Friday, April 24, 2009

Aaron!


My man Aaron is such a funny guy. He is always full of questions and loves to have anyone and everyone play with him. Today was an extra challenging day for me with him. He got out of bed 15 minutes late for school, he got dress 20 minutes after he got up. OK I know school starts really early (7:45 AM) but this was a really bad morning. The worst part is that the carpool came to get both boys and Aaron was in the middle of brushing his teeth. I had to send Isaac out and off to school without Aaron. He came out of the bathroom and asked where his breakfast was. I not so quietly looked at him and said "you will have to eat a pb&j on the way to school". "Get your shoes on." He just looked at me and asked where his shoes were. Yeah his shoes were not on his feet either. While I was gathering up his shoes and socks from his room I hear screaming and crying coming from the living room. I walk out to find the Aaron in tears and the dog eating his sandwich. I rush to make another sandwich. This time I put it high enough the dog can't reach it. He gets his shoes on and we rush out to the car. The time is 7:50am, yes we are officially late. It is a good thing the school is only 2 blocks from the house. We walk into his class to see that his wonderful teacher is still visiting with parents. So I am officially bribing my children to do what I want. Today I bought the boys matching sheet sets. They are the "Clone Wars". Aaron will get to sleep in his new sheets if he can get out of bed every morning when the alarm goes off. No more dragging him out of bed. If he can not get out of bed, he will lose his bedding for a few days until he can get out of bed a few days in a row. I really hope this works. I know that he can get up and ready. While my mom was here he got up everyday and got ready with out her having to get after him. I will keep you posted on how he is doing.

If you want to be happy......

If you want to be happy all the time, stay in your pajamas and watch cartoons all day. Rachel McCullough age 9

Monday, April 20, 2009

Washington DC

We had such a great time on our vacation in Washington DC. We spent 5 Days running around. I think the Museum of American History made the biggest impression on us. We were able to experience a small amount what the 4 black young men went through when they would not be served at the Woolworth's (they had the original soda counter from the store). An actor portraying a friend of the 4 individuals, he was telling about what it felt like and how it had to change, but not to do it violently. They had 4 individuals from the audience sit on four stools while the rest of us came as close as you can get with out touching the 4. You could feel the tension in the air as we stood starring at these people. The instructions for the audience were to not touch but stand as close as possible. He taught us a song, that the individuals that were arrested would sing in jail. It would keep up the spirits of those in jail.
We also got to see the Star Spangled Banner Flag. That was amazing. I could not believe that it was so large. No wonder Francis Scott Key could see it. There was a wing about the wars from the beginning of the United States. From the French and Indian War until the present. We got a kick out of the posters that they had for individuals to support WWII.
There is so much to see we could have spent 2 more weeks.
We spent a day in Fredricksburg. It has a sunken road that was the bloodiest day for the Union army. We found out that there are still trenches that the Southern army dug. Fox holes, we could not believe that they have survived all this time.
We spent one day in Williamsburg. It was so fun to see things that I had been reading about in "Founding Mothers". The end our visit in Williamsburg the British did invade and we watched them march down main street. Williamsburg was full of period actors. I loved all the time I got spend with Christian.
We had the best hosts. They had a beautiful home and it was great to stay with such a great couple.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

So funny!

I recieved this e-mail from a friend and I thought I would share it with everyone.


BANNED FROM WAL-MART

This is why women should not take men shopping against their will.

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to
Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and
preferred to get in and get out.

Equally unfortunately, my wife is like most women - she loved to browse.
Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local
Wal-Mart:

Dear Mrs. Samsel,

Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a
commotion
in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to
ban
both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Samsel are listed
below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1.20June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's
carts when they weren't looking.

2 . July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute
intervals.

3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the
women's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice,
'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away. '

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M &M's
on
layaway.

6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other
shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets
from
the bedding department.

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him, he began crying
and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'

9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a
mirror while he picked his nose.

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he
asked
the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming
the 'Mission Impossible' theme.

12. Octob er 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look'
by
using different sizes of fu nnels.

13.. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through,
yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he
assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!'

And last, but not least ..

15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile,
then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!'

Friday, April 3, 2009

Sorry about the size

I thought "Oh look how cute a side show of all the pictures I want to post" did not realize that it would be so large that part of it would be missing from the page. I am a beginner when it comes to posting and I have stayed away from unknown things. Well look what happens when I cross that line into the unknown. I get the exlarge (but I must say that it didn't cost me an extra $.35), when really I just wanted the medium or even a small would have been nice. To all those that come to look at the pictures and read the comments, I am truly sorry for the extra large slide show. Before I post another slide show, I will see what I can do to fix my error.

Fun Things

This past month we did some fun things.
Here are a few of the things that we did.


View this montage created at One True Media
Life seen through our eyes

My kids are learning the finer points of how to drink rootbeer
Nicole loves the thought of being a mom so she has a favorite pose(being pregnant)
We had a new built-in-cabinet made for the hole under the TV (I love that I have some thing nice to look at)
Nicole and her cute friends Kiaya and Abby came over and We had a beauty salon. I loved it
We got a new garage door
Nicole and Aaron love digging and getting all messy.
Oakley loves to chew on everything
We had fun at the exploritorium
We saw an episode of Ask this old house(just for kids) They made Water Rockets. Christian and Isaac had so much fun making the rocket launcher and then launching the rocket. It was only about 55 degrees when they did this, it got pretty cold after a few launches. (you use water to propel the rocket)