The Extraordinary Ordinary

Well, We Are Still Here

2010-09-17T08:42:00.002-05:00

Fall, not spring, always sparks in me the idea of renewal. I think as farmer kid the harvest always seemed like the end of a cycle and the start of something new, not spring. Spring is in the middle of everything.

Anyway, if anyone still has us linked and occasionaly looks in on us... we are still here in Texas. This summer I was in Mexico, Carol was in California, and we all went to Montana and all points in between. In short, we happily spent the summer away from Texas. Now, of course, we are back in Texas... where fall doesn't seem to mark the end of the hot weather.

More pics of Our Helen

2009-11-10T19:27:00.002-06:00

2009-10-26T09:33:00.004-05:00

Photo Shoot!
For all of those who have been wondering why there were not a million ba-zillion pictures of Helen up here: I lost the cord to download. But I have found it so Let the pictures begin. This is from our most recent session. She loves having her picture taken, and will sit and smile quite nicely.

Vienna, West Virginia

2009-10-05T10:18:00.000-05:00

Ok... who do we know in Vienna, West Virginia? It is driving me nuts seeing all these visits to the family site and to my Latin America blog. Who DO we know that lives in West Virginia?

Homeward Bound

2009-09-17T11:21:00.002-05:00

Carol is on her way home. She tells me she has left her phone charger in Boston, so she may not be returning calls. Sorry to all who feel slighted.

Isaac at School - part deux (ahhh...commie French numbers)

2009-09-09T09:19:00.000-05:00

Isaac at School

2009-09-08T14:33:00.002-05:00

Today Isaac heard the president tell him to set educational goals, exercise, and eat good foods. Naturally, such things can only lead to one place, and this is my son this afternoon:

Chattanooga

2009-09-02T21:39:00.001-05:00

Much to Oliver's delight, Carol has arrived in Chattanooga, TN. She reports that there are indeed choo choos everywhere. Or, as Oliver refers to the train yards "whole train sets."

Boston

2009-09-02T09:24:00.001-05:00

Carol headed for Boston today with Oliver and Helen. Isaac and I are planning on some serious "man time."

Greatest American Hero

2009-08-22T17:46:00.005-05:00

So, Isaac says "How come I'm not flying." He calls himself superman flier.

Jason says: "Maybe he lost the manual to the suit." (A thing that is very funny to a child of the 80s. HAHAHAHAHA)

Meteor Shower

2009-08-13T00:18:00.002-05:00

What to do when you get up at midnight to a boy with a wet bed? Hmmmm. Watch the Perseid shower - after Ollie takes a shower.
:)
We got Isaac up too, and then went to the backyard to look up at the night sky. It was very neat. Jason and Isaac saw a few, mom saw a few. and Oliver saw the trucks on the highway in front of our house.

Yeah. Oliver likes trucks. Helen slept through the whole thing. Thank goodness.

Just wondering

2009-07-30T14:50:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is baking day. I was thinking about trying some different things. I haven't tried selling a rye for almost half a year. Is Nacogdoches ready for it yet? I just need to decide if I will go with a light Jewish rye, or a denser German rye. Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

On another note, I got out a bunch of neat books on bking. I am trying to get new ideas for finishing the loaves. (ie scoring) I think I found a few to try. One is this pretty braid, and onther is almost liking wrapping paper. We will see how it turns out. If I think it's pretty enough I will take a picture. If I remember tomorrow.

Oh, One last thing: Come by my booth on Saturday. If you mention the blog you will get a dollar off! I'll know you read it when you mention the Italian Herb bread pictured above.

Midwestern Fantasy or, A Drive Through The Middle of The Country

2009-07-14T19:33:00.017-05:00

Jason's Mom came to visit (yep, he has family, too) during June. We gathered her up from the airport in Dallas and just kept driving north. We got caught in a whale of a storm in Oklahoma but had a pleasant night in a KOA in Checotah, OK that had a petting zoo... sort of.

Then we headed north to Kansas to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder home (sort of) in Independence, KS. This was a GREAT stop on the trip, mostly because it was the first time we had been out of the humidity for ages - and Jason was excited to get out of the trees! Carol got to see lots of things that were in the books and her favorite thing was seeing how small everything was...these people were teeny-weeny. The tractor was NOT part of the original "Little House" equipment but it was, however, Oliver's favorite part of the trip. Isaac loved petting the donkeys.

Next we headed to Springfield, MO. Our destination was the Laura Ingalls Wilder adult home, but we also ate flying rolls at Lambert's Cafe...ouch. We also visited some "fantastic" caverns in the area.

