we went to the capital

It was the first family trip we had taken since we went to Bangor in Maine. We woke up about 8 and got ready and when daddy said "do you want to go bye-bye" to Loki he started running back and forth from the nearest person to the door. it's really cute,he does it every time you say it too. but any way we got in the car and went to pick Fayth up at Carrie's house, it was Michele's birthday the day before and Fayth had stayed over night. so after we picked her up we sat in the car for 2 hours, which really isn't that much after the three days moving back from Maine. We got there and parked in a parking building, i forget what its called. we left Loki in the car and walked to the Chazen museum of art. It was SOOO cool my favorite painting was the lady in the red dress(I like the dress) .Fayth's was the Jack in the lobby area ,it was huge . Fin's was the holographic clown that followed you wene you walked back and forth. Moms was the Ming dynasty jade sculpture in the basement that used to be part of an ancient building. dads was the Italian cassone (the big trunk)it had a bunch of cool  carvings in the wood. after the art museum we were supposed to go to the Wisconsin museum of history. but we didn't because mommy was so wiped out.im glad because we wouldn't have been able to walk after the rest of the day.we went to Tj max instead. mom got espresso beans covered in chocolate. while me and mom and Fayth were there dad and fin were at a wood shop buy tools place,which was the reason we went(so dad could go to the buy tools place). dad got tools. then we went to moms favorite clothes store ever Burlington coat factory we all got some col clothes me, mom, Fayth. and fin got formal dresses for family pics, mine is a purple frilly one, moms is a short white one fins is pink with flowers on it and fayths is a red and black dress that looks really good on her. dad got a shirt and Fayth also got a pair of shoes, and i got a purse. about that time it was 8:30 so we started home. at the Wisconsin dells we stopped at Denny's for supper. we got home about 10:30. I had a lot of fun.

new member of our familly

last night dad called and told me and my sisters to go into the living room and shut the TV off i wasn't sure why but we did. then they come in dad first and mom follows holding our new PUPPY his name is Loki he's a mutt my mothers friends found he was lost they tried everything to find the owners, but they couldn't. they knew my mom had wanted a small dog for a long time and they didn't have room to keep him.
he is so cute! me and my mom had to give him a bath and he stood so still. Not shying away like ivy did. (though he is certainly not replacing her) After the bath he started running around and rubbing his face on the ground then he dropped on the ground and pulled himself along with his front paws. He was rollling on his back and zooming around it was amazing.
But most of all he is certainly moms dog he cuddles with her more than any of us. he layed at her feet earlier and is by her side a lot. Need less to say were all very excited about Loki.

New Job

Guess what ? Dad didn't go to work today because he had a job interview at Gundersen Lutheran today. But the lady Who was supposed to interveiw him couldnt. So she called him for a over the phone interview. And after it was over she told him that he got the job. :) so we're wating for the phone call in a few weeks to tell him he can start working there. But for the moment he will stay at Apac Customer Services.

A change of authorship

As those who might check here a bit to keep tabs on us can see I have handed over authorship of the blog here to the oldest squirt Chloe, and earlier today she made her first post. Being back in Wisconsin now I'm finding less and less tie to keep up with things on my plate but I can understand the desire for family not directly in Wisconsin to maybe want to keep track of us a bit. But my plate has been a bit full lately and to be honest I'm at a loss for words when it comes to us if I'm not relating the insanity that was the state of Maine. I thought that a different perspective may be interesting, at any rate I'm interested in what Chloe will have to say here. It'll be a good exercise for her.

So go ahead and continue to enjoy, she's 13 and I warned her that she was not allowed to whine too much over the world wide web. I think she'll behave her self and I hope that everyone will enjoy her perspective, The toils of the family through the eyes of a 13 year old. . . no diary of anne frank, but then again you never know.

