100331 - Caving

100331 -Up in the am and I had a bit of paperwork to do. Got that done and then we all loaded up and headed south to the Hocking Hills region. It was a nice drive, D&J watched a movie while G caught a little snooze. Our first stop was the Rock House. It was a nice trail and some amazing cliffs and caves for the boys to explore. After this hike the troops were grumbling about being hungry so we headed in to Laurelville, got some gas and found a local eatery. We sat up at the bar for lunch and had some locals come in and the police, which slightly helped keep the boys under control...

Our next stop was the most famous cave in the region Old Man's Cave. It had very nice easy trails and even better cliffs and tunnels carved right out of the stone. The boys really liked this stop and climbed like monkeys all over. This is a really neat place. I can't believe neither L or I have never been here before. Everyone should see this..

About 3/4 the way through the hike G started dancing funny; the I'm gonna poop my pants dance... And we had to get up the hill quick. He really thought the toilets with no water in them were cool! :-o

We loaded back up and headed to one more destination, Ash Cave. The stop had a very nice flat paved trail leading back to the cave. We had to make one stop where G learned how to cross a stream on a log that had fallen. D&J helped him very carefully and he was very proud. We followed the path way back and then this magnificent cave and waterfall were there. You can see all three boys in the photo, that is how huge this place was. They climbed and ran through the water, what fun they had. L was on them about getting wet and staying clean, but what can you do... nature took over and they were drenched and smiling from ear to ear. It was quite remarkable. G was even so thirsty he was putting his hand in the stream and taking a drink :-o
I was a bit disappointed in the trip in that my phone had no service. This meant no calls or email etc, but that is not what bothered me. I couldn't get to my Roadside America or Geocaching apps :-( Back to the car and we pulled off the shoes and sock, rolled up the pants and Mary Poppins got us home just in time for L&J to rush off to soccer practice. DG&I played some kickball and then ran to the store and brought home Chinese. Dinner at 8pm... All boys cleaned up and to bed. Me too, long day.

100330 - Far away Zoo

100330 - Up to the noise and the boys were ready to go to the zoo, the Columbus Zoo. Earlier in the week L had this crazy idea about going to the Toledo Zoo, which I convinced her was crazy to drive 6 hours to see some animals... Well when they were all excited to go to the Columbus Zoo, I thought, you know we can go to the Columbus Zoo any day of any week... L loves the Polar Bears and that is REALLY why she wanted to go to the Toledo Zoo... Sooo... Get your things Winger Boys, we are going on a road trip!!!!

We got loaded up and off we went. We took all the back roads and tried to find some geocaches on the way with no luck. But we did find the Toledo Zoo! We walked and walked, and saw all sorts of animals and then the Polar Bears! Wow these are awesome creatures!





There were lots of monkeys and snakes and bugs and really old neat buildings and a playground. Grant walked the entire day and was a real trooper. D loved taking pictures and J loved EVERYTHING. What a great Zoo they said, Can we come back?

After the cool zoo we headed north as everyone groaned, we want to go home, where are you taking us now? 'To Michigan!' I said, and the groans got even louder. I explained that this would be the only trip they would ever have to take to Michigan, it would only take us 10 minutes and they could at least said they went out of the state for vacation ;-) So where were we going??? To see an American Icon, Uncle Sam, the World's Largest of course!!!
AND TO TOP IT OFF, there was a geocache under his left foot!
HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!?!?!








We signed the book, took some stuff and got out of Michigan as fast as we could!

On the road we hit a Denny's for dinner and then took the back roads home through Findlay and other small towns and saw wonderful houses and interesting places.

Everyday is a road trip with us!


100329 - More Broken Glass

100329 - Up in the am and first day of spring break. We had a loud morning and a talent show! J&G took turns dancing while L played the synthesizer and I provided accompaniment on the mouth harp. D was quite repulsed and didn't want to participate, but he did pet tricks with Lilly, not sure which one was in control...
Back downstairs for some checkers a snack, D dropping his glasses and BOTH lenses popping out! So we played pass the pig and some kickball today without perfect vision. Then after the the J&G naps DG&I headed to the glasses shop where D got his glasses fixed and J had his first eye exam, where he thought it was quite an amazing and amusing event as you can see. But no glasses required yet...
Home to drop off J and D&I headed to his first baseball practice with his new team. It was a short wet cold practice, but D knew some of the boys and instantly made some new friends.
Home, took out the trash with L&D and in for some grub, scrub on the boys and family movie. Now L and I are trying to finalize tomorrow...



