eternally chaotic

Red Delivers Christmas Eve

Isi — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 04:57:35 +0000

Christmas this year introduced a new member to our family named Red. And NO to those of you thinking the unthinkable – the family head count remains at a solid seven, including the dog. This little persons name, after much enthusiastically and somewhat fanatical debate among existing family members was determined to be “Red”. Red the Christmas Elf. He would only be around for a few weeks out of the year, didn’t eat much and pretty much remained stationary throughout the day – at some point during the day, when our eyes were cast elsewhere, he would just vanish until the next morning. Red had some specific rules about being touched or bothered as well – certainly the kids were to strictly forbidden to touch him and to leave him alone lest he lose his observational and somewhat magical powers granted by the spirit that is Christmas. Red’s job was to cast a watchful eye upon his family, take score of the good versus bad and report back to some higher power a recommendation as to which list each household member might befit. Somehow during his strictly “observational” process he would always find a way to cause mischief and leave a mess.

Two nights before Christmas however, Red left something additional in each of the stockings of the Children of the Corn. A gold dipped envelope containing a silver inked letter from The Man himself. Now was the time of reckoning. The time of knowing. Was it the good list or the bad. What did Santa think? What did he know? When we opened our weary eyes the next morning would they sparkle and shine from majestic reflection of silver and gold or be dim from broken hope and disappointment.

Each of the Children red aloud so that we might know.
Only two more nights to go.

We must have been doing something right,
As when we gathered together for Christmas night.
We found a letter attached to our tree.
A letter that could only be from He
Was attached to our tree.
What might it say, what could it be,
this letter attached to our tree.
Opened and red by Carol Lee
Was this letter attached to our tree.
Inside was a riddle that brought us to glee.
A mystery that we must unravel to see,
why the letter was placed in our tree.
Through the house the children did chase,
To find the wrapped boxes Red did place.
Each in turn leading back to the tree
Where displayed for all to see,
was a cleverly disguised box holding a Wii.

After the paper was cleared and calm was restored, midnight munchies were set out for Santa and the reindeer. A concoction of cookies, fresh oats, granola and some whole milk – a taste that goes straight to the mid-section and was likely the reason there are nine reindeer instead of eight….also a taste shared by Uno. He sampled the goodies but we didn’t mention that to the kids. It’s hard to tell the difference between teeth marks from a Red Nosed Reindeer or a Sheppard.

In the end Red delivered his report to the Big Man at the north pole and at some point during the year, unbeknownst to their parents, the Children of the Corn must have been good little boys and girls!!!

Merry Christmas Eve.

Flying on Smencil

Isi — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:52:50 +0000

A recent foray into the kids school yesterday to return a book bag overlooked by its rightful owner upon exiting the van while hastily headed to stand in a magical line. Said book bag in hand I signed into school and applied my sticky name badge identifying myself as non-hostile. It was then that I noticed an unusually large number of kids standing in line around a corner, a destination somewhere unseen, and sound decibel levels near rock concert pandemonium. Earlier the kids were excited about purchasing a special pencil at the book store before class so I figured Piper, the rightful owner of the abandoned book bag, would be in line somewhere. Searching, I was passed by kid after kid, each with a pencil in hand, or tucked up under their nose, all sniffing heftily. The line continued down a hall and around a corner and at the end I saw the destination of each of the queued – an ordinary looking table, attended by ordinary looking teachers, selling ordinary looking pencils. But wait. The kids near the front of the line were vibrating with joy and excitement. Looking past each ahead with both envy and hatred that they might reach their destination first and by chance deplete the stockpile of tabled treasure. I heard then from the peddlers up ahead, a dreadful announcement, “Only three left”, followed by a roar of elementary curses and a crushing push from those in line trying to rush the table in a last ditch effort to get their clammy hands on the last of the vehicles of their writing desire, the type of rush you would expect when Great White uses pyrotechnics on stage. It was at this moment that I learned of the connection between this now hysterical line and what our kids had been robbing piggy banks and having lucid dreams for. Smencils. These crafty little gems things are drugs but for entry level fiends. These magical little rolls of graphite surrounded by wood and topped with a squishy colored eraser might as well be laced with Florida Snow or Fatty perfectly disguised for private consumption for the level of obsession they insight. The line alone to purchase one of these was on par with how the Mac-ites enthusiastically lines up days ahead to offer paper donations to their fruity deity. I finally caught up to my bag-less princess and her brother skipping their way to class from the now broken line of envious onlookers. They were not in the lucky bunch to get a hit but both were optimistic that the next time the peddler came to bear gifts that they too might be able to fly.

