Eeeew!

This evening I learned that I can not allow Koty to finish a whole rawhide chewy in a matter of a few hours...he puked up his whole dinner because of it. Next time I will take it away when it's half eaten.

We're so confused!

Tonight on our way home from small group, Dave tried to call the boys on his cell phone to let them know we were on our way home and to be ready for bed. When he dialed our home number he didn't get anyone here, he got another residence, so he decided to try again....same thing. The third time he very carefully punched our home number into his keypad...same thing! The man on the other end was a little impatient, and I guess rightfully so. Dave told him what number he was dialing and asked what the number of the residence was. Very strangely it turned out to be an OLD cell phone number of Dave's. ??? It was a slow ride home due to a lot of snowfall and slippery roads, but we finally made it. Later, after the kids were in bed I realized that our internet connection didn't work on either computer, so Dave went to the basement to reset the modem and the router. I was then able to connect to the internet, and almost immediately got a phone call from our telephone company. Dave's sister had evidently tried to call us 5 times and had gotten this other residence instead, so she called our telephone company to report that some lines must be crossed.
This is the reason that we kept getting the other residence...A LONG time ago, Dave gave the phone company his cell number as a number that a phone call would be forwarded to if our telephone was out of order. Evidently he never gave his new cell number, therefore this poor family has been getting a bunch of phone calls intended for us. (I called a couple of times a few weeks ago on my way to work and got this other family too)

Kayaking

One of the neighbors here has a couple of kayaks that he said we could borrow if we wanted, so Dave and his sister, Liesl, went kayaking this morning. They got into the canal right behind our place and off they went into the Bay (or whatever it's called). It was a beautiful day and I think they had a nice time. Later we all went to the beach. Tomorrow we will start for home...I'm ready. It was a nice, relaxing vacation, but I love my home in NY. Besides, Koty needs us and our fish are very hungry!

Head hunting on the beach

A coolish day

Today it was a cooler day, around 64 degrees. We decided to take a long walk down the beach playing the "I spy" game. That's Dave's crazy sister walking next to me, and Michael giving his shadow bunny ears. Steven wanted to be in the water today, but it was just too cool, so he had to settle for the surf.

Sweet Berries

This is my father-in-law eating one of the most delicious things here in Bradenton. Last night we went to "Sweet Berries" for frozen custard. We go here every year we come here, at least twice. This is THE BEST frozen custard I have ever had.

A dinner adventure

Night 1 in Bradenton:

Today we were going to have a pot roast for dinner, but the oven here keeps shutting off. This makes cooking very difficult. By 7:10 the pot roast was still not finished cooking, so we decided to leave it cooking in the oven for tomorrow, and we went out to eat. When we got to the restaurant, the prices were outrageous (at more than 1), and we found out that it is much more expensive to eat at a restaurant on the weekends. It was $10.39 per person (it was a buffet), which meant to feed our children alone would have cost us more than $20.00. We all decided that we would return to our cozy little condo and eat our pot roast. At least we had some good laughs in the van on the way out to eat, exposing everyone's strange little quirks. We are just about ready to chow and it is 8:30pm. What an exciting adventure!! Dinner smells scrumptious!

Florida vacation!

We arrived in Bradenton, Florida at my in-laws place at 9:00pm last night. It seemed like a long trip this year for some reason, but we are happy we're here. After a good night's sleep last night, we are enjoying a little sun and swimming today. Will post pics later...or will try too. Our connection isn't great here.

Our youngest growing boy

Not so little anymore

Koty is growing and growing, and has lost his cute little widow's peak. He's quite the snuggler still. This is him in Mikey's arms today.

Frozen

Brrr! It was about 4 degrees when I left for work this morning. The kids stayed home with Dave today since school was canceled. I hear Minneapolis hit a record 40 below!

Tagged by Father: Michael

1. I like to make dorky faces for pictures and videos.
2. I absolutely hated compliments when I was a small child. (example: I cried when Mom praised me for pooping in the toilet when potty training)
3. When I'm bored I lay down, stick my legs up in the air, and throw things onto the bottoms of my smelly feet.
4. I like NASCAR better than rally car racing.
5. I used to hate going to Applebee's for dinner, but when I started to like it I continued to gripe about it in order to make my parents gray-headed.
6. I'm not very fond of chocolate cake.
7. I don't care if my jeans have enormous holes in the knees.

Dave's work of art in progress

Dave is moving along on the stone fireplace. He did this over the weekend. The next step is another layer of mortar with the stone on it! Michael is so excited, as you can see.

I've Been Tagged! 7 Normal Things About Me (Uncle Dave)

I don't know how Martha caught me, but somehow she did, and I have to come up with 7 strange things about myself. I'll list some things that strange people (Martha) may find strange about me, but I consider everything on this list completely normal.

1. I don't like popcorn, or any corn in general, but I like many things made with corn. (Corn bread, corn flakes, corn puffs, cracker jacks, corn cakes, PECAN PIE ...)
   
2. I don't like to talk in the bathroom...or, I should say, when I am going...
3. I sit like a little boy when I'm playing video games (ei. feet out to the sides)
4. I don't pee in the shower, but I like to sing in there.
   
5. I like Spaghetti o's and Fluffer-Nutter sandwiches.
6. I didn't let the puppy out to go to the bathroom first thing in the morning, but I did feed him and then ignore him while he signaled for me to let him out at the door. He then proceeded to let it loose where he stood. Oops! (I need to mention that I was intentionally ignoring him, because he was not giving me the "correct" signal.)
7. I like to hold my family's hand in public and walk in the most unusual way just to embarrass them. I'm not sure why it doesn't embarrass me.

Well, let's see...I'll taaaaaag...Ben and Michael. You guys can feel free to up the list to 15 if you find it hard to list just 7.

Oops!

I just realized that Martha had tagged my hubby. I'll have to tell him so that he can post his 7 strange things about himself. Stay tuned...

Family Resemblances

Me and Priscilla

Me and Martha

Me and Bethany

Bethany's blog made me start thinking about family resemblances and who I've been told I look like over the years. I have been told many times growing up that I look like my sister, Martha. I've also been told that I look like Bethany. Who do you think I look like? anyone or no one?

Icy Day

Well my car didn't look quite like this one, but I did have a pretty thick layer of ice to scrape off my windshield before I went to work this morning. It was a bit of a slippery drive in so it took me about 40 minutes to get there, vs my normal 20-25 minutes. I was wondering how many people would venture out to the dentist on this yucky day, but to my surprise I had a very busy day. I was kind of hoping that my patients would cancel because my kids had a day off school today...oh well. When Steven prayed at dinner he thanked God for bringing me home safely, and for the nice dinner I made for them. That made me feel a little teary to feel so feel so appreciated, or maybe it was just the food he appreciated. Lol!