100328 - Busy Sunday

100328 - Up and everyone ready and to church. The boys got to parade around the sanctuary with weapons, er I mean palm branches. After the service, D&J went to their Sunday school classes, L to teach hers and G screamed until he got to join L.. I went up and sat in the back of the rock-n-roll service to work on the Raising a Modern Day Knight book. Then we all gathered for a couple songs and an easter egg chaos/hunt.
Grant picked Cici's for lunch. We ate fast and then headed across the parking lot to see 'How to Train Your Dragon'. It was a cute show and L&G caught a little snooze during the of boring part. Home for a change of clothes and dog run, then back out to dinner at Tumbleweed, followed by a trip to Target. Home all boys to bed.

100327 + Turds & Kickball


100327 + Up to a loud house and then turds floating in the basement??? What a way to start spring break. I got things cleaned up and the drain guys called. Then DJG&I headed out. We hit the banks and then Meijer before L called to let us know the drain guys were on the way. We rushed home and met them. It took the guys a couple of hours to clean out the main drain. The boys enjoyed the experience and the we had some interesting conversation while snaking the main line.
D had pulled most everything out of the shed for me so after the drain guys left we headed to the backyard to clean up the shed. Jim & Carry Long stopped by to drop off some Girl Scout Cookies and give us the details on the expected third baby they now have on the way!!! CONGRATS!!!!
Back out to the yard and the yearly cleaning of the shed. L had to go watch Sam and Lena so it was just me and the boys in the backyard, drinking pop and beer and working and playing. We got the shed cleaned out and ready for a full summer of action. The boys played a little baseball, did some swinging and rough-housing with Lilly. Then we all loaded up and headed to the Home Depot to get some supplies. Long John Silver's was the next stop for a good dinner. When we got home we played the years first official game of kickball!!! After a good game we headed in, grass stained and stinking. The boys were hungry again????
We got snacks and then headed to the movie room to watch 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'. It was a great movie. L got home and was frightened by the dirty messes they were. G even had his pants on backwards :-o
Showers for all boys and then off to bed. A good and busy first day of spring break!
100326 - Up fast day, bailed out a bit early D&I ran a couple of errands and got some movies for the weekend. Home and played some catch with the boys in the backyard. J had a friend over today and was pretty tired but still did great at soccer practice tonight. Watched 'Astro Boy' in the basement.

100325 - sNOw!?!?


100325 -UP and WHAT IS THIS??? SNOW? NO WAY!  I am SO DONE WITH SNOW!!!!  Worked fast, ate fast, went to Scouts with D.  He actually planned out a trip we are going to take on Spring Break next week to Hocking Hills.  Home and trying to relax.

100324 - Up worked all day.  Nice day outside and the family playing some catch in the backyard.  It turned ugly when G took ownership of J's baseball glove and refused to return it... So after dinner we headed to the stores.  First stop the glasses store AGAIN...  today D dropped his glasses and the arms broke off the damn things...  UGH!!!! then to Meijer for a new baseball glove for J, a new baseball tee for G and new bases for D.  I stayed up way too late watching movies.

100323 + Clashing

100323 + All up in the am, D had a tooth ache...  Worked a full day day and then time for a bit of sword fighting with G.  It ended as usaul: Grant learning several new words he shouldn't and my knuckles red and bleeding...
L ran D to the dentist to see about his 'toothach' and he came home with a plastic bag containing one of his molars partially eaten away by a GINORMOUS cavity...
We played some Pass Pigs, had some ice cream, got hair cuts and then 'All boys to bed'.  I stayed up watching LOST, doing some work and then watching basketball.




100322 - Back at the desk for a full day.  Brian to rental and 'collecting' for me...  D&I ran to the bank and then to the camera place get DVDs we are having made from old videos.  We had dinner, took the old PC from the playroom apart while we watched the old movies on the DVDs. 'All boys to bed' and L has the house to herself as I head out to meet the Bible Bangers.

