Merry Christmas

Okay, so I haven't written in a while. I may try to backtrack, and update a few fun things that have happened in the last few months, but we'll just have to see how the time works out over the next few weeks. So the Christmas Madness is on us again. We at least tried to hold off on the tree until December, so that's a good thing I guess. I don't think the kids would have held off for much longer. I can imagine them going in the back and trying to cut one down themselves if we took too long this year. So, everyone did their part, well, except yours truly. I got a bum knee from work last week, and am laid up. I felt pretty helpless, but at least I was able to chronicle the whole thing. So, without further ado, here is our "Trimming of the Tree" slideshow, with a few added fun bits too. Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!

Clemmons State Forest

Last weekend we went to the Clemmons State Forest park, in Clayton. It was a blast! We brought the doggie along, and he was in heaven with all the new stuff to smell. We walked around for a while, and then sat at the picnic table for some snacks, then walked down to the lake. We didn't take TOO many pictures, because we were having too much fun. Here's a little slideshow of the few we did take, and of course you can click the link to see the full size photo album.



While we were at the picnic table, we had some Ritz crackers and peanut butter. It didn't take long before we had some invaders trying to steal our food. Yvonne took a little video of all these ants actually moving two crackers with a layer of peanut butter. It is truly amazing how much weight they can move...



Well, that's it for now.

J

Fourth of July, 2007

The Fourth of July celebration in Clayton, NC was quite festive. There was a band, "The Extraordinaires" that had me dancing enough to embarrass Erin, which as a father is a full time job. I brought the camera just to see how pictures would turn out. There is a pretty neat setting called sports, that takes pictures every half second or so. The slideshow below is what came from the fireworks display. I thought it was worth a look, some of the consecutive shots are pretty cool, you can see the rocket shooting up, and then starting to explode all the way through the fade. I was impressed, since I wasn't even really watching the camera at all, I was just holding down the button. I did have to delete a few that were just too fuzzy, but I think overall it is a pretty cool collection.

J

Solo Saturdays

Well, my wife's grandma has dementia, and cannot be left alone. The family is taking shifts to take care of her, but the weekend shift is 24 hours, so the wife goes tonight at 7, and doesn't come back until tomorrow night at 7. Needless to say, I think there will be some repercussions with the wee ones. We will go and see her tomorrow at Granny's, at least by lunch, but I'm sure everyone will be ready for mom to come home when the shift is done. They all love daddy, but they love him a lot better when mommy's around to keep him in line. When I get to make all the rules, there's a few more heavy sighs from the older ones, and "I want Mommy"'s from the younger ones. But that is the price we pay. I'm sure its gonna be just fine, once we get in the groove of things, but it will definitely be a big change for everyone. Not the least of all mommy. Granny still knows her, but just barely, and she really doesn't have any conversations to speak of. She does do her puzzles, which I think must be some kind of help, keeping her mind at least a little active. So, keep Granny in your thoughts, and my wife and kids as well.

J

Summer Blues

The summer is in full swing. The kids are driving mom crazy. Mom's driving the kids crazy. The only saving grace this week is that the kids are in bible school in the evenings. Even Hailey and Matthew are going, or have gone, as I don't think they'll be going the rest of the week. It doesn't finish until 9, so by the time everyone gets home and starts for bed it's 10. That is way too late for the littlest ones.

I must say, though, that Matthew took right to the whole thing. I showed up to pick him up on the first night, and he was standing up on his chair dancing to the songs, singing right out loud. Of course he kept dancing a little even when the preacher started to pray, but we talked about that on the way home. So, part of me wishes he could keep going the entire week, but we (mom and dad) both could see a hard crash sometime on Wednesday night, so tonight will probably be the last night for Hailey and Matthew.

Erin and Nicholas are in their glory. They love it as usual. Nick was funny though. When they were splitting up into age groups, he was the only boy. Now in a few years I'm sure his expression will be different, but as he realized he was with 9 girls, his face started falling faster than the water rushing over Niagra Falls. Luckily, the next group up volunteered to let him join them, so in that group there were 5 boys and 3 girls. AND he was with Erin, so that made it much easier. In fact he said "It wasn't three girls, dad! It was two girls and Erin!" I guess that about sums that up!

J

Summer Madness

We are entering the third week of no school. The kids are bored already. This neighborhood doesn't have as many kids as the last one we lived in. We do have some new neighbors on one side that have two daughters around my oldest kids ages. They are pretty nice. The youngest of the two can be a little pushy, and loud, but they are both very sweet. I hope they all get along through the whole summer.

We've got to get something together for our two youngest. Matthew and Hailey want to be like the older kids. It's hard to keep the little two from getting on Erin's and Nicholas' nerves. Nick is pretty good with them, but Matthew especially doesn't ever give him a break. He tries real hard, but sometimes Matthew just pushes a little too hard. Mom and I just need to get a little more structured, and have stuff set up to occupy Hailey and Matthew.

And So It Begins

Hey there. This is going to be what I would guess is the "journal" of the family. I am James, 37 (as of posting) and married. My wife, Yvonne, and I live in NC, although I'm originally from Jersey. We've been married about 10 years, and have 4 kids. Erin is 10 years old; Nicholas is 8; Matthew is 3; and Hailey is 2.

We live in a very tight space, but we seem to manage somehow. Must be something in the water. Oh, and I forgot about the cat, Oreo, and the dog, Tank. Tank's pretty new to the group, but he seems to be getting along pretty well.



As you can see, he's a cutie. We called him Tank because of the way he walks around. His full name is actually Sherman Tank. Anyway, I have another place where I'm talking about him. I'll have all that stuff posted here somewhere, once I get the hang of stuff.

So, keep an eye out for updates. I'll try to let everyone know when there's a change, and of course you can always subscribe. See y'all soon, I reckon...