Sad elephant

October 31, 2009 | Filed Under Photos, Sammy | 2 Comments 

Sammy’s Halloween costume was not nearly as creative, but pretty cute. He was an elephant. He’s not feeling very good, but let me take a few pics this evening. After that, he helped me pass out candy while Daddy and Ben went ToTing.

Belated post – J’s birthday

October 31, 2009 | Filed Under Benny, Photos, Sammy | Leave a Comment 

Hi, my name is Rachel. Does anyone remember me? You know I am bad at blogging when Jason’s posted twice since my last update.
Both Ben and Jason have birthdays the first week of October. We had a very quiet party for Jason. Just us and an awesome German chocolate cake. Jason enjoyed his presents, a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff thingie:

Preview of Ben’s Halloween Costume

October 30, 2009 | Filed Under General | 1 Comment 

I started on Ben’s costume last Sunday night, because it is paper mache, and that stuff has to be layered up quite a few times. We tried it out at my work Halloween get-together, and also at the daycare party Thursday night. So far: great success. It is a bit warm though, because I have it fitted inside with foam. I am thinking that will work to our advantage tomorrow night though. Well, as long as it isn’t raining, because then it will turn to mush. Scotchgard?

Bonus points if you recognize the reference to a famous painting. Double points if you know the painter. I thought it was Van Gogh.

J

Update

October 13, 2009 | Filed Under General | 3 Comments 

Well, Rach hasn’t written anything in a long time, so I figured I would post an update about what is going on around here.
We went out for a big Oktoberfest beer and a movie for my birthday (Inglourious Basterds) which I really dug. I got a really nice stethoscope and a sphyg- which will be useful for EMT work. I have been in the EMT class for about a month now, and it is going well- I am learning a lot, and liking it. I will be volunteering on the local ambulance service when the class is over. I have been wanting to do some volunteer work for some time now, and this lines up well with my goals.
Ben and Sammers are real good. Ben had a nice birthday at home, and then a party last Saturday with a few friends at the House of Bounce- which is an indoor playland that has a bunch of inflatable slides and bounce houses. Later that afternoon we picked up our new car. We got a 2010 VW Sportwagen. It has the new 2.0L turbocharged clean diesel engine. I really, really like it. It is comfortable, handles well, has a lot of nice features, and pulls down some truly exceptional mileage. We are getting just shy of 40mpg driving it around town and to work- including a bit of messing around. I am pretty sure we will be able to pull down 50mpg with it on a highway trip. We ended up with the 6speed manual, which is a little bit less convenient than an automatic (Rach has to learn) but I am sure it will be more reliable and lower maintenance. The DSG auto transmission is really cool and filled with cool technology, but has had a lot of problems. And I like to drive a manual anyhow. So, pretty stoked about this. Which is good, because it will make it easier to pay for.

A funny story about Ben:
We were lying together on the bed and he was looking at the picture of Devils Tower we have on the wall. He said, “Daddy, is that a volcano?” I told him that it was a volcano a long time ago, and that what he was seeing was the old lava that used to be in the volcano. Then I told him that it has been so long since it was a volcano, that all the land around wore away, and only that cone of rock was left. Ben asked, “What makes the lava come up into a volcano?” I told him that the Earth is made of a lot of large plates that move around, and that some of them have hot lava under them. That sometimes, they move just right, and it creates a crack for the lava to come up through. I was thinking- “Hmm, maybe this description is way over his head…”

Ben said, “You mean like the plates under the ocean, that can cause a tsunami when they move?”

His exact words. For a kid that just turned 5, he knows a lot. He understands more than we know.

J