Sanctuary For All...

Sanctuary For All.  Community For All.  Those Who Arrive Jump In Daddy's Lap. 

I sometimes daydream about the nice, quiet life I could lead at Terminus.

Jake and the NeverLand Ponies

Yarrrr!  Everypony needs a break from work now and then:

Summer Vacation - Unplugged

Our recent summer vacation was a huge success.  It's nice to get unplugged from all the technology that surrounds us.  Our kids have spent most of their summer days at home fighting over the tiny 13-inch computer monitor where they stream Netflix all day long.

It was really nice to get away from it all and let them fight over the much larger, 42-inch screen in the hotel room.

Early Bloomer

I love digging through the boy's backpack when he gets home from school.  I never know what I'm going to find.  Sometimes it's good grades and others it's artwork that only a mother could love.  Once in a while, it's a lunch box full of soggy sandwich bread and chocolate milk.  And then, on rare occasions, I get a note from a teacher that makes me laugh and makes me love the boy even more.

I've always thought of my son as a late bloomer.  He reached many developmental milestones later than normal and he still loves to watch cartoons.  I don't mean the awesome, ultra-violent super-hero cartoons either.  But, there is one area in which he has no problem--inviting girls over.  The only problem is that these girls aren't his age...they're his teachers.

 Four different teachers in as many years and he's invited them all over to the house.  At least he's being social.

F is for Family

The dining room is one of the most important rooms in the house.  Sharing a meal around the table allows you to connect with your family.  Wall art lets you speak your mind without using curse words:

Purple Haze

Painting is never a fun job.  The finished project is usually amazing, but the end result is seldom enough to motivate me to actually begin painting.  We've been staring at the same two colors for five years now.  I know that's not too long of a time, but it gets old.  When we built the house in '07, our contractor allowed us two colors to choose from.  Not knowing what our decor would be, we settled for two neutral colors--both of them a tan-beige.  It's quite depressing.

Slowly, we've begun working our way through the house, painting a room here and there.  The girls' room is our crowning achievement so far.   I wanted to take some pictures and post them before Libby had a chance to ruin it.  I love her, but she knows how to destroy everything you've worked so hard for and we've worked hard on her room.

Rachel did an amazing job creating the girls' names.  I cut out the fabric for the letters, so feel free to tell me what an awesome job I did too.  Thanks to Aunt Tracy for Elizabeth's butterfly mobile.  It was a baby gift for Libby, but the theme works great with her new room.

The beauty was shortly ruined two days later when Elizabeth did some painting of her own. I'll spare you the pictures, but you must know, it looked like a crime scene with blood all over the walls, doors, furniture and toys.....that is, if the victim bled brown.

There is one good thing to say about painting or, at least, about painting with purple.  Hendrix was stuck in my head during the four to five hours we painted.

Heavy Birthday

I never liked hearing about the "Terrible Twos" that people talk about all the time.  I can certainly appreciate the alliteration of that fabulous phrase, but let's face it, the terrible twos began two years ago.  You started losing sleep, gaining weight, and your exposure to feces skyrocketed.  If that ain't terrible, I don't know what is.  Sure the first few months are good, but eventually that baby starts rolling over, crawling, and getting in to your stuff.  One day you're proud of her for learning how to crawl, the next day you're realizing that you'll never own nice things again.

But, they're worth it.  And while I'll miss my original Peter Venkman Ghostbuster, numerous cd's that will never play again, and my sanity (things Elizabeth has ruined), I wouldn't trade her to have them back.  Happy 2nd to my sweet Elizabeth.  We may have screwed up that first birthday, but at least we had a proper cake this year.

And the food was delicious.  Mmmmmm....crab dip.

Speaking of crab meat and other things that live under the sea, how's that SpongeBob SquareCake taste?

She had a blast opening her presents, trying on her new outfits, and playing with her pom-poms.

Not as much fun as she had playing with the gift bags though.

But, birthdays aren't always fun.  Especially for the older sister that doesn't understand why the baby gets presents while she is left out.

