Moobed

Boo

2009-07-20T14:36:00.002-04:00

Doubtlessly I've lost your interest in this blog... I mean.. I haven't blogged in months and here I am at it again... kinda. This is me saying I'll Blog tomorrow in earnest. I need to post a bunch of pictures and tell some tails.. I looked back on 2008 and thought I need to do this again... it clears my soul.

More in the AM...

PS - I know you aren't listening yet... but I'll post a link from FB after I get my brain on straight. :)

Super ConCon

2008-09-24T10:42:00.001-04:00

Connor has applied for a new job.

See here: http://www.digital-tree.com/archives/369

-Mike

For Jim

2008-09-15T16:55:00.001-04:00

Jimmy...
Ryan says "Hi"

From a grand day

RIP: Pink Floyd's Richard Wright

2008-09-15T16:51:00.002-04:00

Well, it has come to this. That one of the members of my favorite band growing up is now died. I never met him, but morn the loss of a true (albeit nutty) artist.

Field of Flags

2008-09-14T16:24:00.006-04:00

At the Congregational Church in Clinton this weekend, they did a tribute to those lost in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was 4,741 as of September 10th 2008, according to the sign on the memorial. I found the sight of all the flags quite impressive and wondered what it would look like if it had been done for those who lost family during WWII or even the battle for Normandy. I'm not belittling these losses... far be it... I am amazed by what the representation of these lives looks like when displayed publicly, and realize that I would find it difficult to actually imagine the staggering number of those that have gone before me to war.

Click above for the series

I came by in the morning and took a few photos to share with you. It was an impressive sight and I believe an endeavor that was well worth the effort by those that took part in it. It serves as a reminder to those of us who do not live with this daily threat on our family members, going about our busy lives that somewhere in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are people who are struggling every day to get back to a normal life.

Once again I'm remiss

2008-09-13T19:52:00.009-04:00

PLEASE NOTE: I linked all the pictures to slideshows, so that's were all the "other" pictures are. :)

Ok.. so a heck of a lot has gone on since my last post... Labor day has come and gone and so has 2 busy weekends. I posted our pictures with my parents on Labor day weekend here... it was just a blast.

Ryan and Connor had their first day at school for and are totally loving it. Ryan took the bus on his first day and was just so happy about it, he was besides himself. He beamed as he got on and gripped the seat. After a white-knuckled ride to Kindergarten, he then enjoyed a great first day of school, complete with getting to know new people and seeing some old friends from Preschool. He looked exhausted after his first day, even though it was only a half day and told us of his bus ride, each way. His first words to me as I walked in the door from work were "DAD! They had no seatbelts on the bus, so I had to hold on with all my might... My hands really hurt when I got to school." He has since lightened up. I guess it all goes to show how new it all was to him. Connor on the other hand, had an easy bus ride to pre-K and was happy to see everyone he laid eveys on. His first words were "DAD, I SAW MRS HARRIS!!!!" :)

The weekend after our first week of school, we were visited by hurricane Hannah. She passed by in the middle of the night and left little damage as she had been downgraded to a tropical depression (or less) by the time she flew by. Since she darkened our Saturday, we decided to go Bowling to pass the time. Even though Connor was exhausted from the week, he still enjoyed every minute bowling. It was the boy's first experience bowling and they were incredibly cute about it. They did a great job throwing the ball, but I'm afraid anywhere else they'd be tossed out for running and basically throwing the ball overhand. :) Lise and I enjoyed it, and aside from Connor losing it around the 8th frame, it was alot of fun for all.

The next day after Hannah had left us, we went to the town beach. It was beautiful. The tide was extremely low and we walked out a good ways to the tidal pools to see all the animals. We saw a hermit crab (I think) and some spider crabs, and enough limpets for an army of gulls. It was truly beautiful and I enjoyed it as much as the boys. After our walk on the beach, we played at the park until we all were so tired, we fell into a heap and went back home. That afternoon, Lise and Ryan enjoyed a nice birthday party and Connor and I mowed the lawn and then went to the carousel to end the day.

Our second week of school went very well and the boy had "back to school night" for the parents. We met Ryan and Connor's teachers and toured the school. On Friday we planned to go to NJ, but all the excitement of the last two week brought us all some colds, and we made the sad decision not to go. I know we missed out on a great time, but I think we needed the down time, and all slept very well on Friday. On Saturday we did Soccer and haircuts. Connor's belly settled by the end of the day and we went out to eat and had sorbet... Connor let me know the "berrys are nice when they are cold"

It's now Sunday and we are taking some downtime. I took the boys out while Lise slept for a bit and now MY nose is running, so I guess it's time for me to get my cold . I still wouldn't trade it for the world.

Coming weekend

2008-08-29T10:25:00.003-04:00

This weekend is in flux. Labor-day fun time.

Kindergarten next week, parents visiting, picnics, friends stopping by and a major clean up of my office that I've not only been putting off, but making worse daily.

Happy Labor day. Another post this weekend... When I find my little camera....

The Bells... The Bells!

2008-08-26T08:04:00.006-04:00

Everyday this month, I've woken up with music going on in my head. This isn't the only time I've awoken with a song in my head, however, it's one of the few times that it's been a daily occurrence over so many days. The really BAD part about this, has been that on some days, it's been songs I am not a fan of, so it's like some sort of self torture.

I cant quite tell you why this is the case, but it's been noteworthy that every day I am stuck in the shower with an all 80's and 90's radio station blaring in my subconsciousness. This week, the hit list has been... well unstable at best... here's the list that I recall.

Theme to "Fall Guy" 80's TV show
Teenage Wildlife -Bowie
Thela Hun Ginjeet - King Crimson (Concert influenced)
Rock and Roll - Led Zeppelin
"Bonanza" Theme
All the leaves are Brown - Mama's and Papa's
7 Nation Army - White Stripes
What you are - Audioslave
"Roadrunner" TV show theme song
"Superfriends" TV show theme song
All of me - Sung like Steve Martin
Don't stop believin' - Journey
Gloria / Peace Frog- The Doors

Today on the way to work I inadvertently heard "The Rhythm of the Night" ... I hope that doesn't stick for tomorrow.

Monkeys at the Fair

2008-08-25T09:52:00.004-04:00

This weekend, we took the kids tot he Chester Fair in Chester, Ct. we had a great time. The majority of the rides were for the little ones, so Ryan and Connor got alot of rides in and got to see a real live pig race. Other than that we kept a low profile.

This week, we prep for preschool and kindergarten. Drum roll, please.

On another note... we saw this guy by the beach about a week or so ago... it's a Coyote out looking for a morning snack. From the way it was moving, I suspect he had a healthy skepticism about being out in the open and made tracks for the woods shortly after.

King Crimson

2008-08-17T22:56:00.005-04:00

So on my little vacation time, I also took in a concert in NYC last night. It was tiring after driving the entire day before, but a lot of fun to hang out with Gene, and see a show. I saw King Crimson on their 40th anniversary tour. it was a very good show, and I was happy to have gotten a chance to go. Thanks Anthony for the opportunity, and thanks Gene for coming with me.

For anyone concerned, Time Square is the same as it was about 5 years ago, when I went last. Which is still WAY different than it was, say 20 years ago. :)

Update... A Picture from Gene's phone of the stage.

Quebec City

2008-08-17T22:27:00.006-04:00

We had a great time in Quebec City visiting Lise's cousin Claude. His wife Louise greeted us at the door with gifts for the kids and huge hugs and kisses for everyone. Dominic also join us and worked as a bit of an interpreter for the group while we waited for Claude to arrive. The kids wasted no time diving in to their goody baskets as we sat down and had a terrific lunch. Once we caught our breath, we spent the rest of the afternoon on a whirlwind visit to Quebec city. We took the long way in... by Ferry across the St. Lawrence river. As we crossed the river, Claude put some perspective around what we were seeing, with information on the geography and some history of the city. He also pointed out the one of the ferries passing us (the Louis Jolliet) was a ferry he rode regularly as a child, when there was no bridge in Trois Rivieres. When I showed this to Marie and Denise, she said... "Hey, that's the Ferry in Trois Rivieres" before I could tell her it was in Quebec City.

We had a fantastic time on our tour of the city and when the kids ran out of fuel, we headed back to the house for an absolutely wonderful meal. After dinner we were joined by Adriane (Claude's daughter) who Ryan immediately had a crush on. (I'm going to hate Ryan's teens). Early the next morning, we met the family downstairs and shared a breakfast together (the kids still ate Lucky Charms) and then we took them to the Aquarium. They needed something just for them. After seeing the animals and getting out picture taken with a a guy in a walrus costume (Ryan wasn't so sure about THIS dude), we had a lovely picnic with Louise and headed back to Three Rivers for a night before we left for home.

Click here for the rest of Quebec City

In Trois Rivieres, we had another great meal with Celene, this time at a restaurant. I think we all enjoyed the meal very much and fell asleep pretty quickly after we arrived home. We left the next day... there were some muffled tears but we promised to see each other soon, and headed out to the highway at 9:00AM

We stopped in Vt for a lunch break and once again in Northampton Ma to see my uncles, but because of extenuating circumstances, we didn't meet up. We'll be by again though. With our stops, it took us until 7:00PM to get home. Ryan and Connor told me they were "not tired".. however, I know two boys who fell asleep before I left the room. :)

Quebec City

2008-08-14T22:18:00.003-04:00

I'll post more tomorrow night.. until then... we are having a great time.
--Mike

Canada's House

2008-08-12T17:39:00.009-04:00

On Friday when we arrived in Canada, we waited at the border for about an hour. During our wait in line, Connor kept asking the same thing over and over again, but it was hard to figure it out. Finally I heard him loud and clear saying ¨Are we at Canada's house yet?¨ Since then, he has asked if we're at Canada's house yet another dozen times and when we visited Gigi's home town... he changed his montra to ¨Are we going to visit Gigi?¨

Yesterday we visited with Lise's cousin Pierré who lives in his mother's home in Trois Riviéres. He was a wonderful host for a man who was about to go to the hospital for a CAT scan. From there we had a little walking tour of the old city (Vieux-Trois Riviéres). It's a beautiful place and a great mix of old and new. During our walking tour of the city, we stopped at the Cathedral in the center of town. This is the church where some of Lise's relatives have been married, but it is a place where my family also attended and my great-great-great-grandparents on my Mom's side were married in this church. (weird, huh?) Below you'll find some of the pictures for our walk about, as well as the pictures of our evening meal on our arrival.

Trois Riviéres

Today, we went to Ste-Cécile, where Lise's Mom was born and rasied and her grandfather Despres also resided. We stopped and took pictures of the Despres house, and then the first house Marie-Paul's family owned. It was run down, but gave us an idea of where she lived. Down the road, we stopped again in front of the infamous family farm that I had heard so much about from Marie. It was in great condition and Céline explained that the fields across the street were once all attached to the farm house. We turned around and Céline pointed out the Garage that was once a blacksmith that her Uncle Charles owned. Charles was handy (much like Lise's sister, Louise) and changed to a garage once enough vehicles began breaking down. After our drive we stopped for some pizza and visited some goats in a roadside farm. Connor loved it and Ryan was in spirits.

Ste-Cécile

Now we are getting ready for yet ANOTHER great meal. I'm going to pack up here and get my dinner.

Canada Day 2 and 3

2008-08-11T10:19:00.008-04:00

We had a great day yesterday with Francine and Jacques. We visited old Montréal and had a lovely lunch at an outdoor eatery in the historic section of town. After a good walk to clear our heads, we came back to the house and the boys and I went to the local park. Ryan had a great time, but Connor was completely out of steam.
When we got home, I had to keep him up through dinner, and he and Ryan slept like the dead. :) (and then we were able to as well). We had a fantastic dinner, as Francine is a great cook and got ready fo the next day when we met with the rest of Francine's family. Daniél and Lyné and Michel with Suzanné came and we had a great time. Lise practiced her French the whole time, to prepair for us to got to see Céline, as her family speaks more French then English.

Montreal

When we arrived at Celine's house, we were met at the driveway with such love. It is wonderful to see Lise with her family. They love her so much and they are so accepting of her children and husband who can only speak enough french to embarass her. :)

I've posted some photos and will do my best to put the names in. I am writing on a french keyboard, so I might have to fix the spelling later... Or at least, that's my excuse this time.