We headed north to Nauvoo which was supposed to be our ending destination. Carol visited with her friend Debbie, Oliver pooped on Debbie's floor, and through a series of miscommunications we saw very little of Nauvoo. We did stop in Carthage, IL, however, and we had a very nice visit there.

We spent the night next to a train track and a cemetery in St. Louis - it had a KOA sign in front but we doubt it was really a KOA. We had a very nice day at the St. Louis Zoo. Oliver rode the train literally for hours, but his favorite thing was the penguin house (or was that Jason's favorite thing) where you got so close to the penguins they splash you. Isaac loved the bears eating fish. Carol was a big fan of the carousel as well as watching people trying to feed monkeys that you can't really feed and used to be birds. Long story.

After St. Louis we drifted south in a pouring, pounding, horrific rain storm to southern Illinois, western Kentucky, and on to Memphis. We stayed two nights a KOA in Marion, AK, and the whole day in Memphis at the Mud Island river park. Isaac loved the replica Mississippi River while Doris rode a river boat. We also saw Beal Street (whoa - tourist trap). Jason got chiggers.

Our final day was a sprint across Arkansas back to Texas (if anything can make Louisiana look good, it is Arkansas). Isaac got to have an icecream at Dairy Queen when we got back to Texas.

Carol drove the entire trip. Jason navigated. Boys screamed. Helen slept. Doris tried to keep the boys from waking up Helen.

Market Madness

2009-05-30T13:40:00.004-05:00

Helen has started coming to the market with me on Saturdays. She is an excellent helper becasue she brings in the customers. I do need to be careful since her smile starts at her toes that she doesn't kick anything over.

Today was a good day. There were lots of new vendors, and plenty of new customers. Looks like Texans do come out in the heat. We sold out of everything except a few items that I wanted to eat anyway!

Graduation / Demon Possession

2009-05-29T20:11:00.001-05:00

Last week Isaac graduated from Pre-K at Christ Episcopal School. I thought about reducing the red eye in this pic, but the demon possession look is pretty fun - all things considered.

Anyway, he had a great time in school and a fantastic class and teacher. Now he and Oliver live in the swimming pool at the University - pictures of them swimming and of Carol's sun burn to come.

Dick Cheney Seeks Work

2009-05-23T08:59:00.001-05:00

The recent outbursts (?) from former VP Cheney reminded me of a VERY funny Star Wars video we first saw a couple years ago. I imagine VP Cheney to be up to about the same thing - especially the scene with the puppy.

Family Fur

2009-05-23T08:50:00.003-05:00

We were really blessed to have Carol's dad come for the baby blessing and to stay for a couple days. The boys were VERY excited, and they couldn't get enough of Grandpa. When I asked Isaac what is favorite thing about grandpa's visit was he said (yelled) "EVERYTHING!"

When it was time for him to leave, the boys had some pictures made with him and they ALL had mustaches.

Torn - but had to share: The Divine Numbers

2009-05-14T08:57:00.003-05:00

I received the following email from a student. I just informed her that the math was just not there for her to pass the course, so she would be better served studying for another class. This was her reply:

I thank you for imforming me that I will not pass your class but Im not going to give up and not show up for the exam. I believe that God has the last word in my grade therefore I will be at the exam on tomorrow. I dont understand why there is no possible way for me to pass because I attend class and both of my test grades were in the fifty's but my final could at least pull me up to a D depending on my grade. I have faith in God and if I do not show up that just shows that the devil got his way. So I will see you tomorrow.

Ok. I appreciate her faith, but man...I'm not sure what sort of mathematical trick or gemmatria could change things for her.

Jason Needs a Toilet (just for fun)

2009-05-06T10:12:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I gave in to this really cheesy idea, but it turned out to be fun. Google the phrase “(your name) needs” and point out the first ten that come up. Here is mine:

1) Jason needs a Pismo
2) Jason needs a toilet (fast)
3) Jason needs a diet
4) Jason needs a shirt
5) Jason needs a professional profile
6) Jason needs a ring
7) Jason needs to die
8) Jason needs a pitchfork
9) Jason needs a slap
10) Jason needs help making a film

It was funny…but a little unpleasant to conceptualize. A toilet and a pitchfork? Yowza.

How about Carol…..