The pouty problem is promptly impeded (I told you I love alliteration), because  pom-poms, like sisters, come in pairs.  With one pom a piece, they were both smiling.

And with the two older kids in school and Libby taking a nap while I write, Daddy is smiling too. Happy Birthday Elizabeth.

Tonguing Around

Nothing says summer like sucking on some frozen, sugary ice-pops.  Once the boy got over the initial fear of his tongue changing colors (he thought it would be permanent), he was up for some color-changing tongue action.

The girl chose blue.  She's no rookie; she knows blue is the best.

The boy, still not completely convinced that his tongue would not be stained for life, chose pink.

I was stuck with an orange pop, because let's face it, nobody likes the orange or green ones.

Elizabeth can't be trusted with things you can squeeze, so she just stood around with her crazy Eddie Vedder hair.

Poor girl.  Maybe if she wouldn't destroy everything I've ever loved, she'd earn a Fla-Vor-Ice or two.

Bored on the 4th of July

It's one of those things that you have to do with your children.  No matter how much I hate crowds, mosquitoes, and heat, I have to take the kids to see the fireworks on the 4th of July.  Thankfully, this year was cool enough that we were in jeans and hoodies; this kept the skeeters away too.  Now, what to do about those crowds?

Thanks to my sister, we found an excellent spot that not only gave us an incredible view, it also gave us a quick escape route when the fireworks were over.  Last year, we spent at least an hour fighting traffic--that was just to get out of the parking lot.  This year, we were out of the lot and on the road in five minutes.  Fireworks can get boring after years of routine viewings and crowd fighting, but  with my new toy, I had more fun than I'd had in a long time.  It also helps that there were brownies, potato-skin chips, and Mountain Dew Voltage.

And, toys to keep the kids busy and/or happy.

Before the show started, Leah had to pee--badly.  I'm talking legs-crossed, crotch-holding, jumping-up-and-down bad.  There were no Johnny On The Spots where we were, so I hunted down a bathroom.  We were in the downtown bar area, so this was no easy feat.  I didn't really want to take her into a bar to pee, most places are 21 and up only, so I searched and searched.  Finally, we walked by a man sitting outside a bar and he said, "Excuse me sir, you have a little girl attached to you".

By this point, I was carrying Leah hoping to find a bathroom before that warm feeling came trickling down my side.  I told him our situation and he offered to let us use his bar.  "Thank goodness", I thought.  Leah did her business and then I gave the bar owner a little of my business; I ordered a coke.

Leah shimmied her way up  a bar stool to order.  Then I saw it--a giant mural of some naked chick just five feet in front of my innocent daughter.  She had just peed, now I almost shat myself.  The woman in the mural posed seductively, her two giant cannon-balls staring right at me.  I swear I could even hear the canons firing.  Turns out the fireworks had just started.  I grabbed our drink, covered the girl's eyes and ran outside for the show:

The fireworks display was amazing, but the shows around our house were even cooler.  We must have been the only family in a three-mile radius that didn't buy fireworks.  I snagged a few shots of our neighbor's disregard for the illegality of fireworks while I lounged in my rocking chair, sipping on an ice-cold beer with my shirt off.  'MERICA!!!

What 4th of July celebration would be complete without Sparklers?  It's interesting to me that the most boring firework on the market is also the most dangerous.  But, I wasn't about to let something that burns anywhere from 1800 to 3000 degrees Fahrenheit keep my kids from having fun.  That would be bad parenting.

This may just have been the Best Day Ever.

A Night of Rest

Yesterday was a long day at work for the wife.  When she came home, she was tired, beat, and just wanted to sleep.  Leah was happy to go snuggle with her while I was left to entertain the other two.  Here's what happened while you were sleeping...

Elizabeth kept trying to eat my food.

Caleb played with the NOOK while I played with the camera.  He said, "Jeez Dad, Angry Birds really chills me out."

Libby destroyed her sister's room.  But, it's hard to be mad at that face.

The boy actually smiled without looking like he was in pain.

I played with my camera some more.

And then we saw an amazing moon in the night-sky.  Enjoy your rest love.  Goodnight.