Little Drummer Girl

I hope she keeps practicing, because a one year old that plays the drums would make a great party trick...

More Easter pictures

Group Easter pictures

I don't know what wrong with these kids... I finally got one in, and my finger was in the way...

Super Villian Beard

Ever wonder what makes people turn into a super villian? I know exactly what would turn me into a super villian - the inability to grow a proper beard. It's part of the reason I don't try.

At first glance, a few days growth doesn't look so bad. But let's look closer:

For some reason, this beard 85% of the way back. It seems like it just gives up before it gets all the way across towards the ear line. Grow it out, and you have an annoying spot on both sides of the head, where the cold bitter winds can still freeze your brain, while you are out on the lam.

What beard wearing super villain wants to have bald patches in the beard? You grow it, you want it to fill in. Not the case in this beard. Lots of areas that don't need to be shaved. It's just places on the face for you arch nemesis to mock you with. Keep growing it, it just looks funnier and funnier. Big thick beard, big bald patch. It's one thing to have the bald patch on the top of the head, it's another to have it in the beard.

The world can thank me later for shaving on a regular basis now...

Santa Stew

Every year for Christmas, Santa brings a pile of vegetables for us to make a stew for Christmas. It's the one time of the year the kids will actually eat a stew we make for them. It's one of our relatively new Christmas traditions. (Along with a big breakfast after the presents are all opened...)

Belated Christmas Pictures - round 2

Tom came over for Christmas morning, and brought his (now) fiancée Julie with him. We usually have Tom take pictures for us on Christmas day, here are some of them:

Emma trying to explain who "Dr. Who" is to Julie

Tara and her stash of "Babylon 5" DVDs

Lily

I hear the story goes that my parents found this material in the ship that I came in, and they sewed the outfit with it. That's just what I hear...

Noel - not just a Christmas sentiment any more...

This is the expression on Ruth's face for every picture Tom took of her. I think she it was more about hamming it up for Tom, than the excitement at the gifts, although she did like the book set she is holding here...

Afterwards, Adam would say that this was his favorite thing he got for Christmas. This is a little funny, I pulled it out of a claw machine one day...

Kate (and the other girls) got a lot of books. The word I hear is that somewhere in the middle, Julie leaned over to Tom and asked if our kids liked to read...

Mary is one to always appreciate things she can accessorize with...

The previously mentioned Julie, for those looking for a picture of her...

They all seemed pretty happy, which is really what you are going for Christmas morning...

Belated Christmas Pictures - round 1

This year for Christmas, I made the kids scarves. I started back in October, while Tara was out of the country.

They were pretty excited about them. Ruth and Lily were excited about theirs, they have been waiting for "Dr. Who scarves"...


Tara and Noel we jealous of the scarves, in the past week I made them scarves as well.

The gingerbread man

Ruth narrated "The Gingerbread Man" at school several weeks ago. Tara got a video of it. I tried uploading several times in the interval, but blogger doesn't appear to want to cooperate properly. Here it is, from Youtube. Take that, Google, you are hosting the thing anyhow.

Anyway, Ruth did a pretty good job...

Zhu Zhu palooza

We had another Zhu Zhu Pet infestation for Christmas this year. After the girls went to bed, we showed them to Noel. As soon as she can sit up by herself, we will put her in the front room with a dozen of them, (I am sure we have more than a dozen...) so she can see them all in action.

Annual Christmas Concert

Emma's Choir

Okay, it's Emma's choir in the background. The video's mostly of Emma. And the paper airplane of the kid right in front of me...

Also, Kate and Mary's choir. Some how they were standing near each other. Only one of the songs, because I didn't have a lot of charge in the camcorder.

There you go. The reign of "blurry pictures by John" may be over. Now you get "shaky videos by John"...

Can someone clue me in?

Tara thinks this comic is funny. I have no idea why...

Neighborhood kids...

Last week, Tara was driving down the street to the kids school for a parent teacher conference. She heard a bang, the window in the van broke. Looks like someone put a BB through the window.



I taped it up with packing tape because it was late afternoon on a Friday, and I didn't want to deal with it right away. It turns out that packing tape does a pretty good job keeping the shattered window in place. I've been ignoring the problem since then. At some point soon, I will have to replace the window. For now, it's a non-stained stained glass window, providing an interesting blind spot in the van. Some of the kids seem to like looking at it.

Who sits in their yard waiting to shot out car windows?

Also, how does Blogger know which way to orient the pictures that are uploaded? Does my phone provide that information, or is Blogger guessing?