There goes another tooth

Wow this is one busy Tooth Fairy. Reuben already has a tooth coming in so its good that the baby one got out of its way.

I think Tipper liked her bone

Here is Tipper's bone right after she got it. A short time later she dropped it at the back door and whined to go out. That was around 8 pm. This is her bone 12 hours later. Must have been a good one.

Last Night of Hanukkah

Thankfully Hanukkah is over :-) The kids get so may gifts between us and all the wonderful aunts, uncles, and grandparents that they get crazy. Considering all that, the kids were really good tonight though pretty gift giddy.
Tipper really felt left out and was using full sad dog guilt tonight. Fortunately, we were prepared with a great gift for her that she loved. Since we gave Tipper her new bone, I haven't seen her. I'm sure its now somewhere safely buried in the backyard!
And, for Hanukkah and my wedding anniversary I got an XM radio. Looks pretty nice and I'm psyched to try it once the battery charges overnight. Karen's going to get a new wedding ring that she has already picked out.
Enough of the gifts... It has been nice spending all the time together. I've been helping the kids with their Lego sets, played a few rounds of nok-hockey, and even played two games of the Star Wars board game they got. Been nice.

Tooth Fairy Visits Again

Last night Reuben joined the toothless club on a baby carrot. He's got a bunch more coming as all his front teeth are a little loose.

JCC - Hannukah Party

With nothing open on Christmas, the JCC usually hosts a party and this year it also falls on Hanukkah. Karen, Faith, and Jacob went while I stayed home fighting a virus and Reuben needed a rest.




Then is back to opening another set of gifts... click to see the movie
click to see the movie

Also all these pictures and movies were taken with Karen's new camera. She likes it a lot - a Kodak M1033.

Mommy And Daddy Cash In

Night four was our turn to get some goodies...


Yeah. I know goofy face.
I've already played the front nine of Gary Player's Sun City course. Thanks to an easy mode using what the game calls 'All Play' I was under par for the nine holes. It's pretty fun, but I can see on the advanced mode it playing very difficult.

Or course the kids weren't left out either... yes more legos and a castle for Faith's dolls.

Hanukkah Gifts...

Yes another slideshow. Hard to pick just a few pictures.
Today was another Star Wars theme for the boys and doll theme for Faith... I'm sensing a trend :-)

Visit From Uncle Mark, Aunt Jess, and Cousin Lena

We hada wonderful visit with Mark, Jessica, and Lena. Lena is super cute and loves Tipper! All the kids got along great. Best of all as a Hanukkah gift Mark and I got tickets to the Skins game today. It was very cold, but a lot of fun.

Early Hanukkah

My parents cam for a visit this week to help out around the house and see everyone before they head to Florida for the winter. Soooo we had a an early Hanukkah gift exchange.


Awesome nok-hocky set brings back some great memories.




And a movie of first Nok-Hockey tournament:


And of course the blooper video:

How to Get The Kids To Clean The Basement

Two words: Lightsaber Fights

I motivated the kids that if the basement is kept clean they could have light saber fights down there. So tonight Jacob quietly finished dinner, ate dessert, put his dishes in the sink, washed his hands and then disappeared. So I called out, "Jacob where'd you go." Back comes, "I'm in the basement cleaning." Soon afterward, Reuben and Faith joined him.




Then the kids wanted to take some pictures:
Jacob's

Reuben's

and Faith's

Argon Kids Holiday Party

Kids had a good time at the Argon holiday (Christmas really as there were no other holiday references) party. With a moonbounce, balloons, face paint, pizza, and ice cream what's not to love.

Faith At Swim Class

Faith has been taking swim class after pre-school this year and she's starting to show some improvement. Pretty soon she'll be joining her swimming brothers.

Thinking of snow

This morning the kids and I started thinking and hoping for some snow this year. Then later in the afternoon we got a new computer for Karen and had to start looking through some old CDs looking for some install disks. In the process I found some old movies I backed up to CD several years ago. Below is one of a big snow storm in 2003 featuring the first new member of our family - Tipper.

Tipper is a year and a half old in this movie; still with the puppy spirit. And actually, even at seven she's still got a lot of puppy in her.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a simple Thanksgiving today, though Karen made a great feast. Our friend Ken joined us in the afternoon and for dinner. All in all a nice quiet holiday.




That is, all quiet until Jacob threw up about 15 minutes ago...

Thanksgiving PlayTime WithTipper

Tipper makes a great catch at about 1:10 into the movie.

Back From Louisville, KY

The family crew hit the road last week for Kentucky to see uncle Marc get married. The wedding was great, all went well, and Faith was super cute as the flower girl. We also really enjoyed Louisville, except for the drive...

Another One Bites The Dust

Two teeth gone in a week. At this rate he'll be ready for an all liquid diet soon.

Another tooth bites the dust

Jacob said that his tooth was wiggly at dinner and was bleeding. When we got home I touched it and it came out. It wasn't even the top tooth that has been lose for 3 months. That one is still there but will probably be gone soon. It was amazing how quickly he was willing to go to bed when I told him the tooth fairy only comes when all the kids are sleeping. You can see on the bottom the 2 new teeth that have since grown in.

End of the Soccer Season

Kids had great games today. They've really come a long ways. Faith was a bit slow to start but then kicked it into high gear for the last half. The boys were great; very focused. Below is a slideshow followed by a video of Jacob's score.

Backyard in Autumn

Kids were out making leaf piles this morning having a blast, until I came out with my camera!

Election Day At The Zoo

Karen took the boys to the zoo yesterday, while Faith still had pre-school.

Jacob, Jacob, Jacob

Tonight was a good one... Sometimes jacob even outdoes himself! For Halloween the kids got glowsticks, so tonight they begged if they could sleep with them. Well, about 15 minutes after going to bed, Jacob comes downstairs crying telling us his glowstick exploded! When we got to his room his walls, bedset, and pajamas were aglow in neon blue. Needless to say we gave Jacob the sponge and he cleaned down his walls. And I think he's going to start earning and saving for a new bedspread.