Help Wanted?

This is Trent's idea of loading the dishwasher.
Ummmm....those cups won't get clean that way!

What's all the Buzz?

Welcome to Marshall's Barber Shop.

This is as close as Trent comes to having a mo-hawk. He was actually the one who decided he didn't like it. It does look pretty Rad with that scar!
A nice clean cut buzz.
Makes Grampy proud.

Something Two Fishy

Last year we won 4 tickets to the Shedd Aquarium, they were about to expire. The kids had a Friday off so we planned a trip down. It turned out to be community days at the Aquarium, admission was free, and everyone in town was taking advantage of it! Luckily we had VIP passes so we didn't have to wait in line. The parking on the other hand was another story. Thanks to Marshall for dropping us off at the door and dealing with that one!
Ever since our last trip(Click to read more) the kids have been wanting to go again and visit Nickel, the resident Sea Turtle. (As I was setting up the link, I realized I used the same blog title last time. I guess I'm not as creative as I thought! So I added the "Two" since it's our second visit.)
On the way down we discussed which creatures we wanted to see. Poor Trent, his Octopus was no where to be seen and the SpongeBob 4D movie was out of order. Last time we went, Trent loved the SpongeBob movie, and it scared the pants off Callie, she was screaming so much I had to step out.

The kids did a lot more "learning" this year. Trent spent a lot of time reading the displays and working with the interactive screens.
I love his sense of humor. Though we enjoyed ourselves, I think we're ready to move on to something else in that area. I think the planetarium will be our next outing.

Has anyone else gone through this? Lately I've been noticing the kids having less enthusiasm and appreciation for special trips like these. Come to think about it, I have lost some of mine too. Maybe we have been gone so much, we all just want to be home more. With summer coming up, we will have more opportunities for fun without actually going somewhere for the whole day. Can't wait for summer!

I like last years creative pictures better, but I did do a little fun photo-shopping.

Incognito

Trent's class was studying Greek Mythology. Each student chose a God to dress as for the culmination of their study. Trent picked Poseidon. It was really the perfect God in my opinion. Me being such a water lover and Trent being the God of the Sea. True to form I came up with a great costume idea the night before. Surfer Dude Poseidon.
I did have to convince Trent it would be o.k. if he didn't wear a chiton (The traditional Greek item of clothing) which they had also studied. I also had to sell him on the blue beard concept. The most important thing to him was the trident. I'm thankful we'd been collecting toilet paper rolls for Oliver - Callie's classroom gerbil! The beard is made out of sticky-backed felt which I was also thankful to have. One of the quarter machines at the hockey rink was selling stick-on-moustaches. I got sick of the kids wasting 50 cents every time we went. One trip to Michael's with a 40% off coupon and we've got moustaches galore in custom team colors! Everyone loved Callie's first quarter machine purchase. Through the years Trent has had many inspired made-by-me costumes. Poseidon ranks at #2. My favorite was this one (Click on it) It's a great read, and fun Chasing Time Rewind.
Here are some other costumes, dress-ups and silliness.

Old News

I was cleaning out my Outlook E-Mail and found this message I sent out from 2008. Thought I would re-post it for documentation purposes.

Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:52:21 -0600
Hi Everyone,
Mass e-mail is better than no e-mail at all right! Here's the latest news from the Smith's.
Marshall starts a new job this week. It is with a body armor company called First Choice. His territories are Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri. Further distances to travel, but no more nights away than before. Now he only has one product line and he's not actually doing the selling, he works for the manufacturer and supports the distributor. Its a good move. Came really out of nowhere. They recruited him.
I took Trent skiing for the first time last weekend at Alpine Valley. It was great! At first I had no idea what to tell him other than make the "V". So picture this: Skis are apart as wide as his legs will go, tips no where near each other, he's standing straight up and down and his arms are sticking straight out to the side. Oh and did I mention he's going straight down the hill, FAST! I had to either ski fast to grab him or tell him to push with one leg, which made him turn up the hill and then fall down, in which case he couldn't get up because his legs were wrapped around his body in a pretzel and he's screaming HELP! HELP, HELP, I CANT MOVE! Thank goodness our friends came with some advice and a little thing we attached to the front of the skis to keep them together. After that he really started to get the hang of it. I'm gonna try and go again this weekend. My calves are so sore though! Out of shape!
Callie's half-brithday tomorrow. I finally took the plunge to "big girl" underwear! Wish me luck!
~Jenny

With a start like that, its no wonder Trent ended his skiing career the way he did!

Love, Love, Love!

We celebrated Valentine's Day at home together as a family. I picked up some Crab Legs, Scallops and Shrimp from the seafood sale at Gooseberries and Marshall grilled, steamed and bacon wrapped to his hearts content! LOVE crab legs!
For our wedding we got an indoor grill. We used it twice and then stuck it on the shelf for a really, REALLY long time (8.5 years!). I liked the idea of it, but didn't like cleaning it. It also sort of made the house really stinky. I've tried several times to get rid of it, but just couldn't part with it. On a whim Marshall decided to give it another try....he LOVED it! He has recently decided he likes cooking. I like his cooking, but it does not involve cleaning up afterward. The indoor grill IS still a pain to wash, but I did make him promise to do it if he was gonna use the thing. The jury is still out on this one whether its worth him cooking since he uses twice as many dishes as I would do get the job done. But...I digress, this post is supposed to be about LOVE! Thank you for making us a fantastic Valentine's Day feast!

It was yummy!
For dessert - Chocolate Fondue!
For a guy who swore off seafood for the longest time. Marshall has become quite the connoisseur. Here is a video of Trent trying oysters for the first and last time. I keep chuckling every time I watch it. The video gets a bit long and luckily cuts out before Trent yaks!

Back for his fans!

Once again this year we got a chance to do one of my favorite things with Trent's hockey team. Skating at the Admirals game! (Click here for last years account.)
The format was a little different this year. In addition to playing in-between the period, they each got chosen to do something special for the game. Trent got to ride the ghost ship at the beginning of the game. This year, they also announced the kids names and numbers with the Admiral's names.
Callie got her chance to to have her picture taken with Roscoe, or as she calls him, "Oscimo".
I am so impressed with the whole Admirals organization and the fact they provide for events and opportunities like these. I've never known any other sports team to offer anything close. Were not talking one kid, but a whole team! Go Ads!