Sheep with the Curly Horns

Isi — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 03:06:12 +0000

Today Violet performed in her school nativity play as the “Sheep with the Curly Horns”. They have been practicing on and off since the end of October and it certainly showed. She was very serious about her performance and we even saw her lip-syncing other classmates parts while they were singing or talking. Violet thought the Sheep with the Curly Horns was very cool and was excited to play this part even though it meant she would have to do a solo part. We are very proud of her.

A Gift of Myrrh

Isaac’s Writes About Uno

Isi — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:59:35 +0000

We found a story in Isaac’s school work about our family dog, Uno. He loves to watch and play with Uno and we guess he has recently noted one of Uno’s special fall time activities. Our precious family k-9 has taken to befriending his pillow bed in a somewhat feeble attempt to sate his masculine urges. I have to wonder what goes though his head when this happens. Whenever we see Uno partaking in his enjoyment we stop him quickly but I am curious what the kids think he is doing…..Hiyo Silver….Away.

Uno’s Recovery

The Ninjas

Isi — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:06:15 +0000

Jacob wrote a story recently for school about some time we spent playing in the yard. I thought instead of writing something up along with the pictures and video I would just use his story. Let him know what you think.

2010 was the year that I got my dad two katana swords for his birthday. Which I thought was really cool. The sad thing is that I didn’t get to play with them until last Saturday. Also because it was one year since I had got those swords. They’re really cool and it was worth the waiting! They are made of white oak which is a very strong type of wood. One of the swords is over half the weight of the other! I could barely lift it. Well, anyway I asked my dad, “Can I get the ninja swords out and play with them?”. “Gosh, I totally forgot about them!”, dad replied. “Well, all right.”

I found the swords in the closet next to mom’s bed. I ran downstairs in a fury to get to the backyard, with the swords in my hands! Dashing to go get dad. I suddenly run into the door and I fell butt first onto the floor. “I must be too excited”, I thought to myself. I stood up and opened the door and ran outside to get dad, this time without bonking my head on something.

I find dad at the grill cooking steaks. I say, “Dad, look. I got the swords. Here, you take the heavier one. I want the lighter one so that I can swing it faster.” Dad takes the sword and says “Sure okay” and then we head down to the yard. First, dad thought me some moves with the sword. Moves like the upper slash and the stab. Before we fought for real, we practiced attacking each other, seeing if we could block the attacker’s sword. When I was ready dad said, “I think you are ready now” and he started our battle off with a swing which I blocked.

Next, we fought like Dark Vader and Luke Skywalker, deadly foes. Then, my brother, Isaac, joined in. Before Isaac and I fought dad, dad gave Isaac his sword which was the heavier one. I offered to trade him with my sword because it was much lighter. I thought it would accommodate him better because he is not as strong as me. We started to fight dad who now had a Nerf foam sword instead of a wooden one. Since Dad has more experience with this type of stuff he was very much winning. That was until Isaac had a very fast and frightening blow to Dad’s finger which we think broke it but we are not sure. Dad kept on fighting but, eventually he surrendered and we were victorious.

It was fun fighting with them. Jacob was never very aggressive with the sword but Isaac most certainly was. He had not fear and kept coming and coming. He smashed my knuckle in one of these attacks, a crack that stayed blue for nearly a week, I think I know who gets the foam sword next time.

Leisurely Labor Day

Isi — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 16:27:08 +0000

The kids are back in school, summer is at its height and the daily scheduled grind has taken hold. Thank goodness for the break brought by Labor Day. We had not ambitious plans and wanted nothing other than to spend some time with the kids and enjoy our time off. There was plenty to do however that we talked about through the summer but just couldn’t fit in so we planned to take full advantage of our few days of free time and get in some activities with the CoTC. Specifically we wanted to see the DragonCon Parade, Atlanta Aquarium and Stone Mountain Laser Show.

DragonCon was back in town and while I would have preferred to have purchased tickets and gone sightseeing at the actual show, it was cost prohibitive to take all the kids – even if the cost was right there was no way I was taking them to wait for tickets in the six hour line that literally wrapped around the block. The parade was a good second and something I had never seen as well. The kids loved it. We found a nice spot to watch above the road and behind some glass that we were able to squeeze in to – certainly better than being at ground level with four munchkins that couldn’t see over a shrubbery. The costumes were pretty awesome and all of us had our favorites. Jacob took the only pictures with his camera and the rest of us just soaked it in.

