100429 - Dave to the Rescue

100429 - Up and had a big fight with a guy from Chase Bank early in the morning; threw my whole day off...  Worked and then Dave stopped over for a bit to chat, play with the boys and dinner.  Always great to have him stop by.  After dinner D&I went to his practice and he did some pitching :-o  Back home and stayed up late working.

100428 - X-RAYED

100428 -  Up, morning and over to the office for a meeting with Ivo and Rien.  We then went to the 'All hands meeting' to get an update on how the company is doing.  Then Cindy, Lee, Ivo and I headed out for lunch, where we were able to sample Josh's home brewed beer, very good!  Then on to the airport where I received my first full body x-ray at security :-o  I couldn't get on an earlier flight so I killed a couple of hours doing mail and a presentation.  J had a Dr. appointment today to get evaluated for OCD and ADD (wonder where he gets that???)  L and the boys picked me up at the airport in their jammies.  Got them home and to bed.  L tried to stay up and watch 'The Time Travelers Wife'.  I locked down my facebook account and watched Spartacus until late.

100427 - Up and over to the office for an all day meeting followed by a big dinner.  We tried a couple of geocaches and found one for Ivo.  Back to the room to watch LOST.

100426 + Fort Independence

100426 - Up and had a couple calls this am, all work finished up by 2. Spent some time w/ the boys and G ran to the bank with me. Said goodbye to them and L dropped me at the airport, heading to Boston. On the way in to land our jet was side by side with another jet and I got this picture of it as we passed over Fort Independence.
Got off the plane and met up w/ Cindy & Lee. We got to the rental car place and right next to it was a little league baseball game where the Boston Mets (same name as D's team) were playing (both D&J had games tonight that I would have missed, but were rained out). We got the car and headed for the resturant. We met Evan, Rien & Ivo there for a really good dinner. Then to the hotel, checked in and ready for a couple days of meetings (& hopefully some geocaching).

Location:Waterloo St,Lowell,United States

100425 - Up and everyone to church, G still not going to his own class, has to be with L...  Home and L and Nicole took off to Newcomerstown to Steve's concert and dinner. D&J building stuff (guns and rocket launchers out of misc pieces of pipe w/ the hot glue gun) in shop, G nap.  It was rainy so to get us out of the house we took a trip to Gander Mountain to look at guns.  We got dinner at Culver's, which was good, except for when G dropped his chocolate milkshake on my foot :-(  On the way home we hit a couple of geocaches and found a cool new skate-park we want to try out some day.  When the battery died we gave up on the geocaching and headed over to Joe's to check on Mary and drop off Avatar.  Home got the boys cleaned up and to bed.  I stayed up waiting on L, watching Spartacus & touching up the Winger coat of arms.

100424 + Up and fixing things that have been sitting around waiting for attention...  D&I went to his baseball practice and hung out until they canceled it because of rain.  So D&I ran some errands and had a good time together.  When we got back home DJG&I watched 'Predator', they were a bit scared, but REALLY liked it.  We got some pizza for dinner and it is still raining, so we stayed inside tonight and watched Avatar, what a great movie!  After all boys to bed L&I stayed up and putting historic info in sequence to upload to blog some day...

100423 - Coat of Arms

100423 - Up worked all day.  L did some mowing and the boys helped me pull the pump out of our well for its yearly inspection.  D went to his friends house to play.
We all got in the car, stopped by to pick up D and headed to Subway for dinner, then to Blockbuster for some entertainment, then to Once Upon a Child so L could seel off some old strollers and stuff.
Back home and Brain stopped by for a beer and to play sword fighting with the boys.  When Brian left the boys and I headed to the basement to do one of our Raising a Modern Day  Knight assignments.  Tonight we designed a family coat of arms.  The boys like surfing the web looking at examples, coloring the blank shields I printed off for them and giving me ideas.  We did this all while watching '7 Faces of Dr. Lao', a 1960's movie that had G hiding behind the couch...  I got the boys to bed and then worked on the coat of arms; below is what we ended up with.

Definitions:

The motto banner on top is in Latin and mean 'Five as one always"

The white shield signifies sincerity and peace.

The Helmet is of the protector design and stands guard over all.

The blue diamonds represent me (M on top of a W, makes 2 diamonds).

  -  the Blue signifies strength and loyalty

The golden chalice w/ oak leaves signifies Lori

  - the chalice is a represent the female

  - gold is for generosity

  - oak leaves represent fertility

The orange cross represents God

  - orange signifies a worthwhile ambition

The green chevron signifies the roof of a house and its protection

  - green is hope and loyalty in love

  In the chevron are my three sons:

    - symbol of the first born = shape label = Dylan, purple for regal

    - symbol for second born = crescent = Jack, gold for generosity

    - symbol for third born = star = Grant, red for warrior

The bull signifies valor and bravery, as well as out roots in the Farm

The bottom banner is our name.

