Linda E

Linda Elizabeth and Carson horsing around.

Bake Sale

Superwife and the girls have done enough baking over the last two weeks to feed an army. We have banana bread, cupcakes, cookies, and brownies.

Last weekend, on the coldest day of the year, Linda decided to hold a bake sale to raise funds. Not sure what the funds are for, toys maybe, but she did earn herself $3.

New (Old) Movies

I'm doing some housecleaning and found a few movies that are to good to keep to myself.

Elizabeth Sings:

Family Reunion

We got to travel to NY this weekend for a family wedding. L and E stayed with some of my friends while Superwife and I attended the wedding. I think they had a great time while we were away because when we showed up to pick them up, Elizabeth said "I don't want to leave" without ever saying hello. It was great for me as I got to see some old friends and the family as well. Nanny and Grandpa even came back home with us for a few days and got to go to the Please Touch Me Museum and soccer practice.

Happy Halloween

The girls are very excited about Halloween. We had a dress rehersal last weekend at their friend Mia's Hallowen Party. Tinkerbelle (Linda) and Ariel (Elizabeth) we very excited to finally put on the costumes that were hanging in their closets for weeks. I do have some movies and photos from last week's party that I will get around to posting, and I'll get some images from Halloween posted as soon as I can.

Back To School Night

Tomorrow night, E's birthday, is Linda's "Back To School" night. Superwife and I get to go to Linda's classroom, meet her teachers, and see what she's been working on for the past 1.5 weeks. I'm sorry we have to cut Elizabeth's b-day celebrations short, but they will be with their fried Mia while we are at school and they couldn't be happier.

Here's one of Linda's first assignments. Click for a larger image.

Another New Movie

Superwife and I took the girls to an Arboretum this weekend. It has been on my list of places to go for quite some time, but I was worried the girls wouldn't enjoy themselves. Boy was I wrong. They had a fantastic time. The second we got home Linda started asking if we could go back the following day. Here's a video of Elizabeth chasing Linda through the rose garden.

First Day Of School

Today was a special day at The Jack Girls Headquarters, it was Linda's first day of school. After a very rough night with little rest for any of us, the girls woke up ready to go. Linda met me in the bathroom and asked “is it time to get ready for school?”  When we finally got there the festivities were in full swing- the teachers, Principal, and school chorus were assembled on the front step. There were balloons, a gold ribbon in front of the door, and a red carpet for the kids to walk down. The teachers sang a song for the children, cut the ribbon, and then little by little the parents said goodbye and let the kids walk in. If Linda was nervous, she didn’t show it- she walked right in without ever looking back. Elizabeth on the other hand couldn’t contain herself. Once Linda disappeared out of sight she started bawling “I want Linda, I want my sister…” Despite Superwife’s best efforts, she was in pretty bad shape for a while. Once all the kids were inside, the school chorus sang “Be Our Guest” for the parents and siblings still assembled outside. It seemed to cheer Elizabeth up a bit.

We took lots of pictures and a few movies. I’ll see if  I can post some when I get home tonight.

Oh Snap(shot). New Photos

Hey everyone. We've been pretty busy lately. Superwife keeps our summer scheduled filled with all kinds of stuff. Playdates, playground trips, volunteering to clean up parks... it has been a busy summer so far. I have added some new photos to the Flickr page, so click on over and have a look.

New Movie

Just uploaded this to the YouTube page. Click on over and have a look.

Game On

Linda and Elizabeth had their first ever baseball practice yesterday. We showed up a bit late, but it didn't matter much. Linda stepped out of the car and into the batters box; after a few lines of instruction from her coach she missed with her first swing and then connected with the second. There was a moment of panic as she wasn't quite sure where to run, but she did ultimately find her way to 1b. Elizabeth's hitting philosophy was a little different than Linda's. As the coach was explaining where to put her hands, she buried her face in my chest and clung on with all four limbs. We eventually got her little more comfortable and, with my help, she did swing and hit. We also ran the bases holding hands, which was kind of fun. Practice was interrupted a few times for a trip to the swings or slide, but they did get through it. Each of them said they enjoyed hitting more than fielding, so I'm hoping they'll stick with it for a while.

