KatNaps

Pic from the dentist

2012-02-14T21:04:00.001-08:00

You can't tell, but she's posing on a big stuffed bison. She had an excellent check up and enjoyed her visit.

Breaking a board

2012-01-31T17:32:00.000-08:00

Kat is breaking boards at TKD. Last night it was by kicking and today it was with an elbow snap. She looked a little proud of her first attempt.

Kat and her weapon

2012-01-27T19:56:00.001-08:00

Kat's tae Kwon do had parents' night tonite. And it was free for us, except the weapon I bought her on amazon. The theme was nerf wars. There were at least 60 kids there, they divided them into teams (ages), painted their faces, tied on colored headbands and they were off! I think they had a ridiculous amount of fun.

We had to practice at home, make sure that she knew how to use it. She loved it.

The beauty of being an American!!!

Skiing. and wrestling

2012-01-24T19:26:00.001-08:00

The video is Kat going down hill for the first time ever. You can get a sense of her bewilderment. She looks behind her....no one there helping nor telling her what to do. Then she changes direction slightly, which I think is impressive and instinctive. And then she heads for the people at the bottom of the rope tow with her arms out. You have to watch thru the end.... And then again and again.

I'm sure it doesn't reflect well on me well in any regard whatsoever, but I watch this video over and over on the loop and laugh till I cry. The two instructors wiping out the other kid on the rope tow (and kind of Kat, after the rescue), just kills me!! And her poor baffled run down the hill, back to where she started. Why wouldn't one return to where they started?

The second video is from Tae Kwon Do today, They do SUCH fun stuff. She is always a sweaty mess after class! The camera is shaking a little, as I was cracking up the whole time. She is the hungry badger and the instructor is the crocodile guarding his egg. I realize he wasn't giving it his all, but was still really impressed that she could roll him over, twice, no less (these guys are all muscle). The ending of this video kills me too. She trips when she's almost there, BUT lands on the ball and rolls away from him. She may have a future as a receiver.

Winter has arrived

2012-01-19T18:27:00.001-08:00

This is today's snowstorm. And the snow dogs were loving it.
We went to Cheyenne's hockey game. She was the goalie in the white jersey. She had never played goal before and I suspect may never play it again. She was a real trooper.
The little ham. Being still for just a brief moment. Drinking my pop.
This is our 82 year old neighbor and his new hip, snowblowing our driveway.

You might see a little ham in and out of these videos......

Kat's new kitties?

2012-01-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

There was text with this when I emailed it..... Anyway, when Kat got home from school yesterday she saw this box and asked "is this my new kitty?". I guess you can't blame her. She's still a rookie in some regards and while every adult would recognize that this is a 40lb box of kitty litter from a warehouse store, she just saw kitties on the box and assumed (hoped) that it was a kitty. Because they come in boxes? And she's been told that we will get kittens after Hermy dies. So the day after that, when she saw Hermy, she said 'Hermy, you didn't die yet." Oops.

Kat's newly decorated bedroom

2012-01-12T18:43:00.001-08:00

This was Kat's room this summer after we added her bunk beds. I told her we could paint her room and make it hers (it was a little kids' room when we moved in- yellow with a cutesy border). What color did she want? Blue. Green. Purple. And Pink. Really? Not all one color? No. This wall pink. That wall purple...etc. She knew exactly what she wanted. I was silly to question her.

However, I picked out the paint alone, except the green. Since she was a rookie to the whole process, I figured I could get away with the paint just showing up and getting itself on the wall. And I did. This time. I am sure that I won't be so lucky next time.

And I did most of the painting while she was at school. But I saved the purple wall for her to help me paint. And she did. The same spot, over and over and over. It's more of a textured surface. And at point, Dan had to come in to see, cause he heard me say "get your feet off of the paint on the wall!" Things I never thought I would say.
She now has a really cool art desk with all sorts of art supplies, a fun rug for playing with her cars, and lots of cubbies and storage all over the place.
She also picked out the curtain colors. But the blue one was a navy blue, so we wound up with 2 purple (lilac) curtains.

Kat's first skiing lesson

2012-01-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

Skiing anyone? Despite the lack of snow, not to mention wintry weather, Kat had her first ski lesson yesterday. She had fun and it went well. These are pics of the area.... the ridiculously muddy parking lot, the non-running chair lift with no snow underneath, etc.
Here she is. They use hula hoops to get the kids used to being up on skis. The pull them around with them. And they also use them to capture escapees who start heading downhill. When Kat was getting dragged around, the instructor said her skis had been well waxed, maybe even with racing wax! Awesome!

Kat did great, and most importantly had fun. Of course we were talking to our friend Dave and Whistler came up. We are trying to figure out of we can put together a trip. It's still under discussion and we are still waiting for more info before we decide when and where. If at all.

So far, this is Kat's favorite way to get down the hill!