1) Carol needs our help
2) Carol needs a change
3) Carol needs assessment
4) Carol needs toast
5) Carol needs a teapot
6) Carol needs more busts
7) Carol needs 2000 more miles
8) Carol needs a naturally occurring flavor
9) Carol needs a forever family
10) Carol needs your prayers

Carol’s was a little less dangerous…like the needs nice people have. Of course, I just realized that half the sites my googling brought up were sites about Jason the famous horror movie character.

Time to make the Bagels...

2009-04-24T08:39:00.003-05:00

Incase anyone wondered, we are still in the bread business. Every Friday we bake and bake and bake. Everyone in the family helps out.
Mom does most of the mixing and kneading - what people think of when they hear "you bake at home."
Dad is bagel boiler, and kid watcher, and emergency "I need XXX atthe store." person.
Isaac is extra helpful when it comes to baging the breads, and putting them in the baskets that we use to transport to the market. He is also good at playing outside while the stuff is baking, and eating on the porch for lunch.
Oliver is wonderful at playing near Helen while mom bakes in the morning. He keeps her entertained and happy. He is a wonderful brother. He also is our resident dough tester. Keeps mom on her toes and the dough tasting great!
Helen is a great baby, keeps mom smiling while she bakes, and Oliver busy. Because without Helen, Oliver gets into lots of messes.

Baking day can be a bit trying on the nerves, and a crazy busy day in general, but I love it.

Bananna Fananna Fo Fellon

2009-04-16T15:55:00.004-05:00

So we said she smiled and here is the proof! We were at the zoo with the cousins and Grandma Marilyn. As we all watched the hippos dance in the water, Helen had a smile fest! Finally I was fast enough to catch it on the camera.

The cousins and Grandma left this morning. We were sad to see them go, but Life does have to go on. Right. I was forced to start changing Helen's diapers my self, and Isaac keeps calling me Grandma. Soon life will return to normal I am sure.

Also we took some nice pics as they were packing up. I mean why leave when you can procrastinate. Maybe for Helen's baby book I will edit out Ollie in the back, but for now here is the 3 generation photo. This one I look less dead in, and I don't have a crick in my neck.

Helen, Helen, Bo Belen....

2009-04-11T17:16:00.004-05:00

This is little Helen over the last couple of days. In fact, the one in the middle is Helen just this morning when she got her Easter basket. We did Easter baskets on Saturday this year because Carol's brother Brian and his family are visiting and they do Saturday Easter baskets. Helen even went to an Easter egg hunt hosted by the University this morning...but I'm afraid it was the boys that did all the egg finding.

Carol is off of milk and Helen is a much happier baby. She is smiling now - and not just because of any gas. She's sleeping for 5 t0 6 hour stretches (at random times of the day).

She's our little joy to have around.

This bottom picture is of Helen and the silver cup that her great grandpa and grandma Ailshie sent.

Validation?

2009-03-28T22:06:00.004-05:00

Ran on to this when I stumbled on to the web site of a guy I served a mission with. It also was sooooooooo California. At times I thought they were in the mall in Santa Barbara - minus the free parking...and the friendly guy.

And yes, that is the dude from Bones. I half expected him to start going off on how he loved her mass spec.

1 Baby, 3 weeks of a party!

2009-03-23T13:38:00.008-05:00

According to Jason, I only wanted a baby so I could dress her up. Not true. I wanted her so we could have girly parties. She is only 3 weeks old and already we have had a traditional bash (with funny hats and milk shakes).

We have had a tea party with fancy cups and all our best friends.

And we have had a slumber in our jammies party as well.

It us so much fun to have a girl. Now don't get me wrong. I did the same sort of things with the boys too, but it is somehow more fun to do girly parties. What ever will we do next week when she turns one month?!

At the moment she is battling some raging baby acne, but it is no big deal. She still has the loveliest smile I have seen in years.

Four Generations

2009-03-17T17:05:00.001-05:00

Carol, her mother Marilyn, and little Helen pose for the camera at Carol's baby shower. I call it four generations since Helen is named after her great grandmother Helen Foley who passed away when Carol was a teenager.

Look Who's Here! Welcome Helen Diane

2009-03-08T21:26:00.000-05:00

Happy President's Day

2009-02-16T09:26:00.002-06:00

Today started in a whirlwind. The boys slept past 7 am (a major accomplishment). So we had to wake them up to get them ready for school. We dressed and ate, and brushed teeth quickly, and then everyone (except Carol) jumped in the car to get Isaac to school before 8.

They pulled up. No cars. "Mrs. Cordray said we don't have school on Monday" says Isaac. OOPs! That's right it is a holiday.

