Our Diva...

Fresh from her success at last night's talent show our Cami dressed up as a diva. She wore a pink bathrobe, pink slippers, pink gloves, pink purse and accessories, and a pink feather boa. She even had a little pink dog!

Cami's Talent Show Award

About a month ago Cami's Daisy Scout troop (gaggle, herd, flock?) decided they wanted to perform in their school's talent show. Their skit was to sign the words of Louis Armstrong's "It's a Wonderful World" song.

They practiced this whole month at their various meetings and last night they finally got their chance to show off their efforts. Just before Cami went out on stage she told her teacher that she was scared to go out there, but she never said anything to us. She told us that she was really excited to perform. But, in the end she was up there with all of the other girls, and they all did great.

After the show all of the kids that participated received an award. We purchased her some flowers, which she really enjoyed and appreciated. She can't wait until next year.

Father & Son (and Daughter) Cake Bake

Last night was the 2010 Cub Scouts Blue and Gold dinner. This year marks the 100th anniversary of scouting in the United States. That was the theme for the Father & Son cake baking contest. Below is a series of pictures of the cakes that I and my kids made.

Stage 1: Use some black gel icing to draw the outline of our scouting character. This gel never did solidy, so we had to be very careful we didn't smear the black around as we filled in our other colors.

Stage 2: Start to fill in our spaces with other colors of icing.

Stage 3: We've finished filling our spaces, now on to spreading the icing around our image.

The completed cake! Ian won the "Most Artistic" award. They did not have a "Best" award last night, but I choose to believe that Ian's Most Artistic award means the best.

Here is Cami's cake. We used the same technique of using the black gel icing to draw out the earth figure.

After that we filled in the spaces with icing to make the ocean and the continents. Cami made up her own globe by not bothering to try and make actual earth continents (like North America and Africa). After that she wrote "Daisy Troop 663" on it.

Her completed cake! She won the "Most International" award last night.

It was a great dinner and everything went well. The boys' skit was really fun. They "baked" a cub scout by putting all sorts of boyish items into a trash can and stirring with a big paddle. At the end a real cub scout pops out. Ian was the one to pop out of the can. He had a really hard job of hunkering down in the can while everyone dropped things on him.

Ian was also excited that he was awarded his Bobcat award last night. We have a tradition of turning the boys upside down while the Bobcat award is pinned on. He can then turn it right-side up once he does a "good turn".

We had a great time and it was one of our better pack nights.

Free Day at the Museums

Yesterday was free day at both the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum. Of course, that did not include the special attractions (like the dolphin show) or include the cost of parking. "Free" day cost me a small fortune, but it was worth it because the kids had a great time.

We went to the Field Museum first and even though it was free day we still had to stand in line for 15 minutes to get our hands stamped. I was annoyed at this mostly because it took us forever to get to the museum because the "expressway" was jammed with cars.

Once we were stamped we headed to the wildlife area where we looked at a lot of stuffed birds. I was really pleased that the kids recognized many of them. Perhaps our trips to the various forest preserves have paid off by increasing their knowledge of nature.

After the wildlife area we went to the McDonalds restaurant that is in the basement of the museum. Thankfully there were no school field trips in the museum yesterday so there was plenty of seating available. The food renewed the kids' spirits and they were eager to go look at the dinosaurs. But, before we did that the kids got a couple of those wax / plastic figurine things out of the molding machine. I loved these things when I was a kid and I was happy to see the kids excited about theirs.

The dinosaur area of the museum is scaled down from when I was a kid. It has been changed to "The Evolving Planet". It starts with meteorites with amino acids on them and moves on to single cell creatures, and then moves through the dinosaurs and ends with mammals and the obligatory "diversity" talk and how humans are awful and have gummed up the whole works. I was amused to see an electronic sign, sort of like the deli signs that displays the number being served, that had a "28" on it and above it said "The number of species that have gone extinct since 8:00am this morning". How do they know? Is there someone standing there counting and then phoning in? It's all hooey.