Canada

2008-08-09T09:55:00.005-04:00

Last night we arrived in Canada. All is well (except for sharing a room with Ryan) and we are enjoying our time with our first hosts of the trip very much. Francine and Jacques have been so wonderful to us. We are here on Sat & Sunday. On Sunday we leave to see Lise's cousin Celine.

I will post some pictures if we have some time tonight.

On the way up, we stopped at a Truck Stop called Betty Beaver's Truck Stop.

The food was wonderful, but the sign had some strange hold on me and Ryan. To this day I dont know why. :)

As I said we arrived after about 8 hours of traveling and about 6 hours of actual driving... the border was an hour and so was lunch.)

Ryan and Connor were a bit crunchy when we arrived, but ice cream soothed everything. :)

Time for a check up

2008-07-20T20:38:00.001-04:00

Is that bright light at the end of the tunnel a train? Nope, it's Ryan about to give you a check up.The tools came out in an attempt to thwart a nap or lunch or something, and the next thing I know, I'm getting a full check up. Ryan is checking my eyes for a possible corneal transplant and Connor is sneaking in a few random drugs for his own personal drug study. I being of sound mind, wanted to run for the hills, but instead I took my lumps. Mom was also due for her yearly visit, and the kids were more than happy to investigate and look for any monkeys in her throat. It has been determined by this panel of doctors that she has an incurable need to provide yummy treats for the children and her prescription, as ordered, was for both children to receive a frozen yogurt pop and make them stay up late for a week. At least this was Dr. Ryan's orders. Dr Connor's orders was to do what ever Ryan said, and to get Connor his wolverine doll and spend time in the pool, and to get him a drink... what's that on TV? .... (You get the idea) After all this attention, I need to see my own doctor.

Egret in Branford

2008-07-19T13:55:00.000-04:00

Keeping Cool

2008-07-19T09:53:00.001-04:00

It's about 90 degrees out this morning and Connor has managed to keep himself very cool. Although he is spending some time on the net playing Power Rangers games, my children have suddenly become too cool to allow themselves to been seen without sunglasses. I know they are constantly recognized when we travel, so a disguise is truly necessary. This must be how Bruce Wayne surfs the web at home, no?

When we haven't been dressed like batman on Friday, we went to see "Bubble Mania". The guy that hosts this show was with Ringling Brothers and is very well known, but he lives not more than 20 miles from my house and regularly plays at the Ivorytown playhouse. It was alot of fun. He commented on all the screw ups, but had he not, I would have told you the show was flawless. We arrived a bit early and he was on the stage, clowning around as he set up. This was the part that Connor liked best.... Ryan liked the part where he put a boy into a bubble... (a big boy and a very big bubble). After that we got over heated at the local watering hole and spent the rest of the day cooling off at home. Today (sat) we are going to a tag sale with Gigi. She used to love these things, so I hope she has a great time.

Gotta love Kids...

2008-07-15T10:17:00.001-04:00

Ok.. this is worth the 3 minutes to watch....

Ryan, don't get any ideas about you or Connor doing this one!

http://view.break.com/536276 - Watch more free videos

Another Crazy weekend

2008-07-13T20:48:00.008-04:00

Items for the weekend:

1) Band Plays on Clinton green
2) Grandma and Grandpa G coming by to go to the Weston Picnic- They arrive Friday
3) Wesbrook Fair - Friday night
4) Tom's Wedding Saturday (Parents off to the Picnic with regrets)
5) Grandparents pool day....

Ready set.....

Lise has been ansey all week... She has really been looking forward to getting out of the house... as you can see here... she prepped for all the running around she needed to do to get ready for this weekend.

Thursday night after work we went to see Shaded Soul on the town Green in Clinton. They were alot of fun and I grabbed a few pictures of the kids having a grand old time...(see below) By 8:30, everyone was spent and we all went back and went right to bed... Ryan woke up at 7:30am.... I couldn't believe it...

On Friday we went to the fair in Westbrook. We had a great time a rode most of the rides. Ryan loved the bumper cars and asked to go on them at least 100 times. Patience, Mike... After a great time spinning , jumping, twirling and driving, Ryan and I had to call it quits but we thought we'd go on the Pirate boat ride.... the one that swings.... Ryan loved the first 5 minutes and then began asking... "when does this thing end?" Connor meanwhile "hit the wall" and was on a sugar exaggerated, overtired hate high that made him completely schizophrenic. He was so happy, he wanted to kill you. We tucked him into bed and he slept like a truck hit him.. and then took a nap the next day to leave his demon self behind and become a little boy again.:)

On Saturday we had a lovely breakfast together (Connor dressed as robin) and then a trip to the farmer's market. (more pictures below!!) After making lunch for the picnic, Lise and I got dressed and left for Tom's Wedding (you guessed it ... below)... We had a fabulous time and really enjoyed seeing people that had been absent from our lives for the last couple of years. I am happy to see Tom so happy and joining a good family... Good Luck Tommy! We got home totally exhausted and passed out.

On Friday we spent the morning chatting and the afternoon on the pool. It was great spending some time as a family and I think Grandma and Grandpa had as good a time as we all did. :) After they left, we had a dinner at the local beach stand and sent the boys off to bed... when I'm headed this instant! Good night.

Click for more Band at the Green

Westbrook Fair

Tom's Wedding

Grandparents visit

House Grind

2008-07-13T20:35:00.006-04:00

So with Staycation over, Lise & I finished up a bunch of projects and began a few more... Our front garden was in need of an overhaul and we had put it off long enough, and our front porch was rotting away, so we got that under control first thing...

Before:

After:

I'm glad we're finally able to focus on the outside of the house... we've been fixing the inside so much, it's a little rough out there. Lise has put in a little bird bath and we have the gazebo up ... so I think we're good for a little while. :) I cant wait to be done, but for right now, I think we're ready to finish up our projects until the housing market has come back a bit more. :)

Staycation!

2008-07-05T20:48:00.008-04:00

I was asked to take vacation this week ... I'm not a huge fan of being told when to take my vacation time, but the flip side is that I know I'm a consultant, and that I am overhead... etc etc etc... I'm not really complaining... I needed some recharge time.

So this week I took full advantage; I did a few projects and spent some good quality family time in the pool. It was a full blown family "staycation". I couldn't afford a "vacation" and going to Canada this year, so... "Staycation" works for me. We did all the family things we usually do on the weekends and just enjoyed some additional time together. On Friday there was the farmer's market and fresh strawberries... and then off to that Carousel with Superman and Ryan to ride the flying cat / dolphin things... (don't make eye contact with the ride... eek)

On Saturday night there was a fireworks display in East Haven at Gigi's place and we all went and met with Auntie Nee and Louise and Bob for a night of food and fireworks. We had a wonderful, except Connor hit the wall just as the fireworks started and started to ask to go potty every 3 minutes and then not going... ugh. In the midst of it, I was able to take a few snaps.

Fireworks

We all went home and threw the kids into bed around 10 pm... they remained crunchy all week. :)

On Tuesday Connor Started back to summer school. The bus picks him up two days a week, and he is still loving it. I'm really not looking forward tot he days of "I hate school", or the stories that "the teacher hates me". Oh well... Until then, I'll enjoy the smiles and try to mastermind a plan to keep them excited about learning... or break their backs trying. :)

While Connor was at school, I installed a "whole house" fan that blows air out of the attic to and pull fresh air in through all the windows of the house. I am hoping that after all the fireworks ends I can use it at night to cool the house. There are SO many nights where it is 60 degrees out and it's 80 on the second floor, so I'm hoping that getting the fan going will cut my cooling costs. In the afternoons we went to a few festivals in town and on Wednesday, we went to the "water's edge" for their festival. It was expensive and we decided that after getting cool shark tattoos that we'd blown our wad and were ready for a little dinner at the singing bridge...
I should note that it was crazy hot (it got to 113 degrees -Fahrenheit Meike... 113 C would have been a fire up there - while I was up there one day) working in that attic all week and when the kids wanted to go swimming they didn't get any resistance from me (except to finish the wiring I had to redo - another day I'll tell all about that) Anyway... We got some quality pool time, which I posted separately here, for the fun of it...

Swimming

We got an underwater film camera from the Grandparents which turned out great for taking shots of the kids jumping into the pool. There are is a sequence of Connor jumping in, so you can get an idea of the fun they were having. :)

Oh yeah, and we did that too

2008-07-05T20:21:00.009-04:00

So many things to Blog about I have to get back into the rhythm of it, because I realise I just try to make up a months worth of entries that I cant even remember half of what we did... the Summers here are SO busy....

We went to a party at out friend Sara and Bobby Clark's place a few weeks back... we had a GREAT time just hanging out and listening to music. They put on such a great back yard BBQ, that I don't have words for it... just amazing...

The part I always enjoy the most is the live band that plays. I know it's people that Sara and Bobby know, but nothing beats a live band to play for your guests. They also had a bounce house and food for a million people. ... and all of it great. We are truly blessed with knowing great families. This year, among the kiddie rides was a "zero gravity" machine, which was a Carney kinda hang by your feet ride that I had to try ... Ryan took this picture of me before jumping on himself... while he was really too small to ride the ride, he had fun just getting into position and seeing what it was like up there. After a few seconds he came back to earth and told everyone that it "wasn't so bad.... but (he'd) been on scarier rides, like driving in Grandpa's race car." HA!

After that we took a ride through Mystic... we miss it there, but love where we are now... we took a stop at Mystic Pizza for a nostalgic grinder. Lise used to stop by for a bite every week when she was pregnant with Ryan just five years ago.... and no, they didn't recognize her. :)

Father's Day came and went with a few surprises... WE had breakfast with the Fannons and had a great time. There is this little all you can eat brunch buffet in Branford that is 40 lbs in the making... you gain weight coming in the door. :) So for Father's day brunch, I had... Ribs, chicken, waffles, eggs, bacon, and yes... cake... big delicious chocolate mousse with peanut butter filling that was fab. The kids loved it too....

Maybe as much as me... don't know... and since it was father's day.... I'll be happy to think we all had as good a time as I did, and that's that. :)

I know that's it's out of order, but I'll mention again that we had Ryan's birthday...
and after that we went to wish my cousin well after finishing his medical degree. Now a doctor and a nurse are in the family and younger than me... good... free check ups for the old guy, I'm all for that!

The day after Ryan's 5th birthday, we headed up to Storrs to join him and congratulate him. I also wanted to see my cousin Greg who I'd last seen in the hospital. His recovery hasn't been easy, but I'm happy yo say he looks way better, and I think he's coming around. :)

During the party, Connor was his usual self and said "hi" to everyone and sat on laps of all the older people. He is especially attracted to people he's never met, which makes him alot of fun at parties and not so cool at the mall....
At least Ryan finds the humor in it...

Break!

2008-07-05T19:55:00.009-04:00

Ok... Don't cry... I DO SUCK... I've been blogless for a month and I know it's a miserable thing for those of you that don't view this via RSS feed and for that I'm sorry.

Now on to the Pictures, news etc.

I have been everywhere since the last post. First off we had everyone come to Ct for Ryan's 5th... In the Morning we all headed out for a little breakfast.... This was .... uneventful for us, but I guess a bit eventful for the people at the flamingo place.... (overtired children, adults and no coffee makes for a colorful start to breakfast. )We had Ryan's Karate Birthday party after without any incident. Once batman arrived on the scene, those karate people knew who was boss and put on a great show. The kids loved it and the adults enjoyed the cake. While that was going on I was back at the house, and getting ready for the family party. That went well as well and it ended in a party in the pool.... the whole family in the pool and swimming together... lots of fun for all... Even Grandma and Grandpa got into the act. After Swimming, and eating and lots of running around in sprinklers, jumping on cousins, Aunts and uncles, we got back tot he business of birthdays and Ryan got an other cake and this time we added Lisa into the mix as she celebrated a few more than 30 years of vitality. :) After that we wind down in a sugar-induced crash that was recorded in the annals of history as the first complete sugar-guests-family-induced overload that ended with children passing out left and right. Over tired adults had there own reaction to all that much fun in one day...

Spring is finishing up

2008-06-14T08:45:00.002-04:00

It's Spring here in CT for the next few weeks, and the flowers and trees have peaked. This weekend we have a party on Saturday, and Sunday we're doing brunch at a fun place nearby. Today I'll get some party pictures, and I'll have some time to post this evening. I have some pictures from last weekend that I still need to post and I have some time that I plan to squirrel away tonight.

