071227 - see toys

071225 - Up early

071225 - Boys made the first trip down at 5am... We sent them back to bed... Everyone up at 7 and the chaos proceeded... Smiles all around!

Oh Supreme Court

Xmas

Test 071231

Test 071231

071224 - Santa

071224 - Santas here...

071212 - Peace?

071212 - Fast day at work, ate dinner on the phone. In the kitchen w/ L watching the 3 boys playing in the play room and actually getting along...

071211 - Went to Karate tonight with the boys. It is making my body sore.

071210 - Cake Sale

071210 - Up and the day was a constant stream... Dinner w/ the family and then off to the cake sale. We bought the Grossel's snowman cake. Dylan's cake went for $45!

071209 - Cake time

071209 - Grant & I hung out while LD&J headed to church. Then we all hit Arby's for lunch and Meijer for groceries. Home cleaned out the garage and then helped Howdy make his cake for the Cub Scout Cake Auction tomorrow night. After dinner we all played steam roller!

071208 - Where's Grant

071208 - Up & out on the town with the boys. Got our Christmas shopping done. Then a reward was Magic Mountian.

071205 - 1st Snow

071205 - Up and a demanding day at work... I'm sore from karate last night. Took a break at 4 for lunch and built a snowboy!

071204 - Up, busy nonstop 9-5. Took karate with the boys tonight. Home and watched TV until late.

071203 - Monday... What else needs said...

071201&2 - Gma & pa Barkers

071202 -Rainy day. Grant, GpaB & I stayed home while the others ran to church. Then we had a big dinner and relaxed as much as possible w/ 3 screin kids & 2 dyin dogs...
Hit the road in the evening and it was very stormy. Home settling down getting ready for another week.
071201 - Up, everyone loaded and off to Newcomerstown. Got there and the boys played & played with all the Christmas decoration. GmaB, L, D & J then headed to the Polar Express train ride witha couple of their cusins. While GpaB, G & I ran to the church to put in a light on the nativity scene & drive around town a bit. I ran out and got us some food, almost got hit by the Polar Express... Everyone home for a peacful night with the exception of Grants lesson on gravity & steps...

071130 - Brain scan & Trees

071130 - Up a bit later and a bit more delerious than usual but back at it. Took a break so L could run to the Dr for brain scan and I took J&G to the store to get their gift for D. Home finished off the day and then headed too Max & Ermas for good but fast dinner. Home and the boys & I played while mommy put up the tree.
071129 - Typical day, huge list and only got bigger... Rushed through the day, then to karate. Played some steam roller with J&G and then stayed up till 5:30am trying to make a dent.

071128 - Kitchen Fort

071128 - Pretty cold today so the boys played inside. Here they have tent set up under the table. Stayed up doing work and watched Hotel Rawanda: pretty realistic and frightening show...
071127 - Today is GamW's B-day! Boys had karate.
071126 - Up and at it. Went to Dylan's Cub Scouts and then to Tim Hortons to meet w/ Joe, Dan & Jeff. Doc is down South for deer season.
071125 - Had Pizzas and discussed buying houses w/ Jim & Karrie Long while all the kids played. Stayed up late watching more of the 4400 TV series.

071125 - Car Races

071125 - Up and everyone fed and dressed. L,D&J headed to church & G&I headed to the Toy store, well 3 of them before we found the perfect gift for Howdy... Back home so G could take a nap & we found the big brothers racing cars out front.

071124 - Holiday Lights

071124 - Up and the boys ate and then straight for the barn! We packed up and headed home. Stayed inside for the afternoon watchin shows, catching up on mail and relaxing. When it got dark we all bundled up and headed across the playground to watch the 2007 Gahanna Holiday Lights parade. It was much more organized than in the past and everyone loved the big Cloumbus Airport snow plow that sprayed snow on the crowd.
071123 - Up and did some stuff on the computer, the boys hit the barn. Then L&I went out and looked at cars and got caught in holiday traffic. Brought sandwiches back to the farm & had lunch with the Loughmans and then outside to shoot a BB gunn & play in the barn. Howdy & I went to Boliantz and Big Lots while the rest of the gang settled down for the afternoon and had our favorite, Chinatown, for dinner. Howdy & Jack then went w/ me to play some poker at Peg & Ray Loughmans. Home and stayed up late talking and designing a dog house w/ GpaW.

Clean -up

After all the barn fun the boys play scientists in the tub mixing up colors and making a mess, but having fun doing it.

071121 - Cousins

071121 - Up in am and rushed past the morning on the phone. Jumped in the car & headed to Mansfield. Got there had a bit of lunch and then jumped on a call(s). L,D,J&G headed out on the farm and explored. Cousin Mark & Beatrice showed up with Melena, Amanda & Isabella. So the 6 kids had the run of the place.

