Crim Weekend

Here are some more photos from this past weekend. Rodney and David have a new favorite great uncle. The boys had lots of fun with Uncle Bud. They very much reminded me of my self when I was their age. I always looked forward to seeing him and had lots of fun with him. He is very much interested in our kids and how they are doing.

On Saturday Bud and I took the boys to see the movie Barnyard, wile my mother, aunt and grandmother when to see the movie World Trade. How did we like our movie? Let just say the boys licked it. After my mother got back from her movie we all went out for dinner at Bob Evens. Both Rodney and David were really wound up, so Bud took them to the dollar store to get a toy to help calm them down. Thanks Bud!

Hi-yaaaa!

On Friday August 25th, we took the boy to my parents to see my grandmother, Aunt Pat, and Uncle Bud. All three were here for the Crim festival of races in Flint. Witch is one of the top ten races in the nation. The race will be on Saturday the 26th.

So we took the boy there for dinner and fun. Rodney was very happy to work on his puzzles and David got to ruff house with Bud. He really got to cut lose and get some of his energy out and do some kun fu. I took him hours to wind down and they seem to do it for hours. And that was just Bud. David loved all the attention. He could not wait to go see him again on Saturday.

For more photos go to http://s43.photobucket.com/albums/e356/annarborjedi/Family/Crim%20Week%20end/?sc=1&multi=10&addtype=local&media=image

Captain Underpants

I have been reading the Captain Underpants series of books to Rodney and David. They are written by Dav Pilkey. Captain Underpants is a series of children's books about two 4th graders, George and Harold, and their mean old principal Mr. Krupp. In their spare time, George and Harold write comic books about a superhero they made up which they called Captain Underpants, hence the title of the book. This character is named after his clothing habit of wearing only a red cape with black polka-dots and a pair of white briefs. Their cartoon character is unexpectedly brought to life when George and Harold jokingly hypnotize Mr. Krupp to act like Captain Underpants. To their consternation, from then on whenever somebody snaps their fingers Mr. Krupp, with a call of Tra-la-laaaaaa, transforms into Captain Underpants, and then turns back if water is poured over his head. It all gets even sillier from there.

These potty-mouthed books are considered very clever and funny by their target audience, (young boys) and even “some of their parents”. The books are the 2nd most popular children’s book series right behind Harry Potter. We have read just about all of the books and the boys love them. I just got the 8th book, Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People, for the boys. The boys really loved it!

In the new book of the greatest chapters in the book talk about the problem with parents. First it tells of how we “teach our kids to walk and talk for the 1st two years and spend the next 16 years telling them to sit down and be quiet.” Then the book goes on to say we “teach our kid how to use the bathroom, say things like pee-pee and poop-poop, and give them rewords for a good job. Then we forbid them every to talk about the bathroom ever again once they are potty trained.” This was more for the parents who are reading the book then the kids. The joke was a little over the boy’s head. But it is all part of the fun. So I say Tra-la-laaaaaa

My Favorite Game

My Favorite Game is Settlers of Catan. In Settlers of Catan players try to be the dominant force on the island of Catan by building settlements, cities, and roads. On each turn dice are rolled to determine the current production on the island. Players collect raw materials to build up their civilizations to gain enough victory points to win the game. This game is a German game of the year winner, primarily because of its amazing ability to appeal to non-gamers and gamers alike.

Also There are 2 expansions; Seafarers of Catan and Cites and Knights of Catan. In Seafarers, players can build shipping lanes, which are very similar to roads. Additionally, the game comes with many different water-hex-heavy variant setups. Cites and Knights adds several new aspects to Settlers of Catan but the two major ones are creating knights to protect the land from invading barbarians and building city improvements that confer benefits upon that city's owner. It also adds tactical complexity to the game and game length. Both expansions are played with the ordinal version of Settlers of Catan and you can play all three together for one big game.

You can play find more on this game at http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/13. Also you can play it on line at http://catan.jsettlers.org/index.html or http://zone.msn.com/en/catanonline/default.htm or http://games.asobrain.com/

Tomatoes?

When it comes to flowers I do very well. You might say I have a green thumb. However I tried my thumb on tomatoes this year. I got one cherry tomato plant and one Romano tomato plant. Having very little space I planted them in pots. The thing I forgot was tomatoes need lots of room for their roots to grow. Soooo…. I only got three tomatoes so far and I don’t thing I get any more. Oh well, maybe next year.