Until then......

Painting

2008-06-08T09:23:00.000-04:00

Soooo... Kids + Paint = mess+fun. Therefore Paint = (mess+fun)/Kids?

Summer

2008-06-08T09:00:00.004-04:00

It's summer here, which means the rain is ending and the flowers and animals are making their appearances. Most notably, was the arrival of a squirrel who decided he wanted a drink from the pool and became the first causality of my backyard. I woke up and it was like a CSI mystery. There was a dead animal floating face first in my pool. The poor squirrel looks like he thought the pool cover was still on or something. I haven't put the ladder in the pool yet (waiting for the algae to all die off) so there was no escape for him.... While small grey squirrels are committing Harri-Kari in my pool, there are also our resident turkeys making the rounds. I saw a few by a business the other day and could resist shooting a few pictures of the Tom showing his plumage.

After I got home, I completed a home improvement project for myself... a fixed up my work area... I installed under cabinet lights I got at Ocean State Job Lot for $6!! What a great deal... I had to frame out the workbench area, and then hang the cabinets and peg board. It was actually kinda fun... Anyway... one more things done...

Dinosaurs

2008-06-08T07:14:00.001-04:00

We went to the Peabody museum in New Haven last weekend... it was great... we got there and the boys went right to the statue of Torosaurus.
Once inside, we focused on the dinosaur exhibits and Ryan went like a crazy person, pointing at each dinosaur and telling me something about it. We read books about them all the time, and I have to admit, it was cool to see the exhibit so soon after reading the books
T-Rex is a favorite
When they started running up and down the stairs we took off.... but not before seeing a rat snake eat a mouse. Ryan has had a fear of snakes for a while now, and seeing one, seemed to make him feel safe. Needless to say, Lise and I muscled or way though it. :)

Summer buzz

2008-06-08T07:09:00.002-04:00

Ryan was looking great, but we pulled 2 ticks off him in a week, and thought we needed to be a little more watchful. We got some tick spray and buzzed his head. He was excited and told me he looked like another kid at school. The lady cutting his hair was very nice and it all went very well. MJ, who also works there had a surprise for me when I came in. I mentioned about a month ago that Ryan was a huge Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle fan and she brought in a bunch of tapes.
Don't you want to bite those huge ears?

Preschool -- no more

2008-06-07T20:39:00.004-04:00

Here are the Pictures from Ryan's last day at school.

Ryan heads off to Kindergarden this fall!

Billy Joel

2008-06-07T20:32:00.002-04:00

We (Lise and I) went to Billy Joel for as Lise's present. I'm pretty sure she had a good time... I posted a few pictures for your pleasure. There is a short movie clip so you can get a feeling of how close we were to the stage... 13 rows back on the floor. yahoo. :)

Thanks to Yvonne we had babysitting coverage!! She rocks! Thanks Yvonne!!

Billy Joel

37

2008-06-07T20:20:00.002-04:00

On May 26th I turned 37.

Since it was memorial day, we went to the parade. When we got back we had a little memorial day cookout and b-day party. We had a lot of fun... the kids got out the sprinkler and had a grand time.

Mikes Birthday

Playscape

2008-06-07T20:04:00.003-04:00

First, let me agree with you right away that I have been a horrible blogger. Life got in the way as I predicted early in the year and now I find myself squirreling away in my office to post. So much has happened since my last blog... I'll just stick to the highlight reel. If you recall, in February, I purchased a play scape for the kids from Toys R'US and we looked at the frozen tundra of the lawn as we unloaded the van, and thought, how nice it will be when it's up and done....
Then came the tear down of the old set, Bobcat rental , Kidney and sinus infections,delays, trips to NJ, and family obligations that left my poor yard with a giant hole in it for almost a month while I laid up sick. Not that I am complaining, while I was sick, Lise let me sleep in and I got to be king for almost 2 weeks. People at work were very nice to me and my family called regularly to see if I had passed on just about every day. :) ... I got better an had to reattack the monster project
Here is Lise enjoying the pit we provided for the month. The children were thrilled with the gaping hole int he earth and sorted thru the earth's crust for all types of things... Earthworms were top of the list, as were snake holes (thanks to my neighbor... who brought a dead one for Connor to play with ...ick) Trucks were parked in my ex-park like setting for about 4 weeks before It was my birthday and we set the whole thing up....

Jumpers

2008-05-18T12:42:00.006-04:00

In my last post, I put up a bunch of pictures of the kids we took when we went down to NJ. It was a great time and I was so happy to see all the kids, littlest to biggest playing together and having a great time. When we were at the beach I told Ryan I wanted to get a picture of him jumping... and that turned into getting pictures of everyone jumping. :) Seeing I had a camera with my yesterday when we went to our local playscape, Ryan insisted in continuing the trend in stop action jump pictures. Without my trusty SLR, it's difficult to get good focus on these... but it was fun to do and Ryan loved the pictures. Another boy met up with Ryan and they had a good time terrorizing the other kids on the playground together.

I remember when Ryan was little, taking him to the local playground and watching the older boys running around and how much Ryan wanted to be like them. Now he is bigger and focused on still bigger kids and being like them. When your almost 5 and the size of a second grader, this can cause problems. I know I'll be pulling him out of difficult situations because of his height in the future, but until then.... we jump.

Connor was very interested in what the kids were doing as well. He went on the slide a dozen times watching Ryan's every move and every trick. Ryan moved on to another part of the playground, and I followed for a bit to make sure he was going to be OK.... when I turned around... there was Connor... mid-air.

Some pictures I just needed to post...

2008-05-16T09:24:00.003-04:00

Click on Grandpa for the slide show!

Sick of Sickness

2008-05-14T20:22:00.003-04:00

OK... I'm sick again... Strep Throat. I'm going to bed now. This sucks... I'm sure I'll be well by the weekend. night night

Sleepless 4 year old... cheap!

2008-05-13T20:33:00.003-04:00

I know I haven't blogged in weeks, but I have a good excuse. Ryan hasn't slept through the night since I last posted. In the meanwhile, I have taken pictures, but not my 365 Blogable pictures.

Some Updates: we're all having a crazy sore throats and sneezing from the pollen (something kinda new for me... it's been a long time since the trees attacked my sinuses) Both boys slept last night for the first time in a long time. I hate to say that I have resorted to drugging them, but the allergies were a part of the issue, so a little Benadryl has gone a long way to breakiung the cycle. Ryan has had a recent attack of being afraid of his own shadow. He has been afraid of sounds in his room, and told me that hands have come from under the bed to grab him. When pressed, we find he can't move when this happens and so I'm pretty sure, he's really fast asleep and not wired into some evil force from dimension 6. He's waking up several times a night and calling me in for protracted conversations about not wanting to be alone, etc. I resist the conversations, but he really freaks if I leave, so we talk for a minute, I rub his head, and he passes out. He told Lise one night that he wanted her to sleep with him, so I could know how he felt. :) So we have tried to incent him to sleep by giving him a goal and giving him a magnet for every night he sleeps through the night. This has reduced my number of trips to his room from 7 a night to 1. (and so I can think straight enough to blog) I have pictures of a trip to see may parents that I'll post this week and some other flower pictures that I'm sure will bore you... :) I hope to be back online tomorrow night... well rested and inspired.

New Superhero Comics

2008-04-29T22:43:00.003-04:00

Click to see them!!

A HUGE thanks to Carla. Ryan is drawing you a thank you picture!
_Mike

More Ick (just a little)

2008-04-28T20:39:00.004-04:00

When I got the idea that I'd like to be a parent, I was thinking about mornings with the kids, not diving into bodily fluids that are all over the floor. Tonight Connor's cough got the best of him. he coughed so hard that he puked up his dinner while he was at it. It's another night of puking. We love the puke.

(End Scene)

2008-04-27T22:58:00.008-04:00

Mike and Amy stayed the night and we actually slept! :) Nora and Ryan slept in his room and Abby and Connor slept in their own room. wha-hoo. Anyway, the next day was full of running around the house. Mike played "monster" with the kids upstairs when it was raining. It was a fun day, but exhausting and I slept like the dead Sunday night.

I think the best part of the day, besides the game of monster and the company of good friends, was the non-stop eating festival. Tacos, Cheeze-its and home made pizzas. (BUURRRRP)

The one break I had in the day was nap time. I spent my "nap time" on the road to see my cousin Greg. He has had such a rough road over the last couple of weeks. A few years ago, he developed an angiofibroma in his nasal cavity, and had it removed. This week, I found out he had a new one and had it removed. They had to have his jaw cut open and give him a tracheotomy. I certainly see this differently now that I'm a parent. I empathise with his family and him. It's a tough struggle, and he's doing a fantastic job of finding a way through. They say he will be out this week, and I'll stop by if I can before he goes.

Murphy's Law

2008-04-26T20:29:00.004-04:00

The Murphy's visited this weekend... Mike and Amy came up to see our place for the first time. We have been out of touch now for a while, since they moved out of Mass. It was great to see Mike and Amy and the girls.

They stayed the night and after about an hour the kids went to bed... they finally fell asleep and we watch Borat. It was very funny watching that movie with Mike and Amy. It was something we would have done in college, so it just felt like the right thing to do with them.

Sick Monkey

2008-04-25T19:40:00.002-04:00

It is never easy being sick. You feel like you're missing out on things and that you are an albatross around every one's neck. I know I have felt this way about being sick this week, and to see Connor feeling this way today I have more empathy then usual. Connor doesn't complain about being sick, he just stops like a toy whose spring has unwound.

This evening we were invited to a friend house for some pizza and socializing with the locals. Lise and I saw Connor was a little beat, so we thought he'd give it a college try. He rallied for a bit and then wanted Mama to pick him up... then his heater went on and he was a wet noodle for about 15 minutes. He went as far as sitting on the couch, staring at the TV which was off. I picked him up and took him home... 1 short book and he was just about in a coma... this may be a long weekend, we shall see. I have friends visiting us and I hope we are going to give them something to take home. :(
Ryan on the other hand, couldn't be happier. He is entrenched in a group of teenage boys that tolerate little guys and they are having lots of fun playing games and being boys. Ryan would have probably liked having a big brother, one that doted on him, not the kind that hides your socks or drops mud in your hair before dinner. :) Anyway, he's having the time of his life and Lise is visiting her friend, and I got to blog... What did I say the other day about counting your blessings?

Snore

2008-04-25T07:53:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I went back to the office for the first time in a week. It was a busy day and I was really tired when I got home. When I put Ryan to bed; I got him set up, read him a story and promptly passed out. This kidney thing is no joke. Lise woke me up and thank goodness, the Tivo recorded Lost for me (don't ruin it Emily). Back to work from home I go... Kidney in tow. I feel better, but I have to get some stamina. On the up side... I lost 2 pounds. 186.5.... 1 1/2 lbs away from my goal. :)

Snakes, Grapes and the Super Models

2008-04-23T22:02:00.005-04:00

Working from home has certain advantages, a moment of privacy is very much welcome in the environment that I come into on a daily basis. As I have posted before I share my office with 3 other full time residence, and 3 or 4 other folks who float through. It's a great place but you do miss a quiet moment to think, and the room has been deemed "an ADD sensory overload cell" by some folks.

Today, besides my work, I found out he following things. First off, one of my workmates asked me if I was drinking cranberry juice. I said yes, and then asked if I was drinking real cranberry or the "ocean spray stuff" and I just assumed... it said "100% Juice - Cranberry". On the back it said "a cranberry cocktail with grape juice". Just what the doctor specifically DIDNT order. I was told low to no sugar... I checked: 31Grams for every 8 oz... *gads... it may be natural sugar, but it's as bad as a Coke!! My poor kidney. So I added real cranberry juice to my shopping list. (Thanks Susan)

Lise and Ryan came home from dropping Connor off at school, and since Ryan's had Connor needs it, as he is coming down with Ryan's cough. Ryan needs it because he has been evil and the devil fears rested children. :) After good naps, Connor painted some eggs Lise had for Easter-like emergencies and Ryan his helicopter and a truck he had made earlier. I must say... still very proud of his creation. It's good to see my old boy back and having some fun. There are some glimmers of his old self mixed with flashes of his rotten self, but good is winning over evil, so we count our blessings.