Grandma Marilyn dropped Jason off at work, and then decided they needed to do something to make the day even more special. So they went for shakes at McDonalds. What a treat!

At home, Isaac expressed how difficult it was to get the drink out of the cup. He started to stir and plunge his straw up and down in the cup.

"You're making Buttah" says Grandma Marilyn.
When grandma explained that "buttah" was what you put on toast, Isaac said: "Oh! ButtER" and they laughed and laughed.

It has been so fun having her here to help. I thought I would share just a smidgen.

Christmas - Texas Style

2009-01-23T22:40:00.000-06:00

Decorating for Christmas

2009-01-09T21:59:00.008-06:00

Due to our last minute change of plans we were able to snag a great deal on a tree.$10 Who knew? slackers and procrastinators unite! An almost 6 foot tree for cheap! We were so excited we took it home and started dancing around it. A few days later we got down to business with the decorating. Isaac and Oliver did the bottom parts, and Jason and I strung the lights and the upper branches. After that we made popcorn strings and put those up too.

We had a great time decorating the tree.

Here is another thing we got out of storage. The "Jesus people" that we bought in Mexico. Ollie doesn't play with them as much as Isaac did, probably becasue he has other toys, but he loves to make them walk around and sing jingle bells. He is a joy to watch when he is playing.

On the first Saturday I had off from baking we went to the Ellen Trout Zoo, in Lufkin. The boys were thrilled as they hadn't been in awhile. We saw all of our favorite critters. Oliver spent lots of time at the flamingos, and Isaac loves the deer. Then we rode the train, which is a big treat as it isn't open every day during the school year.

Jason thinks this is creepy, but look what Santa left in my stocking!!! Don't you want one too?

Christmas Vids

2009-01-07T14:40:00.001-06:00

I'll be putting up some pictures and videos over the next few days of the holidays.

RIP Claiborne Pell

2009-01-01T18:04:00.003-06:00

News today tells us that Claiborne Pell has passed away in his Newport, RI home. For those of you poor enough (like me) to recognize the name Pell, you'll put "grant" on the end of that. Yep - the guy that gave us the Pell Grant. When it was begun a student could count on 75% of grants and about 25% of loans to cover an education. Today, it is just the opposite. Without Pell money, I never would have finished my first year of school. Pell may have been a complete rolling in the money patrician snob, but he was from an older, wiser set of public servants that felt that the nation as a whole could benefit from the wise distribution of wealth rather than the selfish hording of a few. "And there was no poor among them... . "

Bed Rest

2008-12-28T09:41:00.002-06:00

Well, Carol was placed on bed rest at the start of this last week. Really good thing we did not attempt a massive three-day trek to New England as Carol started having some contractions. This has been a week of Carol mostly laying down on her left side, taking medicine that stops contractions, and me and the boys hanging out. So far so good - the contractions have eased off and the boys and I are getting on fine. However, since I am on break this is working pretty good, but when I go off school break this thing is going to break down. I'm going to have to ask to be released from seminary because there is no way I can watch the boys, work, and teach seminary at the same time.

Merry Christmas and a Happy Art Season

2008-12-16T12:39:00.006-06:00

Isaac is now old enough that every activity he is involved in with school and church results in the creation of some sort of drawn or colored creation.

We have these to works from school:
And we have this Choose The Right work from church.

Our new home!

2008-12-07T21:41:00.001-06:00

We Got Gas

2008-12-01T08:56:00.000-06:00

Prices dropping into 1.60's here in Texas. Yahoo.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T09:13:00.001-06:00

The cowboy and the penguin

2008-11-27T09:12:00.002-06:00

Carol made the costumes for the boys. We had a GREAT time.

New Look

2008-11-26T14:18:00.003-06:00

We've picked an "earthier" forest tone here. I plan to run a few pictures on top from my native Montana and swap in pictures with Carol's New England as well. We like the new look, and we hope you all do, to. And Michelle, thanks for giving us that dot in England.

Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling...

2008-11-25T10:28:00.005-06:00

I read the Twilight series that is sweeping the teens in my area.
I had my reasons: I work with the youth in my church and like to keep current so I can understand them better. Also, I like a good book, and had heard positive reviews.

My take (having only read books 1-3): I am not such a big fan.

However,I can see why the young women in my area love it. The heroine is a misfit girl, who has no place that she truly belongs (what girl in her 12-17 yrs really feels she belongs). She doesn't consider herself beautiful, and in fact thinks of herself as slightly freakish. Again typical adolecent girl stuff here. Okay the girls are empathizing with her so far.