100321 - All up and L&D to church so D could acolyte.  Andre, JG&I headed out to Best buy and a sports store.  We beat L&D home and J&G, two very tired boys, fell asleep.  Andre and I enjoyed the spring day and put together the baseball throw back contraption I got for D.  We had a late lunch and ran to pick D up from a b-day party, where he mangled his glasses...  So we stopped at the glasses store on the way home... In the afternoon my buddy Chris came over and we watched the Buckeyes on the big screen.  We had Andre all dressed up in OSU garb so other than his accent he wouldn't stick out much ;-)  We then had to deliver Andre to the airport for his long journey home.  The boys already miss him.
We then headed to Reynoldsburg to pick up a netPC for the playroom and swing by subway for dinner.  Bath and bed for the boys and I got the new PC working and set up.  To bed early tonight.

100320 - Taste of USa

100320 - Woke up early by the natives wanting to see me after a long week away.  I was not the only thing they wanted to see...  Andre is with me to 'experience' us in the USA...  Oh and he got his fill...  Breakfast with the natives and then everyone up and out to the Pinewood Derby.
D had an exceptional race day!  He came in 2nd in his den!  His best year yet and we stayed for the finals.


More of Americana coming right up....  We hit the gas station to fill up our HUGE American gas guzzling SUV, get some tobacco and headed to the highway.  One last stop for lunch...  none other than... WHITE CASTLE for the unsuspecting Netherlander.  He LIKED IT!



We had a very pleasant drive up to the Farm and as we pulled in the driveway were greeted by two wild mustangs (Dusty & Nibbles) running wild in the front yard...  It was quite a welcoming committee.  We got out of the car, got our barn clothes and boots on and went down to help catch the wild horses and build them a new pen.  Andre was put to work straight away, no time for formalities on the Farm ;-)  After that experience he received a tour of barns and some history lessons.

We wanted to show Andre the Falls before it got dark so we took him up to the Camp and walked him back hundreds of years through time.  Told him the legends, showed him the faces on the rock walls, the bent trees at Hoppy's grave and searched for Indians in the pine forest.




On the way back to the Farm we stopped at Dulce's sugar shack and explained the art of making maple syrup and Grant even got to do the zip line!  Back to the Farm house for visit to the spring house, Farm house (including the attic) and all of the great things that come along with it.  See us American do have some history...  We finished the Farm visit off with some Chinese food from Chinatown and good conversation until the boys started falling asleep.  We got them loaded up and headed back home.  On the way I drove him through downtown Columbus, past the theaters, state house and pawn shops.
We had loads of good conversation you can't have everyday when working through the stuff we normally deal with...  We ended the night laughing and coughing incredibly hard with the Blue Collar comedy tour.

100319 - Flying Home

100319 - Really fast morning at work. We actually got accomplished everything we expected. Then said our goodbyes and headed to the airport. Cindy & Josh headed to Houston and Andre and I headed to Atlanta.
Once in atlanta and happily seated in a TGI Friday's drinking American Coca Cola, I checked in with L: J had soccer practice and D had trial runs for the pinewood derby. L says his car is FAST...
Andre and I then got on the jet to Columbus. We got home about midnight and the house was quiet so we decided to get some rest ourselves. L was up a bit not feeling well :-o.

100318 - D had baseball tryouts and was in the draft. L said he did really well.
This is a house I want to buy in Mexico City.


100317 - Working Crew


100317 - Up and in to the plant early again. Things were a BIT stressful today. A LOT of hard work was done... This is the main crew I work with here. A nice group of folks, makes days like today tollerable: Guido, Andre, Julio, Cindy, Josh, & Jaap. Here we are waiting outside of the secure site for our van. We waited out here for 45 minutes making jokes about kidnapping and the other horrible things that might happen :-o. It did give me time to call L & GpaW and have other conversations that were not work related. We then had a miserable long and bumpy ride to the hotel. More work, and hopefully some sleep...
Back at home, J had soccer practice.

