Flood Cleanup

I just wanted to share a few pictures of what I saw in the Foothills of northern Boulder (Link Here) this last Saturday (9/21/2013). *** WARNING!! *** HUMBLEBRAG ALERT ***  I was volunteering with flood clean-up efforts through my church. My assignment, with a few other guys, was to man a dumpster set up in the Boulder area which was placed for victims of the floods to be able to dispose of flood-related waste. Instead of just sitting there to watch the dummpster, we decided to go and ask at a few houses if we could help with anything.  We helped an elderly lady remove her soaked carpeting in one house, and helped a few guys who tearing out flooring and walls to remove their waste in another.

As always, giving service to people in need felt really good.  Not that I was patting myself on the back, but it just felt great to be able to help.  As we prepared to leave we drove around a bit to see how others were faring.  We talked with a few people and saw how great the need for help is in areas of recovery.  It was a quick realization that the service I rendered was just a drop in the bucket of the help that is really needed in these areas.

On our way home I took the following pictures:

A closer view:

J's Sayings

The first of the following stories occurred this past Sunday at church.  I had to type it out on my iPad so I could relate it here.  After that C had a few J stories of his own, which I am also sharing here:

09/15/2013

After we partook of the bread during the sacrament, J asked me: "Dad, when we eat the bread do we eat Jesus' body?"

I replied: "Well, no ... we eat the bread to remember His body and how He died on the cross for us."

J: "On the cross? How did he die?"

Me: "People nailed his hands and feet on a cross, and that's how he died. But then he came back to life again."

J: "Oh yeah, then they put his body in a cave."

Me: "Yes, for three days."

J: "And after He was in the cave, He went to Heaven."

Me: "Yes, that's right." 

J: "So, when are they going to do that to me? ... Dad, stop laughing."

-------------------------

08/23/13 

J: "C, I have x-ray vision."

C: "J, just because you have glasses does not mean you have x-ray vision."

J: "But Clark Kent has glasses and he has x-ray vision."

C: "Yes, but he's Superman. Are you Superman?"

J: "Yes."

-------------------------- 

08/04/13 

J: "C, can I play Lego Batman?"

C: "No."

J: "Why not?"

C: "Because it's Sunday."

J: "But I want to."

C: "But Dad said, 'No.' "

J: "No he didn't. He said, 'Yes' ... and I said, 'Yes' too."

Playing with GIFs

Sorry, nothing new or interesting to report this time. However we really need to update this blog since we have moved into a new house in Arvada.  That post coming soon.  I am just trying to upload a GIF I made, and haven't had much success elsewhere.

 

Sorry, that's all for now.

leaving Costco today.

Soriah: Ooh! Little kid! So cute! Look, Mom, a little kid!

Me: (noticing that it's just a regular kid walking with his mom) You realize that you have a little kid of your own at home, don't you?

Soriah: Yeah, but not cute like this one; At least we don't know how bad HE is.

Baking Day

I have french bread to make, cupcakes to bake, banana bread, and apple streusel, too. How would I ever get it done without my little helper?

I couldn't!

He wanted an apron to help me bake and then he grabbed a towel and threw it over hos shoulder (cuz I always have one one mine when I'm cooking) and said, "There! Now I look like a chef!"

Baby J preparing for surgery.

J has to get his tonsils and adenoids out. Today is the day. Here he is relaxing and watching tv.

Daddy-Daughter Facials

Last Friday night S and I had a Daddy-Daughter activity at the church building where we got to paint each others' faces. As much as I would like to say that I did the better painting job, I think S outdid me by quite a margin. One of our activities was a turn at karaoke, and while just about every girl there made their father sing a Taylor Swift song with them, S surprised me by choosing Crocodile Rock. It was a blast! I also love that S knows her Dad and made sure to paint BYU on my face.

With E turning 7 yesterday and S turning 11 next month, I can't believe how big our kids are getting.

really, what did i expect?

E came home from church today (where she has the fortune of being taught by the teacher of her dreams) with a question to share with the family. 

This is the question:
Your mother worked all afternoon to fix dinner for your family.  You don't think it looks good or smells good and you start to complain about it before you even try it.  What question should you ask yourself?  What would Jesus want you to do?

We went around the bed (Buck was feeling sick today so we had family prayer in bed tonight ) taking turns answering the questions. When it got to be J's turn he didn't understand the question, so I simplified it with: "J, if mommy makes dinner and you think it looks yucky what should you say?"

