Still More Shore Pics!

These are from the night we went to Ocean City. What a great time! The kids were so excited. The weather, while pouring earlier in the evening, cleared beautifully. I think it actually helped by keeping some of the crowds away. Enjoy the photos!

French Stew

This morning we all woke up in a good mood. Four and LuLu came into our bed and lounged, cuddled, tickled, and asked to be tickled. After M got out of the shower, I made a comment about how incredibly hungry I was -- rode 45 miles last night, 26 of them at an average speed of 26.7 mph, and had NO ice cream (my one true love besides my wife) before going to bed. Anyway, I didn't think much of it, but shortly after the munchkins dissappeared. As I walked down the hall to find out what trouble they had found, I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but there was defiinitely a spirit of cooperation. I could hear LuLu saying, "Allright." and "OK." I summoned M to see and hear. We tried to observe stealthily, but were busted.

"Mom, Dad, I made French Stew!" proclaimed Four. They had just about every mixing utensil out -- wooden spoons, wire whisks, BBQ brushes, etc. -- and were using them to stir together in a pot cantaloupe chunks, peach slices, and raspberry yogurt retrieved from the refrigerator. I was very impressed with their selections and how well they went together. I went to take a taste. First bite, delicious. As I'm putting the second bite in my mouth, Four starts reciting the ingredients. "Cantaloupe, peaches,..." I bite into something with a more dense consistency. "...yogurt,..." I'm thinking maybe cheese? "...and BUTTER!" I had to find a napkin.

A while back fellow blogger Philip over at The Blue Sloth, wrote a post that began with the question, "What makes your heart soar?" I think of this question often. Usually when the moment I'm in makes my eyes well up with pride, love, and admiration. This was one of those moments. Other recent moments have included watching Four thrive in his swim lessons that make most children cry, watching Four smile from ear to ear at soccer camp, watching LuLu gently push an infant buoyed in a inflatable swim boat around in a pool.

More Shore Pics

Still working to get all my recent photos up. These are from our recent trip to the shore. Our good friends, Nick and James, came to visit. After a day on the beach -- with no pictures :^( we did get some at mini golf. Also the boys found another use for LuLu's swim diapers -- space ranger helmets.

Fashion Police

Yesterday, I was doing laundry in the basement with both kid-o's when M came down to say good-bye before going to work. She was not wearing her typical suit or slacks and a blouse. It had been forecast to be dangerously hot here in the Northeast, and even our typically cool basement was feeling a bit heavy, so M had opted for something lighter. A lightweight, long and colorful skirt with a lightweight nearly sheer top. Not a trashy outfit by any stretch, in fact it looked great when we went out with friends last weekend, but definitely not the corporate power attire we're used to seeing Mommy wear during the week. LuLu comes up and asks, "Where you going? Where are you work clothes?" With that, M went back upstairs and changed.

Paying Compliments

The other day Four was getting a hair cut at the local Hair Cuttery or Holiday or whatever it was, and the not unattractive young woman who was cutting his hair was talking to him and asking all kinds of questions to keep his mind off the electric hair trimmer tickling the back of his neck with what he must think is all the subtlety of a chainsaw. She asked a question about his sister. He replied, "Her name is [LuLu], she's sweet." I almost died of pride.

Speaking of compliments, a few days earlier our neighborhood playgroup had gone to an indoor playground/climbing/gaming facility to escape the oppressive heat and humidity. After playing, three of the parents decided to go out for lunch. Between the three of us, we had nine kids in tow. One mom has three and watches a fourth, the other mom has two, and I had my two plus another girl from the hood. We pushed two tables together to create one big kids table. While we felt, especially early on, that all we were doing was running around getting food, getting drinks, cleaning up little spills, getting napkins, etc., the kids were all REALLY well behaved. As we were getting ready to leave, a woman from another table came over to tell us essentially the same thing. It was very reassuring. Then, of course, her curiosity couldn't keep her from asking about our 'situation'. One of the moms responded that we were Mormon and that they were both with me. We all had a good laugh and my head grew to twice its size.

Great Photos at the Lake

Just wanted to share these great pictures I got down at our neighborhood lake the night before we left for the shore.

Shore Pics

We were at the beach June 16-25. My brother Scott and his girlfriend joined us for a day and a half. Which was awesome. We don't get to see Uncle Scotty much as he is now living in San Fran, and not getting home much. He and his girlfriend got down in the sand and helped us build a huge but not overly designed castle. Scott made a comment to the effect of how it stinks to go to the beach without kids because it looks silly for a 27 year old man to be digging in the sand by himself.

The weather was great, a little windy and sometimes cool, but still very nice. The kids had a great time. It was all we could do to get Four to stay at our little camp. He would make friends with other kids and then migrate over to their families' seats. As much as we wanted him nearby, it's always nice to see kids playing nicely together and making new friends. Enough typing, here are the pics.

back on track?

I am trying to get back on track. Trying to streamline my life, and pare it down to those things that are most important to me and my family. I still struggle with exactly what those things are. There are, of course, the obvious ones; spending more time with family and friends, working to be a better dad, husband, brother, friend, etc., and taking better care of myself physically, mentally, and emotionally. It's the details of these where I get lost and pulled almost in random walk fashion from one thing to the next. I know that I need to do the laundry and make the dinner and all that, but does the 2-3 hour bike ride on Saturday morning, or for that matter on Tuesday evening, do more harm than good? I know that physical exercise is good for me both physically and mentally, but often times there is accompanying guilt. Is that time that could be better spent with the family? Is that time that could be better spent finishing projects around the house? I don't know. Anyway, I am going to continue to explore these life balance issues.

I also know that I need to get more scheduled. Those times where we have scheduled events; school, swim lessons, camp, etc. we (read I) do much better with getting things done. With little scheduled, we fall into a rut of wasting time.

Enough about me, suffice to say that I am a project in process.

Finding Time?

While I started this blog to capture and share (mostly with family and friends) what the munchkins are doing, I must admit I have taken some level of pride in the traffic that this little corner of the blogosphere has been generating. Lately however, call it summer, we have been ridiculously busy and thoroughly enjoying. The downside is that I haven't been able to blog quite as much as I'd like and some of those little vignettes of adorable-ness are fading in my overstressed brain. Stay tuned for attempts to recall those moments, as well as for fotos of some of our recent adventures.

Be well!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! Hope yours is safe and healthy. I think it important on a day like today to give a special thanks to all the servicemen and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our freedom. Thanks are also in order for those currently protecting our great nation. Your service and dedication are most appreciated!

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P.S. If anyone can tell me why this post is pushing the rest of the page down, I would greatly appreciate it. Problem solved, or at least worked around.