This is Halloween ...

Another Halloween successfully carried out. No one ate too much candy and barfed. Lest you think that is an idle parental threat ("don't eat too much - you don't want to throw up!"), two years ago, Orion actually did. As you can see in the photograph, we have Ethan on the left as an alien (Ylfelynn made the costume from fabric Ethan picked out). Meri is decked out as a cat. Orion is the skeleton. Brayton has donned a Harry Potter costume complete with the requisite scar on his forehead. Jessica is (as evidenced by the hairdo) dressed as Princess Leia (also Ylfelynn-made). It is a pity we could not find a mini blaster for her to hold. Unbeknownst to us, Harry left his wand at school that day so the Halloween evening festivities were slightly marred by some anxious searching. Tuesday morning, the wand was waiting for him at his desk. Halloween night we visited several neighbors and then hit the church for some trunk-or-treating. 

Reading time

The two resident princesses

Lunch with the littles

Never too young to pitch in

Jessica's room was recently painted. White walls are now some shade of pink (how do they come up with names for so many different shades of pink paint?). Jessica herself pitched in. In fact, everyone except Ethan "helped" out (I think Ethan was feeling cast-impaired). Actually, Brayton painted a sizeable portion of the room. Pretty soon we should be able to turn the entire job over to him.

Broken bones part 2

Continuing with the broken arm story: Ethan was supposed to go in to see the ortho doctor a couple of days after urgent care. Our loser HMO provider, High Desert Medical Group, messed up the paperwork. They said they would call in a couple of days to set up the appointment. I thought that was strange that a medical provider would provide that kind of service and I asked again if that was the case. Well, it wasn't. By Monday, we knew he needed to get in soon. Ylfelynn tried calling, got the run-around, and left a message. Same thing on Tuesday. I call on Wednesday and got the run-around. I call back again and finally talked to a competent person. She expressed dismay that something went wrong and scheduled Ethan for that afternoon. I left work to get Ethan out of school and take him to the ortho guy. I thought we would pop in for a quick cast and be done. No. In the 7 days that had elapsed since the initial break, Ethan's radius had healed enough to require surgery to reset it. So about an hour later, we were checking the hospital for outpatient surgery (we did not even have enought time to go home first). Eventually, they knocked Ethan out, reset the bone, and installed a cast. No pins were necessary. I think the worst part for Ethan was when he was waking up and the oxygen he had been breathing made his nose all stuffed up. We did not even get his Tylenol III prescription filled. He has felt great ever since. The doctor said the cast would probably be on for four weeks. A good thing that's not too long - today I was already noticing the stink arm smell emanating from the cast. Stupid medical provider - don't ever leave anything in their hands. By the way his wrist x-ray looked something like this.

The birthday and the bone

Everyone should get to leave work early on their birthday. I did. It was not the graciousness of my boss nor any sneaking out on my part though. Ethan really wanted me to be home early so he took a fall. Just kidding ... I don't think it was on purpose. During an outing to the park on Wednesday (parent-teacher conferences = no school) 28 September (33 years subsequent to my birth) Ethan said goodbye to the monkey bars he was hanging on and gave a high five to the sand. A couple of hours later, I was gone from work and sitting in the urgent care center. You may recall my previous adventures there. Anyway, here he is that evening with temporary cast in place. He never really cried until the doctor said that he would need a cast. You can see that it is his right hand. He loves to draw and write and is right-handed. He knew it would be tough to have a cast on. He is getting fairly good with his left hand now. Stay tuned for the next chapter: the permanent cast.

Ri the guy

For some inexplicable reason, I don't think there is a picture of Orion (Ri for short) on this blog. This post is to remedy that situation. Obviously, he is plenty cute and should have pictures posted all the time. Here he is on the playground being very serious.

And then ... there was two.

