Feet

Many people wonder how we can tell them apart. Of course we recognize they have similarities, but to us, there are such obvious differences. For example their feet.

Bubba

Bobcat (very distinctive toes, no?)

Snookie (always standing on his toes, for some reason)

Hope that helps clear up any confusion.

Dang I'm good

125 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

These are funny. I'm not sure she'd agree with the "ample allowance" item... but I try. Not sure I can do anything about the bed covers or snoring, sorry. I know my wife will beat my score. We really are pretty old fashioned.

Not to take it too seriously here, but I find it interesting that so many of these criteria are related to respect for your spouse, and showing that respect in public. Many people seem perfectly willing to criticise their spouses in public forums these days.

Rest in peace, Jack

Please say a prayer for the repose of the soul of Jack. Jack is a friend of ours from the City Band. We'll always remember him because the first day we went to a rehearsal, we were taken aback by how "experienced" most of the band members were. We didn't know the band was composed mostly of retirees, but they were very welcoming and happy to have some young blood join the group. (There were a few crotchety old exceptions, but overall, we immediately felt like we were at home.) We remember Jack in particular because after every number, he would set his horn down and insert his oxygen tube into his nose! We were pretty impressed with the old guy!

Jack always beamed with pride when he spoke about his two children, who were adopted and grew up to be very successful. He was so excited the day that we shared the news that we were adopting. That was interesting news to break. Some people were nervous. Some people thought we were unprepared, or down right crazy. But many people were happy for us, and Jack was just plain ecstatic! I didn't even know that his children were adopted before then, but he loved them as much as any father could. He always said that they turned out so much better and brighter than any natural born children of his possibly could have. He loved showing off magazine articles in which his son, a PhD economist, was published. And he loved hearing about our sons and seeing new pictures of them.

He loved music, and loved talking about the great deal he got on that new bass trombone. (I heard the story 30 times!) He joked that his wife didn't like to listen to the noise, so she made him practice in a closet. Well, I thought it was a joke until the day he invited us over to his house and showed us the closet with the music stand and chair in it! But he had such a sense of humor about it.

I only wish we had more time to spend with him. But he lived a long and happy life, touched many people with his passion for life, and his eternal happiness is well deserved. Rest in peace, Jack, and pray for us.

More anti-Catholic nonsense

See if you can spot the logical disconnect here...

Massachusetts High School Facing Pregnancy Boom

It begins with the following:
Officials at Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Mass., are investigating whether half of the teens made a pact to get pregnant during the school year, Time.com reported... "Some girls seemed more upset when they weren't pregnant than when they were," principal Joseph Sullivan told Time.com.

Further down:
The Gloucester baby boom is forcing this city of 30,000 to grapple with the question of providing easier access to birth control, something this largely Catholic enclave is slow to embrace...

SERIOUSLY?? These girls allegedly wanted to get pregnant, and Time magazine thinks the answer is easier access to contraception for minors!!! Someone please explain to me how that makes any sense at all. Seems to me it's just one more ill-considered shot at Catholicism.

PSA for the Day

H/T: Creative Minority Report

Jobs...

If you were to walk into my house right now and noticed the vacuum lines on my carpet (everyone notices, don't they?), you would think that a drunken sailor must of been hired to clean my carpets...

Close, but it was actually Bobcat.

This was his first whirl with my precious. It is somewhat heavy for the little guy, and he had to find his own technique for maneuvering it... but all in all he did a good job and he was pleased with his work.

Side note: If you are pleased with your work, you're more likely to continue on right... it's half the battle if you will.

Our kids have jobs around the house. First it's school! That will always be the priority... but since they live in the household they are required to pitch in (with out monetary reimbursement). They've always had to pick up after themselves. Maybe once or twice have I actually had to go behind them and pick up their toys. We made that important from the time we brought them home. We also worked on the notion of 'put it away when you are done with it', this way clean-up was never more than a few toys at any given time (also going from one to the next just because has always annoyed me... pick something and play with it for crying out loud).

We've since moved on to putting away laundry. I fold and hang it in my room, then call to them and they come and retrieve their items and put them away... this has been a huge help when it comes to laundry time! Then we got a front load washer, and now I can ask them to unload the washer and put it into the dryer... and from the dryer they can bring it to my room. I still don't like laundry, but with their help it makes it easier to manage.

