Our New Girls

Here are our three new chicks working on their tans under their sunlight: And here Ethan shows off one of the girls:

It's Official! We're Chicken Owners.

This afternoon Ethan and I drove out to Dunlap Hatchery in Caldwell where we picked up a trio of Rhode Island Red Pullets (baby hens).

They're in their brooder in the house for now but I'll certainly have to get on that chicken coop soon now.

Six Six (6)

I got tagged with a six.
This is how it works: go to the pictures folder on your computer, go to the sixth folder, go to the sixth picture, post it, then tag 6 people.


This is Ethan at (appropriately) six days.
I'm not sure anybody reads this blog so it's hardly worth tagging anybody (and those who may read it already got tagged).

Happy Birthday Wife ! ! !

Have a Happy Day!

KINDERGARTEN

It's hard to believe how fast the kids are growing up... BigE's in Kindergarten already!

On his first day in front of the Alphabet Tree

Chris and I have both been in to "help" for a day. We were quite impressed with his teacher, Mrs. G and her ability to maintain control of twenty five-year-olds.

Mrs. G putting a nametag on my Big Boy

BigE really seems to enjoy Kindergarten and he's making friends there.

Tomato as a Highlight of the Week

ain't nothin' better than a home-grown tomato

other highlights:

• visiting the visiting sisters
• mom's chicken-n-potatoes
• watching Olympics
• peaches off the tree (sadly, they're all gone now)

Happy Belated Birthday

My Little Princess turned 3
Happy belated birthday, darling!

We had a traditional birthday-cake breakfast:

And another cake with the family over:

A Happy Father's Day

My wife and kids made sure that I had a great Father's Day.
I started the day with a treasure hunt. The kids had hidden some treasures around the house with clues directing me from one to the next. I found a pink and a blue baseball mit (so we can all play catch together now), a box of chocolates from Lee's (my favorite candy shop), a book about fatherhood from the author of dooce.com, a copy of The Simpson's Movie, some grill accessories, and a long-time family favorite, the game: Facts in Five.
We went to breakfast at Merritt's Cafe where I enjoyed a delicious deep-fried scone.
We spent most of the afternoon at Discovery Center of Idaho.
We wrapped up the day by spending the evening with my Dad.

Happy Birthday Baby Brother

Twenty-some-odd years ago on this day I sat motherless at a mother-n-sons Flag Day event while my baby brother was born. Maybe I'll forgive him next year ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BROTHER ! ! ! ! !

And Then Came the Party

Last week we had the birthday...
This week we had the party!!!

We had originally planned on being out of town last weekend so we planned Big E's birthday party for this weekend. His daycare sends him down to gymnastics once a week and he always loves it. We noticed a while ago that they host birthday parties there so we decided that it'd be a great place for kids to have fun.

They swung from the ropes...


And jumped in the foam pits... And swung on ropes into foam pitsAnd bounced on the trampolines... And slid down the slides...Even the adults played... Everybody had a great time during the gymnastics hour!

We were going to continue the Harry Potter theme from the week before with a Nimbus 2000 or a Firebolt cake but E had already picked out Dinosaur plates and stuff. We convinced him that a volcano cake would fit in with the prehistoric theme a little better (of course I was just trying to work in a bowl cake). He was a bit skeptical until he saw the smoke and lavaWe ate sandwiches for lunch then got on with the festivities. The Birthday Boy blew out the candles...Then opened some gifts...... before calling it a day.

Having the party hosted by Gem State Gymnastics made it easy and stress-free for us and fun for the kids.

Fiona's First Haircut

This evening we took My Sweet Girl out for her first haircut.
Fiona will turn three in a few weeks and she's never had her beautiful blonde hair cut so we figured that it was about time for a trim.

Our friend, Rachel just started working at a new salon and Fiona was her first customer. Rachel has two girls of her own and she handled Fiona wonderfully.
Fiona does not like loud noises so we thought she'd protest when the hairdryer came out but she loved the whole experience. She sat still and was quite interested in what was going on.
Rachel bagged up the bulk of the trim: a lock about five inches long. We'll get it off to Gram to work it into a scrapbook page.

