Caden would like for you to know how tough he is. He sports his Mohawk fiercely, and speaks a little lower in tone. He tells you he's got game. And then, at the last second, the irresistible force of nature that cries, "I'm six!" bursts from deep within him.
I took Caden to the local sporting goods store to spend some of his allowance. He had just one item on his agenda: a headband and wristband set. He found this black Nike set for a bargain price. He knows that he needs to both have a game and look like he has a game. I think he has accomplished both at the young age of six.
Caden picked a winner today, which is the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, AKA "Dr. Seuss."
Caden at a recent basketball practice. I think he's trying to keep the girls away.
In flip flops. With ease.
Caden is in the red shorts. He recovers the ball, breaks the defenders ankles, then takes him to the hole. Mad game. Much more advanced than when his two big brothers were that age.
6'3" 12-year old 6th grader (Class of 2018) Gabriel Bryant with a couple of rebounds and a 12-foot jumper in game action.
Caden got his first eye exam today. He has perfect vision, for which we are thankful. He did so well!
I made the whole family Cuban Sandwiches for lunch today. Experiment #1 in my foray into international recipes. I got 2 thumbs up from everyone.With a few seasonal desserts for good measure.
We did not travel to see family on Thanksgiving as I was feeling extremely poorly. My wife managed at the last minute to throw something together for her and the boys (I ate a couple of bites). Deviled eggs, homemade mashed potatoes, pineapple casserole, candied yams, pineapples, ham, bread, and green beans all made for a great last minute feast. She is pretty amazing, and I am thankful for her.
Steaks on the grill by the campfire. A nice Cabernet breathing nearby. Lots of goodies (baked potatoes, olives, salad, grape leaf rolls, mushrooms, etc.) on the side. A couple of Bass Pale Ale already in the tank. A delicious tobacco pipe with some nice Burley tobacco at the ready. The winds have calmed. The stars are shining. God is good.
Caden wearing his apple crown. School is in full swing for the little guy as he began his first "officially official" year of homeschool a few weeks ago. He is proud to show me his work each week. He is off to a great start!
Some kids run for the toys and video games. I love seeing my boys run for the books!
Shopping this morning at BJ's in Cary.
Update: One of our friends at church is a general contractor and all-around handyman. He came today and put in our new water heater for us. Hot showers tonight! Woo hoo!
I'm really glad I was here when our water heater caught fire.
I hit the rest button after the hot water disappeared this afternoon and immediately saw sparks and high voltage melting going on. I ran and turned off the outside breaker. I saw a tiny flame on the water heater and smacked it with my hand, putting it out. I then went inside for a flashlight. I came back and looked under the house and saw 8-10" flames rising from the upper thermostat. I had Gabe run for a big cup of water while I screwed the water hose on. Gabe came back and threw the cup of water on the flame. I then hit it with the water hose for a couple of seconds. A wee bit scary.
Looks like we have no hot water for a few days. I guess we'll take our showers in the travel trailer until we get a new unit. This old one has had it.
We sneaked away from the older two boys, who were at a scouts meeting, and grabbed some ice cream with mommy.
A bummer for our little guy. We started seeing the bumps on Wednesday evening. It caused us to cancel Plan's B and C for the holiday weekend after our hopes to travel to the mountains for a long weekend were crushed. But, we've been having a little "staycation" and have enjoyed our family time at home!
Gabe is all packed up and ready to go to his second Boy Scout summer camp. Six nights of fun and adventure at Camp Raven Knob with his friends from Troop 942. As you can see, he has his foot locker, sleeping bag, and plenty of water and Gatorade for what appears to be a hot week coming up for the boys. We'll be missing Gabe, but hoping he has a great time and earns another 2-3 badges toward his Eagle Scout rank. We'll go up Wednesday afternoon to see how he's doing, so we'll see him in a few days.
Along the wood line by our home we have a good number of Blackberry bushes. The boys find them to be a nice treat. Caden gathered about twice this many this afternoon.
Before (right) and after (left). The Wahl clippers are officially paid for with Gabe finally relenting and letting me cut his hair. I was even able to layer it up a bit. He is pretty stoked. We cut it while his mom was out, and she came home and was pleasantly surprised.
Waiting outside of JC Penney while mommy shops.
I added a bunch of pics on Flickr including random shots of Gabe's first basketball tournament a few weeks ago (see how tall he is compared to other teams!), Caden break dancing in the street, our 11-year old chocolate Lab and our 15-year old yellow Lab, a huge hawk behind our house, Ethan's horse riding lesson, among others. Click the Flickr badge to the left (below the Twitter badge) and enjoy!
Today was a great day for snake hunting. It had been dreary the last day or two, so I knew that when the sun popped out, so would the snakes. My oldest two boys and I headed for the fields behind our home looking for anything fun along the way. We scanned the edges of a small pond and worked our way through some thick brush. Finally I headed straight for a big stump near the pond in a clearing in the field. Bingo. This nearly five-footer was sunning on the edge of the stump. He was an easy catch.
When I first caught him he had a good grip on my arm. I don't think he has fed yet this spring as he looked pretty thin. Hopefully he'll catch some mice and yard moles behind our house and keep the rodent population down. I walked the several hundred yards back to our home and set him loose on the edge of our back yard.
Front view of the mohawk. He is loving it. See how happy he is? Big smiles from a little goober.
Later in the evening after he had rubbed the gel out. Almost looks normal. Where's the gel?
The tree was one of many that were already stacked in a pile that would triple in size over the next couple of days. Except for the time it took to drag them to the stacking area most of the trees were cut, stripped of their limbs, and stacked in a matter of seconds by the huge machines.
It was actually pretty interesting to watch them working, despite how objectionable the task at hand was to us. They were very efficient in their work. We took our dogs over to the machines so that they would be much less nervous the next day than they were the first day the monstrous machines came to work so close to their dog lot.