At the end of a good day, I needed to go pick up my cranberry juice and some other things, so I left after putting Connor to bed. Lise called me at the store, and asked me to come back asap because Ryan wouldn't let her leave his sight. He has been telling me there is a snake in his room, and so tonight it took me from 7:45-9PM to get him to feel confident enough to go to sleep. I know it has something to do with his mental development,as well as age and his recent behavior. I know that this will pass and something will fill the void, but I hope it passes quickly. Lise and I will be doing some fun activities in his room during the day to help him get past it, and I hope tonight I gave him some skills to handle being frightened in bed.

"Did you say inflection or infection?"

2008-04-22T20:41:00.004-04:00

Yup ... Kidney infection. I'm classic.(apparently) My Dr is less worried about how I got this than my pediatrician, and she seems to think that if I get more than 2 in my lifetime, that I should track down the cause. After getting some insight into what the tests are like... I'll pass for now. If I get another infection, or this one is tricky to get rid of, then I'll jump in both feet. When I asked how this could have happened, she said it wasn't common, but there are a few cases every year. So I'm OK
Then why the bear, you might ask... he's early. Today, Ryan was much improved. I think the amount of sleep he had, had a lot to do with it. But when we got to the end of the day, he was nice and asked me to go out for dinner. Lise looked soo tired, it was an easy decision to makeWe tried the "Killingworth Cafe" partly due to location, and partly because Lise had been there and thought they might have good Ribs. It was my first time and driven by Rib curiosity, I went. They ran out of Ribs that night (of course). That's OK, though... I had Spiderman and a Blue Power Ranger to join me for a 1/2 rack of lamb chops (was good.. not great) and a Lobster Bisque. I liked the townie-pubbiness of the place, but the food was kinda bland. A few other families came in, and there was very little to tell you. When I came out, there was a wooden bear that had been carved and I thought it made an interesting subject. It reminded me of a certain bear I gave my mom after coming home from California.. I wonder where she buried that one. :)

Some April Results

2008-04-21T19:54:00.000-04:00

"Take my kidney... please."

2008-04-21T19:26:00.005-04:00

Another day in the paradise I call home. I worked from home today heeding my RN's advice and "taking it easy". It was weird not being in the office today, but I think they survived without me. It was good, because much to my physician's chagrin, Ryan kept Lise and I up ALL freaking night last night. (-8 hours.. yes) At first it was coughing and then it turned into being afraid, and then he just couldn't sleep. Both Lise and I are pretty much at our wits end with him on this. Ryan is coming in to his own and he wants to test everything... I don't think the car will hit me if I am in the road, and I 'm not sure I believe Dad when he says I'll feel worse if I stay up all night, but it is scary, so I'll wake up the house. Needless to say, I have moments of great anger + restraint + guilt + frustration + no sleep = crabby boy+ crabby kidney = bad daddy. I finally told him last night, that we are going to hang up a sign when we have been in there one time, and we're not going to come back after that one call... so he'd better be 100% certain that he "needs" us. Now for the fitting punishment... I was thinking dunk tank, or having to clean up a fraternity house in Hartford, but Lise suggested something like putting a toy away for a week. Man... she's nice.

Anyway... we're dealing with it. I called the Dr. and set up an appointment tomorrow for a follow up. Seems these Kidney infections need some attention, so we'll give it a little session tomorrow and see what I brewed up over the weekend. At this house, we just love a good medical drama. Last year it was my liver... this year kidneys... the possibilities are endless!!

Amidst being a complete grump from lack of sleep, we also found out, that Ryan has a loose tooth.... at 4 1/2? Well, considering he is acting like a misplaced 3rd grader and is built like one, it only seems to make sense. Now we wiggle it for everyone. He showed me and I told him that Grandpa would tie a string around it and the other side to a door... and when your Mom came home, he'd slam the door.... Ryan made a face like I dipped his hot fudge in an oil can. Then told me "people DON'T DO THAT" and went the store with Lise. When they got back Lise had a glint in her eye, and Ryan looked like he'd seen a ghost. Apparently, he walked up to some stranger in the store and said "I got a loose tooth" to which the man replied.... "When I was your age, my Dad would tie a string to one end of my tooth and another to a doorknob..."

Stone free...

2008-04-20T18:23:00.003-04:00

It's Sunday and I am feeling much better... To celebrate, we pushed me out and went to the trolley museum. It's very low impact, and the boys do love a trolley ride. Trains / Trolleys and other locomoted devices seem to attract a certain crowd... one that I'm not used to seeing. Today, we had a man in a hat who did not speak or move from his seat, but everyone knew his name (eek) along with a man with the worst wig I ever saw, a woman with an arm in the biggest cast you ever saw and a boy (prolly 18) who had died his hair black and was wearing a "Winger" tee shirt. Frightened as I was, I boarded with Ryan and Connor. We had a fun trip and the guide on our magical journey was a man who tells me he is a Civil engineer during the week. (these guys were all boyscouts... I know it.

After that we had a quick lunch and head out for a gas up and then to the local airport. We had seen signs and sign up sheets for the closest airport and I wanted to ask about lessons... it was about twice the cost as if I went to Middletown, but it was a nice ride up to the airport and Ryan and Connor got to see 2 planes land and one take off, which was as exciting for them as if they few the planes themselves.

A Dingo Ate My Kidney

2008-04-20T17:07:00.006-04:00

I just finished updating an old post with the picture of the day... I admit now that since 16-April, I missed a picture. It's a bummer, because, I hadn't missed a day, but I just couldn't do anything about it... but then I'm jumping ahead.

On Wednesday night I felt horrible after Lise went out... It took me a while to get the kids to bed, and I couldn't really motivate to get much done. I just felt very tired as only getting up at 4am and going to bed at 11 on a little cycle can do to a person. That night, Lise's good friend stopped by and the three of us finished off a bottle of wine together. It was very good, and I highly recommend it. It was a Cab by Simi and was perfect right out of the bottle. Not the smartest move by me, with so little sleep, but it was fun catching up and I think I fell asleep around 11:30. Up again at just before 5am, and I could barely move... I felt pretty bad and Thursday was a drag.

Now it is the end of Lise Appreciation week, and she went out one last time on Thursday night too. I put the kids to bed and passed out at 8pm. My stomach was aching and my back was hurting, and I felt like I might have a mild fever. Friday morning I felt good when I woke up and had to run out to meet the backhoe man, and have him remove two big rocks (7am, god bless him), the kids got to see the backhoe in action and loved every minute. The fresh air felt good, but my legs and back were achy like I had done 1000 sit ups in my sleep that night. When I came in for breakfast, Lise said I looked pale, and I told her I was starting to feel worse and worse... When I described my symptoms, Lise told me that I should go to the Dr... Of course I thought she was being a bit over the top... I was achy and had a mild fever... oh, and my pee kinda smelled bad. (TMI, I know.. but it was the BIG clue).

I called the Dr from my bedroom (Work from home thank god), and set up an appointment at 9am, and took a moment to collect my thoughts... I couldn't... 15 minutes passed and I suddenly realized that I was more tired than I thought. I called out of work sick, and slept... till 1:30PM, and then off to the Dr's office. They think it may be a kidney infection based on my symptoms and culture... not they are in the process of growing the bacteria to see what I have been mutating. I sure it will be some horribly simple thing, but the good/bad part was they put me on Cipro. (If you don't know why an antibotic this strong is best avoided, then take my word for it.)

Saturday, we took Ryan to the Dr, cause he has a bad cough and he told me that this Kidney thing is rare and possibly a bad thing and got me all wigged out. :( We will see what I'm growing back at the lab sometime next week, until then I'm on Ciprofloxacin. He also started telling me how they collected the urine sample wrong, and well... let's say, I 'm glad I didn't walk in there for my first visit. After my traumatic visit to the pediatrician, I went home, went to bed, and slept till dinner.. then back to bed, and out I went for the night.

4 yr old + sibling = Drama

2008-04-16T08:48:00.004-04:00

OK.. so Today didn't start out in a stellar way. At 4:30, Connor woke up and I went to tuck him back in. At 4:50, Ryan came in my room and informed me he had wet himself (he really hadn't, much) and after using the bathroom, I changed him and back to bed... Now.. about a week ago I made a point with Ryan that he should try to go back to sleep in his own bed, and that we want him to go to sleep more. This am, he must have figured that he wanted a good reason to come back in, so he screamed at the top of his lungs and ran into the room as if he were being chased by lions.
Lise and I both shrieked and sat up in bed, I was ready to go fight off an intruder and then it struck me that the manipulator had struck.

There are many times that I defer to Lise's endless patience, mostly so I wont SAY something I might regret. This morning... I deferred to that patience to save the life of a 4 year old boy. I came back in after I started my shower up and told Ryan that I knew what he was up to... when I told him, he turned white as a sheet. I then informed him that the next time he did that, I was going to spank him and lock him in his room, even if I see someone in there, so he'd better think of a different entrance plan. He apologized, but I have to admit I fell horrible today, and Lise is planning on going out tonight and tomorrow night... so I hope I hold up.

Did a Twister hit?

2008-04-15T20:23:00.003-04:00

I got home today and.... the garbage was gone, the bulkhead was painted, the kids had a play date, and so much was done, and Lise and the boys were sane... Holy cow. I DO wonder sometimes how she does it. Lise always amazes me.

It was a generally uninspiring day, but I am getting pent up for a good photo day. I'll make some time this week for something unique.

Glimpse of Summer

2008-04-14T21:23:00.005-04:00

Today we went to the captain's. It was the first sign of spring for me... We were cold, but eat ate outside. I had a lobster roll and lobster bisque. I know my cousin Emily doesn't think much of getting a lobster, but it IS a BIG treat for me. It was fun eating outside again with my friends before I headed out for a meeting in Groton.

After the meeting I was heading out to home and hit a major traffic jam. It reminded me of when I lived in Fairfield county and drove to Stamford everyday. What was funny about it, was I waited all of 5 minutes and then things moved right along. I SOOOO don't miss the waiting in sweltering heat, traffic jams and unfriendly travels to the NY area.

Sunday, Fuzzy Sunday

2008-04-13T19:45:00.004-04:00

A beautiful Sunday morning and we thought... "Oh this is a good day to work like fools!" and we moved the swing set carcass out to the driveway so that we can call someone to pick it up... It's not that it's so heavy, but it's more that I have enough junk to send an entire Saturday making trips back to the Dump, and frankly, I'm too lazy for that. Now the yard is clear of the swing set... what next?

After dumping the swing set in a pretty heap, I went to the Home Depot to see if I could find a tool to help me remove the baseboard heat cover in the bathroom. The previous owner apparently wasn't a "marksmen" in the bathroom and the heater covers were rusted. ugh... Anyway, I ALMOST get them off, but there is this annoying lip under the existing covers, and you need to bend them or nip them off... No can do... I even bought a zip tool blade to no avail. The real trouble is it's only about 3" off the floor and 3" deep... too deep, and not high enough to use a tool that would make sense. The guy at the hardware store told me to use a sawz-all. ummm... he forgot that I'm up against the wall and don't have ANY urge to battle the hidden studs.

On my way home from the Hardware store I needed an extra moment to cool off. I have been going a a pretty crazy pace for a few weeks and took 10 minutes for myself and went to the beach. I took a couple of snaps. I really have been enjoying the sky lately. I know it may sound funny, but the colors have been very vivid and I've been missing the beautiful summer blue sky against the green. With everything just starting to pop. It's been inspiring, and I've been out looking for some big sky. This was the best I could do with my little camera.

After coming home and rousing the kids (hurray, another nap day), I took them for a walk around the block. It's 3/4 of a mile and they are tired when we're done, so I like to impose it on them on nice days like today. The sky got really dramatic and I was able to take a few pictures of it. The boys ate really well after that and played nicely. Now back to the grind.

L.A.W. -Day 3

2008-04-12T22:04:00.006-04:00

Saturday was a busy day that was topped with brownies and ice cream. After breakfast at the flamingo place, Lise took off with Brenda to run a few errands in Mystic. I took the boys out to get some supplies and when we got back, I got out my tools and tore down the swing set. It was one of the metal jobs with cement booties on the end of each pole. Once I got rid of the cross beams, it came down pretty easy. 10 years of rust was no match for my trusty impact wrench, and within an hour, it was a pile of scrap. I told the boys that a new play scape was coming soon, so they were excited to see the old one go. Lise was very happy to see it was down when she got home, and although we cant get it taken away for a few days, she was surprised how quickly it was dispatched.

