The Boys' Trip to Moab!
"The Dad" booked an extreme river rafting trip for just "The Boys," and adventure became theirs for the taking!

The Way Down:
The Way Back:

"The Accountant" rented an Excursion that had only 8 miles on it. Arguments ensued about who was going to get to drive, so to appease everyone, they went out and bought tiny toy steering wheels. This seemed to keep people happy.



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O.K. What really happened is the boys had set up a T.V. between the front seats and played the Wii the entire way down and the entire way back. "The Engineer" observed that "The Builder" (who is notorious for falling asleep the moment his hind pockets hit the seat of a car) can actually stay awake if there is a Wii in the car. Not sure which would be more dangerous if he were driving...having him drive and fall asleep, or having him drive and play the Wii.

Interestingly, it looks as if "The Doc" (top picture, right) does the opposite--Wii in the car? Asleep. It seems he can play the Wii while sleeping though, so maybe he wouldn't be as dangerous as "The Builder" would be if he were driving the actual car.

"The Accountant" (top picture in the sweet teal shirt), wore the sunglasses all the way down, despite the fact that it was the middle of the night. It's probably because his "future's so bright" and all.

The Middle Part

When the boys arrived in Moab in the middle of the night, they ended up at the wrong hotel. When they found the right hotel, one of their rooms had been canceled. Bedfellows and roll-aways anyone?

"The Graduate" next to "The Accountant" at 5:45 a.m.

"The Dad" got everyone up early because they were supposed to be to the river by 7:00 a.m. When they got there...surprise, surprise (read: "not surprise, surprise" based on the hotel fiasco the previous night) the trip had been canceled, due to high water, many deaths (not really, Mom), etc. They were informed that they could go on the "wimpier" part of the river later in the day.

So...off to hike the arches!

(The Grad., The Dad, The Doc, The Accountant, The Builder)
All the boys but the one taking the picture...

(The Engineer)
...don't worry, he took one of himself too.

"The Graduate," dancing his way up to the arches.

"The Doc" in full scout gear.

A cool, balancing rock.

"The bunny, the bunny, oh we love the bunny..."

The bunny leaving because he doesn't like the bunny song.

"The Graduate," playing Hide and Seek, or something.

"The Accountant" smiling because he knows where "The Graduate" is hiding.

"The Doc" enjoying the view.

"The Engineer" gives up power of the camera and allows someone to take his picture.


"We found the arch!"

"The Graduate," aka. "Babes" with "The Builder."

A cool arch photo.

It's hard to keep "The Accountant" off of the edges of steep cliffs because he thinks the photo ops are better in more dangerous situations. Kind of like the photographer guy at a track meet who wandered into the way of an oncoming javelin. The javelin went through his knee, and he took a picture of it.

See?

He even convinced "The Doc" to sit on the edge of a cliff so he could take a photo.

Upon leaving the Arches, they finally made it to the river:

You can see that "The Graduate" is petrified of the humongous rapids (seen in the background).

"The Doc" with his Big Gulp and "The Dad."
Oh wait, I think that is a bucket to bail water out of the raft. Maybe there was a hole in the bottom of the raft, because I'm not seeing where water would get in any other way.

"The Builder," looking cool and it looks like "Babes" overcame his fear and is now having fun.

"Guys in Glasses."

Well, that's about it. I've already shown you how the way home went, but here is another shot, so you can get the full effect:

A big thanks to "The Dad"! I great time was had by all. "The Engineer" loved it, and from talking to various others, so did the rest of the crew.

Note for next year's reunion shirts: "The Dad" wears yellow. :)

One More

I just had to put one more in after watching the birthday videos and noticing our friend, we will call him "Leaf" (because that is what a lot of people call him anyway), doesn't really know the words to "Happy, Happy Birthday."

We made a Christmas video with the one song he knows. It's true--we went through a whole slew of songs that "everybody knows" (I mean, really, who doesn't know the most popular Christmas songs?--apparently, Leaf.), and he didn't know any of them except the following:

When the Cat's Away, the Mice will Play...

...usually with her Mac.

The young'ns around here have a tendency to mess around on my computer when I'm not around. I take that back...some of the old'ns who live or have lived on the compound also have a tendency to mess around on my computer when I'm not around...and sometimes when I am around, but not paying close enough attention to what is going on about me. The reason I know this is that they always leave evidence.

Case in point:


You probably noticed a number of things:
1. My children have an overabundance of "personality."
2. There is a whole series where it looks like I'm doing a great job of pretending to talk on the phone, while sneakily taking photos of myself. The only clue as to what is really happening is the occasional little head that pokes itself in the corners of some of the pictures...
3. That same head sneaks into other people's photos at the last minute.
4. The youngest member around here is extremely pleased with his ability to work Photo Booth.

Sadly, it doesn't end with just Photo Booth:

"Pupular"

We have some neighbors, we'll call them "the Elders," who frequently sneak in and, with our children, create "creations."

"Birthday Sneakiness"

New Baby Niece!

Molly Lou Burt was born Tuesday, March 25th around 8:00 a.m. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 10 oz. and was 20 inches long. Congratulations Ness and Beeg! We love you and new Molly Lou!

Here is a fun slide show I put together. Pictures provided by Beeg, Pamela, and yours truly.

A Very, Very Funny Man

This is a quick, non-essential post, but those of you who know who Dora the Explorer is will appreciate it.

Sometimes when I need a good laugh, I go to youtube and type in "Brian Regan." I found one that I hadn't heard yet. My kids used to watch Dora the Explorer, and I know a lot of you out there have kids who watch her. Enjoy!

Boys Can Fix Anything

So the prince of this blog, came to me the other day, holding a little pile of colored kindling. He told me that the princess of this other blog, wanted him to fix it. "It's a birdhouse." My first thought was "my, what trust she has in a 6-year old boy." I thought that maybe when you are three, 6-year old males seem very mature and competent at fixing construction problems.

I also thought about the fact that I believe that dads can fix anything...this is because my dad could, and did; and so far, my husband hasn't proven my theory wrong (this is partially because he had a mother that forced him to learn how to fix things because they didn't have the money to pay someone to do it). So I said, "I bet her daddy could fix it for her (an example of how her daddy fixes things can be found here and here), you don't have to do it, son." To which he responded, "No-I have to do it. I told her I would, and that I'd bring it to her when it was done."

My, what dedication. So he went to find his dad, because the prince also knows that dads can fix anything. Of course, his dad helped him fix it, sturdy and strong with some wood glue. The prince was so proud and excited to give it back to the princess.

Still curious about what would possess someone (even someone who is three) to ask a young boy to fix a birdhouse, I asked my son how the conversation went. I was thinking that the princess just came up and said, "My birdhouse is broken, will you fix it and bring it to me when it's done?" And, knowing this particular princess, I could see her doing that. Again, this holds to the idea that 6-year olds seem mature when you are three.

What actually happened, however, supported another theory I have had about my son for quite some time. This being "The Prince thinks he can do anything--no challenge is too great." As it turned out, after some heavy questioning on my part, I found that he had seen the princess with the broken birdhouse, who turned to him and said, "The birdhouse is broken." At which time, the prince said, "I can fix it for you."

I suppose I inadvertently instilled a bit of this confidence he has in himself because of the way I have touted the fact that his dad and grandpa can fix anything. I can see his line of thinking. He's a boy, right? Just like his dad and grandpa. So it is only natural that he can fix things too. I'm glad he will carry on the tradition, and think it is cute that he is starting to help princesses in distress so early. Another thing about I've noticed about boys. Unless they are from this blog, they aren't
as good in front of a camera as girls are.

Side note: Helping the princess in this way spurred a conversation between the princes's two sisters, about how there may be some "crushing" going on between the prince and princess, and how we are going to need to inform them that cousins can't marry each other. The prince, who was in the room, and heard the whole conversation, said with no small degree of consternation, "I KNOW that, guys!"

Spring Fever!

The puppy has caught spring fever and has started to take every toy he owns, one by one, out of the house and into the yard. It makes for a lot of opening and shutting the door on our part.
There are two areas he has created (besides the "hidden"areas that he thinks we don't know about--he buries bones and rawhide under leaves in my flower beds. He thinks he is being sneaky by looking over his shoulder and checking to make sure no one is around. He forgets that just because we are in the house, doesn't mean that we can't see him through the window).

Area 1 is up on the grass where he can "throw" them around (amazingly, he can throw with his mouth) and then chase them down. Paul caught him taking a tennis ball to the top of the stairs by the pool, letting it bounce down the stairs, and then running after it. Over and over. He's smarter than we sometimes give him credit for.

You will notice to the right of the yellow bat, a used Influenza A kleenex...he carried this out too. Bleah.


Area 2 is his "just in case I have to take these back inside to play with them" spot. Right by the back door. These are toys that he sometimes "needs" inside for various reasons.







We all know how moving really wipes you out.

Influenza Type A

A Poem:

There will be no school today,
We hope this coughing goes away,
Motrin by our side, must stay,
Because of Influenza A.

It's A Boy!

You will notice that a couple of years ago, I entitled another post the same name. (You probably also noticed that the last time I posted was about two years ago.) This time I'm not talking about cats, however...we are excited to announce the arrival of the newest member of the "compound!"

He lives in the Chalet with his parents.

I figured this was a good enough reason to start blogging again. We'll see if I can keep it up. Congratulations, L&C, that is one cute baby!

It's a Boy!
And so, after 8 months of thinking that "Precious Sally the Ninja Cat" was a girl, we went to the vet today to get her spayed, and found out that she needed to be neutered because she was a he. There is now a heated debate going on amongst the smaller people in this family about whether or not to change his name. One idea was "Precious Bob the Ninja Cat," another was "Precious Spiderman the Ninja Cat" (I bet no one will guess who's idea that was). I think they finally decided that we will leave the original name, which is fine with me because I, personally, call him "Pussy Willow" anyway. Because that is what he looks like.

Is it worth it?

After a few colleagues of mine had an Instalanche, I had a nightmare where 728 people viewed my blog and made comments about how my spelling was terrible and when I went in to fix the spelling errors, my keyboard wouldn't work...it was horrible--is the fame and fortune that comes with having a blog worth it?

Finally...

I suppose it is time for me to put in an initial entry. This blog will be about random things--I'm not good with having one specific theme to talk about--those who know me will concur with this.

Does anyone know why little girls prefer to jabber on and on and on and on where as little boys seem to come out of the womb equipped to make sound effects? My girls keep telling (read: jabber on and on) me that they are getting tired of my son constantly making sound effects. He doesn't just walk around the house--he is either running (making "running" sound effects) or posing like he is about to karate chop someone (complete with the martial arts sound effects), or jumping (jumping sound effects), or...well, you get the picture. Also, when playing with toys, the girls make the inanimate objects "talk," whereas my boy creates a sound effect for whatever the toy is (car, plane, train--he even makes noises when he is shooting a basketball or kicking a soccer ball).

When "Whose Line is it Anyway" was on the air, the cast had a skit they would do where the actors would act out a scene and a couple of audience members would make the sound effects for them--they always picked girls to make the sound effects because it was so funny...

By the way, I love my girls. For the first 6 years of my raising children life, little girl behavior was all I knew...and I am now having a GREAT time discovering little boy behavior--love the boy too!