Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Ninja warriors

This summer, the girls have been watching a show called 'American ninja warrior'. Basically, contestants have to make it through a series of obstacles. There's hanging, climbing, balancing, and other feats of strength involved. There were qualifying events in four cities, with the finals culminating in Las Vegas. I think the finals should be on pretty soon. Anyway, since watching the show, a trip to the park is no longer just a trip to the park.  The jungle gym is now a giant training ground for the next ninja warrior. (Which is going to be one of my daughters). Walls are scaled, monkey bars traversed, walkways spanned by a human bridge. It's pretty impressive actually. I don't know if I should be proud or just afraid for their lives and limbs. So far, we have been lucky, but each trip seems to involve more daring feats. On the upside, summer is almost over. As long as we make it through without a trip to the ER,  I'll be happy. Here are some of the stunts I've witnessed.
 





Later.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Vacuuming and Miley

When I got home from work yesterday, I wanted the girls to clean up their toys so I could vacuum later. I got Jorja to vacuum once before and she thought that was pretty special, so she wanted to do it again. Then Ginny decided she wanted to vacuum too. I told them that when they were done, they could both vacuum some. (I wonder how long they will fight about wanting to vacuum?) As I was getting supper ready, Jorja came up to complain that Ginny wasn't helping clean up. It was then that I found myself saying, "Well, if she doesn't help clean up, she doesn't get to vacuum." I must have slipped into some alternate reality there. Weird.

Jorja and Ginny have been discovering their own music lately. They have progressed from watching the Disney junior channel to watching the Family channel. Between shows, music videos are periodically shown. Our lives will no longer be the same. Jorja came home from daycare one day and asked to turn on the computer to listen to some music. I said sure. I was making supper when I heard Miley Cyrus's 'the climb' blasting up the stairs. We had eight good years of musical influence I guess. I hope it's enough. At supper I commented on her music choice. She looked at me with wonder. "You like Miley Cyrus?" was what she said, but her look told me she was thinking 'how could someone as old as you know Miley Cyrus?' I didn't say I liked her, just that I had heard the song before. I know there were many times my Dad cringed as he watched 'Good rockin tonight' with me every Friday night. (That was a video show in the 80s for those of us without cable and MTV). But he watched anyway. And every once in a while said, 'this is sick'. Back then, sick didn't mean good. I too will keep an open mind as the kids grow up and express themselves through their music. Even if I cringe now and again. (Or always) Later.

Sent from my iPhone

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Family Pics

We had some pictures taken a little while ago and got them back now.  They were taken by an incredibly talented local photographer, Sasha Libby.  We are super happy with them.  Here are a few of my favorites:







Four beautiful ladies in my life.  I am blessed.  Later.


Monday, August 12, 2013

A new year

So yesterday I turned 41. I thought maybe this would be a good time to get back on track. Seeing as how my New Years resolution to write more regularly failed miserably, maybe a birthday resolution will work.

Lets start with my birthday. It was a pretty great day. Ginny made me a picture of a birthday cake and wrote happy birthday on it. Jorja wrote me a little letter in which she quoted the first four verses of psalm 23. She looked it up all on her own and wrote it all out. I was quite impressed. Ginny also got me a bag if mini Skor bars. She knows me well. Julie got me three awesome tshirts - one darth vader, one yoda and one from the princess bride that says 'as you wish'. She also got me some new cologne so I can smell good. CeCe said happy birthday to me countless times. All my girls made me feel pretty special and loved. I'm a lucky guy.

After lunch I took the girls to the park while Julie started to make my birthday supper. To fully appreciate this, you need to know how Julie feels about meat. She could really take it or leave it. When it comes to raw meat, she could definitely leave it. Anyway, for my birthday, she bought me a rack of ribs. One of her coworkers had given her a really good recipe, so she gave it a try. So while I was gone, she touched these raw ribs and cut them apart. She put them in a pot and boiled them. Now I love ribs but the thought of boiling them seems gross even to me. Apparently the smell isn't that great either. But by the time I got home, they were in the oven, in the roaster, and smelling wonderful in their sauce/marinade. She really does love me. When supper time came, Julie even tried a couple. I tried the rest.

A couple of days ago, the girls were all outside jumping on the trampoline. None of them are overly fond of bugs. By that I mean there's a lot of screaming and yelling for me when they see one. CeCe was jumping away when she spotted a bug. She yelled, "A bug! A bug! Daddy, shoot it!!" ( I have no idea where she got that from). Before I could respond, Ginny handled the situation for me. She said, "Daddy can't shoot it. He doesn't even have a gun." It's tough to argue with that.

This evening Ginny asked me why girls have to wipe and boys don't. 'Like, when they pee?' I said. She replied, 'yes.' I said because boys have a penis and girls have a vagina. ( we've always just called things what they are) She thought about it for a moment and then nodded and said, 'Yeah, a guess girls have it wipe something longer. And it wouldn't make sense to wipe something all circley and slippery.' Again, it's tough to argue with that. Later.

Sent from my iPhone