100315 - Adventure


100315 - Up and met the team for breakfast.  We then headed to the lounge to get some stuff done.  After a couple hours of staring at our screens we decided that we should at least get some fresh air.  So they team forced me out of the hotel and on foot, in down town Mexico City...  :-o
Today is a holiday in Mexico and not many people stirring about.  We tried to find a place for lunch, but not much success and ended up in a 'Tony Romas'.  I know, not very adventurous or exciting of a place to eat when in Mexico City, but the best we could come up with....
After lunch we walked back, past the hotel, looking for a monument we have seen for years now but have never gone to.  In fact if you look close in the previous post you can see the top of this monument just to the right of Andre's head.  Well we found it with not much trouble.  We think it is a ware memorial...  I took my picture and back to the office in the sky for a bit more work.
Tonight we have agreed to walk to a restaurant we found today for dinner.  I will let you know how it goes...

100314 - Office in the sky

100314 - Up for breakfast and then to or makeshift office in the hotel lounge for a long 13 hour day. We broke the day up with games of 'Pass the Pig'. The team gave me strange looks at the introduction of this game, but soon feel in love with it. We got a ton of stuff done, so tomorrow should be a pretty nice calm day.

100313 - Clear Skies

100312 - Up and got stuff packed. Had a good morning at home. After lunch L& the boys took me to the airport. Said goodbye (always hard!), and off I go.

Met up with Cindy & Josh in Houston and them Andre in Mexico City. We arrived safety and got a bite to eat, all exhausted from traveling. We will regroup in the morning.

100312 + Bubbles Ready


100312 + Up  and working, getting everything finished up on all fronts before the trip this weekend.  I heard lots of laughing outside my window today and found LJ&G blowing bubble out front, thinking that Spring was here.
After work I loaded the family up and they sat in the car while I got a quick hair cut.  We dropped off some letters and then hit target for some last minute supplies.  We had a nice dinner at Steak & Shake and then Lori realized she was hot... now she has a fever...
Home got Lori medicated and I stayed up with the boys watching 'Pale Rider' & 'Kelly's Heros".  D&G stayed up way past their bed times with me, but J fell asleep not long into the first movie.  While we watched the movie D helped me decide which iPad and accessories to order :-D.
"All boys to bed" and off to get some rest myself.

100311 - My Knight in Shining Armor

100311 - Up, feeling a bit better today.  I did the usual work all day, run out have dinner then off to Scouts with D.  We had a game night at scouts and everyone played various games.  The Den leader and I faced off in Cribbage, pretty cool.  After Scouts D & I hit Caribou Coffee.  Now let me give you a little insight to this next section...  I am, with a group of other dads in the area doing this 'Raising a Modern Day Knight'.  Our assignment this week was to interview our sons and see how we are doing as dads...
So here we go...
D got hot chocolate, I got coffee and we found a comfy place to sit.  I explain the Raising a Modern Day Knight things to him and he looks interested, it si quite cool.  I asked him how I was doing and he squirmed around a bit and said 'Your doing ok'.  He then burns his mouth horribly bad with the hot chocolate, I get him some ice water.
I then ask him what it is I do best.  Without much thinking he says 'Do stuff and Build stuff with us.  I love it when I get to do stuff with you and you take the time to be with me.'  OK so we are making progress, he is opening up.. Maybe I am doing ok!
Then I ask, what can I do better????  Not much lag in the response here either  :-o  He said 'You swear too much and work to much.  I want you to become a teacher so you can have the entire summers off and be with us more.'  Well I tried to blame the swearing on his mother, but he wasn't buying that....  But the teaching thing didn't sound like such a bad idea....
We had quiet a long conversation about many other things; what things were like when I was a boy, what we think cars will be like in the future...  all sorts of stuff.  And then we talked about Jack.  About jack being sick a lot and how careful we have to be and especially how scared both him and his friend were only days ago at the Sugar Camp when Jack nearly choked to death...  It was a hard discussion for us.  But a good one.
One last question before we had to leave...
What is the one thing you would change about me if you could?
D responded without any hesitation at all, 'I would give you your eye back'.
In everything we talked about, this hit me the hardest.  Fighting back the emotions, it was time to go....

What a good young Knight I already have!

100309 - Cars Out


100310 - Fever Broke!