She moves in to a new place; this is where I start to have issues. She fixates on a young man. I mean obsesses about him. Bella (the heroine) and Edward (the hero) have bizarre conversations. While I never spoke that way as a teen, I will give her the benefit of the doubt, as some of the girls in my youth group speak differently than I did as well. (I don't just mean they are Texans)
Reasons I find the heroine to be dangerous for the young teen mind:
1. Her behavior with the hero
A. Obsessive - she goes comatose when he leaves her. As a modern woman I would hate to think that my desire to exist revolves around one person. She engages in risky behavior so she can hear his voice in her head. That is a little nuts, and not the sort of thing I would want for my youth.
B. He sleeps in her bed every night. - "Nothing happens until they are married" you say. I would not want my youth to think that spooning with a young man, especially one they feel deeply about, is a safe or acceptable behavior. If "back rubs in the front room lead to front rubs in the back room." Where the heck do you think gentle caresses and kisses in bed will get you?
C. Bella is far too willing to give her self to Edward. If he didn't have super human restraint more natural consequences from B. would have resulted. A young woman, thinking all men should be like Edward, will get in trouble, easy.
2. Characters are a little too flat for my taste.
A. many seem under developed. Examples: Charlie, and her girl friends. One would think she would have a girl friend that could have a personality other than how she relates to Edward.
3. Very predictable plot
At least so far. Even Jason, who just picked it up to a page I was reading, and skimmed a bit knew how it would end. Granted I haven't started book 4, but I think I know where this is leading.

That's about it for now. While I admire the authors desire to keep them chaste until married, I don't like the implications for regular couples. So I will finish the series, if only so I can say I did when I review it wit the youth, I don't think I will be a big fan.

I Remember When...

2008-11-22T10:37:00.004-06:00

Today it did a really freak thing for East Texas - it got cold. Yep, it dipped into the 20s, today. The boys are not ones to stay inside at any time, and as I scrambled to find the camera of them all bundled up like they were headed out to find the Northwest Passsage I realized we had no batteries. SOOOOO, I decided to shoot for this little nugget to the right of the boys from just a couple months ago as they played slip and slide on a landscaping bag in our front lawn. Good times. It is supposed to "rain" tomorrow, so we are hoping it will combine with the cold and give us some snow.

And, yes, this post also marks a return to family matters and away from the momentary political moment.

Oh, yes we did...

2008-11-20T15:18:00.007-06:00

Don't be alarmed by the political stuff...if you want to scroll down and see movies of the kids, just roll on by this.

As I've had more and more occassion to visit a number of the blogs that are out there from some of our friends and relatives as well as some of their friends and relatives, I've noticed that some might seem to share an assumption. And while I agree that this assumption might be warranted in part (we are, after all, LDS) I hate assumptions in general. As you might have guessed, that assumption is that we voted for John McCain and not Barack Obama. That assumption, as you might guess from the pictures and the title of the entry, is a false one.

Speaking for myself, let me give you my reasons for voting for Mr. Obama, and why, for the most part, I voted against John McCain (my true heart's desire was a Nader / Paul ticket, but that is another story).

1) Character really does count. I was outraged when Bill Clinton used the Oval Office as a brothel and then lied about it. Why would my opinion change about a man like McCain who cheated on his first wife and left her because she wasn't attractive any more, and who repeatedly berated and belittled his current spouse in public (before he ran for president)? If his current wife has a pre-nup, I didn't think that was character I could count on. In my little world, adultery trumps pot smoking and "terrorist" paling any day on the nasty-stuff-not-to-do list. Forget the racial slurs from Obamas preacher - I'm worried about the ones that came out of McCain's own mouth. Besides, McCain peddles booze in Arizona - not exactly what I call the family values candidate.

2) The Religious Right. McCain was a hero to me in 2000 when he pegged the tele-priestcraft-evangelsits as "agents of hate." Eight years later he threw his arm around them and all but offered to serve as their shoe shine boy. Sorry, but when Pat Robertson calls Episcopalians and Methodists the Anti-Christ, I know that the Mormons are the next to go if somebody doesn't stand up. Are there plenty of dems that feel that way about Mormons? I think this week in California proves that is the case. Nevertheless, my past experience has shown that while the Left may disagree with my religion, they will, for the most part, let me excercise it without criticism on a personal level. In other words, I've only ever had Baptists spit at me and throw bottles at me, not liberals.

