Thanks to Curtis for the quick lesson on how to use our own camera so we could capture this shot:
Picture taken at 10:00pm, just prior to full eclipse, on full manual (ISO 200, f8, 1 sec exposure)
milestones, photography Why is it that most kids spend such a large portion of their childhood trying really hard to grow up, 
while so many adults spend their grown up years trying to be young again? Cliche, we know, but only now is this becoming so very obvious to us. Calvin spends all day trying to do what we are doing. For a while there we were spending what seemed like much of our days enduring tantrums after explaining to him that he was too little for this or that, but a month ago we did a little soul searching and reassessed our previously set boundaries, bringing peace back to the neighborhood. You'd think we'd taken him to 
Disney World when we gave him the basket from the dishwasher and let him put the utensils away. It's now his favorite chore (he even puts them in the right places). Same with setting the table, feeding the animals, and even washing the dishes (sans the sharp knives, of course). And while he's not allowed to actually help us cook, he is allowed to pull a chair up to the counter and use his own pans to "cook" nearby. No matter 
what we are doing he wants to be part of it, from talking on the phone or folding laundry, to putting away toys and yes, that is a picture of him putting a diaper on his stuffed bear (heck, tonight he tried to give it a sippy cup and then put it to bed). We know we should be thankful - he really is helpful in so many ways, and provides a heck of a lot of comedic entertainment to boot - but think that somebody ought to be enjoying childhood here. Maybe the next time he's loading the dryer or putting away his laundry we'll play with his toys (we've had our eyes on that soft rocking horse for a while now).
We've added pictures to the February Album.
Nothing says "I love you" like a toddler in tulips.
There's more where that came from. Check the February 2008 Album.
A little over a year ago you might remember that 
we came home one day to find our ceiling leaking. Even if you don't remember, we do, and the paint and drywall damage to our ceiling was a daily reminder that just would not let us forget. So finally, with thoughts of trying to join the already flooded housing market this spring weighing on our minds, we got around to doing something about this eyesore. 
We'd been toying with the idea of attempting to do the work ourselves, but that plan lasted all of the five minutes it took Jon to get the instructions for such an undertaking from a skillful friend in our choir who does this stuff for a living...and then we hired him. So instead of spending several days bumbling our way through an extremely intricate process we spent the whole of last week, and a bit more, on what felt like a mini-vacation, staying in 
Cortney's childhood home thanks to the good graces of her parents (who were also staying there, as they do all of the time since they happen to live there). We think it's safe to say that we all enjoyed the time. Jon and Cortney certainly enjoyed being so much closer to all of their day to day activities and needs, and Calvin clearly capitalized on the constant doting attentions of his grandparents. We moved back home today (to a 
much cleaner and brighter ceiling) feeling like we'd just been on a week-long vacation, and having the laundry to prove it.
More pictures - in the February 2008 album.
family, traditions, travel 