Catching up. Xmas and stuff

2012-01-01T17:35:00.001-08:00

Well, this is the fire that took place Wed night at our friend Bruce's building. Where Dan's new partner HAD her office. No one was hurt in the fire, and no one will be working in the building for the next couple of months (though damage was pretty isolated to one section). So, Dan has some new projects, as you can see in the picture below.
Yes, he has 4 computers on his desk. He and Nan bought new machines and he is installing software, encrypting them and getting the machines ready for work on Tuesday. They went out Saturday and found some office space for the next 6 months. And then started shopping, spending some insurance money.

On xmas morning. We gave Kat her own camera (she is always taking mine and taking pics of everyone and everything). And she also got the turtle night light that she requested from every santa that she saw (below).

Below is one of her creations when she is up before me in the morning. Those are 2 pieces of bread COVERED with jam. And I'm not sure that there isn't fluff under the jam. There is on one of the pieces. She couldn't open the PB jar, so couldn't complete her masterpiece. Too bad!!!

On another morning, she had set the dining room table for a breakfast party with her dolls and many pretend friends (actually they are all real friends, however, none of them were actually here that AM). The cuteness was overwhelming.

NYC

2011-12-11T20:59:00.001-08:00

We went to NYC this weekend. Kat stayed with her cousins and had a great time. We also had a great time. I hadn't been in NYC since 2002, before we left town. I took Kat's xmas present with us- her new camera. Instead of buying her a kid's camera, for just a few bucks more, I bought her a tiny, pink Vivitar camera. 12.1 megapixels! And it weighs about 6 oz, so it was perfect to have in my pocket. Plus I should get to know it a little bit. I'm pretty happy with her new toy, as I suspect she will be as well. I do have to figure out how to remove the date line. That's just annoying.

Apparently 2 weeks before xmas, Santas are coming out of the woodwork.....and by afternoon they were all drunk. Kat would have loved to see and hug each and every one of them!
We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, which was amazing. I like these pics. Excepting the date line.....

Statue of liberty

2011-12-10T17:51:00.000-08:00

From the Staten Island ferry

NYC

2011-12-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

From the Brooklyn bridge

Ice Skating and rock vs windshield

2011-11-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

Driving home from DT this AM, going about 50, merging into heavy traffic on the 33 and WHAM apparently a monster rock gets launched into my windshield. It was SO LOUD. I lost hearing in my left ear for a few minutes. I never flinched or swerved, but I think I stopped breathing for a minute. I don't know if I've ever been so grateful for the strength of a windshield before. But I am now. That almost-hole is directly in front of me. And it's 2" in diameter! I have no idea what hit me or how fast it was going, but I cannot wait to get my new windshield tomorrow AM. I think the strength of the windshield MAY have been compromised.

Now to the ice skating adventure....

We found an ice skating class and signed Kat up. Tonight was her first class and she did awesome! And she loved it! She was so proud of being able to walk in her little hockey skates on the rubber mats. Then when she got out on the ice, she kept it up and did great. She fell several times, but was always laughing and by the end was able to get back up all by herself without help or the use of the boards.

Apparently, I have to get some skates also, as all the parents get to go out on the ice and skate with their kids after class, which is pretty cool. She will be showing me up in no time. Note the kid is wearing hockey skates-- could have gone either way. I also have a pair of ice skates, but they were too big and the ice skates fit her perfectly. As far as we can tell, anyway!

Kat's new gig as a dog walker

2011-11-28T19:56:00.000-08:00

Leaves

2011-11-20T18:02:00.001-08:00

Tunneling through the leaves

2011-11-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

More Halloween pics..... I thought of the gloves (my idea) were a nice touch.

sorting thru her loot with our little neighbor (and her future bus/schoolmate) Robbie.

This is how one walks our guest dog. With an ace bandage as a leash. And don't forget the crown!

Halloween fun, fun, fun

2011-10-29T18:50:00.001-07:00

I had been told that Halloween was a month-long activity. It is quite close. We have had many activities already, starting with our an outing to the Zoo last Saturday, followed by our annual Halloween party last Sunday (no pics). Thursday night all of the Buffalo cousins went trick or treating at the mall. Though we didn't manage to stay together and never even saw Ch., I'm pretty sure she was there. Yesterday, Kat trick or treated at school and came home with a boatload of candy (I had NO IDEA there were that many people at her school).

Last night was a fun-filled Halloween party at the Y. Today, since Dan is sick (well, we all are, but he's the sickest), I got her out of the house to go trick or treating at the local community college. That place was jam packed and we had to stand outside in the cold for a long time before we made it in. At least it wasn't yet raining and we're not further east and don't have actual snow to worry about yet. So far she has been tinkerbell, a kitty cat, a butterfly and a dragon (which is an unbelievably cute costume). We still have a neighbor's Halloween party tomorrow and actual trick-or-treating (a very little bit) on Monday evening. Since she goes to bed so early and needs to be well rested for school, instead of going out with the cousins, we are going to do some early trick or treating in the neighborhood before Daddy has to go to class. we might meet some of our neighbors......finally!

