Phamily Foto Phriday 6-14-13 Last Day Of School Edition

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Daniel monk Pelfrey

Shut up. I know I’m actually posting this on Sunday. Work with me.

Friday was the last day of school. Crazy times. The whole last few days were nuts. Busy, nothing necessarily to show for it, but busy.

Here’s Déla on the parallel bars on the playground.

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And here’s the best picture I could get of Xavier on the play structure. He just wouldn’t stand still.

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And it does take three of them to beat me at Stratego.

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You may notice Déla wasn’t wearing her school uniform on the playground. That’s because she was supposed to be wearing regular clothes for cleaning the classroom a day or two before the end of school. Here are the actual “Last Day Of School” pictures.

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The Sight To Unsee

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Daniel monk Pelfrey

Xavier, newly 3 years old, is mostly potty trained. He still wears a diapers during nap and overnight.

So I wake him from nap this afternoon and I can already smell it.

Opening up his diaper he put his hands over his eyes and exclaims “Ooh, gross! I don’t want to see it!”

My reply? “Neither do I.”

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Phamily Foto Phriday 6-7-13

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Daniel monk Pelfrey

I think somebody told him he couldn’t say it five times fast.

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Stranger Danger

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Daniel monk Pelfrey

(trigger warning)

Don’t be afraid to call it in.

Continue reading →

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Some Mornings

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Daniel monk Pelfrey

I make three lunches in the morning. Two for my kids in school and one for my wife who teaches kindergarten. We use almond butter due to peanut allergies in schools.

I pull out the almond butter, place it on the counter. After opening the lid to spread it, and realize I have no knife.

I get a knife. Then I realize I have no bread.

I get the bread out and start making sandwiches.

I then realize it’s Sunday.

 

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Soap Brother

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Daniel monk Pelfrey

The soap, as it often does as it nears the end of its usefulness, had broken apart into two pieces.

It was during bathtime and Ciárán (age 5) was getting washed. I was hoping not to lose either of the pieces, and had mashed them together to form an approximation of a singular piece of soap. handing it over to him I asked Ciárán “Do you know why I want you to keep the two pieces together?”

His response was priceless.

“Because they’re brothers!”

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Goodbye Crib

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Daniel monk Pelfrey

Took the crib apart over the weekend. That felt weird.

It needed to happen, but it’s been 10 years.

Xavier transitioned into a regular bed a month or so ago, and it’s been going as well as could be expected. It’s easier for him to get out of bed, but there’s less danger of him falling and getting hurt.

With the kids growing older and sleeping arrangements needing a shift, it was decided to put August in the room with Xavier. There were a number of factors in this decision, such as Xavier being the first of the kids to bed and August the last, and August being a good sleeper and more responsible, etc.

Another major reason for wanting to put somebody in the room with Xavier was that in Ireland it appears all four of the kids will be in the same room. We need to start getting Xavier ready to share sleeping quarters.

In order for August to have room to sleep in Xavier’s room, the crib had to go.

That was tough.

We’ve had at least one crib assembled and in use constantly for the last 10 years. This was the last one to get dismantled. Over the years we’ve moved them, given them away, or whatever, but we’ve always had at least one up.

And now we don’t.

There is a finality to having the crib dismantled. Sure we could put it together if we had another baby. There’s just something psychological about it not being there, ready for use.

I don’t miss the crib, I’m not melancholy for more babies, but it’s just a very different space now.

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Phamily Foto Phriday 5-24-13

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Daniel monk Pelfrey

Here is the one picture I have for this week. It’s Ciárán and Xavier at the zoo this morning. I have a bit of stuff to say, but for the uninterested, here’s the picture.

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Ugh! Alright, so for Mother’s Day Laura bought a new digital camera. This was a purchase we had been mulling over for some time. With our upcoming trip to Ireland we wanted a nicer camera. And with features like wi-fi, well, we figured now was the time to pick one up at a price we were comfortable with.

So we spend a little over $100 on a 16 megapixel point and shoot camera with wif-fi connectivity. Nice camera, smaller than our previous one – literally half the size of the camera that is only 7 megapixels.

