tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:34:21 +0000http://www.avacal.com/noreply@blogger.com (pete)Blogger534125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-1381134118195412316Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:51:00 +00002008-08-12T09:54:26.688-04:00 DSCF0843 Originally uploaded by peteshawAnna sent me this card while she was at summer camp. She evidently misses Dana more than me, but probably figured that Dana can't read, so I get the card. **************************************************** Dear Dad, Its almost my birthday! Did you like NASCAR? I love camp!! I really miss Dana!! --Annahttp://www.avacal.com/2008/08/letter-from-anna-at-camp.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-5534964554575384563Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:53:00 +00002008-08-10T11:22:44.205-04:00Some time age I blogged about when PJ swallowed a quarter, and thankfully everything worked out fine (although I never did find that expensive coin). I recently had the following email exchange with someone who left a comment on that old web page. ************************************************* Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "PJ CHOKES ON A QUARTER -- 4.29.2004 ": hello... http://www.avacal.com/2008/08/drinking-games-swallowing-quarters-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-4192606814442798883Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:05:00 +00002008-08-07T08:39:47.480-04:00First of all, many thanks to those who have wished me happy birthday too early!! I frequently put down my wrong birthday on public websites to make identity theft a little more difficult to perpetrate on me. Instead, I use my birth year and my daughters birthday, which happens to be a couple of weeks before mine. So if you sent me an email or a card, thank you! And its totally cool, you're http://www.avacal.com/2008/08/random-links-and-things-i-have-been.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-498629088842414225Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:09:00 +00002008-08-06T21:14:38.221-04:00Last night I bought the boys a version of Super Mario Brothers 3 for their WII, which cost five whole dollars. I made them promise to clean the basement today in exchange. When I got home, surprisingly, they had done so. They had done exactly what they said they would do. What a shock, and a very nice one at that. People have started asking my wife if the boys are twins. PJ is 18 months http://www.avacal.com/2008/08/basement-is-clean.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-8318082525640599908Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:02:00 +00002008-07-28T13:02:44.766-04:00We were camping this weekend.  At one point, PJ and another child were trying to watch a dvd, but it kept skipping.  (I know, if you are watching a DVD then it really can't be called camping.) I took the DVD and washed it with soap and water.  The other child said "Hey!  My mom only uses water to wash the DVD!" Then PJ said, "Its ok!  My dad is an electronics professional!  And if you ever have ahttp://www.avacal.com/2008/07/im-electronics-professional.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-2783297723678500106Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:21:00 +00002008-07-17T13:21:26.538-04:00DSCF0819Originally uploaded by peteshawmore photos from the beachhttp://www.avacal.com/2008/07/schroon-lake-2008_4515.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-6163264045382716387Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:20:00 +00002008-07-17T13:20:51.737-04:00DSCF0821Originally uploaded by peteshawmore photos from the beachhttp://www.avacal.com/2008/07/schroon-lake-2008_17.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-1466242935860661475Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:20:00 +00002008-07-17T13:20:01.754-04:00DSCF0824Originally uploaded by peteshawmore photos from the beachhttp://www.avacal.com/2008/07/schroon-lake-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-7243120478996869766Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:55:00 +00002008-07-14T08:55:40.559-04:00DSCF0803Originally uploaded by peteshawWhat goes up...http://www.avacal.com/2008/07/schroon-lake-vacation-july-2008_7312.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-2693622532867006168Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:55:00 +00002008-07-14T08:55:04.886-04:00DSCF0804Originally uploaded by peteshawMust come down!http://www.avacal.com/2008/07/schroon-lake-vacation-july-2008_14.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-7315968548263412747Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:32:00 +00002008-07-12T21:32:19.176-04:00 DSCF0836Originally uploaded by peteshawhttp://www.avacal.com/2008/07/schroon-lake-july-2008-beach.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-7061652742476407486Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:15:00 +00002008-07-09T15:15:10.242-04:00DSCF0815Originally uploaded by peteshawthe water was very nice to swim inhttp://www.avacal.com/2008/07/schroon-lake-vacation-july-2008.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-4238861725117398001Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:34:00 +00002008-07-08T09:34:32.407-04:00 DSCF0759Originally uploaded by peteshaw... its like herding cats.http://www.avacal.com/2008/07/getting-my-children-to-clean-basement.