After that we went to the museum's "Sue Store", which is a gift shop that focuses mostly on dinosaur-type gifts. The kids were excited when they each bought a saber-toothed tiger plush animal.

On to the Shedd aquarium. The cashier at the Sue Store told us the best way to get out of the museum so we could walk over to the Shedd. Here's the fun part. Cami had to go to the bathroom and on our way there we found the coelacanth display in the bathroom hallway! Woohoo! I've been looking for this fish display for 10 years. About a decade ago I read a book called "A Fish Caught in Time" that discusses the rediscovery of this living fossil. This fish was supposedly extinct millions of years ago until some turned up. Anyway, the back of this book lists the Field Museum as having one. I've never found it...until yesterday. I was very excited.

The Shedd Aquarium was fun but it was more crowded than the Field Museum. We were lucky that we were at the huge "reef" aquarium at feeding time. This involves a diver that swims around inside the aquarium while someone else talks to the crowd and to the diver. She explained the various fish as the diver fed them and she would ask the diver questions while he was in there. Ian asked a question that she relayed to the diver. He asked why the big fish don't eat the little fish. The answer was that they keep the big fish well-fed. Way to go Ian for not being shy to ask a question.

I was hoping to take a lot of pictures of the fish but the aquariums were so dark it was almost impossible. Someone needs to turn the lights on in there. At one point the kids were talking to a worker there who was giving a demonstration about snakes. I was taking pictures of her and the kids and at one point she asked me not to take flash photography. Oh well.

The kids had a great time. I had a great time, but I'm pooped out today. And my legs hurt from standing all day. In a couple of weeks Ian is going to the Museum of Science and Industry and hopefully I will be able to go as a chaperone.

He's growing up...but he's not there yet

Ian is growing up, and I think he's really getting big, but last night he put on my pants and he looks really small in them. Of course, when he was born he weighed only 3 pounds and his whole body would have fit in one of my shoes, so I suppose that he really is getting big.

Cami is growing also, but her growth is not so much in size but in her face becoming less child-like. She's becoming a real cutie.

Hungry Hungry Ducks

The ducks are back in the lagoon on the Northwestern campus, and they seem to be very hungry. My kids came with me to work the other day because the schools were closed due to snow. We went to the lagoon to feed the ducks and to my surprise the ducks came up out of the water and came on to the sidewalk and ate right out of my kids' hands.

I'm Sleepy....

The other night I just could not get Cami to bed. No matter what I did she would not settle down. She was bouncing around like crazy and basically being really loud...and then all of a sudden it stopped. I looked at Cami and she had completely pooped out. Phew!

A Fun Primary Activity

This last Saturday morning there was a Primary activity in our ward. It was a "get to know your new teacher" activity. There was a light breakfast of yogurt, apples, and muffins along with OJ.

The kids sat with their new teachers and talked about this year's upcoming class rules and what goals they want to set for the new year. My son's class decided that their goal would be to memorize the Articles of Faith. I wasn't sitting at my daughter's table so I don't know what their goals were. After that there were some games and they learned a new song.

Our Primary leaders are great people and I really appreciate their efforts to teach our children the Gospel.

A Fabulous Wedgie

The other night I was working in my basement when my son called out for help. "Yep, I'll be there in a minute", I said. He started to whimper a bit so I decided to see what he needed and this is what I found. Somehow he had gotten his pajamas caught on the handle of my exercise bike. The more he would try to wiggle off the deeper the wedgie would go.

Being a kind-hearted dad I decided that I would grab my camera and take a picture before I helped him.

Delivering Cupcakes

This year Uncle Brian gave my kids a couple of cupcake-making kits. I helped the kids make their cupcakes the day after Christmas and told them they could deliver them to our neighbors the next day. They practised their Christmas carols and after we got home from church on Sunday they went out to deliver their treats.

Unfortunately, most of our neighbors weren't home. The kids still had a great time singing to those folks that were home and enjoyed themselves in general...except when Cami fell and dropped her cupcakes on the ground. Also, Cami was in such a hurry to leave the house that she didn't put any gloves on. After a while her hands got really really cold. Tears ensued...

