Pictures

Finally got around to posting some pictures from the past month.

Below is Jack drive the boys' Jeep with McKenna (Bridget watches her a couple of day each week) on a day when it was actually sunny. Ryan is on his bike on the second one.


The pictures below are all from when Bridget and the boys went to Virginia earlier this month to see her sister's baby boy, Jacob.

Lots o' Vomit

First Grandpa Leroy got sick. He actually didn't make it to the bathroom one time. Then I got it but managed to keep it from blowing out the top--just down blow about 50 times. I had the usual stomach cramping and lack of energy that accompanies the flu. Yuck. I started to feel better in the evening, but had not eaten anything other than crackers. Then at 9PM Ryan vomitted in his bed. It was everywhere. Then at 10PM Jack did the same. Again everywhere. We all went downstairs. Bridget and I were constantly on the go. Ryan and Jack had the timing down so that other than one time, they alternated vomitting for the next 3 hours. At first it was happening every 10 to 15 minutes. By 3 in the morning we could take some naps in between. I think I finally feel asleep for longer than 15 minutes around 4 or so.

Jack and Ryan are doing much better today. Jack drank too much and up-chucked all over the couch. That was awesome. Luckily it was not chunky since all he had gotten down was fluids, what seemed like a gallon even though it was probably only a couple of cups worth. He seems to be OK except for some really foul gas and some stomach cramps. He can really clear a room right now. Nobody has much energy.

Here is a picture of the aftermath of us downstairs in the basement this afternoon. Bridget is the only one to remain unscathed so far. We all hope it stays that way.

100th post: Not much new here.

Just checking in here. It is this blogs 100th post. Not too shabby for the amount of time it has been up. For us not much going on. Bridget and the boys returned home from going out to Virginia to see Jim and Tracy and their new baby. The new Ipod Nano with video worked out pretty well. They both were able to listen and watch Scooby Doo, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny and Bob the Builder while on the plane. I had a ear phone jack spliter so they could both plug in with headphones. Still it was a long flight I am sure for them and they are all glad to be back.

Nothing going on in the legal job front.

Bridget is doing well on the pregnancy front. She is very low on energy though. She has started to show. We find out the sex May 2nd. Due date is middle of September.

We are enjoying the fact that the boys just go to bed on their own. It is so nice to just send them to bed. It is nice that there are no diapers to change. they play fairly well together. The Thomas the Train wooden track sets are still their favorite toys to play with. We can build some fairly extensive tracks with what we have. I like to build them as well. In general, things are pretty good with them. Too bad that we have to start all over again with Number 3 ;)

Ryan likes to write words. He will ask us to spell a word and then he writes it down as well help him spell it. He likes to draw quite a bit too. Usually there is a scene that has meteors crashing into things or some such event.

Clyde caught a mouse a couple nights ago and tried to bring it in. Actually he brought it in but I got him back out before he dropped it out of his mouth. The tail was still twitching. Yuck. He layed it down on the back porch and soon killed another mouse and layed in next to the first one. He was very proud, so I went out and pet him and told him he was a good hunter. If a cat could smile, he was. I offered to let him in, but he just laid down near his nightly haul. Currently he has been catching a mouse or two a week. Thankfully they are all out of the house, and none are inside.

Anyway, things are pretty good.

Question...

What do you do when you have been invited over for dinner at a friends house and you find out that the likely menu includes frozen lasagna?

I was invited over to a friend's house for dinner last week. I could have sworn that when we were originally talking about this we were going to go out to eat and that their kids were going to have a sitter. Then today after a very long ride with this friend I asked what we were doing for dinner and he responded, "Oh, probably frozen lasagna." I could do that here, I have one in the freezer and I don't have to drive across town to eat it. No please, don't go to any trouble, but maybe I can have a side of peanut butter and jelly too?

I feel like they are only having me over because the my wife and kids are out of town. I can feed myself and I don't need the help this badly. I should be glad for the company I suppose, but...come on. I just rode a little over 50 miles today with the guy who invited me to eat with his family. I would figure he would want something more as a reward than a family-size frozen lasagna. I would be glad to bring something in order to help out, seriously.

Maybe he was just joking--I will update this later with what goes down.

