Christmas 2008

If you should happen to check the blog before you receive our Christmas card, then you'll see what we're sending you. Here is our family Christmas portrait, along with individual shots of the kids.

Bad words

The other night Shaunna was away doing churchy duties. Joe and I were washing the dishes (mostly making bubbles and splashing.) Out of curiosity I asked, "Hey Joe, do you want me to teach you some bad words?" He looked as me quizzically at first then responded firmly, "No." I pressed, "why not?" "Because I might say them when I'm mad."

I learn so much from my chillies. They are close to the spirit and goodness.

Joe the Avatar

So shaunna made this costume of Ang the Avatar. Joe loves it! I shaved his head for it. Poor guy had razor burn but it was worth it.

Halloween

Here are the childrens' Halloween costumes this year. If you don't know who the Avatar is, see the earlier post about meditation.
Joe is Aang, the last Avatar, Priya is Cinderella, and Auralee is a fairy. Also included are the kids' pumpkins.

Be careful what you wish for

I don't have a picture for this, but I had to post, so you can use your imagination. Monday is my laundry day. I usually do around seven (7) batches and it takes me all day to wash, dry, fold, and put away. Most of you reading this know exactly what I mean. Well, it was the end of the laundry day tonight at about 9:15 p.m. The kids had been in bed for about an hour and a half and I had just finished folding the last batch, placing it in the laundry basket, and setting the basket next to the couch. I sat down at the computer to check my email when suddenly, I heard a sound as if water was being poured out on a towel or the carpet. I looked around to discover Joseph, fully asleep, peeing on my freshly cleaned and folded laundry. If only I'd had the foresight to grab the camera. All I could do was watch in shock as he finished his toilette (that kid has an amazingly large bladder), help him pull up his pants, and put him back in bed. Then I dumped the load of laundry back in the washer and started the cycle again.

I'd been wishing for him to get up and take himself to the bathroom in the middle of the night. So I guess I should be more careful of what I wish for.
=Shaunna

Auralee the Mexican!

Here we are in Jacksonville on the River-walk. We love Florida. It's starting to cool down a bit now. Looking forward to winter.

Joe's Soccer Season 08

He plays a mean goalie! We love going to his games. The other day he scored his first goal and I stormed the field with Priya and the baby and we dog-piled him (in my mind). It was sweet!

As it's been a while since we took (and posted) some pictures of Auralee, Shaunna thought she'd coordinate the kids' outfits today and take some pictures.


She's flirting with actually crawling on her hands and knees, although most of the time she drops to her belly to army crawl when she wants to get anywhere.


As you can see, both Joe and Priya love Auralee, although Priya is usually more "aggressive" in showing that love. See below:


Poor Auralee. It's hard to be so cute!

Flouder Fishing

Took Joe flouder fishing 2 weeks ago. It was pretty fun. We are liking Jacksonville. The family is getting settled in. Joe caught 1 and I caught 3. Joe also caught a "whiting" fish. We are excited to catch more of the different kinds of fish up here. They got reds and drums that I'm particularly interested in. My sweet pole with handle them nicely I think.

Joe came home from school one day saying he had learned a relaxation exercise. When we asked for a demonstration, this is what he did.

Ever since Joe's Russian friend Nikita let him borrow his Avatar videos, Joe has been obsessed. He desperately wants to be Ang. One evening he decided to take matters into his own hands. He snuck into the bathroom, grabbed my side-burn trimmers and went to town. The end result was a patchy head of hair with multiple bald spots. As Parents we vicariously live through our chillies at times. I've always wanted to bic my head. So we went ahead and took it down to Auralee-butt smooth. Joe got a bit of razor burn, poor guy. :) After all the shaving was over and his head stopped burning he asked, "papa can we paint an arrow on my head?"

Shaunna says that Joe looks extremely pathetic and thus she has a difficult time disciplining him with a bald head.

Joe and Priya are so fun.  We love to snuggle and cuddle and wrestle.  Yesterday I went into the living room to find them snuggled up with Priya munching on a piece of pizza.  I love being a papa.  I love interacting with my chillies and watching them interact with each other.   

Residency

Today I found out that I will be doing a Family Practice Residency at the St. Vincent's Hospital in Jacksonville.  My wife and I are excited to finally have direction and will be looking to move up there in the next few months.  

Priya loves to ride the horse in the backyard. When we got it, Joseph asked its name. On a whim, Shaunna told him, "Gandalf." For some reason, he liked it so much that he still calls the horse Gandalf. But he doesn't get to ride it much anymore.