The boys were overtired, so naps came easily and after they woke up, Brenda and Doug came back with the kids to celebrate Lise's birthday. We had a nice pork loin and green beans followed by brownies and ice cream. The kids totally hit the wall after some chocolate brownies, chocolate ice cream and chocolate syrup. (I did too, actually). It was great fun and the boys passed out after dragging their overtired bodies off to bed.

Birthday Dinner

2008-04-11T22:58:00.002-04:00

After a full day of work, out we went to dinner at Scoozzi in New Haven. Another place was recommended but we thought we'd venture out with only Zagats as our guide. The restaurant looks like it is built to serve mostly outdoor clients in the summer months. Summer or Winter it would be a bit loud,and trendy, but still very good food. Lise and I found the front door after a little wandering through a coffee shop/book store off the main drag. It was fun to hang out with the college kids for a bit. Lise and I especially got a kick out of a few kids talking about how they were pissed that their landlord was keeping the deposit on the account of a "few broken windows". I mean really... you gotta expect things like that to happen... Ummm sure... right.I forget what it's like to be a young adult sometimes now. I guess there was a day where that wasn't over the top... After exploring Chapel street a bit, we finally got to the front door which looked like a little red booth with an elevator.
Lise and I both enjoyed our dinners thoroughly and split a 1/2 a bottle of Chianti. It reminded me of so many places I'd been to in NY city. It was a little crowded, noisy and busy, but we enjoyed every minute of time to ourselves. I don't get to spend time where we are not worrying about a child or a calamity, so it was nice to just sit and talk.
After Dinner, we shared some cannoli and a cup of coffee before we headed back to reality.

Lise appreciation day 2 and she's already asked for mercy. Tonight Lise told me that she didn't want anymore surprises... I am not certain I can oblige... but we'll see. :)

Happy B-day LISE!!!

2008-04-10T20:32:00.001-04:00

Happy birthday to Lise,
Happy Birthday to Lise,
Happy birthday Happy Birthday.....
Happy Birthday to LISE!

Looks like that poor cake was attacked by hungry lions, no? Grisly!

I think Lise has had a pretty good day... I made fruit salad for the kids before I left, and snuck a card in her car. When I came home, I brought flowers and a VERY yummy cake. Since the kids were just about to go to bed, we had cake and then dinner. Connor and Ryan got Mommy some chocolates and a card. When she opened the box, Ryan asked for some. (sigh)

After putting the kids to bed, I gave Lise some trashy celebrity magazines and she took phone calls from the throngs of supporters and admirers. Lise's big present this year is tickets to see Billy Joel when he comes to town in May. I hope she likes it. Now I'm off to clean up the mess.

Lise Appreciation Week (Day 2) has 2 surprises. I can't tell you them until after they are sprung. Oh.. I'm sorry Lise, I hope I'm not I teasing you? :)

Grease lightenin'

2008-04-09T21:57:00.002-04:00

I have decided that if I were to drive a garbage truck for a living, this would be the one I'd choose. Not that it's an aspiration of mine, but if given the option, I'd trick out my garbage truck and challenge cars to races at red lights. :) At least, that is what I told Ryan I'd do if I could choose. He told me that he'd drive the bat mobile garbage truck. After I put Connor to bed Ryan began speaking... and speaking and speaking... He was still talking as he was falling asleep. It was amazing.

Tomorrow is Lise's birthday. I have a few surprises for her, and since she reads this, I can't tell you what they are. :) Be sure to wish her a happy birthday!!! If you want to get her a gift, she is partial to flowers, nights out, cruises, large sums of cash, wine, expensive jewels and homes. :) All joking aside, I love her very much and hope the day is fun. Tomorrow marks the beginning of Lise appreciation week. I wonder what is in store for her over the next 7 days? :) We already have reservations for Friday night at Scoozzi in New Haven... Doug and Brenda visit on Saturday... and who knows what's next! Oh wait... I do. :)

The Artist formally known as Ryan

2008-04-08T20:26:00.001-04:00

Ryan fancies himself as quite the artist. Pretty much every day, I come home to a new picture or painting. If I don't actually see one, I get a story about one that was made at school. Mr. Ryan informed me tonight that he would be "featured" in an art show at school soon. Of course, all the kids get "featured" in the art show... but I believe we're getting a bit of an artist's attitude. :) Next month

On another note, Lise and I broke open a new bottle of wine that my friend Joe acquired for me. It has been quite
beneficial working with Glenn and Joe in our little office. They not only help me to make light of difficult times but they also entice me into spending money on wine and gadgets. When Joe had realized that I needed to buy an SD card, he had about 30 deals in my inbox within the hour. :) It's been alot of fun and I'm lucky to have this kind of company on a daily basis, however; I occasionally have to restrain myself. I don't have the disposable income they do... but I'm looking forward to it. Until then, I'll drink the wine I get at bargain basement prices and squint my eyes to imagine how my house will look when it's all done.

Spring Flowers

2008-04-07T21:28:00.002-04:00

Bathroom completed

2008-04-07T16:18:00.008-04:00

The bathroom is finished, and the toilet was the biggest hurdle. I have to first admit that I have never pulled out a toilet and replaced it. My potty-phobia was strongly tested when I had to clean up the wax ring (ick), and make sure the toilet was ready for it's next 10 years. To my horror, I found that just a little bit of the tile had gotten under the discharge pipe, and I couldn't bring the toilet flange flush to the floor. After I pondered this for a few days (and sleepless nights) I realized I had access to it from the basement and could give a shot at chipping it from below. I took out my $25 pneumatic chisel and was done in 3 minutes flat. Lesson learned, experience gained and I now am filled with joy as I dropped the toilet down and brought my first floor bathroom back in to the 20th century... now for the sink and it's sundry parts.

The first faucet arrived via special order and was the wrong model for my vanity. This was... disappointing at best as we had spoken to someone and described our vanity before the order. Luckily, they let us return it on Saturday morning and after my little dance with the toilet, I installed the fixtures we'd picked out at Lowes in the morning. It looks really nice and by Sunday afternoon, I was slapping in the trim. I have to admit, it looks nice and everything works better than it has since we moved in. I still have some paper towels under the drain, checking for leaks, and will check it in a few days to make sure we're ready to trust it. While I did that work, Lise cleaned out more trees and then pulled the last wallpaper from the walls in the formal living room. Death to the Pepto-Bismol room... Long live my future living room!!!

No.. not dead... just hibernating

2008-04-03T20:49:00.007-04:00

OK... I've been bad about posting daily... real bad. This post is being re-written because it was started last week and only half finished. This is partly because I haven't been sleeping through the night. When you wake up at 3am, you can't imagine staying up till 10pm to type something meaningful, let alone sensible. I think the mountains of work along with the evening running around, etc have just peaked and I hit a blogging wall. I took the pictures, so I'll share those, but I'm back in the saddle today

The kids are finally done with being sick and life is much better. On Wednesday we brought the kids to see the doctor who gave them a clean bill of health and the realization that the yuck was gone sent us running to our favorite place in town ... Paul's Pasta. Kid friendly, home made pastas and sauces. The kids filled up on carbs while Lise and I discussed the coming plans for the weekend as Lise suffered through a few fleeting waves of nausea (I did say the kids felt better) :)

On Thursday, we went to Connor's preschool for "back to school night" and got our first feedback on Connor. It was only 15 minutes, but it was good to hear that Connor was enjoying school as much as we thought he was. We have been seeing a great deal of progress with him in this special school, and asked if he'd be in regular preschool next year. They then informed us that he'll go back next year, but most likely as a "typical peer" which means they have high hopes for him to matriculate back in to the main stream shortly, but will still benefit from some additional oversight, which I like, but it makes me fearful of having him labeled. (over protective parent alert) If this label sticks I'll be Pissed at myself for allowing the school system to do it to him... and I'll be a problem for them... in the most parental way of course (/end over protective parent alert) On our way home from the consult, we saw a beautiful Hawk in a tree by our neighbor's house. He's been hanging out over there and I take it as a good sign.

Friday was a work day, like most others and I wont get into the details there, except to say, things remain consistently changing. This is not a bad or good thing, it's a constant... like Pi. At home Lise flew around getting things done while I worked at home, and the boys played well. It's a pleasure to work from home...

Saturday I installed the toilet in the bath and the faucet in the vanity. OK... for the record taking the back off the vanity and installing the fixtures before you have to hook it up was totally cool, and my back wants to throw me a party... I'll post more about that tonight. Sunday afternoon I hooked everything up... one leak.. and one turn of a wrench later... it was done. Sunday Morning we went to see Marie and Denise to celebrate Denise's birthday. For her birthday, she brought my kids presents?? yeah.. spoiled... I know. Anyway, we had a nice lunch at a little pizza place and brought Marie home, and sent Denise on her way. We had a great time and when I got home, I expected all to nap, but then I'm an optimist. I guess.

100 posts

2008-03-31T21:04:00.003-04:00

This is my 100th post. I wish I had some great reflection on the post since Christmas when I started this thing. I guess when I do my 100th post for the year I should mark the occasion with a link to my favorite photos for 2008. It would pretty much meet what I was thinking I'd do... making my photos better. In the interim... I'll give you an update on my bathroom.

When I got home from work my green powder room was blue. Lise is fantastic... two boys with no naps, and Ryan puking, and Lise was able to paint the bathroom walls AND ceiling. Oh, Did I mention that Ryan is STILL sick. The Yuck persists. After a long day at work that included HR issues, and an epic struggle to start the day, it was just the kind of news that made me smile and relax. After getting the boys to bed, I sealed the grout in the bathroom, and contemplated working on the toilet... I got over it as I cleaned up with Lise and wished my parents well on their trip to Hawaii. Have a great trip, Mom and Dad... hopefully you'll actually blog and let us know what you're up to?

White Trash

2008-03-30T20:52:00.002-04:00

So I don't have a dead muscle car in the driveway, but for a while I had a toilet on my back porch, and a pile of dead trees still litters the front of my yard. I'm waiting for someone to set fire to the big pile out there. Until they do, I'll keep cutting down 3 or 4 a week. I hope to have that one done this week as well.

We got the bathroom tiled and grouted. I didn't expect to have to wait 24 hours to seal it, or I would have the toilet back in there this evening. I'll be hoisting it in there tomorrow night for certain, but until then, I've Spackled, and next we'll paint. Lise and Ryan have both been nauseous off and on all day, but no one lost it, which is great considering how sick they have been. Ryan was in very good shape off and on today. I hope that tomorrow, Lise is feeling better and Ryan is ready to go to school. For Lise and me, it will be a long day... waiting for me to come home to scape and paint.

Yuck 3.0

2008-03-29T21:48:00.008-04:00

Yuck 3.0 is different than Yuck 2.0. First and foremost, it attacks girls. That's something new in our house... Yuck has been very attached to boys, and being attached to the only girl in the house is particularly bad, when that girl is your wife, and she cant go into the bathroom when you're trying to take the toilet out, due to the septic smell. The other thing about Yuck 3.0, is that it's not the pukes, just the constant threat of treating your neighbor to a roman shower. Nevertheless it was Yuck 2.0 that made it's presence most felt when Ryan decided that he wanted to revisit his lunch this afternoon. All this while I was pulling out the last of the demolition debris and getting ready to tile.

The morning had started out rough for Ryan. First thing this morning, he decided that he was feeling good enough to test Dad. He was outside of Connor's room at 6am being very loud. I told him to be quiet and not wake his brother. The then told me "I'll wake him up if I like and I'm going to wake up Mommy too." This he says naked from the waist down, to a man that's been up since 4am with Connor. (SMACK) One red hiney... way to start the day right... with a shiny butt. I know you might have strong feeling about this, but today makes exactly one time that I have hit him. He was stunned, and didn't even cry for at least 2 minutes. I don't like doing this, but he's trying to figure out who runs things around here for a few weeks now and conversation and long talks aren't sinking in. I know that this kind of thing has limited effect, and I hope it's the last time I have to flex any muscle with him, that doesn't involving lots of tickling. To get over the trauma, we went to the Flamingo place for breakfast. He had a muffin, and was telling me that the had "pooped out the monster in (his) belly". I told him, that that was great, but not the best conversation for the table, let alone a restaurant. He told me he felt great and was happy as a clam when the clocks in the restaurant all tolled 8am and the Coo Coo clock's resident popped in over Connor's head.