Next up was a walk to the Atlanta Aquarium. We had been planning to take the kids here all summer but just couldn’t find the time to do it. Labor Day probably wasn’t the wisest choice in timing though as it was packed wall to wall with people. Crazy. Oh well, tickets had been purchased already online so at the very least we were able to bypass the ridiculously long entry line and head straight in. Having been many times in the past we were hoping to see some of the new exhibits that had been added such as the dolphins but they were not open unless you purchased another ticket specifically to view them. We instead took our time strolling from room to room and soaking up the sites. Many times just sitting in front of a particular wall and watching everything swim around. We managed to time our trip to the main viewing room of the large tank in time for the feeding of the massive whale sharks. The biologist would drop buckets of krill onto the surface and the whales would basically inhale massive amounts of water and filter it through their gills each eating twenty pounds or so of these obviously delicious morsels per bite.

We did not end up going to Stone Mountain as it started raining early in the evening. With the laser light show changing this year to something new and supposedly now in a type of 3-D where it looks like they are inside of the mountain we were bummed and will hopefully get to check it out before the season ends.

All in all a great weekend with the family. Lots of time away from the house but also plenty of time at home to just take it easy and chill.

Reading Rewarded Rightly Riding Roller Coasters

Isi — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 01:20:30 +0000

The kids are challenged by their school to read, read, and read even more. All in an effort to get them reading at or above the state mandated reading recommendations for their age group and class. The program is called “Read to Succeed” and requires the kids to read six hours of material over two months. We take the program a step farther and turn reading into a nightly bedtime requirement. Thirty minutes before lights out the CoTC head up to their rooms, grab their latest chapter book, board book, Lego magazine, game manual, or whatever might float their fancy for the evening and partake in some serious forced leisure time. More often than not they pass through several books during this time and certainly rack up more hours than required by the program. The reward for this challenge is a free ticket to Six Flags Over Georgia. That is quite a great deal for us as well since kids tickets run $45 and adult tickets are $54. Lump that into a quick buy one get one free coupon for Carol and I and we end up getting a day of fun for something we would enforce regardless of the program requirements.

Our family outing to partake in combating Georgia heat exhaustion while getting our thrills happened to be this weekend. Everyone was excited and pumped to go. We spent the evening prior with the boys watching various rides on YouTube so that they knew what they were getting into if they decided to ride some “real” roller coasters. Isaac thought there were all cool but wanted nothing to do with actually riding one. Jacob adamantly wanted to ride the Mind Bender. The girls had recently been to Kings Island in Ohio with Grandma and Grandpa and were psyched as well to see what Six Flags had to offer. Weather checked, bag of snacks and water packed, sunscreen applied, we headed out toward adventure.

The day at the park was fantastic. It was certainly hot though. Carol packed two bottles of water and we refilled them all throughout the day at various concession stands – pretty cool of the park to allow that without charge as well. We didn’t have to worry about getting dehydrated – water was plentiful and available. We started off with a ride down the log plume to get wet before walking through Looney Tunes Land. On the way to Looney Tunes Land we came upon our first coaster, the coal mine train. All of the kids except Isaac were pumped and could not wait to get their turn with seating arrangements being the most important topic of discussion. Isaac lost his nerve somewhere between home and the park and was certainly not interested in riding. Choice not given I kept my arm around him and assured him that “of course there are no hills or drops. Absolutely it is going to be smooth and not bounce us all around…and no it certainly does not go fast….”. Getting off, I agree with him that it was WAY to rough for a “little kids ride” but I actually thought the ups and down were fun….

The rides in the kids section were pretty fun. Piper, Isaac, and Violet all had a blast riding them. Jacob however was about six inches too tall to ride them so he took a walky talky and headed off to spin in circles on one of the few kiddie rides that he could get one. We were all able to get on a ride suspended by long cables that spun needlessly in nausea inducing circles over and over and over. Next was Thunder River, a large metal platform bolted on top of an even larger inner tube propelled spinning down a rapid moving river while “workers” on all sides shot at you with water cannons and accidentally misplaced rocks kept you careening back and forth to ensure that all aboard were soaked through by the various water waterfalls. Good stuff.

