Healthy and active
November 8, 2009
- Lily has been talking about how she needs a ring and then she can be married and be pregnant and have a baby,
- Elsie has thrown multiple tantrums around the concern that she never gets what she wants,"
- Timmy has been picking on older kids at school and then complaining when they retaliate,
- Abby made a great fruit salad for our party tonight and also set the table,
- Kate has been planning Halloween crafts, field trips, and activities for the rest of the kids to participate in,
- Gina is relieved to have the Primary program drawing to a close, and
- I accepted an invitation to sing in a quartet for Christmas.
Halloween
November 1, 2009
- Lily's trick-or-treat bag got so heavy that she stopped carrying it,
- Elsie said "I want lots of money. Do you?" Then she suggested that I start working weekends.
- Timmy almost started crying when he found out that Gina couldn't come to his Halloween party,
- Abby spent the week sick with the flu,
- Kate cried because she couldn't call her friend to go trunk-or-treating together,
- Gina ordered bunk beds for the girls and went to pick them up as soon as they came in, and
- I ran in the snow on two separate mornings.
10.5 years in
October 25, 2009
- Lily has been just ornery–yelling, scratching, or doing whatever is necessary to get anyone with the temerity to cross her. She also sounds like a long-term smoker when she talks.
- Elsie is now our sickest child with eyes that make you want to cry when you look at them,
- Timmy's been reading and sounding out everything in sight,
- Abby made a quarto-sized book for Elsie complete with illustrations, story, and binding,
- Kate finally recovered enough to get back to attending school and playing soccer.
- Gina worked things out with her favorite midwives in Albuquerque to have the baby with them, and
- I made a combination of celery, carrots, chicken, garlic, onions, fish sauce, egg noodles, and a light marinara sauce that I sold to the kids under the name of "Tuscan spaghetti." Amazingly, people loved it.
Half a year from taxes
October 18, 2009
- Lily said, "Daddy, thank you for doing everything that I want,"
- Elsie got to wear her pajamas for a whole day,
- Timmy learned to charge the offense instead of sitting in the goal when he is a goalie,
- Abby scored two goals for her team,
- Kate was sick all week and missed a couple of days of school and all her soccer,
- Gina's stomach is starting to get tired and sore by the end of each day, and
- I discovered that I'm now the first person who comes up when I search my professional name ("Douglas H. Bradshaw").
Durango
October 12, 2009
- Lily pushed Elsie around Durango in the stroller, and
- Elsie learned to pump and explained that her success came because she was pumping with all her might.
- Timmy gave us the time every minute with the stop-watch/clock combination that he got from his grandpa. One day later, he lost it and cried bitterly.
- Abby got a queen-sized bed all to herself two nights in a row, because
- Kate chose to sleep on the floor, and
- Gina liked not preparing dinner almost as much as the beauty of the Animas in the fall.
- I put a free version of a paper I helped write onto the web,
- "Grandma Judy" took a series of fantastic pictures, and
- "Grandpa Tim" gave the kids ice cream, hot chocolate, and varied and sundry toys.
Defense
October 4, 2009
First, a little news. I changed jobs, but stayed here in Los Alamos. I'm currently learning about laser guided chemical vapor deposition technologies and helping figure out ways to make high quality gold micro and nanotubes.
I also defended my dissertation. I the presentation went great and I passed, but with a stipulation. There are two chapters in my dissertation that I've been asked to develop and polish and turn into submittable papers. Until I do that, I don't graduate. So I'm trying to spend some time each night developing and polishing. For the rest,- Lily has been singing "I am a child of God" to her dollies in a very gentle voice,
- Elsie has been batting her eyes to charm her way out of reprimands,
- Timmy took making our bed over from Elsie and cheerfully did the dishes this week,
- Abby took all the green tomatoes, wrapped them in paper, put them in a box, and taped it shut for storage,
- Kate scored a goal against the toughest soccer team she's faced (they still lost 3-4),
- Gina was overheard explaining, "we do not use the toothbrush for our toes."
Learning to prepare and digest food
September 27, 2009
- Lily cut her pear slices into tiny pieces using her butter knife,
- Elsie took one look at burrito pie and decided not to eat it,
- Timmy made tuna salad and tuna sandwiches for himself and Kate and Abby,
- Abby made corn tortillas for our lunch,
- Kate made microwaved potatoes with cheese, sour cream, and salsa,
- Gina had heart burn after eating a toddler's portion of the spaghetti Kate and Abby made, and
- I made the kids banana splits with the works when Gina went down to Santa Fe for Women's conference.
Spontaneous combustion
September 20, 2009
- Lily silently covered her face, hands, legs and feet with Desitin while I was napping 2 feet away,
- Elsie made our bed almost every day, getting better each day,
- Timmy explained that he hates school because he has to sit still too long,
- Abby created a desert out of ice and hot water for the other kids,
- Kate played us her first violin piece,
- Gina has been struggling to get our ward staffed with cub scout leaders, and
- I found that the flash point of corn chips is lower than the "broil" temperature of our oven.
Gatorade and other clear liquids
September 13, 2009
- Lily decided this week that she gets to choose what she wears,
- Elsie wants you to know that she loves Gatorade,
- Timmy had 3 cavities filled (they said he was the best patient they had had all day),
- Abby got a package from Gina's mother with spools and craft-supplies to make an add-a-room house,
- Katie started playing the violin,
- Gina cut the hair of the other 6 of us, and
- I've emptied throw-up bowls about 30 times in the past 24 hours (every child has been hit this weekend).
Italian squash?
September 6, 2009
- Lily told our home teachers that when she gets old she will be a mommy and have a baby and drive.
- Elsie explained that you have to move carefully around grown ups so that you don't hurt them,
- Timmy found out (to his grief) that his one pumpkin plant that survived the hail storms is actually an Italian squash,
- Abby shared Mosiah 2:17 with the whole congregation when she was called up to be presented as a new member of the church,
- Kate got up and bore her first testimony (it was pretty touching),
- Gina cooked a 22 pound turkey from last Thanksgiving, and
- I've been sneaking downstairs at night and playing the piano in the dark with the headphones on.