And in the last year we've added even more responsibilities to their plate, and they actually seem to thrive on their jobs. In the mornings Bobcat and Bubba team up getting the dogs outside (one opens kennel doors, the other mans the backdoor). After breakfast Bobcat takes to dog bowls back out to the garage, and brings the dogs in. Bubba gets the dirty laundry basket out of my bathroom and dumps into the laundry room, and empties the little trashcans around the house (bathroom cans). And in the evenings Bobcat and Bubba load the dinner dishes into the dishwasher, and I've even shown Bobcat how to put the soap in and set it (I love having a delay feature on there!).

If you've noticed, Snookie doesn't seem to have any jobs. We're working on that, he mainly helps me with laundry... that's about his level (Mommy's little helper).

Why am I saying all of this... well first, I'm always so amazed at how old they are getting, and how well they take on the challenge (and the satisfaction they have with themselves when they help me out)... but also to vent a little. I see and hear moms all over the web and in my real life complain about how tired they are, and what a mess their houses are. Usually after a few questions I find out that their children don't help out (at all, or very little). Moms think that their kids aren't capable, or shouldn't be bothered with such menial work... um, they live in the house and contribute to the chaos and so therefore should help keep it tidy. I think a pitfall for a lot of moms (well both moms and dads) is not seeing their children for how old they really are. It is interesting to watch families with small children who could be doing more (jobs, behavior, etc.), but aren't because the expectation isn't there. We did have an advantage, I think, in this area because when we brought the boys home they could walk, talk, and understand us (for the most part). We never had to figure out the earliest stages of life, and what they were capable of.

Advice: Set the bar HIGH! They want to please you, and they will work to reach that goal if they know that you will be overjoyed by their success! When it comes to setting up jobs for the kids, know that it will take a little time in the beginning... but it is so worth it when they get the hang of it. And (this one is hard for me) perfection isn't going to be achieved, but let them work on it anyway.

And no, Bobcat will not be taking over vacuuming duties (it is part of my cleaning therapy :-)... but will from time to time get to that job for me.

Beach-o-rama

So it has been a week since we've been back, and I've gotten a few hints that I needed to post a little about our summer beach trip. It was a great trip! This was our 5th trip down to the coast, the boys 4th time, the 3rd house we've rented (best view so far), and our first time to share our trip with our dearest friends.

(The Jetty: Bubba with his Godparents... Turk, Olive, and Pigeon)

It was so nice to watch all four of the kids playing together, as if they've known each other their whole life. Also, they match... the cutest four little brown bodies running around on the beach!

We spent our mornings down on the beach, back to the house for lunch and quiet time... then over to the pool while the moms made dinner. Then back down to the beach for an evening walk! Five days on the beach!!!!

As usual we had our fair share of wild aquatic life. Down at the jetty we stood while a small pod of bay dolphins played. There was what appeared to be a mom and baby and then a few others.

Plenty of pelicans all over the place, sea gulls, and cranes. And a bizarre behavior was also spotted... a pelican on the water, with a sea gull sitting on its head... both peering into the water. I saw this happen on several occasions... it is really weird looking in person.

Down on the beach we also found several these:

We thought they were jelly fish... but they weren't like the jellies that we've seen in the past at Port Aransas... so I did a little investigating once we got home. Turns out, they are definitely NOT jellyfish, but are Portuguese Man o' War. Thank goodness no one was stung... but they were really pretty to look at from a far.

If anyone was reading this blog last year, you may remember us spotting a sting ray in the water... a small one, that hung out one morning with us... and we managed to get a few pictures of it. This year Daddio caught sight of another one... much larger, but he didn't have a camera with him at that point so no pictures.

It was such a wonderful trip. Usually when we get to see our Valley friends, it's hurried with little time to actually settle in and enjoy the others company. This trip there wasn't an agenda that had to be followed, no other family obligations pulling us to move things along. Plus being on neutral ground also seemed to help all of the kids... everything was shared, and new. After everyone had a chance to clean up in the evenings we would sit around while Daddio played guitar and we sang praises to Our Lord. Then the kids would go down for the night, and we had time to play games and talk about our lives.

I can't wait to go back...