Pops Sighting

Christopher and I were at Kroger's and ran across Pops. He and Granny had just returned from Coney and they were on their way home. Christopher and I were picking up a gift for some kid's birthday party and afterward we picked up the girls and went over to Big Bone for the star gazing event. I stared at the stars through an NKU telescope while the kids stared at an iPhone.

Scooter

Clara went dumpster diving and snagged an electronic scooter with bad batteries. She disassembled it and removed the battery hoping she could retain the scooter. Unfortunately she wasn't able to detach all of the old scooter parts so the scooter was returned to the curb on Thursday evening.

On Friday morning I checked and saw that another dumpster diver had picked it up and the scooter went on to another life.

Fathers Day

Christopher and I took Pops out for Father's Day. We moved the RV from Vevay to the mechanic and then went to Lloyd WMA to shoot some clays.

Big and little trucks

I've recently taken to parking Tim's truck next to the biggest, baddest truck in the parking lot that I can find. Just trying to keep it real.

Awards Night

Hug your kids tight!  The days are long but the years are short.  Here is Christopher while at the Gray Middle School 8th Grade Awards night.  

John turns 4

John turned 4 and we were all there to witness it!

Smore's and Science

"Remember kids, the only difference between Science and screwing around is writing it down." - Adam Savage

We gathered around the firepit for the great Smore's experiment of 2018.  We introduced a number of ingredients that could be combined with graham crackers and marshmallows to make the delicious campfire treat.  

We started the fire, warmed the marshmallows and put out the ingredients.  We then created several Smore's with all the goods and started to test them out. 

After the scientists had completed their experiment, they proceeded to act out on the hyped up sugar puling through their veins. In the end we concluded that KitKat were the best ingredient on a S'more.

 

Also, since I'm writing this in 2025, I was reminded of the fact that for some reason one of the scientists (Clara) had a fight with her stomach and unfortunately the stomach won.  I don't remember the specifics of what happened, but I had enough concern to take this photo to preserve the memory.  

Select Band at NKU

 Christopher was honored to participate in the Select Band Concert at NKU. 

Time with Christopher

We have 5 children but only one son. Today we both spent a little bit of time with our boy in two different venues. This morning Annette went on a Gray Middle School 5k Walk with Christopher for a fundraiser to support the needy families at the school. Then this evening Christopher and Adam went to the woods to pursue the mighty Whitetail. It was a good day to be outside and the result was one tired little dude at bedtime.

Sabrina's First Communion

 Our precious girl made her First Communion last Sunday at 9:30 Mass. it was kind of special to be able to share that with the whole church community. She was so excited! A good reminder for us all... to be so excited to be with Jesus!

It was a crazy weekend... out of power for two days and sick kids, but we made it through! Thanks to all the family and friends who helped out!

Prayers for all her class mates who will make their First Communion today at St. Tim's!

Science and Donuts!

We conducted an experiment this morning. We had 5 scientists who were independently evaluating donuts to find the tastiest. For our experiment, the constant variable was the type of donut & the time they were consumed, the independent variable was the bakery and the dependent variable was the taste & texture (at least that's what my 6th grade son tells me). We collected 4 samples all from a bakery along US 42 in Florence. We had Emerson, Dunkin Donuts, Florence Bakery and Paradise Donuts.

Our procedures were to 1) Collect the donuts; 2) Make Observations about sight and smell; 3) Eat the donuts; 4) Record the feel and taste; 5) Select the best and 6) Consume leftover donuts (if any).

After all the results were tallied, the best donut this morning was from Emerson Bakery.

Lego League Awards

The Gray Master Builders took home some hardware this Saturday from the regional Lego League Tournament.  

Burlington Christmas

 We took the kids to the Burlington Christmas Tree Lighting on Friday, December 2.  Each, except for Clara, took some time to talk with Mr. Claus about what was on their Christmas Wish List.  Lucy made an ornament with members of the Boone County Historical Society.

Summer Camp 2016

My son and I at Summer Camp 2016

Catchin’ Fish

Everyone (except Lucy) got in on the action when we went fishing at the front pond on May 29, 2016.

Childrens Choir

May 1, 2016 this photo was snapped of Sabrina and Adam after a performance of the St. Timothy Children's Choir. Notice the lack of a building and parking lot on the hill behind us in the photo. This was snapped before the parish built the school.

Successful Turkey Hunt

 After a 4 year turkey drought, I harvested a bird this morning.  He was harvested on a farm in southern Kenton County.  I worked him for several hours until he finally came in.  

When I left that morning Annette told me if I harvested one that we would pluck the feathers and try to roast the entire bird rather than just breasting it out.  I brought this bird home and we immediately setup a processing station in the garage.  Timing was tight considering that Clara had a soccer game a little later in the morning so we had to work quickly.  So quickly in fact that my bride hadn't had a chance to change out of her pajamas when we started to prepare the bird.  

So there we were ... in the garage watching YouTube videos on how to pluck the feathers off a dead bird when our friendly neighbors from across the street started walking up their flag lot driveway for a morning stroll with their seminarian son.  

Another interesting moment from that morning was the Eureka style thought associated with Lucy.  Some of the kids were interested, some of them were repelled but Lucy was fascinated with the makeup of all the bits and pieces from inside the deceased thunder chicken.  She picked up what I assume is the kidneys and bladder which were still attached to one another and studied them with a most curious eye.  This was the first time I realized how much she enjoys anatomy and apparently all things medical.  Good times! 

Youth Turkey Hunting

Christopher and I went out for the youth turkey hunt this morning.  Shortly after we took this photo we saw 15 turkeys drop into the field but unfortunately the toms stayed out of range.  Eventually my youth hunter got cold so we called it a day.  

Easter

 This is a photo of our crew taken on the front porch on Easter Sunday, 2016.

Luck o' the Irish

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!