Here she is just before the haircut:And here she is modeling her new hairdo:

Perhaps I'll have her to wear her hair down more now.

Happy 5th BigE

Happy Birthday Hijo

Five years old

Big E was very excited when he woke up: I'm five, I'm five, I'm five!

He wanted blueberry muffins for breakfast so we started the morning with Costco muffins... mmmm.

He promptly opened bunches of gifts and loved them all.

He'd been promised a new pet from Build-a-Bear so we headed to the mall where he picked out a new puppy. He named his puppy Mr. Scruffy Daddy. I'm not sure where the name came from but I like it.

We continued on the tradition from last year of lunching at Red Robin. Last year he was very upset when the staff came out singing. This year he could not wait for the song and dance routine. He kept whispering to me: "are they coming out to sing yet?"

In the evening we had all the local family over for dinner (mmm, chicken pot pie) and cake.E is really into Harry Potter right now and he asked for a Golden Snitch cake. I'm not one to complain when I see an opportunity to bake a bowl cake!

Happy Birthday Annzy

We

hope

you

enjoyed

your

day

!!!

Sun Sets on Sunset Bowl

I'm a bit saddened to see that Sunset Bowl has closed.I'm not a bowler and I only went to Sunset Bowl a few times but having thrown our wedding party there created some nostalgia for the place.

Just recently BigE was talking about our upcoming trip to Seattle. We had discussed visiting Sunset Bowl to show the kids where we had our wedding party. Perhaps we'll visit Green Lake and stop by the park bench near where we got married instead.

Maybe I can trick somebody into swinging by the auction on April 22 to pick me up a pin.

BiRThdAy ShoUToUt to ThE B.I.L.

Big Birthday Wishes from this Boise Family to the Bro-In-Law.
May this year be happier than most.
And congratulatory statements regarding the new work duties too!

Something Old is New Again

Today my old job became my new job.
Since mid 1999 (with a few months off here and there) I've worked as a contractor at a large software company. Today I started working at that same software company as a Full Time Employee. In most ways the actual work part of my job changes very little.
I'm pretty excited about the new gig... the work is intellectually challenging, the benefits are unrivaled, the co-workers are swell, and there is a keg-a-rator just steps from my desk!

Happy Birthday Wife

I enjoy getting creative with birthday cakes. I loved making E's castle and I was really happy with the way that Raggedy Ann turned out this year.
On Chris' birthday I get to do nothing. Chris is all about the Costco cake. For Chris it's all about the frosting. At least the Costco cake tastes good.

Per tradition, we had cake for breakfast. Late in the morning we all went to the theater to see Ratatouille. BigE liked it most of it but my baby girl got bored about half way through. After the movie we headed over to Pronto Pup for a fancy lunch. In the evening we went over to Grammy and Pop's house for dinner and more cake.
Happy Birthday Wife. I love you!

And Today Makes One

One year ago today we left our home of many years in Seattle and moved to Boise.

We bought the house I grew up in from my parents when they move a few miles West.

The neighborhood is nice and the neighbors are fantastic. We like to be near Grammy and Pops and closer to Gram and Papa. There are things I miss about Seattle but overall I'm very happy to be back in Boise.

Camping At Bull Trout Lake

This weekend we hit the hills for a short camping trip at Bull Trout Lake.

We hadn't camped with both kids before so we made this trip short. We had our tent up by about five Saturday evening and we were packed up by noon Sunday.

After getting settled in Big E and I headed over to the lake with our fishing poles. We got skunked but we had fun.
Due to the high fire danger campfires are not allowed right now so tin foil dinners were, unfortunately, off the menu. Instead we grilled up hamburgers and hot dogs and heated baked beans. I can't complain about not smelling like a campfire.
After dinner we went for a walk and then headed back to the camp stove for some s'mores.
We were in the tent ready to sleep by ten. Then kids were asleep within minutes but Chris and I were awake on and off all night listening to an infant cry in a nearby campsite.
We woke up with the sun on Sunday but stayed in the tent waiting for the temperature to come up from about 33 degrees.