Rodney's Birthday Party

On Saturday the 19th of August, we had a party for Rodney’s 6th birthday. We had family and friends over for hotdogs and cake. The theme of the party was dinosaurs, and we had his cake decorated with them. All of the boys played video game and the girls played trains. When we opened presents Rod’s gifts really showed how much he is becoming a big kid. He got Lagos (his favorite), a radio, a fishing pole, Transformers, Star Wars toys, books, a microscope and some clothing. They way he really showed he is getting older is he was interested in the cards and in the clothing he got from his grandma. He was very content and happy after the party, and said it was a good day.

It's uncal Rob & aunt Amy!!!!!

HORAY FOR VIDEO GAMES!!!!

The birthday boy eating his lunch.

I got a dinosaur!

I got a dinosaur puzzel book

What I get, what I get?!

The big boy playing with his new lagos!

Six

We have a six year old! Today is Rodney birthday, and for his birthday he really wonted a pet. 1st he asked for a bird, but he is not old enough for one. So he asked for a gerbil or a hamster. We also told that we would get David one as well, but it would sleep in Rodney’s cadge.

So we went to the pet store and they recommended a gerbil do to the boy’s ages and that they would be friendlier. So we got two female gerbils and the boy’s could not contain them self’s. David named his Maggie and Rodney named his Wave. Rodney is very happy to have a pet of his own and had a very nice birthday.

So we now have a total of 9 pets. That is 3 cats, 1 dog, 2 fish, 1 chinchilla, and now 2 gerbils. Maybe we have too many pets.

Tomorrow is Rod’s party and we have many people coming over. So it’s back to cleaning for me

Hello Maggie and Wave!

the new home

I like my new friends!

Open house

Today at Amy’s school there was an open house for all of the faculty, students and family. The boys were just excited to be at mommy’s work. There was food and ice cream. The boys also got to go play on the play ground and play with bubbles.

burrrrrrrrrr!!!

This past weekend we went camping with the scouts. We got to Wolverine Campground, Just out side of Davison Michigan, around 5 pm on Friday. I sent Amy with the boys to the beach wile I waited for the other scouts to arrive and set up camp. The other family had forgotten their tent post, so could not set up their tent. They decided they would sleep in their van that night. We cooked hotdogs, made a campfire, made smores and relaxed around the fire before going to bed. That night it dropped down to 54 degrees, and we had a hard time keeping worm, and had a hard time sleeping

The next morning I was not feeling very well, I had been fighting a cold most of the week and the night in the tent did not help. However I stuck it out for the day. 1st I taught the boys how to play freeze tag and cartoon tag then I took them out on a hike through the woods. Then they went swimming, and we mad ice cream in a bag at the beach. We all so sat around and enjoyed the nice day. For dinner that night we made Hobo pockets. Every one got to make their own pockets. We then designed that another night of cold would not do any good for my cold, and the other family did not wish to sleep in the van again. So we came home a day early. So once again we have cut short yet another camping trip

Hmmmmmm hot dogs!

Don't touch the fire!

Freeze!

Is that Superman Hiking in the woods?

How much fun did the boys have camping? The car ride home sould be a good clue.

29

29 more days and the boys go back to school. I think I'm staring to get use to them home all the time. I may even miss them a little, wile their in school. Rodney will be in the 1st grade and be in school 5 days a week all day. Hopefully he will adjust to it well. David will start Kindergarten, and he will go two full days and one half day. So he and I will hang out at the other times.

I’m not sure what I will be doing with my all spare time but I will get caught up on work around the house. But when they go my free time may look a little like this:

35 years

Today is my 35 birthday, and it no longer seems like being in my 30’s is old. When I was in my 20 (or even a teen) 30, 40 and 50 looked old to me. I even had a hard time with turning 30, just ask Amy. However now that I’m 35 getting older is not so bad, it’s just a part of life.

This morning Amy and the boy’s made me breakfast in bed. Amy, who is not the cook of the family, mad banana pancakes. She did a good job. She even may have made them better than me. She but in the bananas in hole rather than blended like I do. This really allowed you to enjoy both the banana and pancake flavor.

Also I got a new bike for my birthday. So I can go on a bike ride with the boys. I‘m planning on taking them on a ride this afternoon before we go to dinner at my parents.

My biggest Question about being 35 is this; If the life expectancy of a male in the US is 72, am I now considered middle age?

Maybe in a few years technology will allow us to live longer? We will then become cyborgs! Just call me Ken of nine!