100309 - Up and sick, but  worked all day.  This project will not fail...
In the evening after dinner, all medicated, L&D to baseball practice.  I stayed home with J&G and got the electric cars out of the shed, lifting them over all the other junk that has been piled in there over the winter.  The had a blast driving over the remains of the igloo and chasing each other all over the yard.  L&D home, everyone cleaned up and to bed.  Feeling a bit better and with too much to do I stayed up, watched LOST, and worked till 1am.

100308 - Zippppp


100308 - Up and worked all day.  Didn't feel the greatest all day and sore everywhere...  Then I thought I should check my temperature...  Sure enough I have a fever of  101.
I did muster up the strength after dinner to go outside and see the zip line the boys had built in the backyard.  I like them creating things, especially together.  It was very cool, and after I tightened it up a bit for them they had a couple of good runs.
L had a meeting at church tonight, so I got the boys cleaned up early and we watched a bit of TV.  When L got home I medicated myself and headed to bed.  I can not be sick...

100307 - Trap


100307 - Up, LD&J to Church, G&I out errands and met up with LD&J for lunch.  We all headed home and built some leprechaun traps, with visions of holding them hostage until they give us their pots full of gold.  Althought I am not sure how much gold a little leprechaun pot can hold...
It was a rough night all indoors together.  This whole weekend and preceding events are just too much: Jack, houses...  I feel weak all over, to bed early.

100306 - Out of Phaze

100306 - What a gorgeous DAY!  The sun is shining, the sky is clear blue; how much fun is today going be?!
The boys were all up early and down to the barn!  They had a lot of fun real fast. I picked D, his friend & J up, and LG&GmaW went with us to the Sugar Shack back in the woods to help our neighbor make some maple syrup.


We got there and all hiked back to the sugar shack and met up with the sugarin team.  It did not take the boys long to see work would be involved and they vanished off into the woods to see what they could find. They found buckets on trees, tubes running from tree to tree, a stream, a camp and a zip line! FUN FUN!!!



LG&GmaW hung around for a bit until G realized that mommy thought he was too little to try the zip line and he lost it...  Back to the Farm they went.  But D, his friend and J were out for a day full of adventure!
I hung out in the sugar shack and tried to make myself useful and understand how the process all works. Seems a mystery to most, even the guys that have been doing it for decades... We carried firewood and gathered sap, modified the boiler and then were called in for some wood stove cooked breakfast.  The boys stopped in from time to time to check in and all was good.  This time they must have smelled the food and came in and took off all their snow garb.  They had some doughnuts and sausage.  They were thirsty, so I grabbed one of the gallon jugs of water and poured them each a glass.


THIS IS THE POINT WHERE THE FUN ENDS FOR THE DAY.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE STRONG NERVES, PLEASE READ NO FURTHER...

D and his friend went back to sit on the bench and Jack was just staring at me; foaming at the mouth.
I got down to his level and looked him right in the eye and said 'Jack are you OK?'
He shook his head NO.
I said 'Jack can you breath?'
He shook his head NO again!
I spun him around and hit him on the back, everything went still and quiet.
I spun him to faced him again, asked him if he could breath, he shook his head NO as his eyes stared into mine frightened beyond all words, and his lips turn blue.
I spin him around again, put my fists in his gut and with every ounce of strength I had did the Heimlich maneuver, I thrust my fist into his stomach several times.
I spun him to face him again, asked him if he could breath and knew the answer this time before he shook his head NO as his face was turning BLUE and eyes were bulging.
I yelled to the men in the shack to call the squad.
I grabbed Jack up in my arms and started running to the road to be able to meet the squad, mind you we are WAY back in a woods...
As I cleared the shack and crossed the bridge in Olympic sprinter time, I thought to myself and prayed to God: Why?  We just learned he does not have cancer...

WHY ARE YOU TRYING SO HARD TO TAKE HIM FROM ME?!?!?!?!?!?!

Knowing how little time I have, I stop up the hill a ways, ask him again if he can breath?
NO he shakes his head.
I do the Heimlich maneuver again with all of my might,

YOU WILL NOT DIE ON ME!!!!

NOT TODAY!!!!!
A large amount of water bursts from him mouth, he gasps,

  JACK IS BREATHING AGAIN!!!!

