O.A.R.

I have never been a big concert kind of guy. My concerts range from Caroline Spine to Manheim Steam Roller. But when I saw that O.A.R. (of a revolution) was coming to eugene I had to go. I got the tickets for the b-day a while ago. The opening act was Eric Hutchinson, who was pretty entertaining. O.A.R. rocked! I am not much of the hold the lighter up and dance, but they were good. Very entertaining band. I was being lazy and didn't put my clip from my phone, but this will work. This is a good song - love and memory.

T & Kate visit

The kids were a little scared when Tommy walked into our house for a spring break visit. I guess the stache and hair threw them off a little bit. But once they got over the Adam Morrison look they saw the real T-dog. Liam was more excited to see Katie. When Brooke would say Tommy is coming Liam would quickly reply, "And Katie." It was fun taking them around the sites of Eugene. We went to Hayward, U of O, Nike store, and other parts of Eugene. We just wish they could have stayed longer. Tommy and I even got in a little ride. It is such a good place to ride - I guess that is one of the reasons why I love it so much here!

Yes, we are alive!

With my crazy schedule (family, church, work, school, etc) my blogging has taken a back seat. As you can tell by the time of the post I don't get to bed until late. I just got back from coaching my Battle of the Books team at the district competition. They won! They are even 6th graders competing against 6-9th graders. But I had to post some cute pic's of the kiddos. Brooke is enjoying her new camera and has some good shots.
Cute little Ethan in his new rain outfit.

This is what happens when Liam and I get a hold of the camera.

Brooke's self portrait with the camera.

Brooke's first picture with her camera.

Pay back - Happy Birthday

Brookie Happy Birthday! I had to repay the favor, unfortunately I don't have any embarrassing baby pictures. I guess I could have taken one of Avery, close enough. Happy birthday.

The D80!

Brookie got her birthday/christmas/anniversary for the next three years a little early. Her Nikon D80! Brooke has been drooling over this for the last year and a half. Hopefully we will get some good pictures from this thing. Now she can take her Jessica Sprague photo classes online. The Circuit City going out of business sale helped out a little bit.

Happy Birthday Brady!!!

Happy Birthday Brady! Believe it or not, I know how to post on our blog and thought I would share a few of my favorite pics. Brady is the best and I love him to pieces! Happy Birthday!

Brady with his sister Alissa

The day Brady's sisters got ahold of him!

The "world" according to a 3 year old

Liam has learned to work the camera. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Bad in the sense that he gets a hold of the camera and isn't to responsible with it. It gets dropped or left in weird places (luckily it isn't the nice kind). Good that you get to see things from Liam's perspective. It is amazing to see the things he wanted to take a picture of and how it looked from his angle. There were so many pictures, but these are a few of my favorites.
Ethan eating his lunch.

The bookshelf and TV.

Brooke puts Christmas cards on a wreath that hangs in our kitchen on the door.

Liam's dirty clothes hamper.

His beautiful mommy!

No!

No! We are not pregnant. I was not referring to 4 kids, as in, Brooke pregnant. I was saying I can act like a kid.

Sorry Brooke!

Getting ready for the Holidays

Getting ready for the holidays can always be busy. Our family has had one of those busy weeks. It seems like Thanksgiving was a long time ago, when it was only last week. First, the family Christmas photos with 3 kids (maybe 4 of us)! Need I say more.

While I was at school the kids made some Christmas ornaments. When I walked in the door the house smelled like cinnamon. They used cookie cutters to cut out a cinnamon concoction. Liam had a lot of fun using a straw to cut holes in the ornaments.

Brooke has been working very hard on an advent calendar. She and some friends have been up very late trying to get it all ready.

Haircuts

Liam and I just new haircuts. My favorite haircut has always been the buzz cut. But I had a small accident as a 2 year old that has left me with a pretty good scar. I don't get to shave it too close. I decided to give it a try anyway. Liam got one as well. I am jealous that his is shorter than mine. Brooke's only consolation is that it will grow back in a few weeks.

Twilight!

