooms that were disguising the big hole in the base of the tree and inside was the box. None of us wanted to put our hand inside to pull out the box so we used sticks to get the box out. 
(Daddo: It looks like they had ham for lunch!?)
Usually there is a stamp inside (rubber type) from the family that hid it. You make the stamp in your book and then put your family stamp in their book. WE don't have a stamp yet but that is a project for another day.
Yesterday Cameron had a friend over and while they were also playing with Bryce, the neighbor boy, they discovered 3 mice in our egress window well. It is not the first time we have found a mouse in the well (Louis used the shovel to let it climb out that time). The boys thought they could do the same.
Fast forward 15-20 minutes later....
I am sitting with my visiting teachers in the family room and look outside to see them put something in the Cool Whip container that had been laying around from the bug collection they were working on the day before. (Whew...long sentence.) Cameron throws a couple of doused cotton balls in and the lid was clamped down. Suspiciously I inquired about what was in the container.
"We caught a mouse!" they said. "It's alive!"
I asked, "Where are the other ones?"
"Oh, they died. They are still in the window well. One of them got a bloody nose and we don't know what happened to the other one."
HMMMMMM..... I thought. More like bludgeoned nose and I can tell exactly what happened to the other one. As for the one that was caught "alive"....that condition doesn't last for long when you are confined in an airtight container with fingernail polish remover-doused cotton balls to breathe.
Tonight Cameron wanted to have a fire. Actually it is more like this afternoon Cameron wanted to have a fire. It started around 3:00 when Cameron came inside and informed me that he and his friend had prepared the fire pit with kindling and wood. It was now ready to go. I then informed him that it would have to wait.
Eventually we got around to it and this time Cameron wanted Hobo dinners (I am sure that is so not politically correct but.....oh well!) I tried to talk him out of it because all of my Hobo dinner memories are of charcoal cooked in foil and going to bed hungry! He was insistent.
I must say....I am a pretty good Hobo dinner cooker. These were the best I have ever had. The kids loved them (Erin and Cameron anyway....Makenna is not a meat eater and was eating at a friends house and Allyson was saving room for the S'mores.)
Some of you may be interested to know that Erin now has a blog of her own. She is quite excited about it and it looks like she will be posting often....If you want to check it out click here.
After attending his second year of Cub Scout camp Cameron has once again gotten the hankerin' for some shootin'. He earned his patch for bb shooting at the camp by getting enough hits on the target to add up to 35. He was pretty excited. I am excited too that this year it is easier to let him shoot when it is an empty field behind out house.