071118 - Bowling Party

071118 - Up early & Grant & I hit the road to Toys R Us to get a Nintendo Wii... we got there @ 8:55 and the place was packed, & sold out... I called all the other stores in Columbus & they were all sold out by 9:02!!!!
Home regrouped and headed to church where Mike & Suzanne spkoe. I missed everything as I was out with boys at various times...
Jack & I split off from the fam that were all going to lunch together for a birhday party.

071117 - Fun Day

071117 - Up and things ready for the OSU vs. Michigan game. Grosell's & Pettit's over to watch the game. All the kids had a great time with minimal injury. Here they managed to get Jack in the butterfly house, which didn't make him too happy, but it was funny...

071115 - Lunch w/ Howdy

071115 - Up in am after working until 2am again... Got everything lined up for the day, then took a break to have lunch w/ Howdy. We went to his classroom and then had a pretty lunch with him.
Home and finished the day under a great amount of stress... Ate dinner real fast, took the boys to karate, did some xmas shopping. Home baths, played a bit, then work till 3am...

071113 - Turkey Songs

0701113 - Super fast day at work. GmaW here to watch the boys while L & I went to the Dr. they are not sure what is going on but gave her a blood testing thingy and we both got flu shots. Headed home and had a quick dinner then off to Dylan's Turkey day song at his school. Pretty cute. He is in the center bottom row, red shirt.

071111 - Bfast

071111 - Everyone up, L got a ride to church & the boys & I are on our own. We made a splendid breakfast. Dylan made the toast, Jack made te scrambled eggs, I did the sausage & Grant got everything he could out of the cupboards.
Today is a special day for our family. 8 years ago today (8:15pm to be exact) was the day we had the accident that changed the way we/I see the world. I may have lost an eye, but I gained the vision of what is really important, the ones we love.
If you are reading this blog, you are a part of our/my life, Thank you!
Please join me today in reflecting on how lucky we are to have people we love in our lives, and for the loved ones that have left us.

071110 - Out & about

071110 - Everyone up & out. L & GmaB setting up for Nicole's shower, me & the boys out for a day of errands. We went Christmas browsing and checked on the houses, anding u at the magic store and McD's to play a bit.

Multimedia message

Baby shower

071109 - Swords

071109 - This was my first full day of work this week... So I tied myself to the desk and did what I could. Ran out to eat a 3 min lunch and a 5 min dinner. Threw D&J in the car and took them to a sword seminr. Dylan is front left in the red and Jack is in black way in the back. The trick will be keeping them from using then on eachother and Grant at home...
071108 - So today started out pretty good, then Lori called from Easton feeling very faint... I dropped everyting and ran to get them. Got her home the kids fed and Teresa ran over to stay w/ J&G while I L to the hospital. We waited a long time in the waiting room, then were in the back until about 6:30; with not new info. They suggested she keep a journal and gave her a different perscription. We will see how that goes... GmaB is here to help with the kids & get ready for the shower Saturday.

071107 - Home

071107 - Caught the 1st flight out of ELP into DFW. Only had 15 min to make my flight back to CMH but made it! Home about 3:30, worked untill 5, then took the fam to Burger King to blow off some energy.

Instruction

This qube is one of the instruction qubes, where they come up with new designs and make the instructions so everyone can put together the toys.

Ready to ship

After the boxes are filled and sealed they are loaded on to pallets to ship out. Here are hundreds of boxes of Star Wars Droids ready to go out to boys all over the world. They make 20,000 of these a day and can not keep up with demand...

Kits

After the many different lines make the kits, the various kits are combined into boxes to make a complete box set. These again are weighed to make sure all parts are in the box.

071106 - Heads

071106 - After I gave the demo we got a tour of the Lego factory. It was so cool!!!!! Here is a bowl full heads, that first came out of press, then had the faces applied. This bowl moves the pieces along by gently shaking them into a counter. The counter puts the exact number needed in a box that travels along an assembly line with hundreds of bowls like this full on the different parts to create a kit. The kits are then weighed to make sure they contain all the pieces.

They make Legos here!

071106 - Worlds Largest

071106 - Up & out. First stop was the worlds largest equestrian bronze sculpture. Then to the other hotel to meet up w/ Palm.

071105 - Cattleman's Steakhouse

071105 - After a long day of travel and several hours work we ended up at The Cattleman's Steakhouse. It is 3 miles out in the dessert, we even saw a wild coyote while eating.

071105 - Work?

071105 - Up saw the boys off to school and did a lot of work fast. Lori attempted to take me to the airport but was too dizzy... scares me. Got on the plane anyway... Hit DFW and jumped on an earlier flight to El Paso. Got to El Paso and it was HOT. Walked across the parking lot to the hotel and then hit the water slide (not really, just teasing the boys). Got settled in and now heading out to dinner with some Palm guys.