Getting back to the power room. For a project that had so many things competing with it's priority, we got alot done. It was completely demo'd by noon, and we had finished tiling by 7. It took us some extra time to get into the swing of things, measure 1/2 the thinset we needed, hold pales for puking kids and have me return a drum sander that I shouldn't have rented. All in all, it is starting to look like a powder room again, and it will have grout going in tomorrow at noon, and the next day, we'll have a toilet again... depending on how long the grout sealer takes to dry. Worst case, by mid-week, we'll have our bathroom back and water will once again be spilled all over it from kids washing their hands like squeegee men in NY, wringing their hands and shaking filth on the walls and vanity. Why am I doing this again?

The Yuck stands alone

2008-03-28T19:03:00.003-04:00

So I worked from home today. When Connor's bus came I ended up watching Ryan while Lise collected him. I had to keep working and keep a 4-yr old occupied... So I gave him my camera. I am now the proud owner of about 37 shots of my front yard. :) What I did get was this cool, but unexpected shot of me working (and looking like a trash bag) at my desk. It's strangely out of focus, as Ryan cant actually stop moving (he might start to feeeel tired... then the world would end). What I especially found amusing was all the stuff he wanted to take pictures of usually involved taking pictures of himself. Ryan "G"... 10% water, 80% ham, 10% little boy.

ON the upside, he's feeling worlds better and even is starting to look the part. Tonight he stuffed down some Chinese food and then laid down on the couch to ward off any motion sickness that may darken his door. He felt better after only 10 minutes, but we went to bed early and hopefully he'll be 100% tomorrow. What good would a Saturday without a visit to the flamingo place. Tomorrow we pick up the drum sander at the crack of dawn and then I grind the mastic off the floors. It will be a crazy day. If I do things right, I should have the bathroom stripped and ready for tile on Sunday. I expect to have a toilet in there by Monday, and then we install the fixtures. I will also be taking down an old mirror, so I figure I have a 50/50 chance of doing a little drywall and a bit of electrical. The light fixture is hung on the drywall with nothing behind it, which is a disaster waiting to happen... hmmm make that a 90% chance of doing some drywall.

(Pause)

2008-03-27T20:21:00.004-04:00

Ok, so the puking kinda stopped. Connor is feeling fine, but joined Ryan on the couch tonight. Ryan had bland food all day and is feeling better. We had one "dry heave" episode and now is feeling better and laying in bed. I hope we all get some good sleep tomorrow and banish this stomach bug for good.

It's not a late night for us tonight, but I plan to prep for the impending bathroom overhaul. I have to do my materials list and take care of a bunch of last minute details... Until then, wish me luck.

Yuck 2.0 (this time they mean business)

2008-03-26T20:26:00.013-04:00

Yes, it's back and this time our contestant is a four and half year old with little to no vomit coping skills. This means we have a high maintenance puker on our hands. Will wonders ever cease?!? It's been a crazy two days and Ryan's illness seems to be the topper to my little cake of non-stop running about. He had a heck of a time going to bed tonight... every 2 minutes he sat up and said "I just know I'm goin' to puke THIS time!!" Grabbed a bucket and did nothing (not even a little heave) and laid back down and told me he was lucky... Lise and I think this is going to be a LONG night. ick.

Yesterday after work, I picked up the horrifyingly heavy playscape we bought two weeks ago. It fit nicely in the car, but I have to admit that I was nervous because I didn't have any bungees and had to tie the back door closed. The whole ride home I had these nightmare visions of lumber spilling on the highway causing cars and insurance rates to soar. I made it home without incident, but it took me a bit to get over my paranoia. Getting it out of the car took my mind right off my worries about accidents, and had me thinking more about the permanent hump back I could get if I lifted this sucker wrong...

This morning I was back in my old car, and off to the races with meetings until noon and then out to meet with my friend Paul, who I haven't seen in over a year. He seemed to be doing well, and our old company seems to have remained the same since I left there. In fact, from the sounds of it.... it's EXACTLY the same, and while I miss a few folks, it made me happy I had made the right decision to leave. We had salads and coffee, which does break from our old eating habits when I worked there, and although it had been a while, it was good to see Paul.

After that I headed back to work, (after chasing down an AWOL employee... I'll leave that for another time) where, out my window I saw a seal on the rocks below my office building. He was very happy staying right where he was and flapped his sealy tail off the rock after a good 2 or so hours of fish digestion. After work, I drove through the Fort Trumbull neighborhood next to my office. It has inspired me to bring my whole camera kit down there and take some pictures... It's not inviting, but it has this kinda ghost town feel to it... and I like it. A few snaps before they blow it up and use it to become a super-high-rise-condo-hotel-uber-complex that caters to people that don't live in New London. I am envisioning Reston town center or Tyson corners in Va. but I expect it will be more like a bad hotel and sundry shop, in the end... poor new London.

Rehab and the Coo coo's nest

2008-03-24T20:58:00.006-04:00

I got home and apparently, I had started another project. :) Lise is getting full swing into spring fever, and has begun a few projects at once. Today, she killed trees until Connor begged her to go back inside, (he so hates being colder than 55 degrees) and when they came in, they started prying up tile off the bathroom floor. Now I do plan to rehab the bathroom this weekend, so it's not a crazy dismantling of the bathroom in any sense of the word, however; the enormity of the project kinda hit when I got home and saw the first three tiles pulled out and Lise asked me to show her how to use my pneumatic chisel. The last time I came home to a question like that, I installed a new kitchen the next weekend. :)

Work is a nuthouse, but that isn't new. I read my friend Carla's blog and it simply assures me that I'm not going crazy on my own, I'm taking a bunch of nice people with me. I wonder when this express train to the sanitarium stops and sometimes I ponder if I'm driving it when asked what an "IPT lead" is, and I know the answer, and what it stands for. Either way I'm on for the duration, until someone asks me to get off the train, or run it into a wall. At least I have a scary project at home looming in the distance to distract me from work on nights and weekend.

Toot toot.. next stop "Bedlam"!!!

Easter

2008-03-23T20:20:00.004-04:00

I cant describe the whole day.. it was fun and it started with a little confusion. It seems that when we came down stairs, there was string everywhere. It took us all a few minutes to figure out what it was the Easter bunny wanted us to do. You can click here on this video to see what happened next!

After finding Power Ranger Gold, Mom got the cooking going while Dad foraged at the local store for some eggs and we prepped the house for Gigi, Nee nee and Louise and Bob. The boys were thrilled to see them and let them know all about the Easter bunny's arrival. After some amazing food, we ran off the extra pounds by kite flying.

I have to say, Louise and Denise started things off, and the boys followed her lead. Soon the both of them were flying their own kites, without assistance from any adults. It was a treat to watch them have so much fun while burning out on the front lawn. Both of them so exhausted, that first Connor and then Ryan asked to come back inside to rest. I think it was the best idea for the adults too. :)

We all had a great day together, and enjoyed the time thoroughly. Even though Marie was a little checked out, she told me that she needs these kinds of days to "stay young". I couldn't agree more.

Easter Cleansing

2008-03-22T20:16:00.003-04:00

It's been a day of cleaning and general running about. Ryan and Connor towed the line most of the day, except for an exchange of slaps in the face, which lost the boys power ranger privileges for the week. I know it sounds weird, but it got my point across. The highlight of the day was a party this evening at 7pm. Our neighbors have an annual St. Patrick's Day party (albeit late this year). The amazing part was we were a little early and ready to go. Our neighbor's daughter was to babysit, and she was a little late... so we hung out and no babysitter. I looked across the street.... no cars. "I bet we got the wrong week" I said. Lise stared at me over the fresh guacamole that she just finished. I looked. ... "ummmm... hope you like that guacamole" I said.

Out I go for Indian food... well, mostly because we hadn't prepared anything that didn't go with chips alone. I logged my journey back from the store, to play with my time lapse photo feature on the (still) new (to me) toy. :)

Brenda's Birthday

2008-03-21T21:57:00.007-04:00

Today was our friend Brenda's birthday. Brenda is only 3 months older than me, but she thinks she looks 10 years younger and is 10 years smarter... and then again, who am I to dispute her. :) Ryan and Conner helped mommy make her cake this afternoon, and besides beginning at the end of her rope, with kids that wont take naps without assistance, who have been sick and puking, and a long list of other Mom-like stresses, the cake came out wonderful. I even had a bite. Ryan and Connor had theirs before me, but when you help, you get the spoils. :)

After a yummy plate of ribs and a pile of cake in the kids, I revved them up and told Ryan and Ally, that it was acceptable to tickle Brenda today, because it was a birthday tradition. Connor and Sean got into the act and totally chased her down the hall and around the room. :)

It's been a fun but stressful day and I think the weekend might be the same, I'm going to see how much sleep I can get tonight, with the kids going to bed late, it should be a late morning. I have a haircut tomorrow and then a party in the evening. (Late st. pats), so if I don't blog early, it will have to be on Sunday.

I promise I'll take my picture.

Tonight I took a horrible picture with my new camera of the moon, After I played with it a while, I got it looking kinda spooky-blown-up-filmy-blotchy. It's got a sixties rock poster appeal. :)

The Fourth Horse sleeps in the basement

2008-03-20T20:30:00.007-04:00

We got these little, old fashioned horse toys that Ryan uses as his trusted steed when he dresses up as a knight. It recently has shown it's true purpose as the 4th horse of the Apocalypse. It used to make a running sound when you pushed his ear... now he does it alllllll the time. It's new job in life is to make anyone near it crazy. After a full day of galloping to nowhere, Lise banished him to the basement, where he is tear-assing to oblivion as I type this. Connor keeps going to the basement door and saying "Horse Mama!!! Horse!".

Meanwhile, Ryan is concocting a plan to keep himself awake at all costs this week. He began this morning at 6am, and napless he started to fail at 6:30pm. It horrible to watch him degenerate into a weeping puddle. Everything is dramatic, until we're in bed, and then... well.... he NEEDS to TALK, like he's had 30 cups of coffee... then, he falls deeply asleep. Earlier when he was holding thingstogether, he was all about showing me his bunny he made from a milk jug and cut out paper ears at school. :)

Tonight his main focus was that he was going to bed when it was still light out. That and that he was totally creeped out when the Easter bunny showed up at his preschool today and his face never moved! When directly asked if that was a man in a rabbit costume. I told him that it could have been one of the Easter Bunny's helpers. I got a bad feeling that this whole lying thing about the Easter bunny ain't gonna make it past the age of 5. CRAP! I want him to enjoy this.

Out with(out) the Kids!

2008-03-20T14:52:00.004-04:00

Last night I went out with the local troublemakers. I don't often get a chance to spend quality with my workmates, when not running some sort of emergency drill, so it's nice to visit over a glass of wine. I got home pretty late for me, and Lise was shot. The kids have been a wee bit high maintenance these days, and Ryan has been acting out a bit. I could tell that Lise was beat when I arrived, as the garbage bin was still at the curb, and she usually gets that if she has the time... but when I found the keys in the door, I knew it had been a tough day. Four seems pretty easy from here, but it's his first time being four, so I guess it's about as hard as being 36 is to me. I certain someone 30 years my senior would tell me that I have it easy, etc etc...
I was remiss last night... I'll have another post around 9 tonight.... while we watch "Lost".

The Yuck Stopped

2008-03-18T19:50:00.004-04:00

I took this picture this morning and over saturated it a bit... I still love it. One morning I'll get down to the beach at sunrise... yeah, right.

A new day and the baby has stopped his puke-fest. Connor started the day asking for a bagel and kept it down. He spent the rest of the day tailing Mommy and going to the Dr for a quick checkup. He seemed otherwise fine, so we thought we should check to make sure this is a virus, and not something crazy. He's been sick pretty much since he started preschool, and the doctor tells us, he has maintained his streak with a fine rotavirus. I remember this same sick for months bit with Ryan. Lise and I were praying for summer recuperation time. It hasn't been so bad with the boys YET. I'll bide my time till the warm summer sun scares away these mutant preschool strains of stomach and nasal infestations. Until then, I was thinking about a bubble outfit for Connor. When I tucked him in to bed tonight he said "Ouchy Belly bye bye.... Ooooh yucky... Connor tooted". That kid is definitely broken on the inside. phew.