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-1560664601891469282Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:31:00 +00002008-06-27T16:31:52.311-04:00Sunday night Kathleen was off somewhere (probably on a bender, or possibly looking into our apartment building) and the kids and I decided to stay up and watch a movie.  The movie was "My Neighbor Totorro," a strange Japanese animated film that my kids love.  Since we were watching a movie, I decided to make some popcorn.  Since regular butter is so greasy, sometimes we use "buttery topping", http://www.avacal.com/2008/06/i-like-video-games.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-7529192550287344369Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:48:00 +00002008-06-19T09:48:16.637-04:00PJ had a tooth pulled at the dentist today.  Surprisingly, he got the novocaine, had his toothe pulled and it was no big deal.  He is such a sensitive little guy, he can be surprisingly tough and it always catches me off guard.  Sam, on the other hand, is much more thick skinned, even now. PJ, brought home his tooth in a special plastic box from the dentist, and he was very excited about leaving http://www.avacal.com/2008/06/wednesday-night-without-school-or-anna.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-4618850162939143274Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:59:00 +00002008-06-11T21:59:06.709-04:00DSCF0750Originally uploaded by peteshawhttp://www.avacal.com/2008/06/camping-in-micheaux-state-forest.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-11852107279751220Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:38:00 +00002008-06-05T12:44:30.518-04:00I only rarely link to external articles, but this one struck a chord with me. Kathleen says that I have almost zero credibility with my children. They never no whether I am telling the truth or not. Consciously or not, I think that I ever wanted them to grow up trusting anything I say at face value. I want them to question me, question everything I say, question the world around them. Look http://www.avacal.com/2008/06/lies-we-tell-kids.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-4609207138820184256Fri, 30 May 2008 00:11:00 +00002008-05-29T20:11:29.739-04:00DSCF0744Originally uploaded by peteshawI thought this was cute. I especially liked the "put stuff here" in the corner.http://www.avacal.com/2008/05/found-on-our-front-porch.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-6908862268158336848Wed, 28 May 2008 01:10:00 +00002008-05-27T21:10:50.563-04:00Yet another Sam-ism. Sam has been trying to put his foot down aboutvarious things, usually not eating dinner and not going to bed.We have been telling him to stop giving us ultimatums.Tonight Sam announced proudly last night that he was giving us an "oldtomato", and that he wasn't eating his meatloaf.http://www.avacal.com/2008/05/no-more-old-tomatoes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-8768327352936524075Thu, 22 May 2008 13:11:00 +00002008-05-22T09:13:20.750-04:00 DSCF0740 Originally uploaded by peteshawAnna gave me this story she wrote last night. She was very mad at me because Mom planted seeds in Anna's garden and didn't let Anna plant any. My crime was that I told Anna she was over-reacting, and that she was taking a small problem and making it into something worse. The reason I said that is because she dug out all of the gardening stuff Kathleen http://www.avacal.com/2008/05/how-i-feel-by-anna-shaw_7673.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-3177816601385629479Thu, 22 May 2008 13:06:00 +00002008-05-22T09:06:42.211-04:00DSCF0741Originally uploaded by peteshawHere we see Anna and Dad, with a magical 'poof' coming from Anna, which I guess is exacting a magical spell contingent on her exacting her revenge on poor old Dad.http://www.avacal.com/2008/05/how-i-feel-by-anna-shaw_6588.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-3030111857584930831Thu, 22 May 2008 13:01:00 +00002008-05-22T09:01:47.458-04:00DSCF0742Originally uploaded by peteshawNow dad has been transformed into a frog...http://www.avacal.com/2008/05/how-i-feel-by-anna-shaw_9921.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-2314652619368227130Thu, 22 May 2008 12:58:00 +00002008-05-22T09:04:19.961-04:00 DSCF0743 Originally uploaded by peteshawAnd on this page Anna has dissected the Dad-frog and is going to eat him for dinner. I am unsure of the psychological ramifications of all this.http://www.avacal.com/2008/05/how-i-feel-by-anna-shaw_6973.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-7196907001800345812Tue, 20 May 2008 13:07:00 +00002008-05-20T09:07:36.280-04:00Kathleen was waking Anna up this morning, and she first had to getDana out of her bed. Dana used to jump out of bed at first sight of agrownup, but she has figured out that Anna's bed is okay, while thecouch and chair and other beds are not. This morning Kathleen said"Here, Dana!" and instead of getting out of bed, Dana wagged her tail,but just stretched out and curled in closer to Anna, who http://www.avacal.com/2008/05/get-in-line-dana.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3155958.post-3429861242876476558Sun, 18 May 2008 01:58:00 +00002008-05-17T21:58:28.271-04:00DSCF0735Originally uploaded by peteshawAnna and PJ were on the trampoline. PJ dropped to his knees and was bouncing up, when Anna fell towards him. The back of PJ's head collided with the front of Anna's and frankly, the back of PJ's head won. The black eye looks worse than it is though, and Anna will be well healed shortly.http://www.avacal.com/2008/05/trampoline-snares-first-victim.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (pete)