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This blog post lives vicariously through Debbys blog. Go check her blog out (link to it is under Favorites). ===>>> Debbys Blog

ps: No kidding though, I really thought Takira had won $1000 off that ticket!!!

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APRIL 11TH continued

Me and my snowman..I call it 'HULK in progress'. By tomorrow, with the rain now coming down, he will be gone.

Then when Barb got home I opened my present(s) from my wonderful sisters. There was one box, but it contained many presents. The picture on the right shows most of them. The Dragon Sign, the Sticky Slinky Monster, the Voodoo Doll, the Moen Paper Clip thing, The bottle of gin, and my favorite..MAX. Max is sooo cute and cuddly. Barb told me that he will go with the rest of my collection...when I asked her what she was talking about - she said, "you know, your collection of stuffed animals from cartoon movies...you know, like your "SNOWMAN" and the "LUMBERJACK" that you have downstairs on the bookshelf. It took me a long time to figure out what she was talking about, but when I did it was the best laugh I've had in a while...she was talking about the little stuffed toys of YUKON CORNELIUS and the BUMBLE...GOD it's tough getting old. Anyway, I include a closeup of MAX to complete this blog...

An older Pops

APRIL 11th

What a great day....You've heard of April Showers....Take a look.

The first picture is thru the kitchen window at one of the bird feeders. This one is primarily for Gold Finches....you will notice a Junko, usually a ground feeder, on the suet holder, feeding....it's hard to find seeds on the ground with 3-4" of snow. (Did I not title this as April 11th). This pic is hindered by taking it through the window screen. Today I worked and it was busy - but at 5pm I decided that I was done for the day and went out to shovel out a place for Barb to park when she got home. It was tough..the snow was very wet and very heavy..so I did as little as possible. But it was nice outside, and with the snow being just right, I decided that it would only natural for a kid to make a snowman...seeing no other kids around, being the only one, I took the project on myself. The snow was perfect. I created THE HULK! When Barb got home I had her take a picture of me and him. (I just noticed that all the pictures are being inserted at the top of the blog - not where I want them...since I have run out of options to locate the pics...I will end this blog and continue on the next.

The Mighty Daffodil

Spring in Michigan can be very difficult some years. 2007 appears to be one of those years. Early in February many plants mistook the warm weather and Al Gores retrospect to indicate that "Spring has Sprung". Some reached the height of several inches before the 12"+ snows hit. After the snows finally melted you found some very sorry looking plants - some looked dead. But, given warming temps plus a heavy dose of sunshine, they made a come back. The most prominent was the Mighty Daffodil. They blazed with bright yellow and stood tall in the otherwize barren garden. That is, until last Tuesday...

As you can see, they are forced to bow to nature for now - but they will return.

Daffodil's are strong and determined. Although I do not know our family's "Daffodil" very well - I'd be willing to bet that she has the same characteristics.

Pops

First crawfish boil of the season!

Let's give this a try and see if it works.

Last weekend we had Jess's family over and I picked up a sack of crawfish for our first boil of the season. Boy were they good and spicy. We put up the inflatable waterslide (the bouncy castle has a HUGE rip at the entrance...i really need to get off my butt and fix that) so the kids could go to town while the bigguns ate. We also put up the little pool which was hit at first then became the live crawfish pond. Zack and his brother (Tony....from his dad and stepmom) thought it would be fun. They are easy to catch on the pavement, but boy do they move in the water....go figure.....DUH! No wonder they work so well as bait, they taste so good. I bet the fish would like them better when boiled. Raw isn't the best flavor for them. In the picuters are Jess's Mom and Dad, her Sister, brother-inlaw and niece, brother and girllfriend, and Zack's dad, stepmom, brother and sister. The one with the OCD arranging the table in order is Jess's brothers (Bryan) girlfriend / soon to be fiance / soon to be wife. That is another story in itself.

Hey hey from Tucson Sunday March 25th

Good morning!