Trick or treating

2011-10-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

some videos

2011-10-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a few videos of some of Kat's recent activities.

Future roller derby queen!!

2011-09-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

Wedding pics...finally!!!

2011-09-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

When Kat dragged us over to look at this caterpillar, we thought it was a plastic toy. Or some kind of joke being played. But we moved it to safety in the bushes and concluded that it was a very real, very freaky caterpillar. It will become a spicebush swallowtail if it survives larvahood (my very own Palinism??). It was really cool- even the bride saw it and marveled at it.

This is the flower girl's new 'do. It could be hard to see it with the temper tantrum and all....She did really well all day, with only 2 fits (and she was tired after the first week of school and the rehearsal party). She danced 'till 10! And told Cheryl that she looked like a princess!
Twirling all the while..
A better look at her hair. She insisted on standing up there with the ladies instead of sitting with us! They were her peeps. Not us!

Out of order, but this is how the FG left the wedding (long ride home you know....). That is her cousin Andrew, who changed out of his Army uniform and into a tux for the party.
Cutting the cake.

I missed the bridal dance, but got Tom & Cheryl.
She has that little self-satisfied smirk on her face. She did great. A little hesitation at the top of the aisle, but then Adam started and she tried to keep up with him.

How time flies...she's driving!!!

2011-09-04T19:10:00.001-07:00

4th Birthday Party!!!

2011-08-17T20:16:00.001-07:00

Pics by Kat
Her big bird birthday cake.

I think the 'helpfulness' of the other kids with the presents is a riot! They are so funny.

Marineland

2011-08-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Marineland and had a great time! Here are the kids on a ride, I think they just dropped, which it looks like Kat enjoyed.

And, for reasons I can't begin to fathom, they have huge numbers of animals- there must have been at least 20 black bears in the water pit. And you can feed the animals!! They sell feed, but there are no signs, no restrictions and no one who gives a crap what you're feeding the animals. Mom brought carrots & celery & dogfood, which they seemed to like. The bears made me think of a John Irving book....now I have no idea which one, but one about a retired and pathetic circus bear. I guess it's time to re-read some of those. Despite the animal issue, it was really, really cool for the kids to feed the bears. How often does one get to intentionally feed them. they were practically performing for the food.
They also have an enormous herd of elk.....most were piled up in teh shade, but some were hungry. Kat also enjoyed feeding them. At one point, I looked over and one of these guys had her forearm in its mouth. Apparently it wasn't what they wanted and they let go. She had no idea how she should feel about this....stood there looking at her arm for a while, then almost cried, until I pointed out that yet another one looked hungry.
And bison.....tons of those too! And it's quite nervewracking to see the big guys right there and have to assume that that steel bar there is well constructed. They can't get their humps under it. I think if they really stretch, they can reach under for some food. But the babies can fit underneath and come over for some food.
And there are also deer, some of which apparently needed food STAT!!!

Gummed by an elk and nosed by a baby bison within minutes of one another- who else can say that?
This apparently is the only rule about feeding the animals....
Watching the dolphin show. One of the 3 of them is quite tired.

In addition to being fed, the deer must also be petted!

Mom & Dad's Surprise 50th

2011-07-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

In somewhat random order, here are a bunch of pics from the anniversary party.

playing the fiddle

2011-07-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

The well dressed munchkin always wears her dress and swim goggles when watering the garden!

The Supermodels... in the bathroom?

2011-07-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

How can 3 medium to little girls in a bathroom with a camera go badly? I may have had to delete some pics, but there are also some awesome pics!
Kat is quite the photog....This pic of Charlie is awesome!

These girls can vogue!!
And cry, which Kat, as a budding photojournalist, documented (excepting the 'why' of the crying....she MAY have played a role!!).

not a lot to report

2011-07-08T19:01:00.001-07:00

We went to the Toronto Zoo. Awesome place, especially now that they have added the splash park- a great way to rinse off after a super sweaty day walking around and hauling her highness in the wagon up and down the hills to the Canadian section. Kat had never seen a bird so big.

Bryan & Wendy were in TO, so we met up with them after the Zoo and went to dinner at The Keg, our favorite Canadian restaurant. We only had a few hours, but made the most of it.
Today we toured the fire hall. Kat was not feeling up for posing, so we got contemplative Kat on the truck.

Amusement Park

2011-06-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

We have been to our local amusement park a few times lately. It's always a good time.We took Mom & Dad.
Last night we took Cheyenne and they all had a great time.
She was really concentrating...no smile.
Last night all of the girls had a great time. Eli, not so much. The three little ones loved playing with their big cousin Cheyenne. The hissing goose and me telling it to 'knock it off' made a huge impression on Kat. And the goose listened as well as some other people I live with......