3) War. We surely need to defend ourselves, but Exxon profits reaching the highest level in the history of the world? Sorry, folks, no way you can convince me that the very real attack on the United States wasn't manipulated for commercial gain. President Eisenhower's last speech gives you chills when you think about this. Give me a Nixon, give me an Eisenhower, give me anybody that is willing to use diplomacy over ill-conceived adventurism ala Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge.

4) Smarts. A BA from a naval academy vs. a JD from Harvard Law. I know, I know, street smarts are supposed to be enough (whatever), but I've had eight years of "nucular" and I think I'll take elitist for the next eight. I understand that our last two Harvard men, Kennedy and W. (with an MBA after his history degree at Yale) were busts, but I'll take one more gamble on the school considering it also gave us the two Roosevelts, and the two Adams.

5) Hope. Is Hope so wrong? Lincoln brought hope on the coat tails of his second term. Roosevelt (both Teddy and Franklin) brought hope to difficult times. Reagan brought hope to 8.5 million unemployed and an America with 18% inflation. Frankly, none of those leaders had been "tested" with years of policy making before America threw in with them. What, Reagan could see Mexico from California? It was hope he spoke about.

6) Foreign policy. Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran vs. Obama in Berlin. 'Nuf said. See point 3.

7) John Maynard Keynes vs. Milton Friedman. John Maynard Keynes via WW II gave us moderated prosperity for 30 years. Milton Friedman and supply side economics gave us obscene greed and wealth transfer from the lowest 40% of Americans to the top 5% of Americans. Keynes is a blunt and bloody economic instrument, but Friedman has proved to be...unspeakable.

Ok, so I'm sure to take a ribbing from some of my associates and certainly some of the relatives for this. I could be wrong (I did vote for George W. Bush in 2000), but I really hope I am not. I really had to ponder this one out, and as far as I'm concerned, if the kids in Idaho are shouting "assassinate Obama," I've chosen the right side.

I pledge allegiance...

2008-11-20T13:13:00.002-06:00

It sounds like he says "with liberty and love..." there at the end. I don't think I really object to that.

The Cutest Headache You'll Ever Get

2008-11-20T13:09:00.003-06:00

Carol breaks out the keyboard for the boys now and again. There is a lot that we let them do with instruments of their own, but the keyboard is a real treat for them.

Columbus, New Mexico

2008-11-16T19:41:00.002-06:00

Site of the famous Villa raid on the United States, Columbus is one happening little place. I seriously could not get to sleep the night I stayed there for all the crowin' going on. I mean literally, the dogs barked until 3 AM and then the roosters started crowing until sun up, at which point the traffic from Palomas started in.

Ol' Mexico

2008-11-15T16:48:00.002-06:00

In May Jason took a group of students to Chihuahua Mexico. He visited a lot of places (including the famous Mormon colonies...more video to come on that). Here's a short video of the trip made by the Latin American Studies Department at his university.

Baby Girl Dormady

2008-11-15T16:28:00.006-06:00

Here we go, folks. Some of the first pictures of what we are sure is a little girl. Coming to a family far away from you in March. Pardon us...they are a wee bit crooked. The name of our new little bundle will be Helen Diane...named after Carol's two grandmothers.

Summer Fun

2008-11-10T21:25:00.003-06:00

Let's try out some video from this summer. In July we slipped over to Natchitoches (pronounced Nakatish) Louisiana for a folk festival. We all had a great time, and I think that is one of the few times we actually got away for quite some time. Take a look at what we found.

Wiener Head Giraffe?

2008-11-10T10:03:00.005-06:00

Our family has entered the 21st Century with a blog. Huzzah. The Extraordinary Ordinary is our (my - Carol seems a little unenthusiastic about the project at this point) attempt to celebrate the little adventures of our growing family.

In truth, I could say "we" as Isaac, age 4 until January, seems fairly excited about it and he even picked out the URL - http://www.weinerheadgiraffe.blogspot.com/. Yep, you read correctly, Wiener Head Giraffe.

He hadn't seen the picture featured here, but after he gave me that name I had to google Wiener Head Giraffe and see what came up. This one showed up on several blogs - City of Marigolds and I Heart Weener Dogs to name a couple. To be honest, this is more of a giraffe headed wiener, but it still works for me.

The Island of Dr. Moreau aside, we plan to use the space to keep the "grands" up to date, perhaps to keep in touch with distant friends who don't have access to our MyFamily page, and to indulge some self satisfying desires to share our extraordinarily ordinary adventures and some reflective prose with the occasional unwitting web surfer.