It was starting to get late and we wanted to get our chance on some coasters as well…who said the kids got to have all the fun. Next was the Goliath. The night before Jacob made a gentleman’s agreement that he would ride but I think the overwhelming size of this monster with its ups and downs rattled his rambunctious attitude towards it. We tried to change his mind but he was set. Carol did a loop on her own – Violet and Piper wanted for the life of them to join her but the requirements were a pretty tall order with Jacob barely making the cut even though he didn’t ride…Next time Girls. I was hoping that Jacob would begrudgingly ride it with me but such was not the case and we moved on to the Mind Bender.

When we arrived the lines were empty and it was open picking for the seats. We had Piper and Violet measured as well. Piper was plenty tall enough but Violet was under by about 4 inches or so. They said it was okay with them if we didn’t care. Violet really wanted to ride so why not right. Carol took Piper and told Jacob he could ride with her on the next run. Once they took off the lady on the platform said it was last call, take this train or head on out. Sadly we found out they closed an hour earlier than we were expecting. Jacob wanted to ride even though Carol wasn’t back and he strapped into the front seat. I was with Violet a few rows back. Everyone bolted in we headed out just as Carol and Piper got back. This was Jacob’s first real coaster ride and he was pretty excited. I think that wore off pretty quick though once we dropped down the hill and headed for the small loop. Carol said she could see him and he was bunched down in the seat holding on for dear life, face filled with terror. Poor guy. I think my daddy senses failed me this time for Jacob and Violet both. Violet and I were not ready for the first loop at all. She loved coming down the big drop but the loop folded us both in half. Her from the sheer force of it and me trying to protect her. Certainly she was too small for this ride…Lesson learned. She enjoyed the rest of it though and the second loop we were ready for and it wasn’t so bad. She got off a little scared but within thirty minutes was talking it up and reliving the details. Jacob finished the ride and needed some attention and calming when we got back to the station. Certainly not a wise decision on my part to let him ride solo, let alone in the front seat. He calmed down on the ride home and was no worse for wear with the exception that a lens had ejected from his glasses frames at some point on the ride. I guess that is my penance for the bad decision. Sorry buddy – I should have known better.

An interesting part about the Mind Bender was that Violet rode it. Sadly the thing that she loves, horses, also had a ride at the park but she was not big enough in the parks eyes to get to ride the Carousel of all things. She picked out this awesome blue horse right next to her brother and sister but was not allowed to ride it because it went slowly up and down as carousels are want to do. I had to move her to a stationary horse and have my hands holding her at all times or they would make us get off, all the while with her asking me with tears welling up in her eyes why “can’t I ride that one daddy, it is moving up and down”. Really Six Flags….. REALLY. YHGTBFKM… IT IS A CAROUSEL RIDE….

All in all we had a GREAT time at Six Flags. It might not have ended on an up note but the fun had throughout the day was not lost on everyone. We stopped on the way out and let the kids pick out a souvenir before heading home.

We had eaten a big lunch before leaving for the park and snacked all through the day. When we got in the car though, six bellies called out at once for food. It was about 9:30pm and hunger had set in. We made a quick pit stop by the airport to pick up Grandma and then found relief for our growling bellies at Taco Mac. Lots of water and some yummy food later we had two that were falling asleep sitting up and two that had found reserve energy and were going a thousand miles an hour. Once their heads hit their pillows at home though, they knocked out within seconds. No whining, no crying, nothing except sweet silence.

Kids asleep. Dog inside. Doors locked. Grandma tucked in. Quick shower. Then we passed out as well….Good day indeed.

Bulls Eye

Isi — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:44:54 +0000

After about two months of talking about it, we finally got our day at the gun range. Jacob has been very patient over the past few weeks as trips have been planned and rescheduled or rescheduled and cancelled. Today though was the perfect day and instead of just Jacob and I going, we were all able to go and take our shots. We headed to Bulls Eye Marksman Gun Club and Indoor Range.

Jacob was interested in shooting his first rifle and after a few months of talking about it and learning the various safety aspects of doing so, it was time. They both hear me talking about going to the range and have been interested in joining me. I thought that would be excellent as well and have been working to that end. I certainly want them to understand and respect weapons as they grow, in particular if they have an interest – one of those instances where if they have an itch it sometimes helps to let them scratch it with you versus with someone else. Regardless I want them to understand what is acceptable and what is not. What rifles, shotguns and pistols are for, how to be safe around them and what to know and do when they might handle one. This was our first hands on lesson.

