No Way

Open . . . open. Brushing my kids teeth requires focused concentration on my part while my kids practice focused distraction. Caleb has been brushing his own teeth for awhile but Elise is as squirrely as ever at teeth time. The other night I was, once again, attempting to brush her teeth and had to use my most potent weapon. I asker Elise, "Do you want to this the easy way or the hard way." Elise replied, "No way."

The Life

The other night Kirsten was tucking Caleb into bed. He climbed into his bed, manuevered under his covers and as he lay his head down on his pillow with his doggie and mouth bound thumb he proclaimed, "Ah . . . this is the life."

Bear at the Door

I drive through the airport I-215 tunnel with Caleb and Elise on the way to preschool. They like to pretend the tunnel is the bear cave in the children's book, We're Going on a Bear Hunt. In the book the bear chases the adventuring family all the way back to thier front door. Caleb asked me, "Daddy, what should we do if a bear comes to our front door?" I seized the opportunity to coach he and Elise about door answering caution etiquette. "Caleb, that is a good question. That is why you should not open the door but ask, 'Who's there?'. If you find out the person at the door is someone safe that you know you can open it." Caleb followed with the painfully obvious question, "Daddy, why would a bear ever come to our door?"

Elise likes dirt and gak and floam and sand and . . .

Very tactile she is.

With the Greatest of Ease

Caleb soaring into the warm springs of Sunny Side, Nevada. WSBC camping trip - Oct. '06.

Jimmy . . .

Neutron. Negatron. Neutron. Negatron.

We've Been TP'ed

We are hoping toilet papering is one of the love languages of the neighborhood kids. Turns out it was. One mom called to apologize and sent her kids over to clean it up. Good kids.

Lounging Linnea

Here is Linnea enjoying the Vegas Spring weather.

Warm Water + Storage Bin

I've been wanting a jacuzzi in our backyard for sometime now. Our kids have much simpler tastes. Caleb, whom we often call the negotiator, persauded me to fill up a storage bin with warm water and bring it outside. I had no idea two kids could fit in there and have such a good time.

Can't Get Enough of That Tomato Soup

Campbell's Soup would be proud. In order to get the desired quantity at the desired rate of tomato soup into her tummy, Elise ate double fisted.

One More Thing Daddy . . .

Caleb and Elise have a real talent for stretching out their bedtime routine. Even before getting into bed Elise will claim, "I can't sleep." Or, like tonight, she will say she needs to go pee pee then try to small talk her way through several minutes in the bathroom with no pee pee in sight. Last night monsters was the reason she gave for needing to go to our bed instead of her own. Tonight after trips to the kitchen for warm milk and then bagel I was finally about to gain what was left of our kid-free evening time. Caleb interjected, "Daddy, one last thing. The way to get rid of hiccups is to pull a chicken in the butt and drink a lot of milk." Thank you son. Now go to bed.