It has only taken me a couple of hours to figure out how to transfer my photo file for this blog -- I'm feeling the pressure now that Superwoman has managed to post despite her frantic schedule!

Yesterday was Opening Day here in Tucson. I'm happy to report that both the Muckdogs (Devin's team) and the Cardinals (Justin's team) won their first big games. (Well....Dev's team didn't actually 'win' since they don't keep score in his division, but if you ask him they are well on their way to the World Series at this point.) Devin was up at 4am and had all of his gear on by 5 in anticipation of the big day; one might say he is a bit baseball obsessed at the moment.

Casey also passed her rattlesnake training this weekend. They started her class by taking her out into a big field with a Diamondback tethered in the middle. When she heard the rattle and went to investigate, the trainers used an electric collar to shock her -- she must have jumped about 20 feet in the air. Most dogs have to go through this process a few times before they catch on, but when they took Casey out the second time, the minute she passed the scent bag (literally a snake-in-a-bag with a fan blowing behind it) she turned tail and headed straight for the door. She's either incredibly smart or a serious chicken...either way, you could tell that the other dogs were duly impressed when she got to leave and go home early.

We're chillin' at home this morning and trying hard to do the bare minimum all day. Next week will be frantic again -- games and practices four days, the Odyssey of the Mind state championships for Justin on Saturday and visitors arriving Friday (friends from Michigan) and Thursday the 5th (Mike's brother & his contingent of 5). Time to heat the pool and prepare the Margaritas!

From Hallie--I mean, Wonder Woman

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. The Selfridge side had succumbed to the plague, but I was the last and am feeling much more human now.

Max and Sam had Kindergarden Round Up on Tuesday and are now convinced that they are not only kindergardeners, but ready for high school--no more of this pre-school junk, let's move on. We get backpacks, recess, music class, art and library and--this was the big selling point--the classroom had TWO copies of "Ocean Commotion". Preschool only has one copy and, is therefore, inferior. Please don't ask me what Ocean Commotion is about, all I can do is guess that it is a book and has taught us not to kiss alligators or shake hands with lobsters. I think we can agree that this is pretty sound advice we can all learn from.

Porter is ticked he will not be attending kindergarden, but has now promoted himself to 4. Don't try to tell him his birthday is in August--he's 4 now. He's 4, he's Batman and he has dubbed me Wonder Woman. I have requested new business cards with my new name and ask that you all refer to me no longer by my simple human name, but by the Superhero I truly am.

Work has been busy. That's what I get for saying how slow things were two weeks ago--the fate's slapped me upside the head with more than I can handle now. The snow is almost completely gone, but it also rained a ton this week and Brian just called to let me know I have a 4 foot hole across my driveway. Apparently culverts are very important when your driveway crosses over a wetland area and if they get clogged the water will find a way through. So, if anyone is planning a surprise visit to my house soon, don't go speeding up the driveway...

That get's everyone up to date with me. Kind of sad considering the gorgeous pictures Sean posted below. But remember, I am Wonder Woman.
Love to all...

Fighter plane action. Three of you go up with an instructor. You go fly to a remote area, and you dogfight. They start you in pairs, one pair a ta time. You fly on opposite circle till your flying right at each other. As soon as you pass each other, the fight is on. The common technique at that point is to pull up... and go as high as you can, just to point of stall, then nose it over and head down-then-up again, straight up. Next thing you know your starting to gain position on the other. Other plane is doing the same drill most likely. Who ever gets the most revs on the plunge is successfull in height when heading straight up, and will eventually gain sight on the other plane first. I placed second in the battles. The whole thing was very exhilerating.









My basketball star. She had a great year this year. She was tough on the boards, and on average accounted for 1/4 of the teams points each game.
Huge transition from last year. The whole team actually. Her team is the Cougars. She plays center/low post. There is nothing more fun than watching her games!

Whistler Photos (2004, 2005, 2006)

Takira at the Olympic stand. Hoolahoop artist.





















Bike park.


















Whistler summer vacation photos, from years 2004, 2005, and 2006.