Christmas Day 2009

Let the shredding begin! Christmas morning 2009 got started with a bang. Oddly enough we had to wake Ian up. I would have thought that he would have been up at the crack of dawn.

Santa was good to the kids this year. They got new slippers, and Barbies, and sketch pads, and remote control cars, etc etc. They had a great time opening their gifts and they also really enjoyed giving us their gifts. Their school has an event where they can pick from some inexpensive items. They were so excited for us to finally open them.

Later in the day we went to my mother's house where the kids got even more gifts!

I've tried, probably unsuccessfully, to remind the kids that this day is really about celebrating Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice. Perhaps as they get older I'll have better luck.

Christmas Eve 2009

The Christmas season is upon us again and joy is in the air. This Christmas Eve my in-laws came to our house because Aura wasn't feeling well.

My mother-in-law cooked a fabulous meal of turkey and all the fixings. My kids' favorite part of the meal was dessert. No surprises there. Cami has a particular fondness for whipped creme (Cool Whip to be accurate). She jammed a whole piece of pumpkin pie into her mouth and smeared the creme all over her face. I was able to snap this photo before most of it was licked off.

Running Away

The other night, during a snow storm, Cami decided that she was running away from home. It was around 1:00 am when she got herself into a snit about something, so she packed a pillowcase full of her clothes and got herself dressed up in some snowoutfit and headed out the door.

I tried to talk her out of it but she kept saying that, while she would like to stay, it was "best for her" to leave. I told her I would miss her and asked if she would come back and visit with us from time to time, especially when she had her grandbabies. She said she would and she admitted that she would miss us, too.

I let her leave and then I turned off all of the lights and then watched her out of the window just in case she actually did start walking down the street. After about a minute I heard the back door open up. I turned on the lights and asked if she had forgotten something. She was crying and said that she missed her family. I sat down with her in my lap and she cried and cried. She said that home was the best and she missed her mom and she missed her dad and...are you ready for this...she even said that she missed her brother. Oh, and she missed her stuffed animals and her comfy bed.

I made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and we went to bed. It was a cute episode and I'm happy that I got a picture of her as she was getting ready to leave.

We Need Some Doggie Diapers

We're still not sure what type of dog this is. It is probably a miniature pinscher but it could be a rat terrier. Either way he smells bad. At least he isn't a barker.

This little four-legged dude needs a diaper. Last night he came into the basement where I was working and he pooped right on the floor!

The First Santa of 2009

This last weekend my dad took me and the kids to his Masonic lodge for a Christmas party. They had a magician, who was pretty good, and they had a santa and later they had cake and cookies in their kitchen area. When it was all done each child got a present. Ian got a baseball mitt and Cami got a "Chic UNO" game.

The kids really enjoyed the magician, though in my opinion his act had too many slow spots where most of the kids' attention began to wander. But he had birds and mice and bunnies in his act, which were a big hit.

The man in the santa suit did a great job but my kids were quick to point out that he wasn't the REAL Santa.

A Fun Night Out

A few nights ago we took our kids to a local indoor party place. This place is sort of like Chuckie Cheese, but it's more scaled down (but just as expensive). There is a huge inflated thingy that the kids can jump around in and there are games they can play where they get tickets back that they can turn in for cheapo toys.

One of the more enjoyable games there was the bull ride. It would spin around and basically try and knock the kids off. It looked like a blast. Unfortunately, Daddy was too big to get on.

They also had a laser tag room but it wasn't going when we were there. I would have liked to have done that. They also had a mini golf area but with all of the other activities I couldn't get the kids to focus long enough to have done that.

It was fun but next time we're going earlier to take advantage of all of the stuff.

The First Snowman of 2009

Yesterday we got a lot of very sloppy snow. It was wet and squishy, but it was very good packing snow. What happens when you get that kind of snow? You make a snowman of course!

Our snowman looks a little dirty because it's still early in the year and many of the leaves that were on the ground got caught up in our efforts. You can tell by how wet the kids are in the photo that they had been out for quite some time. Ian and I had a great snowball fight also. Thankfully neither of us were hurt, even though I took a couple of snowballs in the face. Ouch!