I attended an interesting meeting this evening. Three of the local wards of the Lancaster East Stake met together at the stake center. After the meeting, there were only two wards. Our former ward, the Joshua ward, was dissolved and combined with the other two wards. This was due to rapidly declining memberships of the wards mostly from people taking advantage of the high real estate values by selling and moving out of state. We are now part of the El Dorado ward. Next Sunday, we will attend church in a different building (closer to our house than the one we had been attending) with an entirely new ward. The new boundary cuts through all three wards so everybody has an opportunity to meet new friends. The entire Joshua ward was released from their callings this evening so we are calling-less. We shall see if we get a call this week. I am hoping to be the ward bulletin person.

I guess it works

For Fathers Day this year, I received a hammock. The hammock stand was not included. I favored a nice wood stand like this. Reality, however, set in and we ordered this steel stand for a steal. I immediately took the assembled hammock system for a test flight and the photo shows that it works. This is not a staged photo - I am actually sleeping and the photo was shot without my knowledge or consent.

Spotted at the homeless shelter ...

I think this picture looks like Meri is getting a meal at the local homeless shelter. Don't worry - we have not fallen on such hard times. This picture is from the recent Lancaster East Stake Womens Campout at Tehachapi Mountain Park. Ylfelynn and Meri got to attend (Jessica is not quite eligible for camping yet. They had a great time. Here are a few more shots:

Uhhhh. S'mores?

Got beads?

Ylfe wanted to post this picture of Jessica. Can you blame her? Jess is a big fan of beads. She has a large collection and is usually wearing at least a couple sets.

little bead princess

Phantom menace

Today was Brayton's third game of the Fall 2005 AYSO soccer season. We are in AYSO Region 91. Brayton plays in the boys U8 (under 8) division. Before the season started, there was a parents meeting. There the coach announced that the team name that had been assigned was the "Phantoms". This generated a ho-hum response from the parents in attendance. The coach also said that there was something about "F-4". I pointed out that they probably were talking about the fighter jet - the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom, one of the all-time great fighters. Once I explained what plane this was (Vietnam era fighter, at one time a Blue Angels jet, one is mounted on a pedestal in downtown Lancaster), everyone at the meeting felt better about the name. Here is a picture of him with most of his teammates (one missing). The U8 boys play with five boys on the field and no goalie. The team they played today, the F-22 Raptors (named for the Lockheed F/A-22 Raptor), played very well. So well in fact, their coach invited our coach to play another player (six on five). And then another (which was everybody on our team). Seven vs. five seemed to tilt the balance too far so the game finished with six vs. five. Brayton did not seem real intent on the game. Like a kid spacing out in right field that gets bonked in the head by the baseball because he is looking the wrong way. One of the other moms asked me if Brayton was feeling OK. I said that it sure seemed like something was wrong though I think he was just distracted. We will work on instilling the "eye of the tiger" this week.

the F-4 Phantom menace

Pictures are available once again

I guess I do not need to spend more time trouble-shooting pictures. Here is one of Nessa (Jessica) all ready for church. She is really turning into a little girl.

Picture problems

I have some great pictures to post but Hello is having problems. Your loss. Hopefully it works tomorrow or I may have to spend time to figure out the solution. Ciao.

A hundred grand!

Yesterday, our 1996 Dodge Stratus rolled over 100,000 miles. I should not say rolled over because it has a digital odometer - the sixth digit in the number simply appeared. I wonder if it will ever change again. Apart from a blown head gasket, the Stratus has performed well. I can not seem to find a picture of it at the moment.

Get "lost"!

We just finished watching the first DVD of Season 1 of Lost. Lots of fun. Unfortunately, we stayed up too late on a school night so I must sign out. Good night.

I guess summer is over

It is apparent from the date of the last post that I took the summer off. I am back now. I really want to try and post something everyday. Let's see what happens. I imagine I will run out of material in a couple of days. I notice that Cody's blog has been deactiavted. What can it mean?

Kudos all around

A couple of school year-end awards: Brayton was chosen as Explorer of the Month in his class. Ethan was awarded a gold medal for his work in the Kindergarten Olympics. His events were handball, tug-of-war, and curling. No - actually it was academic.

