The Fort

So by now you know our house is very strange. One of the biggest oddities is a room on the back of the addition. It is about three feet deep and 18 feet long with 11 foot ceilings. It has no access from inside. I think it was built for garden storage. We decided it would make a good fort. Here it is pre-construction.














Bringing up the heavy lumber.

I even got in on the act. Catherine was amazed that I knew how to use a hammer. I think the quote was, "Whoa, YOU know how to do that!"

Aaron was pretty happy when the first floor (about two feet off the ground) was finished.

He was even more excited about the second story. It is like a loft, an adult can sit up there comfortably.

The ladder and railing are the next steps, but for now they get up there with dad power.

Happy Happy Birthday Catherine Dear!

Catherine celebrated her birthday in March. We had so much fun with Aaron's cupcake, she decided to have candles on hers too.

This cupcake was a product of her birthday party based on art projects. The girls had so much fun decorating them and making a mess while eating them.

In addition to the cupcake decorating, the girls made smile seeds that we put in Danish paper hearts, friendship pins, and a bouquet of flowers in a paper vase.

The flowers became microphones and they had a good time putting on a show.

Cora joined in for the opening of gifts and was thrilled to be part of the party.

By the time they went home each girl had a pile of stuff and I was glad to sit down after a day of paint and glue and icing and beads and stickers and busy, busy, happy girls!

Taking On City Hall

In the last month and a half so much has happened! We have become a family of protesters. First, I got involved with trying to get a burning ban for our little village. Most people would think it was cool to be able to burn leaves now and then, but here is what happens when out neighbor gets going.

Here comes the smoke........ better get inside.

And there it is. Enough smoke that you can't see our neighbors roof or our own roof clearly! This happens at least 15 times a year. It is gross. So this complete liberal and I formed the Freedom to Breathe Coalition. We agree on nothing, except leaf burning and the need to stop it. In our small town it has caused an uproar with the people that moved in as Earth was cooling. They don't think things should ever change.

The last straw was when the landlord across the street decided to burn a huge pile of branches and a pine tree. This is what it did to the clear coat of our car. And they said, "You can't prove it was us." Everywhere the ash landed there was a discoloring around the area. Joe got most of it off, but it kind of makes me miss the good old days when you could smack someone with out fear of prosecution. Did I say that outloud?! Actually, I've forgiven them and I'm glad that I am more strongly motivated for this cause. I've heard from lots of parents who have kids that struggle with the smoke. Some have even been hospitalized.

On April 15th I pulled the kids out of school to go be political as a family. They had a blast. We made signs and marched around the park. There was a great cross section of people there. Lots of people wanted to take pictures of the kids with their signs. I wondered if any of them were opening up files on right-wing extremists. Yes, Cora probably has a file now! She won't be able to be appointed as a nutty judge in Illinois! There were maybe 400 people including all three conservatives from the local university who were handing out the conservative college newspaper.

Cora Updates

This is how Cora feels about balloons!

Cora and I love to hang out in Catherine's room and soak up the afternoon sun. On cold winter days there is not a better place to be.

Grandma and Grandpa gave Cora the cutest green dress for Christmas. I was trying to get a picture, but she has figured out that the soft yellow light that my camera puts out means that a big bright light is coming. She kept closing her eyes and laughing every time I tried to get the shot. I'm nothing if not persistent in trying to get a picture, so I finally got these cute ones. Thank goodness for digital photography!

We finally had nice weather. Some friends come over and we sat on the deck and visited for an hour. It was great. Cora had her first experience on the swings at the park. She loved it and was kicking and talking. It was great!

Random Pictures to Share

We have crazy monster squirrels in these parts! Joe has a client that monitors their home via the internet when they are out of the country. It is really cool. He has it set up so they can turn the lights off and on, see how warm it is in the house and adjust the HVAC. They have several cameras that they can control and even they can check to see how much propane is in the tank. This comes in handy when they get a bill, but the guys actually fill the neighbors tank! Back to the squirrels, Joe got an email that the system was down and he discovered the Internet had been taken out by these little rodent terrorists. Nothing some Tabasco sauce won't cure. We found Tabasco not only keeps them from chewing things up, it is very funny when they take a bite!



Who sleeps inside their pillowcase!

Do you remember making these. I slave all day, cooking, cleaning, homework, etc. and no thanks, but when I teach them something cool and life changing like this, then they say thank you at the end of the day.

Family Happenings

Every year the Scouts have a dinner. The dads and sons make cakes for dessert. Aaron and Joe made an ice cream sandwich cake. It took five minutes before school and people were lined up to get at it. Aaron got to serve the cake and he served until there was one piece left, at which time he picked up the plate and walked away. I didn't get a picture of the cake, but here he is. Cora, Joe and Jacob enjoyed playing the piano while we got packed up. Our kids love music!

Aaron's Birthday

Being sick on your birthday is no fun!

When I picked Aaron up from school on his birthday, he was sick. He should have gone to a school function that night then to a wrestling meet the next day. He missed both events and has been out of wrestling for a month now with sinus headaches. We finally got tired of being sick and got in to see the Dr. He and I had the same thing with mine starting a week earlier and puting me out of commission totally as the headaches got worse and better over the course of the last 5 weeks. That answers the question of where I've been.

So Aaron's birthday, other than him not feeling well was fun. Thinking that he would have to weigh in the next morning, I got the smallest cupcakes I could find and we stuck 10 candles in this little bite size cupcake. The next weekend he had some friends over and the completely destroyed the basement. They had a blast. He got a knex set that he put together and tied a balloon to. Cora loved watching the balloon bob up and down.