The Roast

After we said our goodbyes to Uncle Chris and took him to the airport =( we headed to the pig roast.

(In the background is a painting my great aunt did of my grandma.)

Mr. Merle had been roasting since 6 AM.


Mary Kate found a card-playing buddy.


I had fun meeting some of Gramma's friends.

A lady who cans everything she grows gave us plum jam and brought homemade applesauce from the fruits of her 10 apple trees.

Our kids love to hear about centenarians. This gentleman's mother just passed away a couple of weeks ago--the day before her 105th birthday. He's 85 himself. He's even a UT Longhorn from the late 40s.


The son of the 1939 World's Fair headless woman.


Shortly after her headless stint, a newspaper reported that the "Headless Woman Has Two Heads" when they found out she was expecting her son.



The guy in the red hat was protected by the secret service for years after retiring. He had a pretty cool job.


Interesting stories from the few people I had the chance to visit with. Makes me wonder about all the fantastic stories from those I missed.

Another trip...

Just when everyone is avoiding the swine...

...one shows up in Gramma's garage--moments after I arrive at their house.


Come to find out that we were going to a pig roast.

Seventy-two pound Wilbur was in the garage to "be prepared" for the roast.


Mary Kate did enjoy checking out the different parts--even the blue eyeball (only one left), tongue, teeth, kidneys, ears, feet, etc.

Here he is all tied up on the stretcher.


Mr. Piggy--icing on the stretcher in the van...


...surrounded by his pall bearers.

We'll see if pork tastes any different after you've actually met the pig.

Surprise!

When I hopped off the plane in CA yesterday, I saw Mom, Mary Kate, and Mr. Merle.

Then...
this guy came out of nowhere.


I certainly wasn't expecting to see my brother!

He flew in from Seattle.

Then he took us all out for dinner.


What a guy!

He's starting to make up for all the times growing up when he tried to stick my head in the toilet!

Tagged

I almost left town without noticing this one (I probably would have been better off!).

On this warm and humid Friday afternoon after I packed my backpack to head for CA tomorrow--early, I sent the kids outside to run off some energy and hopped on the computer to take one last look at some friends' blogs before I head out. I noticed this by Mrs. Boo Radley.

I was caught, er...tagged!

Okay, I grabbed the camera and obediently did what was expected of me--take a picture of myself as I read the tag notice on her blog.

Here's what I got.


As you can see, I quickly turned on the camera and didn't even turn off the auto flash or check the focus.

You can see her post on my monitor.

What I didn't realize at all was that the kids were scaling our house outside and surrounding my office window right as I was snapping this photo.

Here's a close up of the (more focused) background.


My life.

Always something going on in the background.

Change of plans

I was supposed to be in California by now...enjoying time with Mary Kate, Gramma, Mr. Merle, and Kizzy. The other kids were to stay here and have fun with Dad--camping and hiking.

Travel plans changed. Some things are just bigger than my travel plans, you know?

Joe was swamped with work, then was additionally asked to present at an urgent industry meeting. As I write this he is giving his presentation...something about early deterioration of prestressed concrete bridge beams. A major issue right now as it's caused a number of interstate projects to come to a screeching halt.

Not good, I'm telling you.

Crumbly is a good word to use when you're baking but not when you're building large structures, such as bridges.

So it goes...

Mary Kate continues to have some fun--without me for now.
Can you imagine?


I'll see her tomorrow.

Until then, as Daddy always closes his nightly prayers...

(Now over our Skype video calls to MK--)
Dad: "May the good Lord watch over you and keep you safe, every day and..."
Mary Kate: "Night."

Goodnight one more time before I see you again, little MK!

Mind Benders

Our kids really like this Mind Benders series of critical thinking books.

Figuring out the puzzles is one way to make working on reading comprehension, logic, and problem solving skills fun!

We have the 7-Book Set A series that has one book for preK-K level, one book for K-1, one book for K-2, and 4 books for grades 3-6 that spiral in difficulty. There's also a series of books for the 7-12+ range.

Jimmer is working through the preK-K book right now.
An example:




A finished one.


Here's an example from the first of four books for grades 3-6. Try it out!



Or how 'bout this one from the 4th book?


Have fun!


Our kids can't seem to get enough of them.

Be warned:
Once you hand over one of these books to your kids, please know that they won't: respond to your voice, eat, sleep, pay attention to their bodily functions, or (quite possibly) heed smoke alarm warnings.

They'll be on a Mind Benders bender!

A birthday tart...

...for the oldest strudel of our bunch.


(Missing one of our little cupcakes.)