She's getting bigger

2011-06-23T18:14:00.000-07:00

Though she looks pretty small in the twin bed. She can't wait to turn 5 so she can sleep in the top bunk.

Boo & the blue jays

2011-06-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

I was trying to figure out what the blue jays had against the boys. And then Boo showed me.....

Dresses and blue jays

2011-06-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

We went dress shopping with Cheryl to find a flower girl dress for Kat. And Cheryl & Jessica tried some dresses on also.....

Kat must have been in the pool for 4 hours on Saturday!!

Pool

2011-06-20T13:27:00.001-07:00

This is where we will be spending our summer. I think Kat would have voted to come back to Buffalo, even if the place wasn't crawling with her cousins, friends and family, if she could only play here all summer!!

Blue jays vs Ben

2011-06-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

Apparently, and for reasons we do not understand, Ben appears to be enemy number one for a pair of blue jays who must now share our yard.... As always, super Ben is blissfully unaware of any malice or plots toward him.

Face painting

2011-06-16T15:03:00.001-07:00

We painted each other's faces today.... I think i was supposed be a tiger. It's an interesting interpretation, I must say... She is a lion, btw, but we didn't have anything for yellow/gold.

Moving up and an amusement park

2011-06-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

Kat as a lion
Kat and her best friend Alayah, covered in blue frosting.
The moving up ceremony
The dads take one for their little girls.....in the tilt a whirl. Dan was feeling that all evening!
We had some of Kat's little friends from the Y (and their folks) over for a cookout. Here they are at the kids' table. So cute!

I LOVE the smile after she successfully completes her climb and slide. I'm just sorry I cut off part of her happy dance!

Today's strawberry crop

2011-06-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

How much fun can you have in five days?

2011-05-31T19:10:00.001-07:00

If you're Kat....you can have TONS of fun. We went to Cleveland over the holiday weekend. Our adoption agency is located there and they have a reunion at the Cleveland Zoo every year. We stayed at Dan's cousins' Jim & Madeline's house and they gave us a quick tour of the town and took us to a Memorial Day Parade. And were fabulous hosts.
Today, as summer apparently appeared with a vengeance.
The new elephant exhibit. The Zoo is beautiful. And huge. We hardly saw any of it.
Today. The girls all had muddy bottoms (and everything else), so I had to encourage them and take their picture.

At the parade. They threw candy and someone really enjoyed that!
The awesome ice cream place Jim & Madeline too us to. They had a kid-sized table and chairs. So cute.
Kat and her cousin. Let's see...Hilda is Kat's grandad's cousin, so that makes them first cousins twice removed.
Someone MAY have been a little sticky after the cotton candy. She went right to the tub when we got back to Jim & Madeline's.
Love this bathing suit. And the adorable kid in it!
Koala bear at the zoo.
Pics by Kat.

At the carnival the night before the picnic. She is rocking those glasses.

Elephant Cupcakes

2011-05-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

Kat wanted to celebrate her birthday at preschool (and since it's in August and school ends in 2 weeks, we had to hurry). She wanted elephant cupcakes. I think they eventually came out pretty cute (but there's a LOT of frosting on those things- glad I won't be spending 5 hours with 17 STICKY little munchkins who ate these critters!).

Update

2011-05-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

In addition to posting the adorable video and 2 pics below (well, one pic is adorable), we also, at long last, got to vote for our new Congressperson.

After the last one bailed instantly months ago when the media got a whiff of his transsexual perversion, and craigslist, he became the absolutely lamest republican sex scandal of the decade so far. Anyway, so we got to vote for a new representative. I voted for the candidate who I thought (hoped) would be the most perverse, perverted and entertaining in the face of scandal. The last guy was just so lame! We want razzle-dazzle and excitement from our congressional scandals. Hopefully the new member of the house will spice things up for our (my) entertainment!

Interpretive dance

2011-05-24T19:55:00.001-07:00

This video kills me..... The dancers are Kat and Emily, and Hannah is the 'musician'.

Talk about fur flying....

2011-05-24T19:53:00.001-07:00

So serious

2011-05-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

Fwd: The definition of a symbiotic relationship

2011-05-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

>
> I missed the best part where he was licking the spilled cereal/milk off her belly and she was giggling.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T21:00:00.001-07:00

Mother's Day. We FINALLY saw the sun. Apparently Mom & Dad brought it back from Florida with them. It was great to see all three of them. Kat was happy to see Grandpa & Grandma.

I was walking the dogs and just loved the light of this shot.
The girls playing Dora bingo at G & G's trailer at the Vikings. Wearing the new hats that Grandma gave them.
Flat Hunter was here from Calgary with us for a few days. He enjoyed Niagara Falls. And then he went AWOL. I assume he will turn up someday in the midst of a new adventure. We will see.