He is taking very shallow breaths, but is breathing...  The guys call the squad and let them know.
I carry Jack in his T shirt and snow soaked socks back to the shack.
I give him some water to drink and he immediately spits it out on the floor.
So I take Jack outside so if he has to spit again he can.
He tries and spits it out.
I tell him "Swish this around in your mouth to clean it out a bit and then spit it out."
He does.
I then say "Jack, I need to be sure nothing is stuck in there.  You have to drink just a little sip of this."
He does, but then has to spit a lot.
We are in the clear...
I take him back inside and hang his wet socks on the stove and hold him.
I hold him for about an hour to warm him up and make sure he is OK...
He wants to go out....  So I get him dressed.  As I am getting him dressed L calls and asks 'Is everyone alive?'  I reply 'Barely', her not knowing how serious that statement is...

Jack and I walk hand in hand across the bridge, the bridge I just ran across carrying him, to find his brother and his friend.  He runs off to go sledding with them....

I go back in to the sugar shack and let out a HUGE sigh of relief and we all discuss the events...  Not long after this, a new guys shows up to help.  We offer him some of the awful coffee, but he just wants water.  He grabs the jug the boys drank from, pours himself a glass, takes a drink, and spits it out all over.  He catches his breath and says 'This is NOT water.  It is BLEACH WATER!'  We all stare at each other as the realization hits us.  Jack took a HUGE gulp of bleach water and the chlorine closed his airway.  Not only that.... It was the same water he spit out after he started breathing again, swished his mouth out with, and took a final sip of....
OH MY GOD!!!!
The guy that runs the place takes the jug, says 'Yeah, I brought this down yesterday to clean stuff with, I don't know how it got mixed in with the other water jugs.'...  He poured it out and another guys says, "Well this also explains why the coffee tasted so shitty this morning. That is the jug I used to make the coffee..."  We all had some....

!!!!!!!!!!TWO VERY IMPORTANT LESSONS!!!!!!!!
  1. LABEL THINGS
  2. If you don't know the Heimlich Maneuver,


    LEARN IT TODAY!!!!   NOW  -> LINK

I stayed around for a bit.  Carrying firewood, checking on the boys, talking about the process, trying to do anything but think of the enormous horrifying event Jack had just gone through.  I am amazed at his resilience.  He is the toughest little person I have ever met.  Although I keep myself busy I am DEEPLY troubled.  I say goodbye to the other men and gather the boys to head to the Farm.  D, his friend & J are under STRICT orders not to say a word about the event.  I could not go through it that soon with L and GMa&paW.

We get back to the Farm, gather our things and leave as quickly as we can.  It is quite obvious that something is not right...  When we go out to get in the car, several Aunts and Uncles drive up and we excuse ourselves as politely as possible.

On the road now, and Lori is on to us...  She asks us what happened.  Jack tells his version and she is horrified.  D and his friend give their pieces of the story and she is struck to tears.  She turns to ask me about it but the tears are streaming so hard down my face I can barely see to drive...  We get control and I give her my details.  She calls poison control and our Dr. right away.  'He will be fine.' is what they tell her.  Too much.  It is just too much...

We get back home, drop off D's friend (explain to his parents what he went through today...) and unpack.  We have only a couple of moments before LIFE takes back over and we are off to D's basket ball game.  It was a good game, what I could focus on....  Home, and a poker game I committed to go to was tonight, with some of my best friends, that I could use their company after today....  I play for only a short time before I realize I am not having fun and need to get home and FEEL what happened today.

I get home.

I check on all my boys, and L.

I fall to my knees in the living room and cry and cry and cry...

I then talked to God....



100305 - Bobsledding

100305 - UP and a rough start with D this morning.  He got in a considerable amount of trouble and was being grounded.  However he was suppose to go to his buddy's house after school and Lori didn't think it was fair, as he had been looking forward to it all week.  So we gave him the choice to make:
  • You can go to your friends house after school and be grounded and do nothing this weekend (we are planning to go to the Farm, he knows this, and being grounded would mean he could not go with us...)
OR
  • He could not go to his friends house (meaning he would have to explain to his friend why he could not now go) and then be allowed to go to the Farm.
Neither of these was a win win for him...
....Much thinking later D decided to explain to his friend what he had done this morning, and thus not be able to go home with him, but still be able to go to the Farm.  He left with for school with tears rolling down his face (L too).  But he made a choice.

