April Roundup

April 30th, 2008

Busy month and clearly I’ve been slacking in my informational duties. Gretchen started the month with a trip to the beach to visit Vince and Jan while I stayed behind and finally made sense of my office. Spring sort of sprung and we did a bunch of cleanup in the yard only to have a whole mess of branches blow down the next day! The city cleared out the alley quickly and cable and telephone service were restored in short order. There are still wires draped in the alley and the Rizza’s fence and natural tree barrier will take some time to repair though.


We took the boys to see the Harlem Globetrotters after a successful elementary school game that featured the staff vs. 5th graders. Both games were a lot of fun although Oskar was frustrated the Globetrotters spent so much time talking instead of playing the game. Xavier seemed to enjoy it… or at least he enjoyed the candy ;).

Gretchen had a birthday which Oskar and Xavier made a cake and pinata for. The effort spanned a few days but was enjoyed by all. The cake had a slightly deformed shape after sticking to the baking pan, but we shoved it back together and hid the seams with frosting and it tasted just fine!

Oskar also joined Cub Scouts and attended his first Den meeting this past Tuesday. He’ll be joining the Wolf Pack officially in mid May but will participate with the Tigers now. I’m not sure how much fun he’s having yet, but I’m having a blast. So much so that I started a little campfire with the boys in the back yard this evening. Next time we’ll have marshmallows.

Gretchen has also instituted Friday night Pizza night featuring some most excellent home made Pizza that she’s been making. Gretchen and Oskar have also been working hard at Montessori work. Oskar is working hard as a first time pupil for Gretchen as she masters the materials.

Both of the boys are recovering from cases of pink eye and everyone is being hit hard by the seasonal allergies.

Last but not least, I opened my homebrew that I made WAY WAY WAY back in January for the first time. Despite being heavily over carbonated it tastes pretty good. It takes a couple of minutes for the head to go back to liquid though :P Next time - I’ll move it to the lagering shelves much sooner.

Trying to get a hold of us???

April 10th, 2008

A big storm blew through today and as a result, we’ll be without phone service until the 17th (or there abouts according to Quest). It was due to a downed tree collecting the telephone wire on it’s way down. Took out cable TV/internet as well, although Charter has restored that. If you need to get a hold of us call our cell phones. Lots of photos below. Read the rest of this entry »

Nickelodeon Universe, Mall of America

March 26th, 2008

Yesterday Gretchen and Pammy took Erik and Xavier up to the Mall of America to explore and the kids of course fell in love with Nickelodeon Universe, the theme park that replaced the Snoopy/Peanuts park earlier this month. A great time was had by all and Erik was the great uncle taking little Xavier on as many rides as he was able to. More photos after the link… Read the rest of this entry »

Rochester Photostroll

March 19th, 2008

Yesterday the boys and I went for an after dinner walk / photostroll around the neighborhood. I snapped off a few pics on my cell phone here. I love the old prairie style architecture that’s so prevalent here - oh and the kids are cute too! Read the rest of this entry »

Gretchen Hired

March 18th, 2008

Starting this fall, Gretchen will resume teaching at Rainbow School here in Rochester. This is exciting for two reasons, 1. She’ll be able to get back to work and 2. Xavier will be attending there as well! She’s still working through her Montessori course work and will be finishing that up right around the time school goes back into session.

Egg Mentioned in NY Times

March 17th, 2008

New York Times Logo The New York Times is running a fluff story about Honesty Box today (something I’ve done a little work on :P ). The short piece by Joanne Kaufman, touches briefly on some of the important questions surrounding anonymity online but doesn’t get into anything substantive around policy or moral and ethical considerations. It does however give a nice background on what Honesty Box is.

Spend More Money at Slumberland and SAVE LESS!!!

March 10th, 2008

Slumberlands Questionable Deal Occassionally, I see something that just strikes me as stupid and I feel compelled to tell the whole world about it. This Slumberland offer just piqued my interest. The deal is simple, the more money you spend with them, the more money they knock off the total price - sort of. If you look at this as a ratio, money saved per dollar spent, you actually save more money by spending less! The rest of the rant follows after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Beer Madness

March 10th, 2008

Sunday Source Beer Madness from Washington Post Everyone knows what a huge sports fan I am… HA! So Kathy found this one at Washington Post and sent it along to me today. It’s the best of March madness in my opinion. Perhaps I’ll do some digging at the local liquor shops and do my own taste along…

Xavier’s Birthday!

March 9th, 2008

Well, officially it was yesterday, but I wasn’t up to the task of writing a post about it. With over 150 pictures on Flickr, it was too much to cull through. Friday we headed out to the Kalahari in the Wisconsin Dells. Xavier had a blast in the water and in just about everything else he did. Read the rest of this entry »

Erik Has Arrived

March 6th, 2008

Erik flew in today… and boy are his arms tired! Okay, bad joke, he’s here and seems happy to be so. He was able to partake of some snow play, picking Oskar up from school and a trip to the RAC to burn off some energy.