Budding Artist

A while back Kenrick's Art teacher submitted one of his creations to be considered for showing at a children's exhibit at a little gallery in Decatur. His piece was selected to be shown - one of a hundred out of four hundred entries - so this afternoon we went to the presentation of the awards and watched Kenrick pick up his second-place red ribbon!

The gallery, with all the kids and parents waiting anxiously for the ceremony to get started. Kenrick's is the yellow piece standing on the pedestal in the corner.

 The proud artist with his Tropical Fish Triptych.

Mixed Measurement

The other day Anya was on the bed with her stacking dolls, very carefully taking them apart and then fitting them back together. Paxton bounded into the room and hopped up on to the bed, brandishing a little stopwatch that he'd been playing with. "Okay Anya," he declared, "let's time you! How long does it take to put your dolls together?"
She started. He clicked the button.
When she finished, Paxton held the watch high. "Good job, Anya!" he said looking carefully at the numbers, "fourteen pounds!"
Andrea about fell off the bed.
They did it again.
"Two pound-animals!"
Is that better?
"Mommy?" Paxton asked, very seriously, "How do you stop this thing?"

2011 Pandemonium

2011 was definitely a year to remember for the Pandemonium Family. The pictures pretty much say it all, click below to see the story from start to finish.


Thanks again to all who lent us a hand this year in so many different ways; we wouldn't have made it without you. Have a great 2012!

First Snow

We woke this morning to a world transformed by a blanket of the winter's first snow.



It was warm and slushy and melting fast, but the kids got suited up and rolled around in it for a few hours anyway.

Thanksgiving 2011

Our Thanksgiving holiday was quite relaxing. We found ourselves in Idaho for the third time this year - read the previous post backwards - but we were glad to be there and got a chance to spend some time with both branches of the family tree.

We stayed with Sam and Shanna for a few nights and had a pre-Thanksgiving feast at Mom and Dad's on Sunday afternoon. Grandpa made sure Anya got the first stab at the bird.

The crew. Minus Sally and Matt, plus Todd and Jeannie. The feast was superb as usual. After his second helping of grub, Kenrick whispered to me, "Did your mom work as a chef?"

We headed up to Donnelly on Wednesday afternoon and found the vacation house that Steve and JoAnne had reserved, a fine little cabin nestled in the pine trees on the edge of Cascade Lake. Very nice.

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There wasn't a lot of snow, but Grandma and the kids enjoyed building snow castles and sledding down the little hill out back of the house.

We celebrated Steve's 60th birthday while we were there. Happy birthday Grandpa.

Grandma got lots of lap time. She thoroughly enjoyed having all ten grand kids in house and making noise. Her eleventh grand kid was in the house as well, but not yet making noise - Stuart's wife Meggan braved the trip at eight and a half months beautifully pregnant.

Anthony and Tristan spent a lot of time passing back and forth between imaginary worlds.

And Paxton enjoyed having his cousins around to play monster trucks with.

Stuart is still Stuart. Enough said.

JoAnne packed a fabulous menu for our three days at the cabin, and we took full advantage. We slept, ate, visited, played monopoly, watched some football, read, and generally relaxed. Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma for organizing a pleasant, memorable Thanksgiving.

Just in Case You Were Wondering...

