Science Fair Night

Joey's experiment was interesting - he proved that you could clean a copper penny with taco sauce. He was awarded a certificate of achievement with a special mention for his use of a "green" cleaning agent.

My Birthday Dinner

Danielle and the boys gave me a steak dinner for my birthday. I think that Ryan will be the next grillmaster when I'm ready to hand over the tongs, judging by his enthusiasm around the grill. The kid can cook (and eat) a sweet potato like it's nobody's business.

Busy Joey

Joey is having an exciting week. He placed in a Karate tournament on Sunday, and he read the morning announcements to the entire school this morning!

Because we're not Giants fans!

But we're glad that a team from NY won the Superbowl. We had chicken nuggets, hot wings, pizza bagels, nachos and dip, and homemade soda to watch the Giants beat New England.

I remember when beer used to give me a hangover. Now I get food hangovers. Is that a sign of turning 40?!

Oh Cod, not the fish!

OK, I admit it - I fell asleep while watching Ryan. But did he really have to dump all of the fish food in the tank while I was sleeping? Why would he do that??

It all started with a little Christmas tree...

The tree in this picture was donated to the Roxbury FD by Lake Silver Springs. It adorned the back of our fire truck while Santa spread Christmas cheer and candy canes to the children of Roxbury. At the conclusion of our event, we donated the tree to a needy family with two boys - ages 5 and 7 - with money and gifts collected from my company. The tree proved to be the catalyst that encouraged financial contributions from many people, and hopefully made a family's holiday season a little brighter.

www.ginnieshouse.org is an organization with a tough mission - they provide advocacy services for children who may have been abused, assaulted or witnessed a violent crime, including domestic violence. It was through their outreach that we were able to find a needy family to accept our gift. I met their executive director, and we agreed to sponsor another family next year. All we need is another Christmas tree to get the ball rolling.

Chocolate Chip Mint

This weekend, we made chocolate chip mint ice cream in the Big Red Ball. Next weekend is something with peanut butter, chocolate and marshmallows...

Tree Pruning

Our maple tree took some major damage during the last snowstorm, so we had it pruned yesterday to remove the dead branches. One of the climbers estimated the tree to be over 180 years old!

Thanksgiving Hockey Tournament

The Thanksgiving Tournament was held in Delaware this year. The kids faced some tough competition, but they played well and had a great time.

Fa ra ra ra ra...

This year, we celebrated Thanksgiving with...CHINESE FOOD!

gǎn ēn jié kuài lè
(Happy Thanksgiving!)

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

The Big Cheese

Never miss the opportunity to have your picture taken with a 6 foot log of cheese.

Danielle sent Michael and I to the grocery store on an empty stomach. Thank God we didn't come home with this!

Mad Scientists

Was an explosion imminent? Nah.... but you have to admire their safety precautions.

Penalty Box

Some words of advice: Try not to get a penalty when your dad is working the penalty box. Michael got a minute and a half for tripping the other team's left winger in the second period.

Ice Cream Ball

We made this...


With this!



Here is how it works: Add ice and salt to one side of the ball, and ice cream mix (soy milk, sugar, vanilla) to the other side of the ball. Take it out in the yard and roll it around for fifteen minutes. The ball makes approximately a pint of ice cream.

We bought it from Cabelas in Pennsylvania on our way home from a hockey tournament.

Merry Halloween!

Yes, this time we took it too far!

White October

Hopefully this is the last natural disaster. In the span of two months, we have seen a hurricane, a thousand-year flood, an earthquake, and a freak snowstorm.

This particular storm dumped 8 inches of snow on us between Saturday and Sunday, and the weight of the snow snapped tree limbs and took down power lines all over town. 2.3 million residents lost power in the Northeast, and, for most people, it's not expected to be turned on again for about a week.

Halloween costume

Ryan went to nursery school dressed as Bob the Builder today.

Wing Night!

We decided to try a new recipe for Teriyaki wings, since Joey does not like spicy food. It was pretty bad.

We also deep-fried some pickle slices and potato chips this time. Danielle did a great job on the potato chips. They were the best chips I've ever had!

Joey-ism #764

Joey spotted this sign from the back seat of our truck. As he sounded out the words, it all became clear to him:

He said "Holy cow...they cook WOMEN there!"