I don't know about you, but my wife seems to disappear for a short while and reappear a few days later. This natural phenomenon was known as "Twilight time!" Brooke would devour and re devour all four of the books. I am somewhat of a curious person and wanted to know what all this Twilight was about, so I read them for myself. I have been hearing all about the new Twilight movie all summer. Brooke has been talking about it and Margaret has been updating everyone weekly with the new characters and movie trailers. Brooke and her friends went out to watch it on pre-opening night (Thursday at 12:00). Brooke decided she was going to dress up for the occasion. She looked pretty good in the dress. What is funny is that she borrowed it from a girl in our old ward that is maybe 5' 4". She had to let the hem out to wear it. Brooke loved the movie.

After all the hype from Brooke and students at school about the movie I ventured out to see what it for myself. Jeremy braved it with me, who knows what people at the movie place thought about that? But any way, we almost went to watch 007, but it didn't start for another 40 minutes. It definitely is a chick flick. The movie followed the book really close. I have to say it was pretty clean as well. The special effects were pretty bad (yes, I know they didn't have much of a budget, but it was still pretty bad). It is always hard to be as good as the book. I don't think I have ever seen a movie that was as good as the book. It just isn't the same.

XXL

Ethan has the fattest feet - XXL! He can't wear normal shoes, actually he doesn't fit into any shoes.

I am getting old!

Recently I have had a series of events that have lead me to the conclusion that I am getting old. It is hard to admit, but I am getting old. Here are some of the events that have lead me to believe this.

1. I have a grey spot the size of a dime on top of my head. It has been there for a few years. Avery comes to me and says, "Dad, you have grey hairs."

I reply, "I know. It has been there for a long time."

"No. Not there. On the side of your head, it's all over."

2. Sitting on the couch with Liam. He says, "Dad you have cracks on your face." (I love their honesty).

3. I don't heal like I used to. It's pretty frustrating. I have had tendinitis for over two months on my left knee and it isn't getting any better.

4. Brooke keeps telling me I dress like my dad (no offense dad. I like the way you dress - obviously).

5. I have never been a big sleeper, but I look forward to a Sunday nap.

6. One of the kids at school asked how old I was. I said, "How old do I look?"

"38!"

Dang. I feel old.

A few firsts

Avery got the book Stargazer from the school book fair and we were fighting over who got to read it first. She won out and is already finished. I haven't got to far, but I was able to sneak one from the school library. So we had some small overlap.

We had a few firsts this week: Liam started preschool and Ethan started walking. Liam can be pretty shy (as Liam says, "like my dad"). He doesn't like pictures (sounds familiar) or talking with people he doesn't know (that sounds familiar too). But he had a great time on his first day of preschool. He is doing preschool one day a week as a rotation with a few friends. When I called at lunch he was so excited. He started talking about what he did and all I could put together was "Dad..." The rest was a jumble of excitement.

Ethan is our late bloomer. Avery and Liam were walking by 10 months, but we are glad Ethan is taking it a little slower. The missionaries were here on Sunday and got to yet again see another big day in our home, Ethan walking across the room. It was the first time he was able to get more then a few steps. He'll be running pretty soon!

Liam the Dancing Machine

Liam, as most of you know, is in love with Thomas the Tank Engine. All he wants to do is play trains and watch his Thomas movies. At the end of the new Thomas movie there is a new rap song for Thomas. It is kind of a catchy tune, and Liam loved it. I can't tell you how many times we have listened to it. Here is a clip of him rockin' out. He should be on dancing with the stars! The first one is hard to see, but he gets some good spins in.

Halloween

Avery is a very creative little girl. She came up with the idea for my costume of Michael Phelps. I put all the details together, but Avery made the medals. People actually knew who I was dressing up as. That is a bonus. Avery got a little embarrassed with me walking around like that for the rest of the evening, but she will get over it someday (20 years down the road and after counseling). I have to admit it isn't as cool as Martin Hansen's.

Brooke was her classic witch. Avery was her beautiful "Autumn", Liam a bee, and Ethan a pumpkin (Brooke bought Ethan a costume that was made for a dog - pretty funny). We had a good time trick or treating with the Ward's, Mc Farlane's, Hansen's, and Burnett's. Thanks Margaret for some of the pictures.