Why can't I remember all the funny things that happen?

It would seem logical that with some forced vacation and more time at home I would write more on this. The problem is that when I think of things to write, I don't feel like writing and vice-versa. It is slightly frustrating because there have been some hilarious happenings lately.

As for me and work...who knows? After two false restarts, the Owner of the property said on the 5th that the job was on hold until they stated otherwise. This tossed out any hope of the thing restarting in the near future. I was told to use some vacation time, which I am not happy about for a couple of reasons, and so I didn't go to work from the 9th until today, and even then I only went for a few hours today.

The change in routine has been nice, I've been eating breakfast, going to the gym every morning and then studying for the remainder of the day. If my alarm clock wasn't on top of the dresser to keep Cole from permanently hiding it, I would not know where it was.

Parker is walking faster than ever. He has a small tiger that roars if you squeeze it and he packs that thing around. Cole has taken to dragging his blanket and a stuffed dog that Kathryn gave him around the house. When it is time for him to go to bed he happily goes to his room, as long as he has his blanket (and sometimes another blanket just for good measure) and his puppy. He kneels down next to his bed and makes sure that his cars, milk, puppy, and blankets are safe next to him. After saying prayers, where he just says "amen" at the end, he gives me a big hug patting me on the back (and on Wednesday 3/18 a whack on the head) and then climbs into bed. It is really cute.

On Monday Mindy came home from running an errand and said that there was a fire truck, police car and ambulance in the complex. Cole and I went outside to see them. The fireman gave Cole a plastic fireman hat, a sticker badge and a little pin. That was at about 2pm. Cole wore the hat on our walk to the library and while eating dinner. The next morning when he came into our room he was wearing it. He wore it all morning, including on our trip to the park. The funniest part was when he was in the swing and the long part in the back kept catching the wind, pulling the hat in front of his face during the backswing, and then plastering the hat to his face on the frontswing. We finally got him to take it off when he came outside to help me wash the motorcycle...which is another story (and photos).

So Cole helps me wash the motorcycle every couple of weeks. I try to keep it covered, but sometimes I forget after letting it cool down and then I can't put the cover back on until after the dust has been washed off. On Wednesday afternoon we washed it and Cole was a bit more demanding than usual. He insists on holding the hose, and refused to share it at all. We've got a nozzle that has a whole range of spray types so I'm able to set it to soaker mode where it just pours out the end rather than in a stream, which is good because he thinks it is lots of fun to spray me. Toward the end, Cole just turned the hose on himself and was soaked all down the front. After I turned off the water he went up the stairs trying to get into the house. Mindy was off running errands with Parker so Cole couldn't get in. Instead he came back down the stairs and while wandering around on the rocky slope in front of the building, lost his footing and rolled down the hill. He was ok, but during his roll he discovered a pile of sandy dirt. He started playing in it, and after not too long, was picking up dirt and putting it on his clothes, apparently because the dirt sticking to his wet clothes was interesting. Mindy got home just about the time I was done. Pictures will be included.

For the past few weeks Mindy has been going to nursery with Cole on Sunday and I've been taking Parker to my 16/17 Sunday School class. That wasn't working out well so Mindy took Parker to nursery as well. Parker loved it and Cole was protective of Parker. Mindy will have to write more about that.


Some of you may not know that we have two cats. Well, we do, and most of the time they get along with eachother. On Sunday night they did not. Jack can be a bit of a bully and Maya will usually run away, but on Sunday Jack did something that really made her mad. The two of them were tumbling, staring each other down and lunging at each other. At one point Maya was sitting on her haunches, paw at the ready for slapping Jack, while watching Jack approach. Maya has a small head, huge belly and huge paws. Jack got slapped around a bit by Maya and she even had a clump of Jack's fur hanging from her chin. We ended up banishing Jack to the patio so he could calm down.

There will be more to follow. but this post is long enough.

Here is a link to the February album from Facebook. It is much easier to upload pictures there.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154337&id=1534962567&l=c0bf499fbb

Here is a link to the March 2009 album from Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158208&id=1534962567&l=dfa93937a8