Side note... I found this site very funny. It's worth a review.

Yuck

2008-03-17T20:50:00.002-04:00

OK...so I posted at 6:00... by 7:00 Connor puked... for the second time today. If you recall on Sunday, we had a similar reaction... I have been under the weather, and thought he may be coughing so hard he puked yesterday... Guess I was wrong. I wont send pictures of this one. Unless he makes a habit of it. :) Dr's visit tomorrow... if you're having trouble loosing weight, now would be the best time to visit us.

-M

Listening in.

2008-03-17T17:58:00.006-04:00

I felt under the weather today so I worked from home. I wasn't crazy sick, but I felt like it could go bad on me. I like working from my home office. It has some distinct advantages. I am still in my seat and it's just about 6PM, and I got alot done today. The office is sometimes the worst place for me. Anyways, where else could I be and hear screaming of children, and the occasional conversation that goes something like this:

Ryan: "Shh Connor, I don't want Dad to hear us"

(giggling)

(shrieking)

(giggling)

Ryan: "CON-NOR"

Connor: "Shh, Daddy"

Ryan "Help, I climbed the stairs my self and I cant get down. I need a power ranger to save me!!!"

(Prolonged Silence)

Ryan: "Coooonnnnn-noooorrr.... Come and save me..."

(inaudible)

Ryan: "I'm not being loud."

(inaudible)

Ryan: "I'M NOT BEING LOUD!!!!"

On a side note, where I sit at work is right by a helicopter pad, and I see one about 4 times a week. This is pretty neat, but I noted while sitting at my desk today that in the neighborhood of 5 or six flew over my house today and they create an awful racket. The scourge of the suburbs.

Sappy Sunday

2008-03-16T19:04:00.003-04:00

Being a Sunday and all, I decided to make pancakes from scratch for the family. I keep making them from recipes online, and today I decided I had gotten the hint and me and my helpers got to business mixing the ingredients. Essentially, I add mix and hand off to Ryan and then Connor. They love the mixing and concocting of breakfast, no matter what the ingredients, no matter what I make. After a pretty good job and some very cake-like pancakes, we sat down to eat. Connor decided to throw a wrench in the works when his unproductive couch became very productive, and he puked up breakfast. At least I had eaten something by then and didn't feel the urge to over stuff myself with breakfast. Thank god for small favors. He seemed OK after a glass of OJ, and then we had to make him something else, well, because neither Lise nor I could see making him eat more pancakes after his eruption.After checking to see if he was sick or just had a cough get the best of him, we all went outside as a family and killed trees. Mom with her clippers and me with my chainsaw, trapped and killed another score of budding saplings (most of which were 8-10 feet tall). I never did take down the big tree I wanted to get, but it's pretty huge, and will be a few hours to dispatch. Meanwhile my chainsaw has become pretty dull and I pretty much found I was burning down trees, instead of cutting them down by the end of this session. We think it will take one more weekend to finish this saga of tree murder. In the interim the carcasses of discarded tree soldiers will line the street as a warning to other passing spring seedlings of their fate, should they try to plant in out newly exposed front yard. :) Being that we know the trees have their own protectors we showered after getting inside. I have yet to find a tick on the kids, but we don't dive in the leaves and stuff like that, yet. Then the kids passed out for some good naps. When the kids woke up, we decided to give up on work and go to enjoy their first movie with them. The movie was "Horton hears a Who", which was tolerable as kids movies go. If I suspend my preference for the original, then it was really good, and The boys loved every minute of it. Ryan kept standing up and talking to the screen, while Connor was singing and asked "Who's that? Whats that? Who's that?" Lise and I enjoyed it very much and when we got home, we called Grandma to tell her about it. Ryan was very impressed and told us "That's the biggest TV I ever saw!"

Cut em down to size

2008-03-15T21:02:00.004-04:00

The Great tree destroyer visited Clinton today. Lise had her eye on cutting back some of the overgrown front yard for almost 2 years now, and she's ready for action. Today the carnage started after our weekly visit to the flamingo place. After the customary breakfast, we sped back home and gunned up the chainsaw. Like at our house in Amston, Lise decided to clear the font yard with clippers first and made a good run at it. I took down the trees and we have about 40% of the yard cleared. The big trees will stay along with some of the larger saplings. We are taking one tree down that is sick, but the others will stay... I'll probably take the big one tomorrow... It's not the cutting that's so bad, it's the hauling.

After a good morning of hard work, we showered and took naps. At three we woke up the crew and went on an Easter egg hunt. Our neighbor up the street has an annual event, when they hide (in plain sight) over 300 Easter eggs with candy and get the neighbors to stop by and hunt for them.
The kids loved it and played until close to 5pm, where we decided to go to dinner. This time at the parrot place. I figure that tomorrow I will be working all day on the trees (weather permitting), so what the heck.

Connor has had a great day and can't get himself to quiet down. Ryan is still awake, but being quiet... I guess all said and done, it's been a great day, and I look forward to a great weekend.

Dinner out with Lisa and John

2008-03-14T22:55:00.009-04:00

Today was a good day.... Connor woke us up at 6:45am, and with his usual call... "Maaaaaaaaaama... Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaama". He sleeps all night in this doggie blanket, which must be a 1000 degrees. After getting everyone downstairs we had our typical morning... an Omelet for mom and dad and bagels and sausage for the kids. I am going through a million dollars in cream cheese. As Lise got her morning brew, I went to work upstairs in my newly refurbished office. The day was very productive and as I finished up the babysitter arrived for a well needed break. My sister and her husband came up our way for a weekend away, and we thought a dinner out would be a nice getaway for us all. We had a great time and chatted about all sorts of things, from work to kids and family. I wish I had some enthralling story about a sudden epiphany or important news from the clan in NJ, but it was just a great night with family. Being that they live so far from here, these kinds of nights are scarce for us.

At the end of the night... Lisa and John sandbagged us with presents from NJ. Lise commented that the boys had "hit the mother-load" with baskets that included fun motorcycles which I'm sure will be whipping around my house in short order. I'm sure they'll love it.. Thanks guys!

Wake Up

2008-03-13T10:42:00.003-04:00

Every morning at 6:30 or so, Ryan or Connor wake up. If one of them isn't up early, then we're supposed to be headed out for something early. :) The first thing that must happen every day is the boys need to mess up my bed. This requirement come from some place deep within, and they feel it a necessity to make the day right. This morning was no exception, except they slept in till 7:00am...and so DID I!! After I ran nonstop and out the door, Lise had to get them off to school and the lateness rippled into the day.

Connor is fighting a cold and but remains in good spirits. He has been enjoying preschool, and I think things are finally calming down for him. The transition to school has been hard in the sleeping department. so it's good to see him going down a bit easier. I hope he's back to his old self. The moon was out tonight and it wanted it's picture taken. I know it's getting boring, but I like how the light plays with the trees. One of these nights, I'll get it right.

New Toy

2008-03-12T20:57:00.001-04:00

It likes the new toy. New toy arrived tonight. New toy has cool features to make the blog much better. :) I love it's size and it's ease to use. I am having fun tonight taking snaps, and playing with features like time-lapse. Oh my, if I had had it for the flooring, it would have been a fun show... hehe

Ok... I'm going to go back to playing with my toy and rubbing Lise's back. (looks like she's herniated that disc in her back again by cutting trees down). gawk. I'll be back to good blog entries tomorrow... but tonight I am just going to enjoy my new friend.

Eats-ter

2008-03-11T21:25:00.002-04:00

So Easter is coming and therefore the Easter bunny is on his way. Ryan has been reading a story about the Easter "ribbit", about a frog who helps the Easter bunny out. In the book the Easter bunny puts out a flyer for other bunnies to help, and misspells the word rabbit as ribbit and the frogs (who always wanted to be Easter bunnies) help out. The Mama rabbit puts makes Easter baskets and the Easter Ribbit delivers them. After giving Easter baskets to our cousins we in NJ this weekend, we ended up with two empty baskets back here and Ryan asked if they were for the mama rabbit to fill in. Lise wasn't sure if Easter was blown, but avoided the subject a bit and when she told me I kinda put the two together.
It's cute to see the excitement in his eyes... he knows something fun is going to happen and can't wait for the event to reveal itself. This year, he remembers Easter being fun, but hasn't a clue what will occur. It's been an interesting time. I remember being his age and know he will remember these days as special, so Lise and I have invested some time into the whole experience. This morning we talked about a little surprise for Easter morning. If we do it, I'll have pictures, so you'll have to wait to hear it. Let's just say, its great to be 4 going on 5.

My friend Carla mentioned to me today that it's about time for another superhero comic like the last one she did. I am hoping to dig up a few different pictures of the boys wresting and some being friends in this next episode. :) Sort of a resolution to the first set of slides. Although, I'll need to get one of Connor in that Spiderman mask he had on last time. Maybe the Easter Bunny will show his face in light of the upcoming season who knows?

Back to the grind... kinda

2008-03-10T20:11:00.009-04:00

I went back to work today and all was about as well as it gets when I got struck down with intense nausea. It never went further than that, but it took about 1 hour in bed to clear the cobwebs out of my head. I went back on my diet today, and I think it was a lack of food after so many days of binging in NJ. Phew. I totally thought I was going to lose it.

After the waves passed, I was pretty tired, but I snapped a few pictures to show you the new chandelier in the office. I hung it on Sunday and got a picture of it and the rug tonight. Now, when you see these pictures, I want to flash back to my old apartment in NY. I had a black rug, and entertainment center ...and couch in my stark white little room 2 floors above the main street in Hartsdale. Lise teased me all the time about my black and white house.... and then she chooses a black and white carpet, dark lamp with my dark desk. I have to admit I was stunned. When I brought it up to her, she acknowledged it "fit" and that the room was green which is better than my stark builder's white den with my clothes strewn about. :) The theme continued when Lise suggested we hang the relief I got from Cambodia in 1999. It was nice to see it hung up again, this time over the bed. I assume this room would be different if she had to spend every day in there, but I'm not complaining. Now this room is done except for the baseboards....
I brought back 3 of these images and this is the one I kept. I got the one I gave Lise back when I married. Good deal with or without the picture. :)

Out of Steam

2008-03-09T23:10:00.007-04:00

The kids are beat, tired and otherwise unhappy after a day of running around and traveling back from NJ. We decided this would be the right time to go to Walmart and pick up a rug for the office. Childhood is so difficult.
Ryan was miserable and Connor needed Sleep in the worst way, but after a quick daylight savings time inflamed nap, we headed out for supplies. We got a rug and went food shopping for the week, and then back home, unloaded and took 2 exhausted children and 2 crabby parents to the "Log Cabin" in Clinton. This place, if you haven't been, runs kinda like this... they bring huge portions of food until you feel like your sides are about to split...then your entree shows up. I will certainly bring the boys in their teen years to feed on the beneficial supply of "mass quantities". Every time I walk in this place, I worry I might have walked into some food servicing place that fattens up unsuspecting customers and serves the ones that short the waitress her well deserved tip.
After a generous tip, We took the boys home and Connor asked to go "ni-night", and I put Ryan down a few minutes later after taking some pictures outside to quiet him down while Connor passed out. After a day of traveling from NJ, installing a chandler and new office rug, shopping for the week, eating out and crabby kids, Lise and I took showers and passed out. Actually, Lise passed out, and I finished 2 old Blog entries that needed publishing, and cleaned up my computer's desktop, but non-the-less, I was out by 10. Snoring by 10:01.

Aliyah's Birthday

2008-03-08T22:22:00.004-05:00

Saturday we got up at 6:30am and prepared for Aliyah's birthday party. It was nice to wake up after listening to the rain outside and not have to drive down in the early morning. After our leisurely breakfast, the day started ramping up. Cake deliveries, pre-party prep and Chef Ryan began to kick in to high gear. Ryan made us all breakfast with the help of his student (grandma) and we gulped down pancakes and eggs and waffles. After a scrumptious meal we all took off in different directions to get ready for the party and headed off to a great time with Patti and Anthony and their entire extended family. It was nice seeing everyone and I think the kids had a heck of a time. Ryan and Connor played well with everyone and passed out on the ride home. I think they had too much fun (if that's possible)...