Recent pics, etc

2011-05-02T18:06:00.000-07:00

Dan's cousin Barb and 2 of her daughters were in town this weekend for some soccer games. This is Juliette. The games were at Nichols, so we took J and headed across the street to the zoo. Juliette is now Kat's 'best friend'.

A good way to stay warm at a cool and wet soccer game.
Love the shades!
Kat and the Easter Bunny at the Vikings' Easter Egg hunt. It was a really fun event. They did a great job, it was a beautiful sunny day. Kat found lots of eggs, including the golden egg that won her an adorable duckling puppet.

Not a lot happening here. It's still raining and cold (40s-50s). We have had a very few nice days interspersed in with the rain. I got the grass cut on Easter Sunday, but it looks like it's time to do it again. If it stops raining long enough.

I think we are going to build an ark....

2011-04-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

Some things never change....

2011-04-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

She still loves her puddles!!

Liza's birthday cake

2011-04-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

Made with contributions from me, Kat, Gracie, and Derek. Charlie was sick, so was not allowed to participate. They were quite proud of the bunny cake creation.

Today at the zoo

2011-04-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

Well, we didn't let the lack of spring stop us. Of course since it's spring break, our class was cancelled, despite it being on my calendar. And there weren't too many animals out, being extended winter and all. It ended badly after about 45 minutes when I said 'if you do that one more time, we're done here'. You can guess what happened next.....then nobody was happy!

You have to love the fake smile. I see it everytime I want to take a pic.

Easter egg hunt in the snow

2011-04-18T17:19:00.001-07:00

I think the visual and audio here speak for themselves.. I thought about the hat (for her) but not gloves for either of us. The turnout was not what they expected...there was a 10 egg/kid limit. If they observed that, the organizers would have been picking up a lot of eggs!!

Yesterday's Easter egg hunt

2011-04-18T17:16:00.001-07:00

I remember that warm costumes are important for Halloween in this climate. But the horizontal snow on April 17th for an easter egg hunt....that one I don't recall.

Mid-april in Buffalo

2011-04-18T17:13:00.001-07:00

I am not complaining. Merely showing that we had snow today. Again.

Easter egg hunt- the craft

2011-04-16T07:47:00.001-07:00

Easter egg hunt at the Y

2011-04-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

Ready for summer

2011-04-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

If only summer was ready for us....

She asked me to put clips in her hair and then said 'i feel like a princess.'. Where did that come from? She may never leave the house again....

At the science museum

2011-04-01T21:19:00.001-07:00

I love the iPhone camera!!!

2011-03-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Because I can take pics like this at the Doctor's office (checking on the tubes that were inserted last week. You can guess from her expression of joy that all is well).

Except that it is snowing as I type this. With an expected high of 24 degrees and a low of 13 degrees. On March 25!!! I know I haven't been here for seven springs.....but this seems cruel and unusual based on what I do remember!! I got patio stuff out. Kat's wagon is filling with snow as I write.

Poor daffodils

2011-03-24T15:57:00.000-07:00

I think they are hardy enough to survive this. I know that plants can feel pain. I wonder if they feel cold?

Spring has sprung!!

2011-03-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

Lots of catch up

2011-03-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went to Shawn's playoff hockey game. And Kat got to hang out with her big cousin Cheyenne. She loved it. (No idea why that sentence is now a hyperlink.)

Playing in the snow.
The turkey (named Tyson) she got to pet at our zoo class.
The tiger skin she got to pet at the zoo class.
Weight lifting at the pool.....
Could they be any cuter?
At a party last week, all 3 girls zipped themselves into the crib. They had to ask for help top get out.

This series is all Kat art. I really like a few of them....

Not sure which of these I like best....I think the second one.
Skyping Wendy.
Boo.

Grandpa & Grandma at Tom's for xmas.
mommy.
I like it....
Here she is at the library playing a Barney Farm game. I was impressed at her skill in moving the frogs to the lily pad (and knowing that's what she was supposed to do).

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

You can't tell from this pic, but she has big green barrettes in her hair (which she wore For a record 7+ hours) band her pent served as a napkin all day....

Home and bouncing all over the place.

2011-03-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well, we survived the morning at the hospital. And getting up at some ungodly hour (I realize that many folks are up at that time every day) to get there by 7:45 with a hungry & thirsty munchkin. Our surgery was at 11, and I think it was right on time.

The surgery was a less than 10 minute deal and she did great. The recovery, which I hadn't considered at all, was another story. She was crying and screaming when I went in--I didn't even know that it was Kat, as I apparently was expecting her to be lying quietly, awaiting my arrival. Nope. So she screamed about her ears and "I need my hearing aids" for half an hour or more, with small breaks taken to watch Dora and drink some of Dan's Pepsi. And then she would remember the indignities and start screaming again.