There was a massive storm this morning throughout the Midwest but thankfully it missed the Chicago area. However, it's supposed to get much colder this afternoon and all of this sloppy wet snow will solidify into one giant block of ice.

2009's First Snow!!

It took until early December but it has finally snowed. The kids loved it. Even before they got ready for school they put on their snow clothes and ran outside and rolled around. It does my heart good that my kids love the snow as much as they do.

This year I hope to redouble my efforts to do more fun things with the kids in the snow, like sledding and building forts and snowmen, etc. Last winter we didn't go sledding even once and that bummed me. The weather folk tell us that we may get close to 10 inches by the end of this week so my resolve will be put to the test very quickly.

Pooped Out

This last weekend was our 10 year wedding anniversary. I felt bad that we did not get to go to Ireland like we told ourselves we would. We couldn't afford to go to Ireland when we were first married so we figured by the time our 10th came around we would be in a better position, but we didn't anticipate the terrorist attack on the trade towers, and the resulting collapse of the economy, and we had no idea how much children cost to raise. So, basically we, like just about everyone else, are broke. So, instead we spent a quiet night at home and just basically hung out.

And speaking of children, my mother-in-law took the kids this weekend so that Aura and I could go out to dinner for our anniversary and when she brought them back they were so tired that they laid their heads on each other and just pooped out. They were so cute I had to take their picture.

A Dream Come True

I love the Doctor Who TV show. In fact, I've been watching it since I was around 10 years old. I also have been going to Doctor Who conventions for the past 20 years. They are great fun and I get to see the same folks every year, though some of us are getting to look a little old. Not me, of course.

Since my kids have been born I have been hoping that they would some day come along with me to a convention. Recently Ian has been watching the show and he has discovered that he enjoys it. He especially likes the Daleks (who doesn't?). I gave him the option of going to this year's convention..and he went! It was a dream come true for me.

He really enjoyed the convention and was "bored" only a couple of times. It's not surprising as waiting in line for photos and autographs can be a bit tedious. He enjoyed it so much that next year he wants to go to all three days. This year we only went to the Saturday session.

It was wonderful for me that Ian went along to the con and maybe some day Cami will come, too. Instead of going to the con Cami went with her mom and her Nanna and got her ears pierced (more on that later).

One of the more memorable things that happened during the show happened in the video room. For those who aren't familiar with conventions there is usually a video room going just about 24 hours where they run episodes of the show or other shows that the various Doctor Who actors have played in. Ian and I ducked in to the room as they were running the Doctor Who episode called Terror of the Zygons. The scene we saw had the Loch Ness Monster chasing the Doctor across the moors of Scotland. Ian really liked that but then they showed one of the Zygons and Ian got up and couldn't get out of the room fast enough. He was really scared. He said he would have nightmares if he watched any more.

He loved the costume contest and spent a fair amount of time taking pictures of the contestants, especially the girls. There was one girl in particular that he liked. She was dressed as a female Dalek.

We both had such a good time that we're already looking forward to next year.

Ian's 8th Birthday Party

Ian had actually turned 8 years old several weeks prior but due to scheduling problems and the like we had his birthday party several weeks late. We had it at the Arlington Heights Park District pool again this year. As usual lots of kids showed up and everyone had a great time.

One of the benefits of your kids getting older is you don't have to worry quite as much about them while they are in the water. Because of this we were able to chat a little more with the parents that came and we felt comfortable turning our backs for a few minutes while we setup the cake and drinks. But even if we hadn't felt so comfortable the park district provided a lot of life guards this year. I think there were at least four of them, possibly more.

Ian's cake was a "Star Wars" cake that we ordered from a local Wal-Mart. Personally I prefer the cakes that Meijer makes but they didn't have a Star Wars themed cake. It tasted pretty good and it was devoured by the kids in a heartbeat. I had hoped that I ordered a significantly large cake that we would be able to take some home, and we did but not as much as I had wanted.