Brayton, Explorer of the Month     Ethan, Kindergarten Olympics Gold Medalist

Another first

Jessica has reach another milestone - first haircut. It was not really a true haircut but rather a trimming of the misfit hairs. I think she now resembles Susie Derkins of Calvin & Hobbes fame.


First haircut


post haircut Jessica "Susie Derkins" Teare

Grand opening - Jack Northrop Elementary School

On Friday, May 27, 2005, Jack Northrop Elementary School enjoyed its grand opening. Yes, the building is shaped like a flying wing, a shape seen on airplanes such as the B-2 Spirit aka the stealth bomber. The "cockpit" houses the administrative offices (of course). Jack Northrop pioneered the use of the flying wing and the company he founded, Northrop Grumman, built the B-2. Some Northrop family members were in attendance on Friday. The kids assembled outside for some singing and other ceremonial stuff. It was a pretty warm day and there is no shade out front. One kid in Ethan's class fainted (and has since recovered).

Just what the sign says                               Complete with scale stealth bomber on a stick

The view out behind

Now that we have a pool, you are probably interested in the whole backyard. Here is an attempt at a panoramic shot. This is four different photos pasted together. It represents almost 180 degrees of view from the back door. One real nice thing about this house is the trees. The whole backyard is shaded at just the right level. Since it is a dry heat here, having shade makes it very nice outside almost all the time. Of course the pool temperature could be higher but it is hard to maintain anyway since it always cools off at night. The high desert is a different sort of beast.

Backyard panorama

Quality crafted swimming pool ... in about an hour.

Who needs three weeks and $20,000 for an in-ground pool when you can set this up in less than an hour? Recognizing the need for a pool now that we live in the desert, we invested in an Easy Set Pool. Pop-up pools seems to be all the rage right now. I must admit I was skeptical but I am a believer now. We chose the 12 foot by 2.5 foot version. It is shallow enough for Orion and Meri to stand. The older boys also enjoy it though Brayton complains he needs more depth so that he can frog-kick. The complaint is not serious enough to prevent him from spending all afternoon in the pool. I spent two summers as a pool boy for Pool Chlor so I am fairly confident with pool chemicals. This pool promises to be a challenge though - 1,500 gallons is a little less forgiving than 12,000 or more. I have to admit our pool in NY was green once or twice (or more).

Pop-up pool makes Brayton happy!

Jessica is one with one.

Today (17 May) was Jessica's first birthday. The tradition in our home is to let the new one-year-old have their way with the cake. This spectacle has already occurred in our home four times previous - Jessica had a big slot to fill. She delivered - Jessica turned in the best performance we have ever witnessed. We were able to capture some of the glory as shown below:


The birthday girl approaches the cake ...


Step 1: Remove fish girl.


Step 2: Commence cake dismantlement.


Step 3: Feed to hearts content.


Come siblings! Feed with me!


Step 4: That's probably enough cake for awhile.


Step 5: Cleanup.

Curls anyone?

Saturday evening, Jessica experienced another first.

Jessica's first time in curlers


Curls make me happy!

Six years old and loving it.

Ethan has reached that magical milestone of six years old. Much celebration occurred.
General Grievous was featured prominently among the presents. Though it may be some time before Ethan gets to see the movie starring the General (Star Wars III), he is already a fan. He has always taken a liking to bad guys - ne'er-do-wells such as Green Goblin and Skeletor have also been favorites.

Is Ethan happy about his birthday presents? Another monkey puppet makes me happy.

Not to be outdone!

Jaidyn upon seeing her cousin Brayton's stitches on the blog said - "Hey I want some of those." So she let Davin smash the back of her head into the window sill and what do you know. 3 stitches. She also discovered one of Dr Cabey's favorite tools, "the papoose". Screaming and twisting 2 year olds are hard to get stitches into so just strap them into "the papoose" and stitch away.

For the record Jaidyn does not endorse the use of "the papoose" in any way. But the extra large papoose should come in handy once they reach their teens.

Ice cream makes it all better.

With Lucas and a restylized bandage.

Family Day at work

Our lineup of Stealth Fighter pilots