Going to the zoo this morning was something we had planned for a while. Laura teaches in public school, and they had the day off today. Every time we go the zoo Ciárán asks to go into the bug exhibit, which I refuse due to some debilitating Arachnophobia. Since Laura was “off” today (she would be going in to do some planning and conferences in the afternoon) we had planned on the four of us going to the zoo and Laura would take them into to see the bugs.

And everything went pretty much as planned. Although as I tried to take some pictures with the new camera, I simply couldn’t a decent shot. Here are two examples. The one on the left is Laura holding Xavier looking at the Sloth bear cubs, and on the right is Ciárán as we looked at the lion cubs.

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Then after getting home I tried to set up the camera’s wi-fi feature. That was an hour wasted. I need to find the manual. We’re happy with the new camera for the most part, but it is certainly going to take some getting used to.

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Return Visit Victory

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Daniel monk Pelfrey

This morning we went to the orthodontist. Again.

Last week August had an issue with his braces where the piece that held the rubber band that holds his headpiece in place broke. So we had to go to the orthodontist and have that replaced. It wasn’t the quick fix everybody expected. They had to take a new impression of his mouth and set up for an additional round of work.

In the mean time, he has these “spacers” (essentially industrial type heavy duty and thick bands) over his molars where the bracket will go next week. This is done to keep the space open to allow easier placement of the bracket when it is ready.

The appointment went well enough and a follow-up visit for next week was made. We went to school and that was that.

Until right after school yesterday when he told me his “spacer” fell out.

We got home and I called the orthodontist. Because of traffic there was no way I would make it over there before they closed and had a chance to see August as their afternoon was already packed. I said I could bring him over first thing in the morning as they open at 8:00, and it was agreed.

This morning we all get going, me and the four kids, and not only get everybody appropriately ready for school, but on the road and to the orthodontist on time. We even arrived a few minutes early!

School starts at 8:20, so I was aware the kids were going to be late. I couldn’t drop Déla off on the way to the orthodontist, something like 45 minutes before school, so she was with us. But missing a few minutes at the beginning of the school day was an acceptable loss for this because it simply had to get done.

Just after 8:00 as I am getting ready to call the school and let them know August and Déla will be late, I was informed that August was done.

Rapidly piling back in the van we head out to school. The trip to school, which is a block and a half away from our house, was nearly half the time it took to get to the orthodontist. Not only were August and Déla not late for school, they arrived a few minutes earlier than if we had walked to school on an ordinary day!

Success! While a bit rushed, it was really nice to start the day off on a positive note.

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A Crock Of A Crock?

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Daniel monk Pelfrey

My Crock Pot died.

 

Again.

 

And yes, I capitalized the name, because it’s a proper name, I not only have a “slow cooker” but it’s the brand I use.

 

My previous one died a few months ago after being in use for several years. And I used the heck out of it, sometimes 3 times a week. The heating element went out. And we wanted a bigger one, what with 6 mouths to feed, so getting a replacement seemed like a natural solution.

 

Only thing is, the replacement worked for just a couple of months.

 

This morning I noticed my Crock Pot has a crack. Not on the bottom, but the on the lip at the top on the side. I took a picture but it didn’t come out what with the black ceramic and flash. It isn’t a chip, but an actual crack that runs down the side of the ceramic removable portion of the Crock Pot about 2 inches.

 

Now we have to debate replacing that with another one, or going through the hassle of the warranty. And we don’t have the receipt for our current unit. Really, who saves the receipt for things like this? And the original packaging got junked the day after I used the Crock Pot successfully. Since the darn thing worked, I saw no need to keep it.

 

I use my Crock Pot at least once, sometimes twice, a week. During the depths of winter I’ll use it three times a week for stews and chili and other hearty fare. I love this thing and having it out of commission is most bothersome.

 

I went to Crock-Pot.com and replacement stoneware costs $15, which is much more cost effective, but unfortunately no option to actually buy  it exists. Why bother having a price if I can’t order it?

 

And it is at this point I consider buying an alternate brand of slow cooker.

 

To be continued.

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