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The Boys Take A Dry Run Of Trick-Or-Treating
Gavin went to a few houses during Halloween last year, but wasn’t really old enough to get the full trick-or-treating experience. We weren’t sure how he would handle it this year. But he’s a stubborn little guy, and determined to do whatever his older brother can do. Chrissy and I decided that the best thing would be a dry run for Halloween night. And we found one on LakeNet. The Tri-Town Safety Village was holding trick-or-treating for local kids a week before Halloween. The safety village is a collection of small...
read moreThe Cats Tried To Eat Our Frogs
We got two frogs for Aiden and Gavin. They lived in a habitat of two plastic boxes connected by two plastic tubes. Xiao-Ai had been taking an interest in the habitat, however, and she had already eaten two fish from that same shelf. So, we wanted to get them a larger tank that would be less susceptible to falling over. We were a little late there. The night before we were going to buy a ten-gallon tank, one of the cats (we believe it was Xaio-Ai) jumped up onto the shelf where the habitat was and knocked it over. Chrissy was already...
read moreFire Prevention Month Means Lots Of Little Plastic Fireman Hats
October is fire prevention month, so we have seen a lots of firefighters lately. The local fire departments have been holding open houses on the weekends, and we have taken the boys to a bunch of them. Early in the month, we went to the Schererville Fire Department Open House at the Tri-Town Safety Village by AMC theaters. Unfortunately, it rained that day so our visit was short. But the boys got a fireman’s hat, a tour of the caboose they have there, and hot dogs for lunch. And we saw wet fire engines in the front parking...
read moreSyFy Friday Is Now DVR-Me Tuesday
It used to be that the best science fiction shows on television would all air on the same night on the same channel: “Sci-Fi Friday”. This is what the Sci-Fi Channel (now the more trademarkable “SyFy”) called their Friday night lineup. Many of our favorite shows, like Farscape, Stargate SG1, Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica, all debuted on Sci-Fi Friday. We lived for Sci-Fi Friday. Many of these shows were sadly culled to make room for crap like Ghost Hunters, canceled before their time (Farscape, Stargate...
read moreWe Got A Dishwasher That Won’t Wash Dishes
Our dishwasher has been flaky for the past six months, but it finally crapped out on us. The door had rusted into the controls, and replacing it would be costly. It was short notice, but we knew where to buy a new one. For the last ten years, Nason’s Appliances has always given us great deals, and they throw in delivery and cart the old one away. I told Chrissy that we should have them deliver the washer, but she wanted a new one installed that night. When I got home from work, the dishwasher had already been pulled out from...
read moreLearning From The More Experienced At The Vintage Illinois Wine Festival
The Vintage Illinois Wine Festival is held in Utica, Illinois at Starved Rock National Park. Chrissy and I made plans to attend a few months ago when we first heard of it from a vendor at the Munster Wine Festival. The smaller festival had only four or five wine booths, but we had so much fun there that we decided that the Illinois Wine Festival, with over twenty booths, would make a nice weekend getaway. We wanted to bring a group of people along for the ride, but it came down to us and Felice. The three of us got a hotel room in Peru,...
read moreI Hate It When My Foot Hurts So Badly That I Can’t Walk
I woke up early on Friday morning due to severe pain in my right foot. When I tried to get out of bed, it hurt so bad that I fell right back in. Ouch! Although my feet have been hurting a bit while I walk lately, I figured that my insoles just needed replacing. I had some more acute pain in my right ankle on Thursday night, but I wasn’t expecting to lose the ability to walk on Friday morning. After calling off from work, I called my podiatrist to get an appointment. The soonest that I could get was for noon. The problem...
read moreCally Stitched Up A Perfect Puggelus Maximus
Puggles are hand-stitched plush balls made by Cally Karishokka of “Cally’s Critters“. When she started applying Transformers designs to them, “Puggleformers” were born. These are all the rage with the kids nowadays, so I commissioned one to look like Fortress Maximus, the largest Transformer ever built. Each Puggle takes about nine hours to make by hand, so there are only so many commission slots available each month. When one backed out, Cally asked if I wanted to get in. I sent over a mock-up image...
read moreAiden Goes Back To Pre-School
Aiden starts pre-school again this week. He’ll be going back for three days a week this year, up from two last year. However, he’ll only be going to private school this time, since he doesn’t need speech therapy from the public school anymore. He really likes school, but I don’t think that he missed it over the summer. We talk to Aiden about his day at school over dinner. We always ask him what he learned that day, and he loves to tell us about it. We love all of the crafts that he brings home. Chrissy...
read moreIt’s Like A Fish That Turns Into A Frog, See?
When Chrissy was in the third grade, she had a “Grow A Frog” kit. It’s basically a tadpole that grows into a frog. They live entirely under water (like a fish) and can live for a long time (unlike a fish). Chrissy’s survived until after she was out of high school. So, when Chrissy found one at the Teacher Store, she had to pick it up for the boys. The small kit comes with a plastic box, frog food and a coupon for a mail-order tadpole. It arrived in a few weeks. However, it’s much bigger than any...
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