If you want to keep up with what I'm doing personally I am keeping up on my personal blog about my woodworking shop at www.insidetheworkshop.blogspot.com

so cheers everyone, I'll probably still stick my nose in here from time to time, but give her some feedback and let Chloe her know how she's doing.

before I go I'm gonna put up one of my favorite pics of my girls.. . .  three peas in a pod . . . most days  :)

Derek

Back Home

Ta da I can't believe we're back in WI, Badger State, home of the dairy cows. It feels good to be home. We're living in a 2 bedroom apartment above My aunt and uncle. Schools going great for all of us including mom though i think she gets more home work than me though. She's taking 4 classes now but eventually she's going to be a nurse. My friend spent the night last night and we played on the Wii till 12 pm It was fun other wise life is well, life. Dishes laundry and school I'm not complaining to much though its not that bad. Fayth And fin are doing alright they have a lot of homework too now in at a loss for words so i'll go saying I'm glad to be home.

same ol same ol

Well I am on the computer this afternoon, so I thought I might as well put a post up here see as how I have no excuse not to. :)

There is not much going on here that is new to report, Chloe left today to go on a trip with her friend down to some amusement park, she will be back in a few days, Fayth and Fin have found a deck of cards and are busy discussing the finer points and subtleties of "war". Naomi interviewed for a job at TAMC as a receptionist. We have not heard back yet but then again things run on "Maine time" here, hurry up and wait.

I have been working in the woodshop quite a bit, I built myself a new workbench, the first real and true workbench I have every had, I never though it was that big of a deal but let me tell you hand tool work goes so much easier on this thing, and it's a beast as well, It pushes 200 lbs on its own and then when I put all the tool boxes underneath...I bet I'm pushing a half a ton. well over a 1/4 at least.

anyhow just thought I'd drop a quick note and a few pics

We all miss you, and hope to see you all as soon as possible

D

Summer is Here

well it has finally warmed up around here, temperatures up into the low 80's wooo hooo, Honestly a polar bear like myself, I just love it cool so this is hot enough for me.

Oh yes and Happy Fathers Day to all of those out there who read this from time to time, especially to you Dad. I am the man I am today because of you . . . there are no words other than, thank you and I love you.

OK away from the serious. . . This morning I decided that my daughters have pre prepped them selves for the dawning "text messaging age" with all the lol, lmao, idk, bff, and wtf around I received a Father's day card from Infinity this morning, I knew she was working on it because the construction paper is in a cabinet by our bedroom door and I heard her rummaging through it while I was still laying in bed dozing. any how I got a yellow card, construction paper folded in half, that had three purple hearts scotch taped to the inside with strips of paper that made them spring off the page and wiggle in the air. on the hearts she had written three letters H. F. and D. She then went to the cutest pains to explain to me that for sure HFD meant happy fathers day.

"are you sure it doesn't mean Happy Farts are Dry?" I asked,
"NO" she said
"Harry Finds Dinner?"
"NO!"
"Hefalumps Fly Downwards?"
To this she stopped and I got THE LOOK, the one that says "dad you are just being stupid now" As if "Happy Farts are Dry" is smarter than hefalumps and their precarious flight patterns
"Dad...It means Happy Fathers Day"
"OK OK" I said, She won, she often does.

I also got a cool castle from Fayth that she made in school and has been hiding up in her room for almost a month. That is one hell of an accomplishment for her, she can never keep a secret for more that a few minutes at best, One of the things I love about her, there is no guile in that little girl, she can be stubborn to a T, but if you ask her she will tell you exactly what she is thinking whether you like it or not

Oh I have one more Infinity Story before I get going

Naomi conned Fin into folding the laundry for her the other day,
"If you're hungry then I will make supper, but I cannot possibly make supper unless you help me fold all these clothes" not that it takes much convincing usually to get her to do stuff, but sometimes... anyhow Fin agreed and began folding clothes in the living room while Naomi made supper.

Fin would run into the kitchen every couple of minutes and ask something like "whose shirt is this?" so she could put things in te right pile, eventually it was bound to happen she came into the kitchen with a pair of my boxer briefs.

"Mom . . . whose shorts are these?"
"Honey they're not shorts, they're your daddy's underwear"
Fin looked confused for a second and then asked
"Well. . . why do they have a pocket in them?" refering to the fly.

I do not know how Naomi kept a straight face...but she explained that they are not really a pocket, that boys used the fly to pee standing up.

To this Infinity made a face that said "Oh My God Gross!!" promptly held the item at arms length and walked back into the living room, obviously sorry she had asked.

Naomi came down to where I was working in the woodshop in the basement almost in tears she was laughing so hard...

Ya sometimes life is too good

Love you and miss you all.