The important thing about the whole day was Ian had a great time and he was very nice to tell his mom so. It makes it a lot easier to spend the money and the time and effort when your kids appreciate it.

Ian and Cami's First Basketball Class

This last Saturday was Ian's and Cami's first steps into the world of basketball. The class is sponsored by the Des Plaines Park District. For a relatively small town our park district actually has a lot of classes and activities to take advantage of. I suppose that helps offset some of the high taxes we pay. Anyway, both of the kids were really excited about the class, Ian especially so.

I'm really happy that there are enough girls in the class so Cami doesn't feel alone. There were enough girls that they had their own group when they were practising passing, dribbling, etc. But during the scrimmage all of the kids were mixed together. Cami had no idea what to do during the game. In fact, one of the coaches put her with another girl to do the "jump ball" to start the game and after Cami hit the ball she and the other girl just stood there for 2 or 3 minutes because they didn't know, and weren't old, to get into the game.

Ian really had a good time running around. Basketball might be a good sport for him because he can be in constant motion. He enjoyed baseball but there were alot of times when he would just stand in the outfield and practically fall asleep because nothing was happening.

Ian's Baptism

It is so hard to believe that 8 years have passed since Ian was born. I have been pondering his baptism virtually from the moment he was born and suddenly it is upon us. However, we were able to plan in advance and it all came off without a hitch, except I ended up crying in the font even though I had promised Ian that I wouldn't.

Our friend Ginny flew in from Utah for the event, which made us all very happy. She took the photo above (thanks Ginny!) and was a great help and added a lot of moral support.

Ian's grandpa gave the opening prayer, his Auntie and his Aunt Ginny both gave talks, and his Aunt Gina gave the closing prayer. We definitely felt the Spirit there that day. Auntie was very emotional and that made the rest of us tear up also. I was happy that when I did break down in tears I had already successfully said the prayer and had dunked him.

My heart is so full of emotions about this event that I can hardly express myself. Needless to say I am very happy that Ian chose to be baptized and I pray that he will keep his baptismal covenants in his life. And it warmed my heart the next day in Sacrament meeting when Ian was welcomed into the ward as the newest member. It also made me very happy that there were so many people from the Ward that attended his baptism.

Halloween 2009

The kids look forward to Halloween almost as much as they look forward to their birthdays. This year was no exception. I must admit that Aura and I look forward to it as well because we really enjoy seeing to kids having so much fun. Of course, it's a lot of work for us. Aura had to modify Ian's Stormtrooper costume because it was too long and I had to help the kids carve their pumpkins, but in the end it was very rewarding.

This year the kids did most of the carving of their pumpkins themselves. In the past they have been too young to handle the knives or they've been in bed, etc. but this year they cleaned out the gunk from the inside by themselves and they traced their patterns onto the pumpkins and even did some of the cutting. I would have let them do all of it if we hadn't been running late, but they had a party to go to so I had to step in to move things along.

The party they went to up the street was fun though I must admit I missed most of it because I had to run out to the store to get some more candy. I'm not sure if it's a sign of a bad economy but the shelves were full of candy and there were not alot of people buying it.

And speaking of candy!.....

here is a photo of a portion of their haul. They did really well this year. Our neighbors were very generous with their candy.

We were pleased that some friends of ours dropped by unexpectedly. First Uncle Brian and his sister Susie dropped by with some candy and gifts for all of us (thank you!) and then the Odell family dropped by in the evening. Not only was it great to have someone to hang out with while "Trick or Treating" but we were able to get our pictures taken with our pumpkins. Every year we take pictures of me and the kids with our pumpkins, it's sort of a tradition of ours, but this year I was afraid we weren't going to get the photos taken because our photographer, Aura, was not feeling well. But our friend Mike stepped into the breach and we got it done. Phew!

Halloween Eve - 2009

This picture was taken on our way to school today, which is one day before Halloween. All of the kids were encouraged to wear their costumes to school for their Halloween party. Both Ian and Cami are excited about Halloween this year and they were especially excited to show off their costumes to their friends. And, of course, they took candy to school to share and I'm sure they will receive candy from everyone else as well. I suspect that by the time I get home tonight the kids will already be on a sugar high and will be bouncing around like crazy. And it isn't even halloween yet!