UPDATE:
The lasagna was pretty good. So was the garlic bread and salad. They had a very good vinegar dressing that had no oil in it--surprisingly good. The lasagna was from Costco, which was much better than I was expecting when I was told of the menu. I even had seconds. But after burning roughly 3200 calories today on my ride that is not surprising. Nor is the fact that on the way home I eat 3 Krispy Kreme donuts.

Family is gone and I am bored.

Everyone is in Virginia checking out the new Alsup baby. Bridget is there with Ryan and Jack so see Tracy, Jim and their little Jacob. I feel sorry for her, since I am not there to relieve her and I am sure that their schedules are all messed up. I have it easy here, but I must still complain a bit. I am bored and I find it hard to sleep. My coughing seems to finally be under control for the most part (especailly when I am just sitting down I hardly cough at all), so I can sleep pretty well. Or I could if I had some company in the house. It is a strangely lonely place to be without the sounds of kids and spouse. I even lock the doors all the time when I am home for some reason. I never lock the door when I am home during the day usually. Last night the cat wouldn't even come in and sleep on the bed with me, which is odd for Clyde.

Also, my computer went down again. This is the third time in a year that this has happened. Same thing everytime. The motherboard takes a dump. It is frustrating. Luckily there is another computer here in the house, otherwise I would be much more than frustrated. HP admitted to me that they have had serious problems with my model, the HP Pavilion DV2200 Notebook computer. They even extended the warranty for this model because of the problem. I have an extended service plan luckily, so it doesn't matter too much. But I think I may have to have a fatal accident with the computer about a month prior to the end of the warranty period if these problems continue.

Coughing...

blows.


I rode about 22 miles today. The route was two loops around a nearby lake and the road was sort of hilly. I rode with my friend Dave (or DTP as he has become known lately). It was good to have some company. The nice thing was that there is only one stop sign when going around the loop. Dave helped keep pace reasonable, and I didn't cough at all during the ride. Hucked up lots of phlegm and snot though.

Now 4+ hours later I am coughing and I have been for the past couple of hours. I have some itchiness in my chest. I hope this goes away. I am pretty sure it is as a result of riding when I am not totally over my cold. I feel great otherwise. I hate this. I am not coughing uncontrollably, just at annoying intervals. About once every few minutes. And my lungs feel a little tight and weezy. Looks like tomorrow will be a rest day.

Quote: What is Magic?

"There would be gold stuff and stars. If you're too little it doesn't appear. If something's in a hat, you pull it out and you get what you want! That's Magic!"

This was what Ryan said at pre-school today when the question was asked "What is magic?" They were having circle-time and when Ryan made the statement above the teacher's assistant thought it was pretty cute so she wrote it down for us.

Jack and the Potty

...or Jack and the Toilet if you prefer. For some reason the bathroom is referred to the "potty" when they are young and then later it somehow morphs in the the "bathroom" later. I am not sure when that happens, but I will be glad when I don't have to ask Jack if he as to go potty when I am around other adults.

Anyway, Jack has been using the toilet for sometime now. But he has to use a Bob the Builder toilet training seat. It sits on top of the regular toilet seat to make the hole smaller so he doesn't fall in with his skinny bum. He has to use a stool to climb up on the the toilet because of its height.

Typically the procedure is like this: Jack says he has to go potty and will immediately pull his pants down to his ankles no matter what room he is in. He will then shuffle his way into the bathroom and move the little plastic stool to the front of the toilet, place the Bob the Builder seat cover on the toilet and and climb up. He then will use way too much toilet paper if you aren't watching him. He also will tend to leave the used toilet paper on the floor instead of in the toilet. This is not as bad as you might think for two reasons. One his bum usually has no poop on it even after a good poop. Also, he usually misses the dirty area when he does try to wipe and winds up only wiping his buns and not the crack. [If this is too much info, sorry]

Anyway, eventually he will pull up his pants (...usually. He sometimes will run around with just a shirt for as long a possible). He likes to play in the water in the sink which can be disasterous if he is in the right mood and unattended. In all, you really have to watch the little guy when he goes to the bathroom. It is more work than the old diaper routine. I know long term it is great, but for now--geesh.

Oh, and I should add, sitting on the Bob the Builder seat cover in the middle of the night is not a fun thing. It has this little pee deflector for little boys to use. It is great for Jack--it directs the pee into the toilet instead of straight ahead. But for an adult the placement is not pleasant. 'nuf said.