Aliyah's B-Day

After we got home, we broke out Cake for Grandma, and prepared for yet another celebration when the power went out?? It was funny listening to the din of children playing, running, sometimes screaming out in glee, cut short by the surprise darkness. There were no cries, but the kids were frozen in place by the sudden darkness. The lights stayed out for the duration of the party and grandma and the family enjoyed a fun night by candle-light. It was a birthday party, I'm sure she wont soon forget. The power found it's way back to us around 8pm (just after bed time) and tea lights were extinguished and we enjoyed a little TV. I passed out quickly as all the driving and child-wrangling finally caught up to me. Before I passed out, I noted an orchid my parents were growing and snapped a few shots. I guess flowers have become a theme with me. They are easy to shot and come out really nice.

RUN RUN RUN

2008-03-08T22:18:00.003-05:00

It's been 2 days since I blogged, but I took a picture each day, so I'm happy. On Thursday, the Boys built a monument in the living room while Lise and I met with Ryan's preschool teacher. Ryan is enjoying school and it shows in his work and the teacher's attitude toward him. It was a wonderful walking in to the school and listening to someone read my child's presence. When we got home, Lise and I set up a babysitter for the next week, and planned to meet my Sister and my Brother-In-Law. On Friday after work, we headed out to New Jersey to see Grandma and Grandpa. Since Friday was my Mom's birthday, we decided to go down that night instead of Saturday. It was nice to be there at my Mom's house on her actual birthday and it turned out to a blessing. My sister was sick and couldn't stop by, and Lise had made my Mom a spice cake (her favorite), so we were able to celebrate the day with her alone. The kids loved every minute of being with Grandma and Grandpa. Aside from the cake, I think the kids loved spending the time with their grandparents, and we unwound over cake and a cup of tea. It was nice to get a little break before a big weekend

Squeaky Shoes

2008-03-05T22:04:00.006-05:00

I can't say that my morning was all that inspiring. It was raining and windy, and when I got to the end of my driveway, I noticed my garbage was strewn down the street and across my neighbor's yard. Earlier , when I was sitting in bed, I heard the wind whipping by the house and thought "Oh no.... I'm sure my garbage cans are gone." I was wrong... they were just emptied out. By the time I had cleaned up, my shoes were pretty wasted. Nothing like going to work in squeaky, wet shoes.

After a day of dehydrating my Clarks, I went to the local Toys'R'US and bought the kids a playscape that was on sale. I am very much liking the idea of a great place for the boys to play however; not looking forward to putting it together... Good thing my Dad doesn't read my blog... I wonder what other reason I can come up with to get him up here? I'm sure my Mom will help. :)

Guestbook

2008-03-04T16:48:00.002-05:00

Lise tells me that she has handed out my link to some friends and I welcome them and everyone that I gave this to, but it does have me curious who is reading. so I made a little guestbook link.

Please sign mine... link to your right.
-Mike

Funny

2008-03-04T09:50:00.004-05:00

I never post links to funny stuff but... This is too good not to share. "You Suck at Photoshop" is one of the best things I've seen on the Internet in a while. I like best the hidden gems in the video. The names of the files, the other pictures, the comments in the background all are just funny. It can be a bit rough at times... but Episode #2 is my favorite.
I tried to embedded it, to save you a click or two... but they have it blocked somehow. All in all there are 7 episodes. Each one is darker and more depressing than the next.

Lazy night

2008-03-04T06:55:00.003-05:00

Ahhh... a Lazy night. When I got home last night I helped get the kids to bed, and then jumped in myself and watched bad television. Lise was on the couch and I watched 3 episodes of "curb your enthusiasm", while not thinking of work, kids, or life in general. As our hero, Larry David was discovering his therapist on the beach in a thong, I was snugged up, sipping tea.
All in all yesterday was an odd day. I got an email from my friend Mike with just a link to a funny picture... It didn't need explanation. I love inside jokes, especially ones from friends you no longer see on a regular occasion. It's like having a connection with the outside world that persists outside of yourself. I also got an odd email from my boss at my consulting company. He sends out a monthly newsletter to the folks that are on my team and asked me to send him something for his "Fun" section. I chose a blog entry I did in January titled "Food (the enemy)" with some edits to make it topical and not just seem out of place. I thought it was awesome to be able to use some of my blogging materials too. I don't have any writing aspirations, but I do hope they don't like it too much and ask me for a regular fun entry. It was nice to be able to use something I thought was somewhat witty at the time... it would suck to try to be witty most of the time. :)
Sunrise was fantastic today. The impending rain made the sky light up as the sun rose. I went to take a few snaps, but needed to get a workout in. I only got one that turned out half bad, and so I cropped the hell out of it. (yes, the damn bird again) I'll do another picture tonight.. I am still looking for inspiration or a theme of some sort. One the preferably that doesn't require "finger-topless gloves" and involves me staying warmer than the other day on the beach, but at this rate... I could do a sunrise a the beach if I know it's going to be a nice one.

Long Weekend Closes

2008-03-02T20:11:00.006-05:00

It's been a fun weekend, but a long one. I got my office back and am able to type up here again. It's nice to be able to sit and hear yourself think. Lise in the throws of putting Ryan to bed, and Connor is singing in the background. A typical Sunday night. We had a play date with "Ryan I." today. All went well and soon after his arrival , additional superheros arrived and a good time was had by all. Ryan's Mom knows some people I went to high school with which goes to show how small a world we live in. Connor and our Ryan took good naps after our visitors left and when Ryan got up, I took him do do some photos of the sunset at Hammonasset State Park.

Hammonasset Beach

I got a few shots I liked but Ryan and I froze in the near constant 20Mph breeze at the shoreline. I couldn't wear gloves, because I was taking the pictures and I thought I could have gotten frostbite, if I had decided to stick around any longer. Anyway, I got home and discovered a few images I liked... I have such a hard time editing, because I like different pictures for different reasons. I cut down my original 50 to about 26 pictures... (click on the picture above for the album or here for the slide show) I'm going to have to pick out one or two. If you have a favorite, let me know which one. If they are all trite and crap... be nice, but tell me that too. It's good to hear why people don't like a photo... it helps me edit in the future...

The Final Room Done

2008-03-01T20:27:00.004-05:00

So I'm all done with the room of doom. :) It went pretty well today, no stories of woe... the door was a little off, but otherwise things went in easily. (You have to click on the picture here to actually see th finished product..) :)
Lise took Connor and Ryan to a birthday party and when they came back in at 3, I was moving furniture around, and getting things back in place. Another day in paradise. Tomorrow we are having a play-date at 10:30am... This is my first of these, so we'll see if I am a good play-date Dad. I'll let you know my impression of the whole thing.

Macho Man vs. Jake the Snake

2008-03-01T08:44:00.007-05:00

Lise's Mom and Dad used to watch professional wrestling all the time. While this was before my time, it is a hoot listening to Marie talk about the same wrestling heroes of my youth as if they were still on TV. Lise told me that after her father's heart attack, her mother would make him sit in the other room and narrate what was going on in the ring so he could enjoy it, but not suffer another heart attack. So it's very understandable that Ryan and Connor dress up and wrestle in the living room just about every night.

It reminds me of puppies gnawing on each other and then running back to Mama, only one of them is almost always dressed like a superhero of some sort. Last night, somewhere in the middle of watching Milo and Otis, the ruckus began. I knew I was in for trouble, when Connor showed up and asked me to dress him like "Spidamhan". The first blow was a sudden attack from below when Spiderman spied one of his arch enemies and decided on a preemptive strike. Very quickly, his enemy was dispatched and Spiderman and his villain brother went to bed.

Kid quote

2008-02-28T06:41:00.005-05:00

Last night, we called Aunt Emily to say thank you for the cool spiderman bags we got from her in the mail. When Emily asked Ryan if he was going to use it to take toys to Kindergarten next year, Ryan made a face of surprise and responded "Wow, you're pretty smart! I AM going to Kindergarten next year!"

From here to here

2008-02-27T21:41:00.006-05:00

My sister-in-law once said I looked like Carey Grant "from here to here" showing my eyes.... Ok... So, I know its not true but I'll take a compliment when it comes my way. Here you go Louise; you can print this up and tell people I'm you're brother-in-law. :)

The last two nights, Connor has thrashed in bed, and kept me up. This morning and Monday I was up between 3-4am for the day. It makes coming up with a new picture for the day a real challenge. How does one come up with a great picture idea every day when you feel about as sharp as a bag of wet mice? (not that I came up with one yet... but that's the challenge ,no?) Anyway... I thought that a self portrait would make some sense to my mushy mind.
On a side note, I found a Cannon 40D for $519.... It's sooooo tempting. I just can't afford it right now. But ohhh so tempting...

Kindergarten

2008-02-26T19:55:00.006-05:00

Tonight was Kindergarten orientation night at the school. Ryan matriculates into full day kindergarten in the fall and they went over the first orientation in an hour and it was good. Our town has 160 kids starting in the fall and Ryan is one of them. It was somewhat interesting to see that not much has changed since I started 31 years ago.
The boys enjoyed being with their favorite babysitter tonight and went right to sleep. Connor had a long day that didn't include a nap and he was just about melting at the dinner table. The poor monkey went right to sleep after we left. I just hope he sleep through the night. From the sound of it right now, I'd say no.

Silent Night

2008-02-25T21:21:00.003-05:00

It's been a good day, and a good night so far. The last week we tried putting the boys down late to no avail, but tonight, they went down early. They were both in bed by around 6:30. Connor and Ryan went right to sleep with no repeat calls to come up and re-tuck in bears, monkeys or blah blah puppets. Lise and I to a chance to veg out in front of the TV and just enjoy each others company.

We watched a stupid movie and just had a night without being wiped out and tired. It was nice to enjoy a cup of tea and I thumbed through a cookbook to look up a recipe that i wanted to try. Still in the back of my mind, there is a room that needs it's floor, and a bunch of things that need to be done at work, but with the little break, I get a chance to look at things from a different angle.

Almost Done...

2008-02-24T20:35:00.006-05:00

I worked on the hardwood floors in the office today, and the kids and Lise had a great time on the slopes. Ryan loved zooming down the back yard hill. Connor, wasn't so sure. It's funny; Ryan must have the Canadian blood in him. He loves the winter and everything to do with it. Connor hates to be cold, have his nose run, and getting wet at all, and so... he lays in the snow and whines.
I spent the day getting the office/ guest room floor in. This was once again delayed, but I got more done than yesterday. By noon I had a good start, and by the end of the day, I got most of the room done (about 60%) and can probably complete the rest by noon next Saturday. Of course, if there are naps, kids stuff to attend to and the occasional surprise, well.. then it's only one full days worth of work. If you want to see the progression, click on my face and it will run you through the change... I'll repost the link when it's done so you can get the full experience. Until then, I'll just pretend I completed it and feel fulfilled with the knowledge that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's gleaming on shiny hardwood floors.

No time

2008-02-23T21:26:00.006-05:00

We regularly tell Ryan he is a "delay fish" which is a reference to the movie Nemo. This delay rippled into my pond today. It was a beautiful day out, but Connor once again kept us from sleeping, and we were tired as we started the day at the Flamingo place. When we got back, I got started on the office. It wasn't cleaned up from the day before, and so the delays began. I got the room clear, pulled the rug,staples and tack strips, and it was noon! WOW! I am usually at this point by 10am. I took the stuff to the dump, and when I got back, Ryan and Connor napped.... Till 3:30. :(

After naps, we built a snow fort I had promised Ryan earlier. This was a self inflicted delay, and it allowed for some fun photos. I pretty much gave up on the room at that point... I loaded it up with wood and tools and prepped for the next day. I was going to go pick up this cool "L" shaped adapter for my sawzall, but we went to dinner, and the kids went SLOW, and guess what we didn't have time for. I'm crabby... all this lack of closure makes me mental. Tomorrow will be a new day and hopefully, I'll be adding to the slide show.

Cool Stuff

2008-02-23T13:59:00.003-05:00

A good friend of mine and workmate has taken some pictures of the boys and made a comic strip from them. She's so awesome and very talented. Thank you Carla... you Rock...

Click on the picture to see it full sized!