hide and seek

Emmalee plays hide and seek. Perfect Emmalee shaped pile of laundry.

King Cobras

John drew pictures of several king cobras.

Running circles

John and emmalee do laps at a pit stop in cincinnati on our family adventure to look at a camper. a little exercise to break up two plus hours on the road.

Spring Break

John curls up with a 'Calvin and Hobbes' book from the library.

Token

I also have the dolphin Emmalee gave me for Christmas placed prominently on my desk.

2008 Motorcycle Calendar

The calendar Emmalee made me for christmas has a prominent place in my office and is the envy of every motorcyclist who sees it.

Father and Son Activity For Saturday Morning

Mom and Emmalee were at a birthday party. John and Dad spent the morning building "Eagle Transporters" (from Space 1999) with legos. Here are the Eagles we built of all shapes and sizes. I built the first and biggest, improperly colored one on the left. John built the properly colored one (white) next to it. We each built a handful of the others. As the lego supply was depleted, the objective became who can built the smallest Eagle.

Dad, how'd you get so good at building with legos?

Hmmm, I don't know, years of practice I guess.

There's a hole in the bottom of the sea

There's a hole in the bottom of the sea.
There's a hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a hole, there's a hole, there's a hole in the bottom of the sea...

There's a log in a hole in the bottom of the sea...
There's a bump on a log in a hole in the bottom of the sea...
There's a frog on a bump on a log in a hole in the bottom of the sea...


John illustrated it, and took it farther than I've ever seen it taken.

Frankly, I'm lost after frog, but I pick it up again after "man"

there's a fly on a man...
there's a can on a fly on a man...
there's a snake on a can on a fly on a man...

Then what is that ...
there's an apple on a snake?

Could it be some biblical garden-of-eden reference?

There's a car on an apple?

I don't get it.

There's a Tree on a car?

Now I really am lost.

I lose it again after tree.

I do recognize window

There's a spider on a window...
There's a House on a spider on a window...
There's a Satellite dish on a house on a spider on a window...
There's a Bicycle on a satellite dish on a house on a spider on a window...

I need to track him down, sit him down, and make him explain to me what the details are that I'm sure I missed.

Black Horse In A Cherry Tree

Emmalee decorated a paper plate for the song "Black Horse In A Cherry Tree" by K.T. Tunstall. The back features K.T. herself performing the song, complete with tamborine under her right foot. As seen on youtube.

Easter Egg Hunt

Hunting for easter eggs at gramma karen's house.

Games

Super tic tac toe at .subway

A walk in the woods

Geese left their footprints in the ice and snow.

The flood waters have receded leaving acres of ice on dry land. we took a wall with gramma and the kids to survey the new landscape. though by this time there had been several days in the forties, the had was still thick. we slated and even tried to jump with enough force to break through the ice . . 4. something wot wouldn't do he the had weren't on dry land.

Posing by their creation.

A dog house made by j and e.

Tears are wiped away

. Emmalee and daddy.

Geekin' Out

A trip back to age 10.
I didn't know SPACE: 1999 was available on DVD. I had forgotten how much I loved this show at age 10.
A friend at work loaned me the first set -- 6 episodes.



I was giddy! Just looking at the DVD packaging, suddenly the memories all flooded back into my mind... I have notebooks from 1976 filled with pictures of "Eagles". I dreamt of living on Moonbase Alpha.


And John's at about the right age. I knew I'd enjoy watching them with him.

So, I watched the first episode "Breakaway Moon" and was appalled at how horrible it was.

I reported back to CW, my friend at work. "I watched episode 1."

"And?!?!?! What'd you think?" he asked, eagerly.

"It was so AWFUL!" I replied.

"How could you SAY that?!!?" he asked.

"You know, at least Shatner and Nimoy looked like they enjoyed their jobs. Landau and Bain look like they're bored. They're just walking through the script with no enthusiasm for their job."

He thought for a minute. "They get better."

"I believe you. I'm determined. I'm gonna watch more. I mean, I loved the show as a kid, I have to relive some of it now."

Then I watched "Matter of Life and Death" and reported back: "That was better."

Then I watched "Black Sun" and reported back: "This is more like it. This is the show I knew and loved."

John and I watched it together. John said, "Would that really happen if you got sucked into a black hole?"

I said, "No, not really.... well, actually nobody knows for sure, nobody's been sucked into a black hole and lived to tell about it."

Dog House

A dog house built by j and e for her stuffed dog toy. when it was accidently bumped and damaged, j willingly undertook a restoration project.

Brotherly

john built a car for his sisters stuffed animal. like his father did for his sisters in the olden days.