We took her home, with some crying along the way, but playing with the iPhone and a promise of ice cream helped. Once we got home, she and Dan had their ice cream and she had nearly forgotten the trauma of the morning and began bouncing about.

I haven't, however.....I'm half passed out on the couch (I hardly slept last night) and am counting the hours till bedtime (for both of us). Dan dragged himself to the office, as there was zero chance of getting anything done, nor grabbing a nap with Kat here moseying about. She will resume her regular activities tomorrow, preschool, moving & grooving & soccer.

The Dr did say that there was all sorts of fluid in her ears and that she got that out, and now, with the tubes, hopefully no more will accumulate and there are no more barriers to her hearing being maximized with her hearing aids (which Dan inadvertantly broke one of this AM when taking them off at the hospital). When she was screaming for them, we couldn't really put them in, as they were in 2 pieces. We did stop by the Hearing aid store and get them fixed, so she now has no fluid and 2 working hearing aids.

Tomorrow we will return to normal (and I can nap after dropping her at preschool) and she will forget all about this, I hope.

That's the scoop from here. Hopefully spring is springing here in Buffalo and we will see the sun again soon.

Kat at hospital awaiting ear tube surgery

2011-03-16T05:39:00.000-07:00

I am going to win parent of the year!!

2011-03-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

I let her be seen in public like this. Though I drew the line at going to story time at the library. I told her she would have to wash it off for the library, but not for miss Beth's Kidsit. Which did she prefer? She chose miss Beth's.

My birthday

2011-03-10T13:39:00.000-08:00

Well, the three of us went bowling for my birthday (after Kat showed daddy what a TAe Kwon Do expert she is.). Here is my high score, possibly ever.

Kat's high score

2011-03-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

This must be why I hid the black ink pad before....

2011-03-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

But, silly me, I just came across it and put it BACK in the box of stamps.....and then I remembered.....

At sesame street live

2011-03-05T15:31:00.000-08:00

With rapt attention.

Knee high naturalist graduation

2011-03-02T08:27:00.000-08:00

I don't think that the baby bear graduated.....

Knee high naturalists

2011-03-02T08:25:00.000-08:00

Swimming?

2011-03-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

She always finds a kid on her class to screw around with. She found a very willing volunteer this time.

Swimming class tonite.

2011-03-01T14:34:00.001-08:00

She's been obsessed with goggles. We'll see how it goes in the water....

At the library

2011-02-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

She found a new friend. And she was telling it to 'look at mommy'.

Tae Kwon do

2011-02-24T21:01:00.000-08:00

Kat's first class. She Loved the wall of mirrors. Had I known how this video was going to end I would have....well, hell, I would have done nothing differently!!

A hole in the wall

2011-02-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

Not sure what the point of the hole in the wall is, but Kat discovered it at our playdate today.

Enjoying our 'new' couch

2011-02-24T20:56:00.001-08:00

We were waiting for him to roll to his back and land on the floor. He didn't. Even boo isn't that stupid..... Though I never saw a dog lay like this on a couch.

No Snow....but a sex scandal !!!

2011-02-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

So we didn't get much of the snow we were promised two weeks ago. It was cold and wintry and we got several inches, but nowhere near the 15+ inches we were promised. Very disappointing. But it was a great day to be out running errands, as no one else was out and about.

But, on the upside, the latest (and unbelievably lame) congressional sex scandal was our very own congressman, Chris Lee!! YEAH!!! Buffalo has made it to the big time!!!!! If you call sending a picture of oneself with no shirt and flexing one's bicep a sex scandal. I would personally call it cheesy and lame, and while the guy appears to be slime, I'm not at all sure that by congressional standards that's even close to a scandal. So either the guy has far worse stuff that has yet to hit the fan, or he's way to much of a weenie to be in congress to begin with. I suspect a fair number of congressfolks do far worse than than this on the way in to work each day and you don't see them resigning! Plus, it was a potential sex scandal with a woman! That's a novel twist. Maybe that's why he was out of there so fast.....the Republican party couldn't stand the idea of a sex scandal with someone of the opposite sex! I think he set the record for how quick it went from when the story hit to his resignation. It was about 2 hours! And I just got my voter registration card, so will be able to vote for his replacement!

My cough is nearly gone, sometimes. So hopefully the pneumonia is far behind me now and it just may be time to start hitting the treadmill again. I started a 12 week program at the Y, back in November and I think it will be more like the 20 week program.....oh well.

Last week Kat and I went to Kid's Fest while Dan was traveling to a conference in San Fran. I am pretty sure she has no idea who Word-Girl even is, but she ran down the hall for a hug nonetheless.
She loved Curious George.
Who wouldn't love Elmo?

