Kids and Christmas

Little man and his truck!

The bliss of receiving.

IT'S SNOWING!!

Ah the joy of giving, particularly when it is to your own children.  These little ones truly do make life sweeter.  Then there is of course the gingerbread house build off, started by this kid-at-heart, it has become a fun family tradition.  

I Had To Say It

Just a quick blurb for a real winner, if you were to cast your eyes upon my recently read section you will find written therein the completion of the great Les Misérables.  I am the proud first time reader of this fantastic book and I can not get over how incredible it is.  Now I know that many have waxed eloquent with regards to this book in ways that put me to shame, yet I must say I loved it.  Wow, can't stop thinking about it. 

4 Wheels, 4 Months, 4 Better or 4 Worse

Just look at those kiddos

I would be remiss if I failed to recognize the endeavor that brought a neglected 4-wheeler and boat into my possession.  Initially the intent was to flip the recreational vehicles and turn a recreational dollar.  As it turns out the boat grew on us and pending its revival it is now slated to remain a part of our family.  The catch was the sell of the wheeler to offset the retention of the boat.  So in the spirit of the D.I.Y. guy that I am I tore into the carb and had this beauty running in a few hours.  Sounds good eh?  Well it ran but not particularly well so I continued to try to improve the performance over what became four months when I had hoped for four days.  Lucy and Will loved the test drives.  In the end we were able to get it running well enough to sell it and maintain possession of the boat, where that will take us no one knows... In the end it was a project with several head aches, a couple of wheelies and generally a fond memory.  Made more fond by the lack of the wheeler =)   

Sweet little angel. (this appears to be in the road, but in fact it is on our front lawn,safety first!)

WARNING: You Break IT You Buy IT

Norton 601

You may ask what a Norton 601 is, or you may simply not care.  I on the other-hand know what it is and care immensely.  Recently this little beauty became the cause of much concern to this self proclaimed do-it-yourselfer.  Follow along, our heater has been giving us fits and so with more confidence than knowledge I launched in to a counter offensive to right the wrong.  (Let me here point out that in the process of the D.I.Y. project the economic advantage is compromised at about the precise instant you you think to yourself was it this one or that one?)  So it is that I picked that one and as quick as that the ignitor for our furnace was out of commission.  This was altogether awful particularly as it was 9:30 p.m. and help was not available.  This fantastic decision of mine led to the wonderful opportunity of arising every two hours to light the heater with a match, risky business to say the least.  A late night search online produced the part but the next day air was horrendous so the next morning I located the part through a helpful heating co. as I worked late Andrea picked up the part.  The helpful fella turned out to have a listening problem as I returned home after business hours to find that the part was not the requested 4" model, yea! another sleepless night.  So two days later it turns out the online find would have arrived sooner, with less running around and five dollars cheaper.  The good news; in the end I only paid $65 and although there was a moment when my heart sank to my toes this D.I.Y. guy fixed his furnace for less than the service visit would have been.  As they say, you win some you loose some.

Christmas Confection Perfection

 

Mutilated apples can only mean one thing...



Phase two.

                                  



Ahh mini apples, it can be done!

 It happens every year, a panicked run to the store of confectionery genius results in a box full of chocolate, caramel and apple skewers.  The resulting project is the product of years of accumulated practice.  It started years ago with the candy coating of full apples which was losing its appeal somewhere around 70 apples in 2007 so came the transition to melon ballers and mini apples.  It took some trial and error but with some success we have turned out these beauties for the past few years, and at the risk of tooting my own horn, they are great, fantastic, stupendous... and down right tasty. TOOOOOOOOOOOOOTT.  So it is, that I now know the Christmas season of 2010 is in full swing.  

Epic Melt-down

Semi accurate depiction =)

In light of my previous post you might conclude that Lucy is on the verge of adult-hood, let me assure you that this is not the case. On Sunday prior to last I was privileged to be made the center of attention in the middle of sacrament meeting by two children who so dearly love their mother that in their consternation at her departure to the stand that I was forced to evacuate the building with not one but two screaming children firmly grasped in the football hold. So as luck would have it to accompany the youth centered meeting the musical number was being performed by the youth and their leaders. As Andrea is in the young women's she promptly left for the podium on cue, also on cue a (as of late) very codependent Lucy also started up on cue. So as Lucy's vocalizations escalated I decided to attempt to leave Will with our good neighbors the Collins who were conveniently sharing our pew. In the foyer as I started to calm Lucy down I heard the distinct wail of our little boy. So I hauled Lucy somewhat calmed back in hoping to be in the clear. Upon sitting down Lucy locked eyes on Mommy and my two monkeys reached a crescendo that drowned out the entire youth program in our ward. So grasping (as previously mentioned) them in the effective fatherly football hold out we dashed.

Disclaimer: This is out of character for either of our kiddos thus more alarming for Daddy and plenty entertaining for the spectators.        

Growing Up

Focus, focus...

What can be said when you see the little one you love so much striking out on their own. No Lucy has not moved out, but she has now denied me the right to help her button up her ni-nights. I suppose only a parent knows the bitter sweet feeling of letting go of such a simple thing as buttoning up a shirt. Silly it may seem, but it was a land-mark moment for me to see her venture into the future with this little piece of independence.