I'm glad that Halloween is on a Saturday this year because every year I carve pumpkins with the kids and it's hard to do it the night before. This year we'll be able to carve them and put them right outside. In the past we've always waited until the last minute to carve our pumpkins because they get eaten by the various animals that inhabit our area. Opossums, raccoons, squirrels, mice, and who knows what eat our pumpkins to such a degree that in just a day or two they are almost completely gone.

Cami's 6th Birthday Party

This last summer Cami wanted her birthday party at a local mini-golf place. They had a good deal where each kid cost $7.50 and that got them a day's golfing, a hot dog and drink, and it included the picnic area as well.

All the kids had a great time golfing even though some of them were really really bad at it. I was surprised at how many of their golf balls wound up in the river (the motif of the place is a mountain with a river running down through the rocks with a lake that has a water wheel, etc). Thankfully the place didn't charge us the fees it claimed it does whenever someone loses their ball.

Cami chose her own cake and being a loyal fan of Spongebob Squarepants her choice was easy. Not only did it look good but it was very tasty as well.

Our First Camping Adventure

Several years ago Aura bought a tent and, with the exception of putting it up in our yard, we've never used it. At some point this last summer we decided that we wanted to go camping, so we packed up and went.

Aura found a KOA campground up near our favorite beach in St. Joseph, Michigan. When it came time to put up the tent I was really happy that I had practiced in our yard. It's funny that when you're putting up a tent everyone else, meaning other campers that were around us and not my family members, just sits and watches. I was really glad that I didn't come off as too much of a putz.

The kids really had a great time camping. Aura and I really enjoyed it also. We borrowed her sister's air beds so we didn't have to sleep on the lumpy ground and, while I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit it, we even put an air conditioner in there. It was really comfy and we even discovered that our tent was water tight when a big thunderstorm moved through during the night. I was surprised that we all slept so well. One annoying thing was many of the other campers there at the campground got up really early and they were all surprisingly noisy.

One of our favorite things was the campfire. We sat around it and roasted marshmallows and just basically enjoyed each other.

We also went to the beach that weekend. Lake Michigan's water temperature never really warmed up this year because it was such a cool summer. The water was especially cold this time around. The little kids just played in the sand and the various teenagers that were there braved the cold but you could tell that they really didn't want to be there, but none of them were brave enough to be the first ones out of the water.

It was really fun and we hope to go camping again sometime soon.

I'll Miss Summer

This last summer was sort of odd in that we did lots of things, like fishing and camping, but because it was a cooler year we didn't go to the beach as many times as we had hoped nor did we go to the pool as often as we anticipated. There were some really cold days this year and they were made even colder by being in a wet bathing suit.

This year the kids and I went fishing a handful of times. We did it once as part of a Cub Scouts activity and they decided they really liked it. So, I bought them some inexpensive fishing rods and off we went. We tried the Chain O' Lakes area several times and we tried Busse Woods lake and a couple of other local lakes and we never got a bite. I fully believe that there are no fish left in Illinois. The entire state has been fished out. It's been hard keeping the kids excited about fishing when they never catch any fish.

Ian is Growing Up

When Ian was born everyone warned us that time would go by very quickly and he would be grown up before we knew it. Well, today he is 8 years old. It's hard to believe that the last 8 years have gone by so quickly. He's been in the hospital for his asthma a handful of times, he's broken his arm and his nose, and he's had a least three sets of stitches that I can remember. In spite of this he is a happy kid and never fails to find something fun to keep himself busy.

Looking at these pictures it's so hard to remember how small he was. Small not only because he was young but because he was a premie and was extra little. Aura reminded me that one time he was running around a playground and a little girl shouted "Mommy, look at that little baby run!"

But, as they say "time waits for no man". I keep telling both of our kids to stop growing up so fast, but so far they haven't listened. Before you know it they'll be asking for the car keys.