J looks me in the face and announces, "YUCKY!"

Really,  what other answer could there possibly be for a three-year-old.

J's Pre-Thanksgiving Super-Mario Dance Party Extravaganza

So ... our little J has taken to wearing Groucho Marx glasses and wearing his Opa's driving cap and calling himself Mario. The kids got him dancing the other night and I just had to take a video on my phone. I can't guarantee that others will find this funny, but as for his family ... the result left us in stitches (oh, and listen closely to hear Mommy talk of soiling herself):

A true gem that we just had to share. Happy Thanksgiving!

C the artist

C is rarely to be seen without a pencil and sketchbook.
Here are a few of his recent drawings:

Tooth fairy time!

E lost her first tooth tonight!

Sunday Naptime

Sleepiness prevails. J asleep on my lap at church

So maybe I cried a little...

C is in 6th grade. At the end of the year 6th graders at his school go to Estes Park for 5 days. So, this morning after dropping E off at my awesome friend's house (who has saved my tush many times taking E to school when I am running late), I took S and C to school. J and I waited around to see C off on the bus.

C and his BFF are rooming together and are super excited.

C had to talk to J about leaving. J was not happy about it. Here C is trying to console J.

J: No. You NO go on bus.

C: Yes, I am, Jesse.

J: NO! No go on bus.

And then J was mad and wouldn't look at him.

J wanted to go to the car. When we got in he told me to go back to the bus.
"Go get C! Go get him off bus! He's not go on bus! Go get him!"

To tell the truth, I was relieved to go to the car so I could tear up and not feel like a total boob.

But, at least I wasn't alone. J was pretty upset, too.

Hats off!

So S and I went to a mother-daughter event at church a few months ago. There was a photographer and all kinds of fun hats. S and I had our own fun with the hats. Here are some of the shots.

Mammoth Fun

A few months ago our Nature and Science museum had a showing of mammoth bones which had been found recently. Here are some pics from that day. More to come. I have to scan them in.

Not so P.C., or, I see red paint in your future

My mom sent me an email with this link to a truly unbelievable performance.

I can't figure out how to embed the dang thing. . .

Trust me. Watch it. It is only a minute long. I've watched it 8 or 9 times. The rest of this post doesn't make sense if you don't watch it.

Do it. . .

Did you watch it?

No? Go do it, punk!

Now did you do it?

You did?

Good. Please continue.

Well... E and J watched it, too.

E watched it twice then turned to me and said,

"That's so mean! I can't believe they did that to those poor animals.

They should kill them before they put them on a coat!"

I laughed and laughed. She wasn't upset by the idea of killing the little guys at all. She was just opposed to them being made to hang onto a coat.

Are we doing a great job raising our kids, or what? lol

Baby J = Ladies' Man

Okay! We Know! Yes ... but ... you have to underst... it was the one-armed man ... it wasn't my ... will you guys just let me get a word in edgewise!?!?! Good grief!! Yes, I know it has been a while since our last post. Okay ... it has been a LOOOOONG time. I concede ... are you happy?!?? Now, on to today's story:


The girls (S and E) were watching an episode of Hannah Montana, wherein Ms. Montana was speaking with a boy named J (which is the name of our 2-year old boy). Our Baby J was also standing near the T.V. watching, when Miley ... oops, I mean ... Hannah says to the J on the show: "I'm attracted to you, okay?" Baby J answers, with just the right timing, "Okay."


Per J's insistence, we just mailed a signed photo of J to Ms. Montana.

(Authored by Buck via Adrienne's login)

Silly, but I swear there is a resemblance...

Everytime I see

THIS PICTURE

.

.

.

.

.

I crack up. At first I couldn't explain why, but I thought it made Buck look like a dinosaur.

Why?

I think it has something to do with this guy:

Do you see the resemblance?

A case of the munchies...

What happened to my butter?!

A little mousey got to it.

Yum.

He ate the WHOLE thing. I guess he takes after his Cousin Jessica and Tia Catherine.

Oh, and then he threw up.

Nice.

Thanks Uncle Sean and Tia Sarah!

Uncle Sean and Tia Sarah gave the kiddos these cool skateboards with only TWO wheels. Yeah. I tried and fell off. The kids are having much better luck at it than I had. : )

C Rides The Wave (above)

S Gets Her Wave On (below) also featuring E