the duck flies again

The other day we put Wesley in the famous bouncy duck for the first time. He isn't jumping too much yet but he likes sitting in it.

(I guess editing out red-eye isn't a priority for me right now. I'm sure I'll get back to it someday.)

These ones are of Charlie, same age and same milestone:

a little Christmas mix-up

Charlie mixes up the words "manger" and "tangerine". I think it's a little weird since the two words really don't sound alike. They are spelled similarly but he can't read yet. Anyway, it's pretty cute to hear him say that baby Jesus was lying in the tangerine.

You've probably already seen this . . .

. . . and there is something a little irreverent about messing with a classic like a Charlie Brown Christmas, but this makes me smile. My favorite parts are 1:33 and 1:39.

bless your beautiful hide

Sunday was Wesley's blessing day. I was able to squeeze him into the same outfit the other boys wore, even though he's older and bigger than they were.

I think this is the first blessing we've had where we didn't get a group shot outside the church. Oh well.

My parents were able to come. Dad even played my poor neglected guitar a little. Mom made another one of her signature crocheted edged blankets for Wes.

Charlie wore himself out:

I was there, too.

weird science

Another thing keeping us busy lately was the school talent show. I held Alex to his promise of participating every other year (he recited a Shel Silverstein poem two years ago), and this year Benjamin joined him. They did a science magic show. It turned out really well and the audience seemed to enjoy it. They were pretty darn cute in their lab coats and goggles.

They had two performances: one in the evening and one the next day for the student body.

Taking their bow:

During the finale all the performers did a little dance number. Alex didn't really want to participate during the rehearsals, but somewhere along the way he found his groove:

La Brea

A few weeks ago we visited the La Brea Tar Pits with all the Haslam cousins. I'm glad we went. It's one of those things that we've always meant to do and now we can cross it off our list. Everyone liked it, too.

Here are the boys in front of the heart wrenching scene of a mammoth family (or maybe they are mastadons) being separated by the ruthless tar.

Here's Ben trying the strength of the tar.

This mammoth fossil was huge. The picture doesn't do it justice.


Just a saber toothed tiger attacking a ground sloth. I think the ground sloth may be one of the strangest creatures that ever lived.


This coin spinny thing was worth the price of admission. The kids loved it!


Charlie was mesmorized.

Happy Thanksgiving