... how to drive from Idaho to Illinois in one long run:
10:30 AM - Pile into the van in Donnelly, Idaho, wave goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma and Uncles and Aunts and Cousins and the vacation rental on the lake. (You wouldn't have to start there, exactly, that's just what worked for us)
10:32 AM - Turn around to get Kenrick's camera that he forgot at the house.
10:33 AM - On the road for good this time. Turn south onto Highway 55 over the hill to Cascade and down the canyon towards Boise. We'll stop briefly at Sam and Shanna's to say one last round of goodbyes.
11:45 AM - Breath a sigh of relief as you come over the top of Horseshoe Bend Hill because one of the potentially worst sections of road is behind you.
11:46 AM - "Dad, I have to go to the bathroom really bad!"
"Just hold on Paxton, there's a gas station at the bottom of the hill."
11:48 AM - "Dad, I'm really hungry, I want to go to Jimmy John's."
"There aren't any Jimmy John's in Boise Paxton, we'll get a sandwich somewhere on the way to Uncle Sam's house."
12:00 PM - Stop at the gas station for a potty break. Get a couple of sandwiches at Subway. Tune in to the Boise State Bronco's football game.
12:10 PM - Pass a Jimmy John's on the way to Sam's
12:45 PM - Quick stop at Sam and Shanna's completed, final hugs hugged, wave goodbye and point the van East. Turn up the game. Floor it.
3:15 PM - Stop in Burley for gas.
4:30 PM - Honk as you cross the state line into Utah on I84
5:00 PM - Time for supper. The in-flight menu for this evening is left over turkey with hamburger buns, oranges, bananas, and water.
5:30 PM - Starting to get dark, time for pajamas! Find a truck stop in Ogden for another potty break. Grab some coffee and some chocolate milk for the kids. Pull out the blankets and pillows and set up the laptop. Tonight's feature film is the much-anticipated "Cars 2".
6:15 PM - Remind everyone to blink. Merge onto I80.
6:45 PM - Wyoming. Road is clear. Second potential bad section of road is behind. Don't hold your breath because I80 across the whole state of Wyoming can be slick and miserable and you still have a long way to go.
7:30 PM - Potty break somewhere on the other side of Fort Bridger. Looks like the middle of nowhere. It is the middle of nowhere.
8:30 PM - Gas in Rocks Springs. The cheapest is at the Flying J just off Exit 104. Switch drivers - ten hours straight is enough for now.
10:30 PM - Watch out for Wyoming Trooper Chatfield just past Rawlins. He seems to think that going 3 mph over the speed limit in the middle of a deserted, wide open interstate freeway in the middle of the night is reason enough to pull you over and poke his nose suspiciously into your window.
11:00 PM - Bathroom break at the Elk Mountain Rest Area. Hold on to your hat, the wind always howls through here. No snow, roads are good, starting to breath easier.
2:00 AM - Sidney, Nebraska. Driver and van both running on fumes. Time to stop for gas and to switch seats. Break out the Rev3 and sunflower seeds, you're almost half way home!
3:30 AM - Cross into the Central Time Zone somewhere near the town of Paxton, Nebraska. Lose an hour; now its 4:30 AM. Have some more sunflower seeds and another swig of coffee.
7:40 AM - Night shift is over, stop for gas in York. Switch drivers again.
9:15 AM - Cross the Missouri River into Iowa. Don't get confused by the big city traffic - just stay on I80 as it winds around Omaha and jogs a bit north before settling east again across the the rolling corn fields of the Hawkeye State.
9:30 AM - Eat breakfast on the run. Usana bars and shakes make it quick and easy. We'll clean up the crumbs later.
10:30 AM - Potty break somewhere west of DesMoines. Brush your teeth, get the kids back into their clothes. Congratulations, you have been on the road for 24 hours. Six more to go. Switch drivers again.
1:00 PM - Lunch and gas in Williamsburg, Iowa. Might as well browse through a couple of the outlet shops and stretch your legs a bit while you are here. Last shift coming up, switch drivers and hit the road again.
2:30 PM - Cross the Mississippi River into Illinois. Three cheers for Illinois!
2:45 PM - Talk to mom and dad using Skype and the laptop web camera. The video stream is a bit jerky but we can see them and they can see us as we make our way across the prairie. Wave to Grandpa and Grandma everyone!
3:45 PM - It feels strange to be coming into Peoria but not be home yet. It still feels like home. The three-year old is certain that his bladder is going to explode, so we'd better stop for a potty break anyway.
5:45 PM - Finally. Exit the freeway for the last time in Mansfield, turn south towards Monticello.
6:00 PM -Home. "Hey, I recognize where we are now!"
Good job Paxton.
Good job everyone.
Total driving time, about 30.5 hours.
Time to shovel out the van.

But Mom!

But Mom, all the little girls are wearing their hair this way!

Painting Fall

Andrea got out the watercolors for Paxton the other day and set them up out on the back patio. His painting looks a little like his personality. Good job buddy!

 Anya, on the other hand, seems to see the world in shades of grey.

Foot-tility

Triple bummer on the college gridiron today: Iowa 21 - Michigan State 37, Illinois 14 - Michigan 31, and unbeaten, fifth-ranked Boise State 35 - TCU 36. Bah, Bah, and Aaargh!

Go Bears?

