Daddy Daycare

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Originally uploaded by Spappy_joneS

Our childcare giver has been vacationing in Hawaii all week. This left Shawn and on point and @ home on alternating days this week. After a couple days I could see why the nanny gets paid so much that she can afford to vacation where I can't. Lainie has been pretty fussy and needy, we haven't really figured out the root cause but my theory is that she wants to walk and is sick of being stationary. In the past week her coasting skills have gone through the roof. If there is something her height and within reach she is sidestepping (coasting) down it to the next object that will support her or not in her quest to walk. It is very cool to watch the rapid progress. Otherwise Laine is happiest when out representing in the stroller rolling on wallinghood with her posse.

Ben has transitioned to a "big boy bed" aka Serta twin from Costco located on the floor for ease of access and to prevent freefalls when using it as a trampoline. The transition has been very good. The only outer bed nocturnal migration in the past week was last night. I went in at some point in the early hours of the day to find boo boo face down on the floor next to the bed sleeping. It appeared he had the where withal to pull the blanket down over him. Innate survival skills inherited from his father.

This picture was a complete mistake. Had I not looked at it and others at near full size I would have deleted it to save storage space. The camera was set to spot meter and it must have leveled off the lens of Laine's shades and over exposed her but not the image reflected in the camera lens. I was very pleasantly surprised. I will have to put up the original for those at home to compare.

Vegas on the 08 election

They are still strong on Obama for the Nom but looks pretty even in the general election with McCain. Sometimes I wonder if Vegas knows some things ahead of time. The odds on Hill winning the Nom have really flattend out recently. For the General Election Hil has the worst odds (biggest pay if she wins) Every dollar you stake on that bet will pay $5 if she wins the nom. There is not much action on Obama or McCain meaning if they go head to head the race looks neck and neck, but if McCain faces Hill Vegas thinks she will be wiped out. What do you think?


Bet On: Who will be the winner of the Democratic Primaries in Pennsylvania on April 22nd, 2008?
Hillary Clinton -700
Barack Obama +400

Odds On: Who will be named as the Democratic candidate for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election?
Hillary Clinton 12/5
Barack Obama 3/10
Field 100/1

Odds On: Who will be the next president of the United States?
Winner of the 2008 presidential election.
Hillary Clinton 5/1 (this one is 1 for 5 payout - sweet action)
John McCain 5/4
Barack Obama 11/10

Winter2008

My blogging frequency has really waned, but that is what it is. So I may just switch to quarterly blogs. I can handle that. Also once the spring really hits I may have more stuff for blogging. Speaking of spring, I need to mow the lawn, I am just waiting for it to dry up enough to get the job done right. Here are some random vids of the kids hanging out in the house of course which is what you do in the winter around these Northlands. There are also a few pics of the kids on the flickr site.

This spring in May we are going to St. Kitts in the West Indies for 7 nights. We were looking for a place to take a short vacation and things just kind of escalated to the point of traveling 1/4 of the globe, for a week and via first class. It was a anniversary gift. The package was picked up at a non-profit auction banquet for the wildsteelheadcoalition.org recently. It was a bit of a surprise for both of us. One set of the Grandparents (Barb and Tom) have agreed to come out here to watch the little ones. We plan to off load them a lot by calling in favors to all our friends so we can get the Montanans out on the town and to the ballpark.

Winter 2008 Part 1

Winter 2008 Part 2