We tried our luck again with the fishing lines first thing Sunday morning but came up empty again. Chris had packed up plenty of bacon, eggs and potatoes so we didn't go hungry without the fishies.
Everybody had enough fun that we're willing to go again.

A Big Birthday Shout Out

To the SIL.
Happy Big One Sam!

Windy City

Chris and I spent a fun-filled weekend in Chicago. She had business there making it a great opportunity for the two of us to take a vacation. We left the kids at home in the able hands of Grammy & Pops and aunts Kathy & Carol.

Chris had meetings on Friday so I spent the entire day down at the Museum of Science and Industry.
It's a nerd's paradise but it'd be great with the kids too.
I was most impressed by the German U-505 Submarine displayed there.


Friday evening we enjoyed some deep-dish pie at Pizzaria Due. Yum! While I usually prefer the thinner New York style pizza, I must say this stuff was delicious.

We started Saturday morning by riding the 'L' around the loop three times on an architectural tour. In the afternoon we caught a matinee of Wicked, a very entertianing musical telling the untold story of the witches of Oz. After the show we walked over to the Sears Tower where we rode the elevator 1,353 feet above the city for a fantastic view of Chicago (and beyond).

First Harvest

The weather here's been a bit on the warm side lately (an understatement)... perfect for ripening up the garden. Today we had our first harvest: broccoli, zucchini and one beet.

We ate the broccoli with dinner and Ethan said it was the best broccoli he'd ever tasted.

Another Birthday Shout Out

Happy Birthday to the older brother today! No matter how old I get he'll always be older... and wiser.

A Birthday Shout Out

Happy Birthday, Sister!!!

My Baby Turns Two

We woke up Thursday morning and celebrated in family tradition by having birthday cake for breakfast.


My Princess loved blowing the candles out and had me re-light them several times.


This evening we had some family over for a party where all the kids asked for a piece of cake with hair.

the Man

On Father's Day the kids surprised me by sporting very cute matching t-shirts:

I had a great Father's Day thanks to my wonderful wife and kids!

and the livin' is easy

Summer arrived with a high of 96 degrees.
We picnicked in the park and cooled off with popsicles as we celebrated the arrival of our first Boise summer. Back at home we ate warm ripe raspberries right off the bush. We wrapped up the evening by weeding the garden... a necessary evil.
I'm amazed at the size of our tomato and potato plants. We should have ripe cherry tomatoes by next week. Few things warm the heart like home-grown tomatoes!

New Member of the Family

Over the weekend we had a new arrival at our home. Gram and Papa brought up a new black kitten from a neighboring farm.

I'd told Ethan that we had a black cat named Blackie when I was growing up so when he saw that this new kitty was jet-black he wanted to name her Blackie too.
She's adapted well to her new house and the kids love playing with her.

Every Kid Does It at Some Point

I was trimming up Ethan's hair and I turned my back for just a minute. He grabbed the scissors and tried to help out a bit. Here is the result:


It's not a big deal. We can just go back to this hair style:


It's all OK just so long as he doesn't cut her hair:

Spanish Immersion

Last week Ethan finished up a year of Spanish Immersion pre-school at Puentes. On the last day they put on a program for the parents:

Then they whacked a pinata:

You should have seen the look on Ethan's face when he got swung at that pinata. He was determined to get at the goodies!
Ethan really enjoyed this school and it was amazing to see him learning Spanish.

A Mother's Day Bouquet

I know it was several weeks ago but here's the fun pot of flowers that the kids made for Grammy on Mother's Day:

What they Don't tell you

Here is is...

... the playset we picked up in five big boxes (plus a slide) from Costco. What they don't tell you is how long it will take to put the whole mess together. This probably took me 40 hours. Power tools (mostly an impact driver) helped.

Happy 4th BigE

On Friday BigE turned 4.
We celebrated with a traditional birthday cake breakfast. He is currently a Knight (when he's not a Pirate) so he had a crown cake for breakfast:



Saturday we had some friends and family over for a party. Continuing the Royal Theme, he had a castle cake for the party: