Chisago City Youth Scales Mountain of Pumpkins, Downs Apple Cider and Laughs in the Face of Danger, Ponders New Addition to Family

Here is our elegant son having fun and generally being awesome on a recent trip to the pumpkin patch. Henry has been acting pretty cocky lately since he found out he is getting bumped up to the toddler room at daycare. I hope none of his new toddler peers make fun of him for carrying around his lovie all the time.



This picture is a couple weeks old. The timber framers were about 75% at this point. They are done now and we are currently gearing up to finish the ceiling paneling before the Stuctural Insulated Panel crew arrives in a week or so. We should also be getting the 2x6 prefinished flooring for the loft level soon, courtesy of Great Lakes Lumber -- visit them on the web at LumberBob.com and be sure and tell 'em Henry James sent ya'!

Lastly, the wife has insisted that I make the big announcement via the worldwide interlink. New Guy is the bean on the upper left -- the other bean is the yolk sack. Yep, that's right-- she's pregnant, AGAIN... and I didn't even need the use of my left arm! Sweet.

Excited but kinda nervous is what I am... Henry has been a big ole' pill lately and I'm not sure we are ready to double that pleasure and fun. Oh well, here we go again.

Crap, now we have to pick out another name.

Holy Crapola

My apologies for the lack of updates recently. We've been very busy lately. Last weekend I assembled a small crew of gentleman to assist me in putting up some prefinished pine tongue and groove ceiling paneling on the new house. A big thanks to my brothers, dad, and friends and to Grandpa Fred for all the assistance as I complete this project. It is starting to look fabulous and spectacular.

I am beginning to think I should really buy a new digital camera. This business of buying disposable cameras and developing and scanning pictures is getting old really fast.

Here is a picture of me, momma, Henry and my dad enjoying a nature hike on my nature trail. Nature! Speaking of which, it was a beautiful sunrise this morning. The sky was purple and blue and yellow and orange. I took Henry out on my parent's deck and we admired it for a brief moment. Henry pointed at it and went "ooh ooh". That is his primary means of communicating at this point. He points at stuff and grunts and what not. If he wants something badly he starts waving his hands and grunts more feverishly.

After the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease scare from a couple weeks back, Henry got a nasty case of the flu last week. Little Guy woke up with a crib full of puke'n'poop. We are just lucky he didn't pull a Jimi Hendrix... Messy ordeal. And contagious. Somehow I avoided it but my "old lady" was not so lucky. Apparantly it wiped out a substantial portion of the daycare staff and studentry as well. Yikes.

I promise to post more photos of the Little Guy and the house this week.

TURD GOBBLIN': The Daycare Adventures of Henry James and the Myriad Joys of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease!

Dear Diary:

Henry had a really bad night on Monday. He didn't really sleep for more than 15 minutes the entire night except for one stint from around 3 to 5 o'clock and appeared to be in pain and pretty much inconsolible. We hadn't had a night quite like that since the first couple of weeks we brought him home. He also still has lingering chest phlegminess from when we brought him in to see the doctor about a month ago. He took some meds but it returned as fast as it went away. So now we have a combo baby sickness. An informal poll of moms and old ladies and what not indicated likely ear infection or gas. I thought maybe it was gas because the next morning he took a Texas-sized dookie consisting almost entirely of undigested rice and color crayons -- but I'm no doctor. Anyway, I think the mystery is now solved. I took him to daycare this morning and was talking one of his provider ladies and she said there is a little of the ole' Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease* going 'round. Sure enough, he had a couple of little blisters on his tongue and it all makes sense now. Spec-friggin'-tacular. So apparently Henry just crawls around at daycare all day and scours the floor looking for turd pebbles to eat.

Signed,
Sleepless-One-Armed-Dingleberry-Guy


*Note: Not to be confused with the feared livestock disease Foot and Mouth Disease -- different deal altogether. I didn't know this right away and was equally shocked and confused when daycare lady told me she thought Henry was afflicted with the same menace that cancelled elections and soccer matches in Europe amid widespread panic.

When he is not too busy gobbling turds, Henry enjoys crafts like fruit stamping! Here is his first work of art:

House Update: The walk-out wall is done and the floor trusses and subflooring are done. The timberframers are on-site assembling the timbers now and should be done Tuesday or so. The plumber does his ground work and sewer tie-in and what not on Friday hopefully. Then we can get the tubing done for the radiant heat and get the concrete poured before it gets too cold. I also had a portable crapper brought in for the subcontractors!

One more week and I get to have my long-arm cast replaced with a short-arm cast so I can move my elbow, then only eight more weeks to go until total freedom!

Henry James: The Celebrity Look-A-Like

I uploaded a picture of Henry to an online dealie that scans a picture and tells you which celebrities you look like. The website is called My Heritage. As you may have guessed, Henry most resembles Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the 6'8" (and black) former NBA point guard for the Showtime-Era Los Angeles Lakers with the infections smile and mild case of the HIV.

Also implicated are Boris Yeltsan, Tori Amos, Lauren BaCall, Oprah Winfrey, some asian guy, along with Ross Perot and sitar virtuoso Ravi Shanker.

I am still trying to sort out how I feel about all of this.

Autumn Notes

It was a very beautiful weekend in southern Chisago County. The weather was swell and the fall colors were in their full glory. If John Denver hadn't tragically died crashing his experimental aircraft some years back, he may have penned a wonderful song about the view from our porch during this glorious time of the year. We have a bunch of maple trees between our house and the road -- this will be the view from our front porch.

I even got some miscellaneous crap accomplished despite my current status as a "handi-capable" person. Basically, I put my little fishing boat away for the year and also somehow managed to find some of my winter clothes and jackets that I had ingeniously put in the very back our rented storage unit. Actually, I just sort of pointed to where everything was and my little brother had to dig everything out on account of me being all gimped-up and what not.

The fine people from Perry Excavating finished backfilling around our foundation last Friday and are installing the septic system and putting in some driveway material today. The picture below basically represents the view from our dining room.

I am standing on a pile of dirt looking northerly toward our foundation and stuff. Henry glares at me.

This is the little pond swamp dealie on the northeast corner of our property, near the road. We are thinking maybe in a few years we can clear a little skating rink for Henry and his posse to play broomball on.

Below, Henry chills out in the massage chair at my folks house. Just like everyone else, Henry likes to unwind after a long day of eating finger foods and being awesome.

Henry is a pretty avid walker now. He can also eat a whole piece of toast without us cutting it up for him. He does bites all on his own. Amazing. Henry has been courageously battling some diaper rash recently.

Also, what is with that Sven Sundgaard?

Go Twins.