Bad Hair Day? - Posted by Chris

Nope, not me!

Official Bear Pic - Ian - 9 Months Old - Posted by Chris

One might think that we take perfect Bear Pics on the first try. This is far from from case. If you'd like to see a "Bear Pic - Behind the scenes" click here.

Catching Bugs - In January - Posted by Chris

I'm sure there are many places in the world that you can catch bugs in January however Michigan isn't one of them.

Our "baby" starts school tomorrow! - Posted by Lisa

Well, not school really...

Tomorrow morning, Christopher starts in the child care program at the local elementary school (where he'll go to kindergarten in '09). He'll be going approx 8-4:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays. (sob!)

I've been wanting to get him in this program for the longest time, but he had to be 2.5 and potty trained. So that turned out to be the big motivator for learning to use the potty. At the beginning he'd ask "I go to school?" every time he took a pee! Chris and I decided that once Christopher held up his end of the bargain, we certainly couldn't let him down.

I have to admit that I'm a little emotional and nervous tonight about it. I'm scared that he'll be really homesick and won't want to go back. I'm even scared he won't eat anything substantial from the lunch I packed him! I was planning on starting him with just half days, but the teacher recommended diving right in with the full day. I hope that's the right thing to do!

So I've got his lunch packed, clothes laid out, his pillow, blanket, change of clothes (in case of an accident), and outerwear all ready to go (as well as Ian's since he'll be along for the drive over). I just need to finish up his paperwork (almost done), and get myself showered tonight so we can all be ready to go in the morning.

Any last minute bits of advice?

Flight Lessons - Posted by Chris

First official movie release from Pricekids Studios

The Negotiator - Posted by Chris

A common discussion in our household.

Lisa: "Christopher, what do you want for lunch?"
Christopher: "Hmmm, how 'bout oatmeal?"
Lisa: "How 'bout pizza, or spaghetti, or mac and cheese?"
Christopher: "How 'bout oatmeal?"

What a Smile! - Posted by Chris

Kids say the darnest things - Posted by Chris

Here are a few gems from our household...
"Don't be mad Mom, be happy."

"Mom, you the best girl I have!"

As Christopher and I descend the stairs after bath time, "Hi Mom, Hi Enon (Ian), this is my daddy".

Point to Ian and saying; “Look a baby” as if he hasn’t seen him almost every day for the past seven months.

“I popped a poop”

Ian's Official Seven Month Bear Pic - Posted by Chris

Cookies: Lessons Learned - Posted by Chris

Tonight, Christopher and I worked on a project that I've been planning for some time now. We baked chocolate chip cookies (from scratch)! The cookies came out delicious and the activity was a great opportunity for Christopher and I to share some one-on-one time.

Here are a few of the lessons I learned.

Be Prepared

When working on a project as easy as baking cookies, its easy to fall into old habits. I'm sure most good cooks will recommend getting all your ingredients ready before you start, however I tend to get things out as I need them. This method works when your baking by yourself or with another adult, however with a toddler its difficult to keep him on track and scramble for eggs, flour and butter.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

This title should be the mantra for all parents with small children. Being a engineer by trade, its difficult for me to overlook some of the seemingly unimportant details of a project. During our cookie baking, Christopher was determined to spill as much of the flour as possible. After a few minutes I managed to get my brain under control and decided that an eighth of a cup of missing flour wouldn't ruin the cookies

Give Yourself Plenty of Time

When we started our project I figured an hour was plenty of time to mix and bake a least one sheet of chocolate chip cookies (we had to try some before bedtime). In the end we did have enough time however we bumped into bedtime a little bit. While I believe this activity was worth a later bedtime, its now an hour past Christopher's regular bedtime and he is still not asleep.

Don't Forget to Have Fun

Our cookie baking project was lots of fun and I'm looking forward to planning something similar as the holiday season nears (maybe gingerbread men!) As parents we often forget that activities that we view as work can be great fun for our children. Christopher loves to help out around the house and having him help with baking cookies was fun for both of us.

Just when you thought Halloween was over... - Posted by Chris

Happy Halloween - Posted by Chris

Click here for more Halloween Pictures

Very Cute - Posted by Chris

Last night at bedtime:

Christopher: "Hey Mommy, you a girl right?"
Lisa: "Yep"
Christopher: "You beautiful"
Lisa (tearfully): "Thank you, kiddo"

Birthdays are Bad - Posted by Chris

The following conversation occurred at our house this weekend:

Christopher: "Birthdays are bad."
Lisa: "Birthdays aren't bad, they're good. On your birthday you get to open presents, eat cake and ice cream and sometimes play games."
Christopher: "Oh"

A few moments later...
Christopher: "Hey Daddy, birthdays are good!"

There's no crying in baseball! - Posted by Chris

Besides the Tigers won tonight!

I'm a Hammer! - Posted by Chris

Tonight, as is the case every night, we headed upstairs for our nightly bedtime ritual. After brushing teeth and changing into warmer 'jammies', Christopher asked, "Where's Turner and Pat the Hammer?".

If you haven't seen Disney's Handy Manny then you are probably not familiar with these two characters from the show. Pat is a lovable but not too bright hammer (pictured) and Turner is a rather grumpy screwdriver. Christopher has a toy plastic hammer and screwdriver that he religiously takes to bed with him and which are now named appropriately Turner and Pat the Hammer. After quickly finding Turner in Christopher's bed, I began the search for Pat while Lisa tried to get Christopher to focus on stories.

I looked in Christopher's bed, closet, dresser, our room, Ian's room, downstairs (twice) and both upstairs bathrooms with no luck. I began to get desperate as it became evident that Christopher was not going to go to bed without Pat. "I need Pat the Hammer" he said tearfully. Finally after searching high and low, I decided to check Christopher's bed one last time. This time I removed everything and sure enough Pat was there, hidden under Lightning McQueen (yet another incarnation brought to us via Disney).

With stories finished and Pat and Turner in hand, Christopher crawled into bed (after I convinced him that there weren't any scary noises in his room). Christopher, Pat and Turner are now sound asleep.

Sweet Potatoes are Yummy! - Posted by Chris

Ian's Official Five Month Bear Pic - Posted by Chris

We thought this one was too cute not to share also

Gee your hair smells terrific! - Posted by Chris

After several days of traumatic bath times (screaming and refusing to take a bath), Lisa and I decided that something more than the "Terrible Twos" must be wrong. Our guess was that something had happened during a previous hair washing (since hair washing seem to be at the center of the rebellion) and now Christopher was afraid to get his hair washed.

Armed with this knowledge, I decided to take a different approach for tonight's bath time activities. After succeeding in getting Christopher to get in the tub he told me, "I not get my hair washed". I replied, “Lets get everything else washed first and then we'll talk about washing your hair.”

When it came time to wash his hair, Christopher was very reluctant. I asked him if he was afraid to wash his hair because it had hurt his eyes before, he said "Yes". I told him that we had some "special" shampoo that wouldn’t hurt his eyes and that we would wash his hair in a special way. Actually we always use baby shampoo but we guessed that maybe he had got some regular bar soap on his hands and then rubbed his eyes during a hair washing. I had him tilt his head way back so that soap and water wouldn’t run down his face. Success, after a few minutes we had the hair washed with no screaming.

After his bath, I told Christopher how proud I was that he had been very brave. He then declared, "My beautiful hair is clean!”

2006 Detroit Zoo Trip - Posted by Chris

Today we took our third annual Detroit Zoo Trip. The trip was a big hit and a success for everyone envolved.

Ian didn't actually get too much out of the being at the zoo (we could have been strolling around neighborhood for all he cared). He did do very well though and even took a couple of short naps in the stroller.

Christopher, as expected, got a lot more out of the zoo this year than previous visits. For the first thirty minutes he was constantly asking to see the monkeys and "jaffers" (giraffes) but was soon getting excited about most all of the animals at the park.


We took lots of good pictures and had a great time but after four hours, Mom, Dad and both boys were ready to head home. On our way home we stopped and got some dinner at Buddy's Pizza which was quite yummy.

Click here, if you like to see more pictures of our trip.