Wednesday, July 15, 2009

More Birthday photos
















Michael's 6th birthday





















Michael had a birthday party on Saturday at Creve Coeur Park. He invited his friends from school and church. They had a great time playing in the water and eating popsicles. Happy Birthday Michael!

Monday, July 6, 2009

4th of July

Like our nation's forefathers, I spent this 4th of July standing up against tyrany and blatant disregard for personal property. Unlike the forefathers, my foe did not have guns or ships. However, they were just as dangerous. The enemy was a family of raccoons lodged in my car's engine. I discovered the sneaky intruders while attempting to refill power steering fluid.



I opened the hood and noticed four furry objects. I was so surpised that I didn't know what to think. It was one of those moments where you know something is wrong but can't figure out what it is, so you stare looking like an idiot. After it hit me that they were raccoons, I got so startled thinking they were going to lunge for me, that I dropped the hood right on their heads - take that oppressors!



Obviously, this did not take care of the problem. They were still in the engine and now were probably mad. I knew the next time I opened the hood they would attack and tear my face up giving me rabies and ruining my life. But I had to be brave, I could not stand for squatters and theives. I returned with a big stick and I wasn't treading softly.



To begin, my biggest fear was that as I opened the hood they would bite my finger as I flipped the lever. To protect myself I used an ice scraper glove. It turned out my fears were not warranted, the squatters had already gone back to sleep or were unconcious from our first battle. I got the hood up and started banging the side to wake them up. Raccoons sleep like the dead. The one I was able to wake up was understandably mad. He was hissing and bearing teeth, so I poked him. I even started poking his sleeping siblings. Well, that didn't help, it just drove them deeper into the engine. The raccoons were winning. I returned to report, and Mary convinced me to leave the nocturnal animals alone until the evening.



I returned to rid the car of intruders that evening about 11 pm. Unfortunately, they were still sleeping. I guess all that noise and poking created a need to sleep late. To no avail, I banged, poked, and used a squirt gun to get them out. Nothing. The squirt gun was the least effective. They just looked at me and turned their backs - maybe that is what that thick fur is for? I retreated and decided to wait until morning and let the thieving animals leave on their own.



Patience and time paid off. The squatters were gone! I had won the war, that will teach those intruders. I think they learned their lesson and I don't expect them to return.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

A little Vaca

We just arrived in Utah after a year of being away. Mike was very excited, Jack seemed to be excited also. In fact, they were so excited that they both threw-up on the plane to Denver! First Jack threw-up all over his blanket, clothes, and Mary. 20 minutes later, Mike said, "Mom, my tummy hurts." Those words from a 5-year old struck fear into the hearts of those within three rows of seat 20E. After his declaration, he began spewing the earlier meal from Jimmy Johns all over row 20.  We frantically, looked for a barf bag in one of the seat pockets - we found none. Barf bags must have been part of the cutbacks. If we were lucky, we could have purchased the bag with a credit or debit card or at least exact change. 

We survived the vomit and cleaned the boys up during the layover and got back on the same plane just in time to take off. Luckily, we weren't in row 20. 

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Comprehensive Exams

I passed my comprehensive exams! There were two parts, written and verbal. The written went well. The verbal wasn't as straight forward though. The committee saidthat my knowledge of the content was fine but that I had to work on my interpersonal communication. They said I was too mild mannered and too relaxed. It isn't like they are telling me something new. I never thought you could be too relaxed.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Jack





Here are some more pictures of Jack!