Here We Go Again

Well, Summer is here and that means the kids are home to test Karen's breaking point (which is usually 14 minutes after the kids get up in the morning). I, however, have lucked out and find myself shackled to my desk at work everyday. Hahahaha, lucky me.....*sigh*

Before school let out, Cattie had her Gymnastics review and Kaeli had her Dance recital:

(I posted Kaeli's dance video on Facebook. If you want to see it click here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/csknoll?ref=name ).

Both girls did extremely well, but I noticed the biggest improvement in confidence in Kaeli. She loves theatrical things; singing, dancing, acting, etc. If I wasn't so disgusted with Hollywood and turned off by the idiocy of theater miscreants, I would encourage her to pursue this passion. But no, I will crush her dreams and spirit like a responsible father should.

As an aside, we experienced quite the thunderstorm here the other day. I shot some 'man on the street' video of this tempest (actually, I was hiding in my bathroom like a freightened little girl):

Memorial Day Weekend

This year, Kaeli marched, with her Daisy Troop. Her troop was kind enough to let Cattie march with them. The parade went for about a mile; from our firehouse to the park near the Toms River. Afterwards we had some food in the park and walked through the craftshow.

Here is Kaeli peaking around her troop to see the camera. And to the right you can see the Firemen honor guard gearing up.

Cattie is Lil' Miss Patriot. I took a picture of this red wagon converted into a tank. Pretty cool.

Mother's Day

For Mom's Day Karen and I took the kids to Smithville. It is a small "outdoor craft area" made to look like a quaint rustic village. The girls had a good time and Momma was happy, so all was well.

Of course, the lasses can't go 24 hours without wanting to buy something so Cattie bought a purse (which, thankfully has not as of yet become a respository for feminine products) and Kaeli got a monkey stuffed animal.

Look at her....acting all innocent and everything. Who knows what evil is being conjured up in that twisted little mind. I've told Kaeli in the past: "If I could just crawl inside that head of yours, I am sure it would be one hell of a ride."

Also at Smithville, they had rides; not many but a few. I videotaped the girls on a Merry-Go-Round because of some kid crying his eyes out:

This kid can't figure out if this is a ride or an advanced interrogation technique. Wait until he goes 'water boarding'. Haha! Speaking of torture, it took us forever to get home (due to traffic) and for us to decide where to eat. Eating with the kids has become a lesson in restraint.......

All in all it was a good day. Except for that poor merry-Go-Round Kid.

Should I Be Surprised?

I don't know why I find myself outraged anymore. Perhaps there is a small part of me that thinks things are not as bad as how they are. What am I talking about?

The other day I did homework with Cattie, in fact it was social studies (which I am good at). She was doing a chapter on government (Just a chapter? I could write a whole fuckin' book!). One of her vocabulary words was "taxes". And the definition? "The money given to a community, state or national government". WHAT? Money given to a community, etc? Given implies an act done voluntarily. There is nothing voluntary about taxes. Don't believe me? Try voluntarily not paying them.

This is why no one knows the farce being perpetrated by our government today, because no one knows the definitions of those points being debated. To be told at such a young age that taxes are an act of giving (like VP Joe Biden saying it was our patriotic duty to pay taxes) is incredulous to me! I have known for a long time how the Left has run our schools and it sickens me. Every parent MUST be conscious to this fact: the Left has for some time (since the 1920s at least) looked at public school as an indoctrination center. That is why they are so hateful of private schools and vouchers. Wake up everyone, before your kids are totally misled and their future freedoms are explained away.

On the upside, here is a nice picture of Cattie:

What a Difference A Week Makes.

Just six days after our awesome snow storm, we got 70 degree weather. We decided to take the kids to a new park that just opened up. Suppossedly it is the 3rd largest county park in New Jersey (the name escapes me right now). Once there, we went immediately to the Nature Center that displayed all the flora and fauna found in our area (The Pinelands). It was pretty cool.

Atop the nature center was an observatory, about 50 feet off the ground. From there I could see the airplane hanger in Lakehurst (site of the infamous Hindenburg disaster 70+ years ago). You can barely see the hanger in this photo.

What would the Pinelands be without dead deer being picked apart by vultures......

I was going to try to play this picture off as testifying to my mad stealth skills
in sneaking up behind a bird, but than I noticed someone had to have their stupid feet in the picture! Bahhhh, spoiled again! We ended the day by letting the girls play at the park. Kaeli went off and flirted with the boys, while Cattie wanted to show me all the cool tricks she could do. Flirting and tricks; should I be worried?

In Like A Lion

Well, it took until March, but we finally got a decent snow fall. This is the most snow this year, and probably the most in several years. It is still snowing as I write this. After it is all over we should have almost a foot or more. Cooooool.
The girls got a Monday off, and will probably be out tomorrow too. I don't know about you, but it seems we are becoming wimpy about snow. I can understand places down south closing for two days, but up here?
Cattie couldn't wait to go out in play, in fact she has her pajamas on in the picture to the left........Not my idea!

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that I love snow! Reminds me of home, but unfortunately we don't get enough of it here. The weather is so bipolar here; one day it is 50+ degrees and the next we have 30mph winds and wind chills of 11 degrees.

In fact, just one day before the snow, I took the girls to the park to play. Here is video of Cattie and Kaeli being, well, Cattie and Kaeli. Two hours of watching them run around wore me out, but not them. They came home and went outside again! Speaking of going out, they are on their way out now to play in the snow. Perhaps more pictures will be coming. Bye everyone!

Kaeli's Daisy Pledge and Birthday Party!

After a few months of preparation, Kaeli finally became a Daisy, which is the forerunner to a Girl Scout. She loves Daisy's, which didn't surprise me. She is a very social person......I have a remark by her teacher on her report card to prove it. What is weird, though, is that when all eyes are on her in a public setting she goes into super-shy mode. I was perplexed. She dances in front of hundreds of people and doesn't miss a beat, why is she shy in front of a crowd under twenty people? I asked her, but got no real answer. Anyway, here is a snippet from the ceremony:

Last week we had Kaeli's birthday party at a local gymnastics studio and she invited all her friends. What a great way for kids to burn off excess energy! The days of just having cake at home are now over, I guess. Everything has to be a big production. Don't get me wrong, it is not that I mind, but I am just trying to figure out exactly when this changed. I hear stories now where Sweet 16 parties are costing thousands of dollars (I heard one tell how they spent $12,000). Does this seem insane to anyone else?