Fun and games

The kids played a wicked game of scrabble with gramma while mom and dad went to a movie

Motorcycles

There is hope.

Puppy love

Trip to the pet store

Emmalee's sand castle.

Expo

Motorcycle expo full of sound and fury selling nothing.

Emmalee's Art

Dad and mom.



Emmalee, flanked by two classmates.

Ma r di gras party

An annual tradition.

Happy Un-Birthday Carrie

I found the premier episode of "Remington Steele" on VHS for Carrie, and gave it to her for an Un-birthday present.

Sunday afternoon fun

Drew's birthday party at Jump N Play.

Sunrise

Fire in the hole

Coldest day of the year and we awaken to a chilly house. The furnace is trying to work, but the flame keeps blowing out. We have a fire in the fireplace, and the furnace is still providing heat, though its behavior is worrisome. Repair man is on his way.

John's birthday.

john turns nine years old today. my how time flies.

Horse In The Wind

An original piece by Emmalee. The silver swirls are wind. The horse leaps into the wind. Note even the grass is blown by the wind.

There is a story behind the picture too. Emmalee worked very hard to create it for Carolyn. She was very proud to present it to her. Carolyn was thrilled. Then coffee got spilled on the masterpiece. Emmalee was crushed. Carolyn discovered that most of the coffee stain was in the sky. So she cut out the horse and grass, and pasted it on a new sky. She commissioned Emmalee to recreate the wind.

Black Diamond Slopes

Emmalee's new video game has a level that involves skiing down "black diamond" slopes. Carolyn explained to the kids how "black diamond" was a very difficult grade of ski slope. Her description of the slopes prompted John to draw an illustration.

There are a few wonderful details I'd like to point out.

The trepidatious skier, contemplating a run down the dangerous slope.

The bird, wondering what the heck is going on...

The extreme skier, mouth open as wide as possible. Is it a scream of terror, or a squeal of delight? The tongue hanging out may give it away...

Family Gymnastics Night

Third Annual Family Gymnastics night. The kids get to swing from trapezes and drop into pits filled with foam squares. This is how gymnasts train.

Emma lee in the foam pit.

Computer art by e g

A Christmas Tradition

Swimming at the hotel is becoming a family tradition.

Bee Movie - Review

Took the kids to see "Bee Movie" this afternoon at the dollar theatre.

My review: "At least we didn't pay full price for the tickets."

I feel sorry for all the people who did.

I love Jerry Seinfeld but I should have known this movie would stink because none of the trailers/previews looked any good at all. Even the crappiest movies have great trailers/previews.

Most of the funny parts were aimed at adults. And were only slight chortles, not rip-roaring funny.

I didn't appreciate the "Bujesus" reference.

Funniest part -- for me -- was "Sting" taking the stand and having to defend his use of the name "Sting".

The accuser says, "Your real name is .... Gordon M. Sumner!"

The jury gasps in horror.

Sting later protests, "But it's just a prance-about-stage name".

I love that Sting has such a sense of humor and is able to poke fun at himself.

And I like Patrick Warburton who played "Putty" in the Seinfeld series; it was great to have him as a character in a movie with Jerry.

Aside from that, the movie mostly just had us scratching our heads, wondering what was the point.

John's Maze

An art class project for John.

Sesame Street

I remember this one from my childhood. I was singing it to my kids and then I thought ... I bet youtube has it. I was right.



Here's another I remember...

Cool Honda Civic Commercial

Another cool Honda commercial. This one has a choir making all the sound-effects for a car driving on the road. Cool.

Cool Honda Accord Commercial

I saw this about a year ago and sent this to my mom for her to use in her physics classes. It's all about transforming energy from one form to another. Cool.

Happiness, 2

Carolyn bought Emmalee the figurine of "Happiness" for her birthday.

Today Emmalee said, "Look mommy. You gave me happiness and now I'm giving happiness
to you."

Carolyn said, "You do that every day, sweetie."

Fish

It's probably been almost two years since we bought any fish. When Carolyn was working evenings, late 2005 early 2006, the kids and I had a routine of feeding the fish right before bed, sitting in the dark watching the fish eat their food.

I took John and Emmalee to the pet store on Saturday and they each picked out a fish. Emmalee picked a fancy guppy with a leopard-spotted tail, and John picked a black molly.

Before we got home Emmalee had fallen in love with her fish, and named it "Bella".

John's fish has a temporary working title of "So-Duh", which is like "Soda" only with the emphasis on the second syllable. It's from a computer game they've been playing.

I found this crayon drawing by Emmalee, which shows the hexagonal fish tank, Emmalee watching her fish, and John's fish looking away.