The day had finally come. We don’t have a small caliber rifle and I was wanting to start him out light with a 22 so both the noise and recoil didn’t give him a bad taste from the beginning. The range had a nice bolt action Ruger 22/77 with a low power scope that we took out for a spin. I was hoping for something with iron sites as a start but this was what they had and we made the best of it. It was a bit heavy though and there was some awkwardness in holding it because of the weight but the boys made the best of it and shot quite well.

Jacob won the coin toss and got first shot. He did remarkably well considering he had never shot before and we were in a very crowded and loud range with lots of noise offering easy distraction. His first two shots found their mark near the center and he was excited to continue. We let each of they boys run a clip through and took turns at the reload. Isaac had some initial trouble with sighting through the scope and adjusting to the weight. We propped it up on a towel that the range had for just this scenario and let him hold it a bit short and he was able to find his mark. After a few errant shots he slowly worked his way into the black and orange and as the shooting continued he was able to keep his mark most of the time.

Jacob took his time and challenged himself after the first clip was through. We started at 25 feet, then 35, 50 and 75. Each time he was not only able to continually hit the target but most of his shots found their mark well inside the inner circle. He continually showed us that he could remain calm, patient, and generally take his time, all the while being a great listener and asking questions when he didn’t understand something. He genuinely enjoyed shooting and told us so. He did say the rifle was a bit heavy but he didn’t mind. Next time around we will have to find a youth version with a shorter stock, iron sights and a little less hefty.

Carol and I didn’t miss out on the opportunity to get in our range time either. We have been practicing with a new Kel Tec P11 9mm subcompact. It shoots great even if it is a bit small to absorb the recoil. We finished the day off with a new target and put a clip of both the 9mm and 22 through it before cleaning up, checking out and heading home.

Interestingly – or more so – fantastically, when we were checking out the boys were looking at all the targets and they found a series of various zombie targets that you can purchase for the extra special kind of practice. Next time I know what we will be using. It never hurts to spend some extra time preparing for Z-Day.

The boys did a great job, behaved like young men and generally made us happy. I am very proud of them and look forward to our next trip – Zombie target practice or not…

Violet Turns Four

Isi — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 01:48:52 +0000

Getting an answer as to what Violet wanted for her birthday dinner was a challenge. She has been staying with Grandma and Grandpa the past few weeks prior to her birthday and upon asking her she offered as many different options as there were nights that she was away. In the end it landed on Corn Dogs and French Fries, one of her favorites. It is amazing how many corn dogs and batches of yummy fried potatoes a crowd can devour. It is also great that Costco sells them in bulk. It was weird for us this time around. All of the past meals the kids have chosen have required some amount of time laboring either at the grill or on the stoves. This time the oven and deep fryer did all the work and we got to relax and hang out with the family.

With full bellies we moved onto let Violet open her Gifts. I think the only way Violet could have been more focused on opening gifts or on the attention she was getting was if an actual horse happened to pop out while she was tearing away layers of wrapping paper. It would not have matter if it didn’t weigh in at a certain number of stones or wasn’t so many hands tall. She wouldn’t have cared. It would have received a huge hug and she would have declared: “It is exactly what I was asking for”. Now there was no real horse of course ~~unless you count the adhesive in the tape~~ but that did not discourage her. Violet was quietly excited sitting behind the little table as she received and opened her birthday cards and gifts.

After Violet was through opening gifts we sang “Happy Birthday” and ate some cake. Yeah, yeah we know we do it backwards but it is what helps keep the house at least somewhat calm and orderly. Once the kids devour their slice of cake they magically disappear. The cake was our first chocolate cake ever and Violet was adamant that she wanted a “brown cake with blue icing and horses”. Interesting choice and the combination make us think for a bit before deciding on a cake design. Carol even went and found a special icing tip so that I could make grass. I don’t think Violet noticed it all that much. Her and John were too busy licking icing off of the horses to care about what color the icing or cake was.

Violet loves her gifts. She has spent most of the day, along with Piper and Isaac, playing with them.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl !!!

Engagement Photos

Isi — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 14:10:48 +0000

It has taken a lot to interfere with hardcore procrastination and extreme distractedness to finally get these photos uploaded. As mentioned in a previous post last year, Carol and I had a photo session for our engagement and out of it came a slew of great pictures. I figured now was a good as time as any to break the lazy streak and get them online.