fat suburbanite dad

I know this post is late, but I thought the PA cousins would like to see some pics of the VA and CA clans. The beginning of the year included a visit with the VA cousins. The VA cousins were out with their parents for their Dad's firefighter training. We met up at our property and the kids ran around and played all afternoon. They jumped on hay bales, took a hike, did a little bit of archery and generally enjoyed themselves. It was great to see them. They are such lovely young women now. The kids sitting down for dinner.

What day is complete without a piggy back ride from one of your cousins? Since the boy is the smallest of the bunch, he lucked out in the piggy back ride area.

The kids enjoying some left over sparklers from the 4th of July

The girl saying goodbye to cousin K. It was heartbreaking!

All of the cousins saying a group goodbye. The boy is actually in the middle of all of the girls.

There are much better pictures from that day, including a beautiful one of the kids on the hay bales. Those pictures were not taken by me. They were taken by my talented niece L. Aunt M, cousin B and I were to busy exploring the area to get any good pictures. I'll have to ask L to email me some to post. Hopefully, more training is in the future for my brother-in-law!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

You Say You want A Revolution

We were taking a walk yesterday and making our final plans for New Years Eve. The kids wanted the night to include pizza, a root beer float, board games and a sparkling cider toast. The boy then says "Don't forget we need to plan our New Years revolution". We all look at him and his sister says "Do you mean resolution?" The boy then says "Yes, I always get those two words mixed up. Here is hoping you fulfill all of your revolutions for 2014. Since I didn't have a picture of the kids from the walk, I am attaching the most recent pic of them, which is at their riding lesson last week.

Friday, December 27, 2013

The Newest Members of the Family

The kids got kittens on Friday the 13th. We went to the shelter and when we found out that black cats were the least adopted cats, the kids made their decision...black it would be. They picked out two 3 month old, bonded brothers. They are adorable and fit right into the family. Each child named a kitten. The boy named one Loki...the god of mischief. The boy picked correctly, as Loki is very rambunctious and runs the household. The girl named the other kitten Coltrane, after our cat that died a few months back. Coltrane is very sweet and shy.

Happily, the kittens only explored and slept under the Christmas tree and not in it. They didn't even break an ornament!

Evidently, Deacon was meant to be a Mother Hen. He loves the kittens and follows them around everywhere. He just stands over them and watches them. They drink out of his water bowl and have eaten out of his food bowl while he hovers over them. They have also kicked the 95lb dog off his dog bed and they sleep on it, while Deacons sleeps next to them. Sometimes, I catch all three of them curled up on the girl's bed.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Guitar Hero

The boy had his first guitar recital last week. He has been taking lessons since September. He played Spanish Theme, This Land is Your Land, Ode to Joy, Silent Night and Jingle Bells. The other boy that was suppose to play a duet on some of the songs with him didn't show up, so the boy did all of the parts himself. I was very proud of him. I have some video footage, but he didn't want me to post it to the blog, as he is embarrassed. Either that, or he is smart and won't allow his music to be played for free :).

An Altering Experience!

The girl is an alter server at Mass. She did two Masses her first weekend, as her friend couldn't make the Mass he signed up for.

She did a great job!

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Monday, December 9, 2013

Lego Chess

The kids were playing chess after school and I looked over at the board and noticed several lego figures. I asked them why they were using lego figures and they told me that they always used them, as they have lost several chess pieces. Since we have at least 4 other chess boards, I asked them why they didn't use one of the complete sets for their game. I was told...then it wouldn't be lego chess. Of course, how silly of me!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

A Little Light Reading

I went to check on the boy to tell him it was time for bed. I found him reading hubby's 'Notebook of Leonardo Da Vinci' Vol. 1.