Sometimes we forget... but we have cute kids!!!

The new ham in the family: Karen said she kept asking for picture to be taken. And now here is a movie of the boys "reading" a book together:

Wet and Damn Wet

So far my basement has been saved by my little Sears submersible pump that I have sitting in the drain well outside the door out of my basement. The picture to the left is from last fall when I didn't act quickly enough and the whole basement flooded. All around me neighbors' basements are failing, many having never had water problems before. We loaned out our shop vac last night. All hope is that our little pump keeps at it and we don't lose power. Here is an interesting view of our rain totals for Annandale from Friday through this morning. Additively, we're about 10 inches of rain, with most of it falling Sunday night.

The Boys Hit Vegas

The MIT boys had a great time in Vegas. Did some cards, ate some good food, and Lotwin and I saw a night of boxing at Ceaser's. Blackjack at the Mirage Fine cuisine at Joe's in Ceaser's Palace Me and my pal Sweet Pea, Pernel Whitacre. Tyson, Lennox Lewies, and Buddy McGrit were also at the fight. And of course the ring girl. 

Hot and Damn Hot

I'm in Sacramento today: High temperature: 103. Tomorrow I head for Vegas: Forecasted high: 109. But its a dry heat....

Job Number 1 - Complete

This evening I did a couple of coats of flat ceiling white paint and that did the trick. Look a lot better; the off-color spots are gone. These picture you can still some areas drying.  

Bathroom update - So much for a peaceful weekend

Wen I stripped the paint I exposed quite of bit of bare drywall. It turned out it was very hard to cover. I'm using Zinsser Perma-white which is a self priming paint with mold and mildew resistance. It says to use 2 coats, but it needed 3 in spots. When I check in the morning it may need a fourth. First Coat Second Coat Third Coat Having the light on here may be hiding a coverage issue. But it looked pretty good when I examined it close up. As you can see my spackling talent is a little weak. I know with spackle the more you play with it the worse it gets; its just so hard to stop yourself. But in the end, there a only a few spots that stand out. Certainly looks better than when the paint was peeling. BTW, I dropped the job numbering since it is doubtful I get past job #1. 

Warning: 3KDS&1DG goes political again

Today the Post published a letter from the US Embassy in Iraq, dated 12 Jun 2006. It is a fascinating candid look at the problems that the embassy's Iraqi employees are facing daily. After reading this, it is pretty clear that claims that only the "bad" news is reported, is false. These events are the norm and being faced by people working for the US, though they are afraid to tell anyone that. From the White House June 13th: The Unity Government In Iraq Is A New Opportunity For Progress. Prime Minister Maliki has laid out his plan to advance his most pressing priorities in Iraq. And the events of last week – completing the formation of the government and eliminating the terrorist leader Zarqawi – mark significant progress toward realization of our shared goal of a free and peaceful Iraq that is an ally in the War on Terror. Unfortunately the embassy letter paints a more dire picture. From the US embassy: From the Embassy, a Grim Report

Job #1 - Bathroom Ceiling: Update

After an emergency trip to Home Depot for more spackle. Things are starting to shape up. But what a job !@&^!#$ Here's the bathroom looking pretty clean (compared to what it looks now!). After stripping the paint where it was peeling After spackling and sanding. Couple of touch places but overall not bad. I still have the other half of the ceiling to sand. Right now the bathroom has a nice fine dust over everything. Should be fun cleaning. Well. I'm about done with my break back to sanding. 

Home Alone == To Do List!!

First up for tomorrow is making the upstairs bathroom's ceiling ready for painting. Here are the before pictures: And my helper for the weekend:

Early Father's Day

Karen, the kids, and Andrea are heading up to NY tomorrow for a very long weekend (thru Tuesday). My sister-in-law, Tracy, is celebrating the completion of her residency and then everyone is going to celebrate Father's day up in LI. I'm stayin home because I have a lot to get done before heading out to Sacramento on Wednesday for business. So..... Karen and the kids wished me a happy Father's Day this evening. Photos courtesy of Andrea 2006 

A little freaky - courtesy of Scott

For Nana

Everyone's a critic... Here is a picture Faith without the laundry basket in the background.

Weekend Update

We went to the Fairfax County Fair on Saturday. It was really good, but very expensive. Rides were $3-$4 a ride (though you could buy an unlimited pass for $15) and food was pricey with most sandwich items being $7. The weather, however, made it all worthwhile; 75 and sunny. We went with our friend Susan who was great keeping everyone together. Even still I hardly had a chance for photos with kids going every which way. Anyway, this is the best I got. Nice picture of the Mom in the train car. Wish I knew who she was ;-) And as for Jacob, that is about the best facial picture I have of him from the day. He wears his hat so low, he can't even see where he's going. The fair disrupted sleep schedules, though everyone napped. But... we paid for it today. Jacob was stubborn all day long. He skipped his napped as well. He fought it for a little, but was happy to hit the pillow around 6pm tonite. Earlier in the day we went to a nice park. Here are some phone pics. Jacob practicing for Fairfax's Passion Play (a joke, but that's the first thing that hit me when I saw his pose)

Daisies and Petunias

What's blooming....  

Our little bohemian girl

Got to love the flip flops - Karen

Like Father, Like Daughter

Bonus Question... Can you guess my age? (Faith is 2) 

Moving Up Execises and Tipper New Bone!

Pre-School Moving Up Exercises were today Faith was invited to particpate. She's the class' officially roadie. Karen said it was a very nice ceremony. And no, our kids were not left back. They are just very tall. Today was also Tipper's Birthday Here's Tipper waiting for her present... This great looking bone. As soon as she saw it, Tipper ran outside. And went to the far reaches of the yard. We didn't hear from her for a couple of hours when I had to go call her in. I think she really liked her gift.