She got here first Tattoo! Unfortunately the piercing place wasn't ope so that will have to wait.Our bar before......
This was our basement bar before. Clearly one of the ugliest things ever. SO. using stuff laying around the house (ceiling paint and an old bathroom mirror) to brighten up that corner of the basement AND make it NOT hideous. Let me know what you think. I still have some of the red fabric if you want it....I pawned the mirrored tiles (and many broken ones) off one on someone on Craig's list.And after....
Kat is going to give Tae Kwon Do a shot. We will see. In her first and only personal lesson, she spent most of the time hiding underneath the chairs in the room. Maybe this week will go better?

Her swimming on the other hand, is going great. I'm amazed at how natural the underwater swimming thing seems to come to her. She still struggles to keep her body on top of the water, as she can only focus on kicking OR moving her arms, but not both. But underwater, she does both with ease

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Preparing for the Snowpocolypse

2011-02-01T17:42:00.001-08:00

Well, we are waiting.....It's 8:42 and nothing is happening out there yet. I can still see the fence, mostly because there is no snow to speak of yet. We did the obligatory Wegman's run to make sure that we had plenty of supplies, filled the gas tanks and are now waiting for the fun to begin.

Kat had swimming class tonite and, despite the fact that it's not yet miserable out, I had no desire to leave the house. But she wanted to go and good thing we went; that little fish had a great class! She was the only one in her class tonite, so she had a .5 hour personal class with her regular teacher. She made great strokes, as you will see in the videos.

In an unrelated note, I had a chest x-ray yesterday to check out the status of my pneumonia, as I'm still coughing, a lot sometimes. My Dr e-mailed me that my lungs were clear, so I guess that drama is now behind us. I guess the cough sometimes lingers and I assume eventually goes away.

Kat goes bowling! And pics of Grandma's birthday

2011-01-27T21:06:00.000-08:00

Kat's preschool had a bowling outing yesterday and she really liked it. And she bowled a 61 (yes, the bumpers were up, but still), we had the best score of our two lanes, at least. you have to love the dance/somersault that follows......

Here, she and Grandma are singing 'happy birthday to grandma' . Could this be any sweeter?

Micellaneous stuff

2011-01-25T17:25:00.001-08:00

This is Kat, cheering for Canada in the World Junior Championships....alas, it was not to be.
Here is Dan with his winter beard. Alas, that was not to be either....despite Kat and I lobbying for him to keep it. She keeps asking what happened to his beard 'did it come off in the pool?'. Maybe we can talk him into growing it back.
One of Kat's favorite snacks is a little tub of peaunut butter and carrots or crackers for dipping into it. Well, she is usually completely COVERED in PB and that stuff does NOT wash off easily. SO we have found a better solution.......

Back to the Doctor

2011-01-25T12:56:00.000-08:00

Last night while I was hanging out at the Y (no idea when I'll feel able to exercise again) while Kat was at Messy Play, two ladies, independently, came into the room I was in and heard me cough. And made me swear that I would return to the Dr ASAP.

She said she hears the crackling all over my lungs now and put me on Prednisone. And tested my lung capacity, which was quite low. The pharmacist warned me that the pred increases the tendon loosening risk of the Levaquin (antibiotic) that I already finished. The warning for that said the tendon issue could last for months after taking the stupid drug. Great. And the pharmacist felt compelled to warn me, as she had recently taken both the antibiotic, followed by the prednisone. She had had no issues in this area, but had done a lot of research on it. And concluded, that despite the risks, it was a better option than eventually landing in the hospital with the pneumonia. I concluded the same. So, hopefully this will reduce the inflammation in the lungs and let the fliud out and I will leave this ugly thing behind us.

On a related note, if you haven't had your flu shot yet, I recommend getting one, as that is how this all started. And I read today that this year's flu strain leads to pneumonia more commonly than previous strains.

Hope that all is well with everyone out there and that no one else is sick.

Hockey practice.

2011-01-21T21:14:00.000-08:00

Forgot to mention

2011-01-15T07:27:00.001-08:00

That Dan's car is still full of all the stuff we took to and from Lake Placid. Neither of us had had the required energy to actually unload it, much less put everything away. So it stays in the car. Dan can't go to his office downtown, as his car is full of stuff that would get it broken into. Not that he's had that much motivation.....

And I think that Dad posted last night, haven't confirmed yet, but they are now officially on skype. I saw them last night and can confirm that they are up and running. Kat missed them, as she was so exhausted, she put herself to bed at 6:30. And got up at 8. No complaints from us.

Sent from my iPhone

The Plague

2011-01-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

Apparently it's time to paint a red cross on our door. We had a great time in Placid with Derek & Liza and the kids, but we were somewhat sick all the while. And now we're sicker.

