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

Wednesday activity

Wednesday, Ethan's kindergarten class enjoyed a field trip to the local children's museum. Ylfelynn, Orion, Meri, and Jessica got to tag along.


Krabby Patty coming right up!       order up, Squidward!



The solution continues to elude me ...     Meri grabbing groceries



Never too young to start exercising

The other Friday tragedy

At approximately 8pm Friday, one Brayton took a tumble and kissed the corner of the wall. I do not mean a "peck". This was a violent kiss. He tripped over a random box of toys adrift in the family room. He was carrying Jessica and did not see the box. He probably sacrificed his face to set Jessie down softly on the carpet - she was fine. After a sizable amount of blood and 3+ hours at the urgent care, Brayton now looks like this. One stitch in the upper lip and five below. He says he felt nothing after the intial injections of local anesthetic. What a trooper. Too bad I did not take a picture before the stitches - we would have to change the rating on this site.

6 stiches makes me happy

A Larson wants in

I talked to Amanda last night and she wants in on the whole blog thing. She is a Larson but I guess we can make an exception this once. Also Mathew is a hacker so its all good.

Tragedy strikes in the backyard

On Friday, we went outside to check on the dove's nest we had been watching in the backyard. It was only about five feet off the ground in the ivy on the fence so it was easy to see. There were two eggs in the nest. Sometime Thursday night, the ivy was torn from the fence (cinder block wall actually) by the wind or something and the nest was dumped. On Friday, the mama dove was gone and the nest empty. Rummaging around in the foliage below the nest, we found the two eggs. One was slightly cracked. We quickly dismissed the thought of making an omelet, however exotic that may sound. The kids wanted to attempt to save the eggs. We made a nest of feathers in a cereal bowl. They are still sitting on the counter. No sign of life. We will probably lay them to rest here in a couple of days, sniff.

Displaced nest

Eggs in simulated nest

So this is how to post pictures

The Lancaster Teares 
Here is us in front of our home. What else can be said? Oh I know. We got rid of the vine choking the pillar in the left of the photo - it looks much better now. Also Ylfelynn was not too keen on the little white fence. It is no longer with us.

admin rights to Cody

Cody - you have admin rights - I did not get a chance to fiddle some more. I did try and post a picture unsuccesfully - I downloaded all the stuff and still no picture. I need some more time to fiddle.

Link

How do I put a link to my blog site over there
<--------------------- I click on edit me and they want some money. Put this Cody Blog

over there hmmmmm

Sunday night fiddlin

I am dinking around on a Sunday night. Is a blog for me? Do I have sufficient free time to support such an enterprise? How come you park on a driveway and drive on a parkway?