Play Ball

Linda and Elizabeth have finally gotten their Little League team assignment and they'll both be playing on the same team, the Cicadas! I'm not sure how this works yet as this Sunday will be their first ever game or practice or something. Updates to follow as I learn more.

What A Weekend, Part II

After our Friday trip to DC it was time for some Saturday fun at home. Just before lunch we headed down to a local playground to see a petting zoo and the second Easter egg hunt of the week. I wasn’t expecting the petting zoo, but it turned out to be pretty fun. There were chicks, puppies, a piglet, some ducks, chickens, a lamb, and an alpaca all accessible to the kids. I felt a little bad for the chicks. A whole bunch of the children were coloring Easter eggs before walking into the petting zoo and the chicks were covered with tiny pink, blue, and lavender finger prints from all the petting and touching. The egg hunt was organized pretty well as they had little sections roped for the different ages of the children. Linda and Elizabeth did a good job and now have more candy at home than Superwife and I will let them eat. The rest of the day was pretty tame as we hung out at home and colored eggs after the girls nap.

Stay Tuned for Part III, Easter With The Amish

What a Weekend, Part I

If the way Sunday ended, with all of us collapsing from exhaustion, you could tell we had a jam packed weekend. On Friday were out of the house by 8:15 and on our way to Washington, DC. Linda and Elizabeth had never been there so Superwife and I decided to take a short day trip to the Museum of Natural History, followed by a picnic lunch on the Mall. I had been prepping Linda and Elizabeth for a few days before letting them know that we’d see some dinosaur bones, some bugs, and some jewels. They were both scared at the thought of dinosaurs, but very excited about bugs and jewels. The ride there went off without a hitch, a little traffic coming in to DC, but that’s to be expected. On our walk from the parking garage to the museum Linda kept commenting “what a beautiful city. I like Washington.” The girls were a little scared by the fossils, a little bored by the jewels, and a little excited about the bug zoo. The picnic on the mall was great as the girls got to see the capital building and big white crayon (Washington Monument) from afar. We mistimed our departure by about an hour and wound up stuck in some pretty bad traffic all the way home, but Friday was still a great day and I cannot wait to do it again this summer.

Stay tuned for:

Part II, The Easter Egg Hunt

Part III, Easter With The Amish

Wedding Drawing

This is a picture Linda drew at school of her and her friend Dakota getting married. If you look closely you'll see that Dakota has a beard, and Linda has a baby in her belly. (Click the image to see a larger version.)

Easter Drawing

Linda's drawing talent has really increased since she started daycare at her new school. As her skill has gotten better, so has the subjects she chooses. The first image is "The Jack Family easter Egg hunt." That's all of us holding our Easter baskets and looking for eggs. (Click the image to see a larger version.)

New Photos

Grammie and Papa were in town for avisit this weekend. I just posted some new photos to the Flickr accont of Linda, Elizabeth, and our weekend fun.

Reading Lessons

Last night was my turn to put Linda to sleep. It usually takes Elizabeth about an hour to fall asleep, so Linda and I can get trough quite a few books in that time. Last night, after three other books, we were just about to start a book called "Best Ever Flower Girl." I thought that rather than read it straight through like I did with the others, I'd ask Linda to help me sound out a few of the words. I pointed to the first word in the book and said "what does that say," she very curtly blurted out "DAISY."  Linda knows most of the books by heart, so I thought that might have been a bad word to start with.  I pointed to one in the middle of the page, thinking she'd have to work a little and sound it out, and said "what does this word say?" Again, she seemed rather annoyed by the whole exercise and said "PLAY." Then she looked at me, scrunched up her face, farted, and said "that says you read it Daddy."

New Pics

A few new pics of our picnic at the river posted to the Flickr account. Go on over and have a look.

Home Chemistry

I sliced up my hand pretty badly a few weeks ago, stitches, emergency room, yada, yada Terry had the girls mix up some sort of chemistry experiment / Daddy get well medicine the following day. I got a beautiful phone call at work from Linda and Elizabeth letting me know that they made me something special and that it was waiting for me when I got home. At the time I was thinking cupcakes or something similar, what I got was peanuts, vinegar, raw potatoes, and just about every spice in the spice rack. I did taste a few spoonfuls (cause each one wanted to feed me some of the concoction) and it wasn't the most horrible thing i've ever eaten, but I don't think i'd like to do it again.