I had a fast paced day trying to get tons of things done and in line.  Actually got most of them done and in good shape.  During the day Lori called the mother of the boy that D was suppose to go to after school  and explained the situation to her.  She was very understanding and appreciative that we stuck to it and were enforcing it.  L and I talked this over and came up with a plan...  D got home and I called him into the office and had a talk with him about his actions this morning and the decision he had to make.  I congratulated him on making that hard decision and told him to get his things ready to go to the Farm.  Still sad, but eager to go, he left the office.  I finished up my stuff and off we went.  but we had a surprise.  Because D made that hard decision and followed through with it, and especially since the friend we were going to see is a very nice little fellow, we picked D's friend up on the way to the Farm, he was going with us!

We got to the farm.  I surveyed the damage to the shed (WOW!!!) had a call to make, and then the snow pants went on and the sleds came out.  The snow had been freezing and thawing and had a really nice layer of ice on top and the hill in front of my Mom and Dad's house is one of the best in to sled down.  All the boys had a blast and set new distance records, almost reaching the road.  After a bazillion trips down the hill they ran in and got armored up to head to the barn for some 'shot the mommy' games and had even more fun.  The night was topped off by some fantastic Chinese food, a ping pong ball war and the finalization of plans for the annual Maple Syrup Day at the Farm.

100304 - Blue & Gold


100304 - Up and full day of work.  Out of the office and Jack not feeling too well so L&J stayed home for dinner.  I packed up D&G and we headed to the annual scouts Blue and Gold Banquet.  We got there and got our seats and then boys being boys vanished, returning periodically with a piece of pizza or a cookie.  Both of my boys did reasonably well, for the setting, with listening, but then the work calls started coming in and I spent most of the evening in the hall on the phone with various folks from around the world trying to solve a problem.  This stress, plus the noise and general mayhem took me over the edge and we packed up and headed home home so I could help solve the work issue (4 hours...).
I had a talk with D tonight about if he really wanted to do Scouts anymore.  I feel that we are just giving up on too many things because it is too far to drive or there is always an argument that 'I don't want to go to ___, I hate it'...  Well when presenting it to him logically he understood the frustration and realizes if he commits to a program he is going to have to follow through and no more 'I hate its...'.  So I think we will stay in a bit longer.  He is a good boy and learning how to make decisions.

100303 - Typical day.  In the evening I spent a bunch of time with D in the shop finishing his Pinewood Derby car.  It looks really cool this year and we have everything set on it just right.  D really enjoys doing with me and I love it when he says 'I wish we could do this more often, just me and you doing stuff like this.' and it breaks my heart at the same time because I need to spread myself out so much with the other boys, who want me around and I want to be with just as much, and trying to find any moment to talk to L, and work, and this, and running here, and that, and going over there...

100302 - Fast day and then out for a makeup basketball game for D.  It was a really good game.  They lost, but D was his most aggressive yet.  Not as aggressive as the kick that tried a full blown Mahamid Ali right during the game (luckily missed) and made everyone gasp in horror...  Back in the car after that game and a short lecture from me on how unacceptable the throwing of punches was (in less of course you are in full gear at karate and are suppose to be doing so...) during a game, and to STAY AWAY FROM THAT KID!

100301 - Good News and Jet pack

100301 - Up and back to the desk. We got one bit of really good news today: Jack's bone marrow test is back. Marrow has depressed myeloid cells, points to his auto immune issue, but no Leukemic or cancerous cells!!!!
 I Worked a full day and then out with the boys. Over the weekend I had found a YouTube channel that had a young kid making movie props and cool stuff.  I showed it to D so today was make stuff day. D got a hot glue gun, a couple pringle cans, a cheezit and brown&serve box and made G a jet pack. It was cool and G didn't even want to paint it. He loved his jet pack and wore it all over the place zooming around.
JG&I tapped the maple tree in the back yard today getting ready to make syrup. We called Dulce & Uncle Roger making plans forthe Maple Syrup Day at the Farm in April.
After dinner, D&J made machine guns out of cardboard. They really liked making their own things. I got them off to bed, then out for a short meeting with the Bible Bangers.