Cousins

Here are Shayna, Sam, and Pete enjoying a quiet moment in the big chair. This photo must have been taken during the 30 seconds of the weekend that Pete was not playing Crash Bandicoot.

Note the Homer Santa in the background.

Pancakes

We had pancakes for brunch the day after Christmas. Here is Pete making sure the chocolate chip ones are being prepared correctly.

Note the camo outfit, which is currently Pete's favorite. He was going to wear it to school last week, until he spilled his breakfast all over it. But he got to wear it this day. Unfortunately, this was not the best choice of clothes for the Air and Space museum. He would walk three feet away and get lost in the crowd. Next time we need something bright orange with reflectors and some sort of homing device.

Merry Christmas

Christmas 2005 was quite the event, with a weekend visit from Robin, Manny, Shayna, and Skyler and then surprise appearances by Stephen, George, and Vickie on Christmas morning. We had a wonderful time opening presents and sharing Christmas dinner together as a big family.

Above is Sam playing with Pete's snap-together model of Crash Bandicoot riding his jet board. It's a little tricky to snap together, but that's ok since Sam seems content with just the box. If we ever figure out how to get the model together, we will post a picture of that too.

Mystery Eye

See if you can guess if this eye is Sam or Pete.


===================================

Answer: Pete

Computer

Pete has started to teach Sam how to use the laptop downstairs in the kitchen. Pretty soon we will reach the point where I have to ask Pete how to fix things on the computer. Then soon after that, we will all have to ask Sam. Being the youngest in the house, he will probably have the most expertise.

Also, they are wearing their new matching sweatshirts.

Food Bank

Pete went with dad and George (Poppy) on Saturday morning to volunteer at a local food bank. We gave out tons of food to dozens of families. Pete helped with re-stocking shelves (our section included rice, cereal, tuna, hamburger helper, cake mix, mac&cheese, corn muffins, condiments, and oatmeal). He also helped people pick out their allotted food and put it in the cart. Next year we will have to bone up on our Spanish first.

Pete also went with mom on Monday to give out toys, but she did not take any pictures so you will have to use your imagination on that one.

Ornaments

Here are the ornaments that Pete and dad made this year with Model Magic.

1. See if you can guess which one Pete made and which one dad made.
2. See if you can guess which one is Aku Aku and which one is Uka Uka. (If you need help, you can click here for Aku Aku or here for Uka Uka).

Drumsticks and Wishes

Above is Pete holding a red plastic drumstick and doing the closest he can to acting normal for a picture. There are different theories as to the cause of the red halo that mysteriously developed in the picture. I think it can only be a secret sign from God that Pete is the chosen one to lead the world to greater peace than it has ever known. Pete, however, seems to think it is something called "glare".

On the topic of magic wands, Pete was watching a show the other day where they were wishing for various things. I thought it would be a good opportunity for some creative interaction, but in retrospect I'm not sure Pete was in the mood for a spirited discussion.
Me: "Pete, what do you wish for?"
Pete: "I don't have any wishes."
Me: "Poof! You have three wishes. What do you wish for?"
Pete: "I wish that I have zero wishes."

Stripes

Pete has achieved an
assortment of stripes
at karate class.

I'm not sure what each
one is for, but based
on his video games, I
think one of the orange
ones is the skull crusher
and one of the black ones
is the overhead power slam.

Big Bag

I walk in the family room the other day
and Pete is eating from an enormous
bag of potato chips. Somehow I found
this to be amusing.

1. In general, I think there is an
unwritten rule that you should not
eat anything that is about the
same size that you are.

2. I said "Pete, do you want a bowl
or something?" and he said "no, I'm ok".

Jammie Day

Pete had jammie day at school on
Monday. They got to wear pajamas
to Kindergarten. I think maybe
they are studying the Babylonians,
who were also known for wearing
pajamas on Mondays (or something
like that). Unfortunately, this
option is not available at my office.

Note that Sam has decided to
participate also. Maybe this is what
Pete is annoyed about in the
picture. Actually, Sam gets a lot
of jammie days. One of his phrases
he likes to say when you are
getting him dressed is
"Nooo! Jammy all day".

Sam is 2

Sam turned 2 on December 4th. He celebrated by eating a flaming cupcake.

Snowman

This is Pete and his snowman Clyde. Pete is wearing his new hat that Christy made for him. Clyde is wearing Sam's hat.

Pete's Faces

Time to experiment with some video on the blog. If you have a high-speed connection and video player, turn up your speaker and try clicking here to see a younger Pete make some faces. If it doesn't work, you can try clicking the photo (which links to a different playback service).

Good Morning For Sam

Here is Sam enjoying his morning. He is in a comfortable spot on the floor with some milk, two puzzle pieces, and the booklet from Crash Warped on Playstation. It is a good life to be Sam.

Snow Strategy

Last night, Pete told me his strategy for making it snow:

1. Wear pajamas inside out
2. Sing "Let it Snow"
3. Put ice cubes in toilet

I guess it works, since we got about 3-4 inches last night.

Holiday Photo Shoot

We had the "bright" idea of taking an impromptu picture of the family to put on our holiday / change of address cards. Somehow, we ended up with one lucky shot where everyone was sort of looking in the direction of the camera.

The other 90 photos all look something like this: