Dad's day

I've written my ode to Brandon before, which still stands. He's amazing. Love you, babe.

Here are some highlights from our day. Brandon, enjoying his oatmeal before church:

Then, a cookout with Grandma and Grandpa Chaney and Chris, Tonya, and Griffin. The boys had a fun time playing on this little battery-operated scooter. Mason liked it, but couldn't figure out how to turn it around. Let's just say it doesn't have the tightest turning radius!


While Mason took his turn on the scooter, these tough guys waited patiently:

Live long and prosper, says Dan:

Danny wanted a turn, too, but had a little spill on the sidewalk. Then he wanted nothing to do with it. I tried to get him back on the horse, so to speak, so he wouldn't be afraid, but he was done.


It was a nice night with good food and family. I'm so grateful for the dads in my life - my dad, my father-in-law, and my sweet husband. My family is truly blessed by these wonderful examples of fatherhood.

Economy sand box

Every summer, I ponder the purchase of a sand box. I've looked at tons of them, but never really found one I like. Plus, they tend to be a little pricey, so I've always held off. Lately, though, I realized my boys won't want one forever, so I'd better get going while they're still interested!

So, rather than shell out $50, I opted for a Sterilite container. I like this because (1) it has a nice lid that securely fastens, and (2) it cost about $9. Add the sand, at $4, and voila! Economy sand box.

Now, I would have liked one of the fancy elevated sand boxes with a shade umbrella, but for now this will do. The boys were plenty satisfied.


And since Brandon's so handy, he might build a little stand for the box. But regardless, this did the trick. Perhaps the sand will entice them away from the dirt...

Bring on the Mo Tab!

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir came to Cincinnati this week as part of their Central States Tour, and Brandon and I attended the concert at Riverbend with my folks. They performed with the Cincinnati Pops. What a treat!

Thankfully, what started out as a rainy day cleared up and we enjoyed a very pleasant outdoor concert, albeit a bit muddy. Our dear friends Corrie and Andy volunteered to watch the boys so we could go. Needless to say, we owe them big time. Thanks, friends! Mason and Daniel had a blast with the best babysitters of all time. Seriously, they brought crafts for the kids to do. Wow.

Anyway, here are some pics from the night. Brandon, perusing the program:



Mom and Dad, watching the action:

We were in the lawn seats, but we had a clear view of the choir. When it got a little darker, the screens sprang to life and we could see some close-ups.

Special guests for the evening included Bengal tight end Ben Utecht, who sang some solos and was surprisingly good. Who knew? A Bengal who can sing? Almost as surprising as a Bengal who can score touchdowns!

Also appearing was Neil Armstrong, who narrated a piece by Copeland honoring Abraham Lincoln. It was beautiful! And hey, this guy's been on the moon.

I especially enjoyed the armed forces salute - the choir sang the theme song from each branch of the military and those audience members who had served in the various branches stood when their song was played. It was moving and inspiring. I was so proud of my dad, who stood up for the Air Force hymn. What a lovely tribute to those who have served our country!

All told, it was a wonderful night of uplifting music. Thanks, Mo Tab! Come back soon.

A series of unfortunate events

Last Sunday, we had a pretty powerful electrical storm in our neck of the woods. The rain was really coming down and there were lots of very close lightning strikes.

Too close.

One powerful bolt of lightning - the kind where it's so close the thunder is simultaneous - actually did some damage. Although all our major electrical equipment is surge protected, somehow the lightning managed to fry our router, plus the network cards in our computers. Electrical equipment throughout our house either sprang to life, or else shut down! My elliptical came on, my computer shut off, it was bizarre.

In hindsight, I'm so grateful the damage was limited to the network cards. It could have been so much worse! Brandon replaced it this week, and I'm back in action.

I love living with my own personal IT support.

Unfortunately, our booming tomato crop did not fare as well. I don't know if it was the wind or the heavy rain, but two of our 4 plants were knocked over, compromising the stems. Brandon was so discouraged. I suppose we should have staked them sooner, we just hadn't gotten to it yet.

Here he is, posing with one of the broken branches. We counted about 25 tomatoes on this branch alone, counting green ones and blossoms.


It looks like two of our plants will be fine. We've staked them now, and tried to "splint" the broken branches a bit. We'll see if we can salvage them - you never know.

Here's the kicker - while Brandon was trying to diagnose the problem with our computers, I headed outside to survey the damage to the tomatoes and try and salvage what I could. I was trying to splint the branches when I felt this sharp pain in my foot. Yep, a yellow jacket had somehow gotten in my sandal and stung me - twice - in the foot. As if the computer/crop damage weren't enough!

Hello, Injury. This is Insult. Have you met?

Again, I know it could have been worse. The lightning could have set our house on fire. We could have lost all the tomatoes. I could have been attacked by a swarm of Africanized honey bees. So really, I'm quite grateful.

Really, I am.

First fruits of the harvest

This summer, Brandon decided to venture into the world of container gardening. His dad has had lots of success with these grow boxes, so we gave it a whirl. And by "we," I mean him. My involvement thus far has been limited to assisting in the staining process of the stand he built for the boxes, to keep the bunnies out. Which, by the way, has worked wonderfully.

Brandon planted four plants - 2 Patio, 2 Better Bush. So far, the Patio plants are a little smaller, but altogether we probably have at least 100 tomatoes on the vine out there.

Here's Brandon, proudly displaying the first fruits of his labor. Can you believe we have already had a red tomato, in the beginning of June? This was actually a few weeks ago.


Danny wanted to take a picture of the "potato" too. He is so funny.


Everyone had a taste of our tomato and seemed to love it. I guess it's true - everything tastes better out of your own garden.

Sadly, our harvest sustained some damage last Sunday in a powerful storm. But that's a topic for another day... For now, let's celebrate the tomato!

My Homeboyz

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If you give a kid a camera

If you give a kid a camera,

he’s going to take lots and lots of pictures.

He’ll take so many pictures, he’ll fill up the memory in less than two hours.

He’ll take pictures of everything: the floor,

the wall,

the TV,

the back of his dad’s seat in the minivan.

He’ll even take unflattering pictures of his mom. While she’s drying her hair.

His brother will love the camera so much, he’ll want to have it in his bed at naptime. He won’t sleep at all! He’ll just take pictures. Of his crib.

And his teddy bear.

And his feet.

Some of the pictures won’t turn out at all. They’ll be all black,

or all white,

or blurry,

or even spooky.

Most will not be in focus, because the camera only takes 2 megapixel images, if you’re lucky.

He’ll soon discover that you can superimpose funny images over your pictures. Like an elephant.

Or a dinosaur.

Or even a parrot.

The kid will take 400 shots in no time flat, completely exhausting the internal memory. He’ll give the camera to mom. She’ll delete them, one by one. Delete. Delete. Delete. She’ll get so tired of deleting images, she’ll read the owner’s manual! Mom will discover the “reset button,” which deletes the entire memory at once. Ta-da!

The kid will be so excited, he’ll want to take some more pictures immediately!

And chances are, if he wants to take more pictures...

you’ll have to give him back his camera.