100422 - Picnic Lunch

100422 - Up and got a couple calls out of the way. Then L had to take J to Children's Hospital for blood work. It was to be a short visit so I agreed to watch G. G&I played kickball, then baseball, then this and that... Several hours had passed and no sign of L&J... So G&I had lunch on the back porch and then I got a movie going for him so I could get some stuff done.  Aunt Nicole and her crew showed up to help watch G so I could get back to work (Thank you!!!).
L got home and got our boys under control and watched Sam & Lena for a bit. She reported on the hospital visit. Jack's blood is still the same (low white counts) and the hemotologist wants to wait 6 months to see him again. This visit involved a new Dr., a Physcologist... J has gotten into the habit of washing his hand dozens of times a day and his hands and forearms are severly chapped. The psycologist was not surprised and said it is quite common for young children coming into the hemotology labs to get this, because the hear over and over how they can't have any germs or get sick, this makes them want to wash their hands all the time, over and over...
I finished up my day, we had dinner, L mowed the rest of the yard.  G&I fixed some things and pulled the pump out so we could fix it.  D&I to his baseball practice and I got a walk/run in.  Home and got the boys to bed.  Watched a couple movies, to bed.

100421 - New Mower

100421 - Worked all day then out for dinner. After dinner L&J headed to soccer practice. DG&I cleaned out the shed and got the mower out so we could get it running.

After some lessons and sweat we got it running and my new mower was ready to go. D is the new mower! He is doing pretty good and for now, thinks it is cool. We will see how long that lasts...
Well the mower had a gasket missing and soon it was covered with oil and smoking....  I finished the back section of the yard as quickly as possible and the boys played.  L&J home and they joined in the playing.
After I got everyone to bed I tore the mower apart again and started reconstructive surgery.  I found the problem fixed it and put everything back together, hope it starts next time we try to use it...  :-o
My buddy Joe called tonight.  Today his wife underwent breast cancer surgery and it was found that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.  So the surgery was much more invasive than originally planned and the recovery time and pain will be much more intense.  Joe said he has learned one thing for sure, "cancer sucks!"  Please keep Mary Dixon in your prayers for a good and speedy recovery.

100420 - Fire Practice

100420 - Up and at the desk all day testing. Jack over to a little girlfriends for a play date and them they came back here. They are very much alike and enjoy little Playmobil guys and tiny pieces. They even went to the bathroom together :-o jack said, 'well she had to go too'. No big deal to them... L took dinner to a family and backed over Jack's bike. I had the boys lay in their beds, pressed the fire alarm, had them feel the door and then practice climbing out their windows. L home and We had dinner. J&I then took pieces from his mangled bike and D's old bike and made him a good one. I then fixed the bow staff D&G broke. Then fixed the pitching machine so everyone could take a turn hitting. J took off with Jim buddy to get some ice cream and the rest of is had a snack at home and got ready for bed and LOST.

100419 - Dig It

100419 - Up and working. @ lunch Lilly found a chipmunk hole and dug in burying her whole head. After work and a super fast supper we all headed to the park. D had baseball practice, LJ&G hung out atthe play ground and Lilly & I went for a walk/run (C25K). All home, cleand up and all boys to bed. Off to meet with the Bible-bangers. Doc came home with me after the meeting and we ordered him some more business cards and signs.

100418 + Pack-up

100418 + Up way too early for some cold eggs and no coffee...

D wanted to go shooting so we headed to the range and some of his friends and their dads joined us. He was doing really shooting and respected the gun and taught the other scouts how to handle it properly.







D helped tear down the campsite and get everything loaded up. The remaining scouts took a really nice hike to a cave, pond and covered bridge.







After the hike we headed home and grabbed lunch on the way. We got cleaned up, our stuff unloaded and DJ&I went out while L&G took a nap.













We met up with then for dinner and then headed home to watch a movie and finish the day with a double header of TLCs hoarding show.

100417 - Cold Camp

100417 - Up in the freezing morning and met Gma&paW at the soccer field. The typhon like winds drove Gma&pa, D&G back to the house while L&I stayed and froze. J did really good at his game despite the cold.


GpaW,D&I went to the store and got some camping supplies. We came home and started packing up. Soon D&I headed out, picked up the Grossl boys and made our way to the campsite.


We soon had things set up and were ready. We shot Ds BB gun and had a pretty horrible dinner. The boys took a hike and I got the chickens ready. When the boys returned we sat around the campfire, told stories, turned the chicken and had a good time. When the chicken was taken off the fire the guys ate it up lickity split, it was delicious! Soon to bed for a VERY COLD NIGHT.

100416 + Mulch

100416 + The boys had a 'Late Arrival' day at school today. I worked and the mulch arrived. The boys played on the mulch, not realizing how heavy it will be for them soon... ;-)
Out to dinner where they had an indoor play place. Poor D was too big to go in, and he wanted to so bad. On the way home I let him call one of his buddys to join us in watching 'Clash of the Titans', the old 1980's version. All the boys loved it.

100415 - Climbing Base

100415 - Up in tha am and the extension for my contribution to the Obama help everyone out plan has been submitted: as I continue the short sales on two investment properties that are not eligible for any of the new Obama Programs. :-D

After a long day of working for the 'man' I take D to baseball and run my C2 5K, leg HURT!!! LJ&G join us and D did some catching. Home and watched some movies.