Moustache Bash

Last night we hosted our first ever Moustache Bash. A few brave souls made their way to the Pandemonium Pad. Moustaches required, happy optional.

Miss Gabby tries not to smile.

Queen Andrea set a tasty snack for the newly 'stached. Well done hon!

Our little Chaos Makers with their black fuzzies, buzzing with excitement to see all their buddies.

Doug and Karena with Trevon and Kiera

Aaron and Jenimae with Anya's little buddy Gwendolin. Lookin' good guys!

Quinn and Kendra brought their little crew; Joel, Alaina, Joelle, and Nora.

As usual, Dave and Laura refuse to dress up for anything.

Tony and Dana ham it up with Andrew and Gabby.

For the kids: a game of Pin the Moustache On The Bald Creepy Looking Dude.

Um, why does the addition of a bowler hat and a moustache make Aaron's eyes bug out?

Salsa Girl

Anya loves chips and salsa. Especially salsa. Last Sunday at lunch she loved her way through a whole bowl of it.

What do you do when you run out of chips to scoop with? Use your fingers, of course.

P & A Pics

I don't feel like I've kept up with kid pictures very well this summer. Paxton and Anya are growing like little weeds - it seems like every time I turn around Paxton has learned some new skill and Anya is trying to stick rocks up her nose.

Andrea snapped a couple of pictures the other day while they were outside enjoying some pleasant end-of-summer weather. Paxton worked and worked at getting the garbage cans brought back up to the house. Great job Paxton!

Anya took a walk with her two buddies, Mouse the cat and Lady the neighbor dog.

Yesterday we played in the leaves. This is the first fall that we've had a place with a substantial number of trees and I'm afraid that we're going to be buried in them. I may have to take a lesson from Cliff and rig up a leaf-sled to get them all to the compost pile. Or, maybe the wind will blow them all away...

Paxton and Anya enjoy flattening out a little pile that we made in the front yard.

Second Room: Done

The paint scheme in our new house is a bit odd. Andrea was able to get the kitchen painted before we moved in, but she didn't really have a chance to do much else inside the house this summer. Frustrated by the lack of progress, she pulled out her trusty paintbrush again a couple of weeks ago while I was in Tucson and swung it in the general direction of the master bathroom. I finished putting up the new towel racks yesterday and we officially checked Project #2 off the Endless List. Looks good, don't you think?

.

Anya thought the stud finder was great fun to play with. I don't think she found any.

Desert Critters

This last time I was in Arizona I saw more wildlife in the desert that I ever have. Maybe it was because the rainy season was just ending and all the critters were fat and happy and moving about more than usual, or maybe I was just out and about at the right times of day, but it was interesting to me that an environment that seems so hostile for the other eleven months of the year could harbour such a variety.

One of the first local wild thing I saw was a nice fat tarantula. He was cruising across the parking lot one rainy evening.

It's hard to see how big he is in the blurry picture that I got with my cell phone, but I'd say that he was about as big as a tangerine. Not huge, but neat to see anyway.

The next morning I saw a family of javalina on the side of the road. A javalina is a kind of pig I guess - really hairy, with a long snout and funny little short legs. We also saw a doe and a fawn making their way across the desert. I thought it was kind of an odd time to see a fawn, but one of the local guys said that with the rainy season occurring in August and September and the temperatures staying warm all through December and January, it's as good a time as any for the animals to be having babies.

I also saw a couple of fat frogs. I'd never seen any frogs out there before, so it was kind of a shock to see these ones - they were huge! Maybe they were toads, I don't know, but anyway one of them seemed to like to sit right in front of the door of the hotel. When I tried to take his picture, he hissed at me.

I also saw a vulture sitting on top of a cactus one morning and a bobcat sitting in a clearing looking for supper one evening. I tried to get a picture of the bobcat, but he was too far away and blended into the grass too well.

And then there was this critter...

Oh wait, that was me after hiking to the top of Mt Wrightson on Saturday morning. One of my co-workers and I decided to tackle the 9400 foot peak - one of the most prominent features of the area - and of course it was more strenuous than either of us expected. Not technical, just long and steep. It took us six hours, round trip. My calves were so sore I could hardly walk on Sunday. I didn't see any wildlife that day other than a meadow full of bumble bees, but my companion was lagging behind me and said he saw a rattle snake in the trail. I must have walked right past him. Oh well, I guess some critters are better left unseen.