Dan and I, and Kat have all been in varying degrees of sickness for 3 weeks. Today, we all went to the Doctor (all different of course- me to my new Dr, Kat to her ped and Dan to an urgent care center, as he doesn't yet have a Dr here). I have pneumonia, Dan has bronchitis (sp?) and Kat has....well, a cough. At least her lungs were clear, so she is NOT on antibiotics. Even one of the dogs is on antibiotics! So fully 1/2 of the household (not counting the loaner rats of Derek & Liza's) are on antibiotics here.

The dogs haven't been walked for weeks.....they're dying. Pete was so kind as to stay at the house and watch the critters (including the surprise rat visitors). He tried to walk the dogs, one at a time. I forgot how they hate to be separated. Each dog is loathe to leave the other, as they are sure that they are missing something amazing- like peanut butter-covered steak and they won't go for a walk without the other. I can't walk them- hell, I can't make it up the stairs without being completely winded, so if anyone out there is a glutton for idiocy and wants to walk 200lbs of dog sometime, just let me know! We will have them leashed and ready to roll.

No new pics to post. I planned on getting lots of pics of the girls skiing. And then, on the day we were to ski and then head home, the east was getting slammed with that storm, so our travel routes were potentially dicey and we skipped skiing and headed home. Derek took his girls though and they did pretty well. I wish we'd been there to take pics. But it took up 9 hours to make our way slowly home, and got home at a reasonable hour, so I think we close correctly.

That's the update from here. Hope all is well with everyone out there.

Pool in lake placid......

2011-01-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

Dog sled ride in lake placid

2011-01-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

What Santa brought

2011-01-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

Isn't this cool. And her favorite thing that she got was the pair of scissors on her stocking......

Kat's turn to get on Dan's lap

2011-01-02T17:33:00.001-08:00

Ben the beautiful lap dog

2011-01-02T17:32:00.002-08:00

Shoveling the Levine rink

2011-01-02T17:32:00.001-08:00

Kat getting ready to hit the ice

2011-01-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

Skates are overrated......

Thomas p entertaining a plethora of little girls

2011-01-02T17:29:00.000-08:00

Kat's cousin Andrew

2011-01-02T17:27:00.000-08:00

Home for the holidays from Texas.

Xmas poem

2010-12-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

Too cute. And she's been saying 'nibble, nibble, crunch' all day but we had no idea what she was saying until I just reviewed the tape.

Kat's Xmas concert

2010-12-21T21:05:00.000-08:00

I think dan may be right in concluding that we have the class clown.....

This kid LOVES the water!

2010-12-19T21:59:00.001-08:00

She graduated yesterday to a higher level swim class starting in the new year. And I signed her up for 2 classes/week. She loves the water. Even swims underwater with her eyes open. Jumping off the diving platform was pretty cool.

Bryan and Wendy Visit and Guatemalan xmas party

2010-12-14T17:55:00.001-08:00

Hey, we're all in it!!!

From the American side, while still light out.

Ice on the rails.

under the lights.

The three of us in the cold.

The Calgarians had to come to western New York -- to the falls--to really experience COLD!

Ben making himself at home on Bryan.

At the Guatemalan xmas party. Kat is the second reindeer in from the left- she is crying- sobbing, really.

Here's a nice fake smile.....she's so tired that I don't think she has a real smile left in her.

SLEDDING!!!

2010-12-05T20:22:00.000-08:00

They had sooo much fun today. Kat and I went sledding with Derek, Charlotte & Gracie & their cousin Lousia. I'm posting lots of pics and a few videos, so feel free to skim them. But there were so many great shots. They all gave skiing a shot as well.
Let's start with the tobaggan!

I wish I had the camera turned just a few tiny degrees. I think they hate it and they want to go home.

As they flew past me.

And the dismount.......graceful as ever.

I can see why Charlie might be losing speed.....

Love the eyes screwed shut and enormous smile.
Gracie. Don't know if she can see or not.

A pure fluke as I had it on continuous shoot and you never know what you'll get, but I love this pic of Louisa.

Derek and I even did a few runs. not sure when I last did that.

Eli's brief time playing in the snow. He soon voted for watching Dora in the car.

Louisa's big finish.

SNOW!!!! And Calgarians visiting.

2010-12-03T17:02:00.001-08:00

Well, Buffalo may have made national news for the storm that stranded boatloads of folks on I-90, but it was very localized and we didn't get a flake of that 2-3' here at our house. So today Kat and I headed to the snow to check things out. She played in the snow by herself for over 1/2 hour and I had to drag her away. Tomorrow there is talk of meeting up woth her cousins for more snow-play. I suspect there will more pics from the weekend fun. And we drove through and they did have a LOT of snow in S. Buffalo.

That's over 2' of pristine snow she's on. Well, it was pristine.

Wally and Kathy and Matthew and Gavin were in town for Thanksgiving.

Kat was the only one who realized that we should get their picture. So she did. Another Kat pic.

We tried to get all of the kids' pics on the bench. this was the best we got....but you can't see Finn, except for his feet.