Joe is Funny

Joe (walking into kitchen) : Mom, what smells like pizza?

Me (obviously cooking dinner) : That's pizza.

Joe : It smells like pizza.

Me : It is pizza, see, in the oven.

Joe: I like pizza.

Me: Yes, Joe, I know.

Joe in Pencil

Isn't this a fun picture of Joe. I just love Photoshop!

Playing at the Playground

Isn't this a nice park! We'll definitely have to come here again and play. Very nice.

Here's Jacob Roberts, and Jim. Jim's sure having fun!

And my Jacob, having fun on the "ship".

Here's the boys. I think they're playing monster, or Godzilla, or something like that.

And here's the whole structure. It's a ship. Clever, eh?

Ice Cream!

After our trash clean up, and some time at the park, we decided to get ice cream. They only took trash, we we only had $8, barely. So, with some scrimping, everyone got something!

Eme and her ice cream sandwich

Tom and his swirl small cone

Joe and his baby vanilla dipped (cherry) cone

Jim and his baby vanilla cone

Jacob and his small swirl cone

Brent and his vanilla dipped (cherry) small cone

Brent and Jacob

Me and my swirl small cone.....aren't I hot today :)

And poor Jim. For as cute as he is, he just isn't a photogenic child. I have to work so hard to capture his cuteness. I see it all the time. Every time I look at him. But when the shutter clicks, it captures the silliest looks. This isn't what he looks like all the time. The camera just captures funny faces. Oh well. Just know that he's extremely adorable!

Cub Scout Conservation/Service Project

Today, Saturday, was the day of our Conservation/Service project. We decided to pick up trash. Originally, we were going to go to the Joliet Ironworks place, but we decided that this other spot was better. It had a playground, and an ice cream place. Much better! It was just off of Ruby Street, on 53. Nice park. It appeared to be very clean, but the tree line was a mess. I think that we dented the trash, though!

Here we all are, getting ready to go, going over the ground rules. Stay away from the road, stay with your buddy, don't pick up anything dangerous, don't fall down the hill. Pretty common sense :) Thanks so much to Catalina Mendoza (Enrique's mom) for bring the rubber gloves. They sure made the project a lot more fun! No worrying about touching nasty trash!

And here's Joe, sad that he was told to stay out of the giant puddle. I know Joe, life can be cruel sometimes!

And Jimmy with his bag. He was my partner.

Look how anxious he is to get started. Well, that is until he noticed the playground. Then, I picked up the trash around the playground, and he played on the toys. I think that if he were Joe's age, I would have enjoyed myself a bit more. I spent most of my time watching him and Enrique's brother. Oh well. 2 more years :)

Here's Chaim's little sister, Emeline (who were partners), and Chaim's mom. I can't remember her name off the top of my head. I have it written downstairs, but I'm not going down there right now :)

Here's Tom. Don't get too close to the edge! It's a long way down!

And Jacob, with the first of his trash bags! The big kids really did get a lot of trash!

The found a big broken trash can in the tree line. I think that takes the cake for "biggest piece of trash"! He's working with Jared and Jared's uncle.

And here's Eme, posing for the camera :)

And Tom and Jacob. After they got this bag filled, they went pack for a second. Most of the other kids had their own individual bags, but these two were working together. So, they needed 2 bags together. Well done, Tigers!

And here's the group. Lets see if I can get everyone's name!

Chaim's mom, Chaim's sister, Catalina, Emeline, Joseph, Brent, Enrique's brother, Enrique, Chaim, Jared's uncle, Jacob, Jared, Jacob, Jacob's sister, Tom, Beth, and Jim.

OK, I didn't do too awful on names :)

Saturday Morning Breakfast

I think that Jim is actually trying to smile in this picture! Good job, kid!

And Joe, you know the, "no toys at the table" rule! (But you are cute!)

Here's Jacob, and here's ALL of his cereal :)

Home At Last!

Brent finally made it home! Yah for me. I was expecting him at 4pm, and he showed up at 1pm. Even better!

When the boys got home at 3:30, we started to load up for an evening out. We went to Old Country Buffet for dinner. The kids had received free dinner coupons from school and the community fair from last week. It's not too bad to eat out when you only have to pay for 2, instead of 7!

Jimmy, of course, fell asleep on the way there. He we laid out coats on the floor, and he slept through the entire dinner. About 10 minutes before we were ready to leave, he woke up. Good timing. Just in time for some Mac and Cheese, Fruit Cocktail, Cottage Cheese, and Cheddar Cheese.

The food was quite tasty. Yet have you ever noticed that at a buffet, the first 2 bites of something are always the best. Stop after 2, that's my new idea. 2 bites then move on to the next thing. That way, it won't start tasting gross :)


Then, we went to ToyRUs. Usually we walk around the mall, or Target, and the kids aren't really interested. But this time, we went to a store that we knew they'd like. We looked at most of the sections, and let them see all the cool toys. Jimmy had a good time with the plastic dinosaurs. He didn't really like them, and we all had fun teasing him by making them roar. I know, we're stinkers :)

After we left Toys R Us, we decided to go to Deals for a Dollar, and get the kids each a toy. Toys R Us is way too expensive. Tom and Jake both got dart type guns, Eme got a magnetic horse playset thing, Joe got a sword with sound effects, and Jimmy got a dinosaur. I got some earrings. It was a pretty fun trip, but the most fun part was having Brent back home!

Ballerina Boy?

Joe is a ballerina, through and through! He, Jacob, and Jim had fun trying on Eme's tutu this afternoon. Silly boys!

It didn't really fit Jacob, so he eventually tried it on his head as a veil.

Farewell to a Friend

Tonight, we sadly morn the passing of our dear friend, Fin. He was a good friend. He was Jim's 3rd word. He was red. He was a fish. We will miss him!

Here he is, seconds before he was laid to rest at sea....er...in the septic tank in the front yard. Farewell friend!

Goodbye Fin.....you will be missed!

Potato Soup

Sorry, no neat picture for this one, but I do like potato soup. I made a frozen pizza for the kid, and made potato soup for myself. Brent's at his training, and why cook for real if I don't have to. This was much easier!

Ingerdients:

1 medium potato, cubed
14 baby carrots, sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
5 pieces turkey bacon
2 cups chicken broth
1 Tbsp parsley
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp margarine

• In a sauce pan, combine first 6 ingredients. Cook until potatoes and carrots are tender.

• Turn down heat. Add butter until melted.

• Combine milk and flour in separate bowl. Add to soup.

• Stir until soup slightly thickens. Eat!

This delicious soup is only 520 calories. For the whole soup. Eat and be full! I finished it off, and now I think I'll burst! I love being full!

How to get your Mom to call you in 10 Minutes or Less

Send her an e-mail about a tornado siren going off 2 times in a row, and don't say much more. It'll work everytime!

This is why I won't live in Plainfield!

So if I had a fancy subdivision, when where would my kids learn about playing in the mud....

Or playing with random chunks of bricks .....

Or finding just the right stick to poke in the mud....

Or getting rocks and dirt in your boots.....

Or finding random shopping carts.....


And pushing them through the mud....


Then turning them into a boat....

I have memories like these growing up (minus the shopping cart). I can remember the "cat" making big tracks in the mud, then the rain filling it up, and making us a lovely swimming pool.

I can remember making forts in the forest. And playing with sticks. And found stuff. And getting dirty. And not having grass. And making our own fun.

This is what suburbia is missing today. It's "modernizing" life to a point that I don't think that we want to go. Me, I'll take life "20 years behind the times".

Cool Tom

I'm not sure what the 1/2 smile or the leaning is all about, but here's Tom. He thinks he's so cool. What a silly kid. But I do like the jacket on him. It's Eme's, but it looks cool on Tom!

Cub Scout Recognition

Good job to Tom and Jacob for all of their advancement last night!

Tom received about 4 or 5 of his Tiger beads last night. He now only needs 2 or 3 more until he earns his rank badge! Way to go Tom!

Here's Jacob earning his Webelos badge! Way to go Jacob. All of your hard work paid off!

And here's Jacob pinning it on his dad. He would have pinned it on me, but I was being the camera guy. Oh well.

But I did go up front when Jacob gave me the Mothers Day present that he made in the den meetings. It's a wooden Hot Plate. He built it, and stained it. Good job Jacob! I'll use it and think of you!

And here are the scouts, listening attentively!