Thursday, March 5, 2009

AIDAN'S PHOTOS: Birthday Weekend

I nearly forgot to post the birthday weekend pictures from Aidan's camera.

Here's me pumped up and ready to party...


Rachel working on the cakes...


Kellen being his mischievous self...


Papa with a pig nose on his chin...


Nana the Pirate...


And my brother Ryan showing that the unsteady hand of a five-year old taking pictures can provide for some unexpected comedy...

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Caught Napping

Aidan has been napless for a while now but that doesn't mean he won't succumb to mid day sleepiness on occasion. Most often it's when we're running errands and he nods off on the ride home. Sometimes it's when I tell him he needs to play quietly when Kellen is napping and while sitting on the couch waiting for a moment of quiet play inspiration he gets too relaxed and falls asleep.


Of course in his mind he's too old for naps so when he wakes up and I ask him if he had a good nap he'll adamantly deny that he was sleeping. I'll be sure not to use this physical evidence against him.

Say Cheese!

Why does our soon to be two year old still sit in his high chair with a bib on for certain foods? Because when it's messy (like spaghetti) or his favorites (like mac and cheese) he just doesn't have the patience to eat in a slow and civilized manner.



To his defense I did witness him using the fork at least twice before discarding it in favor of the cheesy fist method. Must have had an itchy eyebrow.

Getting a Work Out

I’m a little sore today. My personal trainer is relentless and is not letting me rest.

After dropping some poundage by watching the caloric content of my food choices and running with the Wii Fit I leveled off at a comfy new weight. I’m still watching the intake but my physical exertion level has significantly waned. I promise I’ll get back to that.

I do however get one quality workout a week. My trainer (a.k.a. Aidan) has taken a liking to “The Workout Show” known by NBC viewers as “The Biggest Loser”. Thankfully he's interested in the excercizing and ignores the stress and yelling these people throw at each other. During the commercials he makes me workout with his assistance. Push ups and squats with him on my back, sit-ups with him on my feet or chest, Aidan as a human bench press bar…you know all the normal things a five-year old can impersonate. There’s an added dimension of difficulty with his brother doing his best to jump in on the action.

The show is way longer than it needs to be with all the manufactured drama which makes for many commercial breaks (always right when something epic is about to be revealed for the fifth time in the episode). That means there are quite a few high energy mini workouts every Tuesday night and thus me feeling the burn today.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

The Paradox of Our Time

I've come across this piece several times and it surfaced again this past Sunday. You may have received it by email attributed to George Carlin but it comes from Dr. Bob Moorehead. It is certainly worth a quick read.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we have more food, but less appeasement; we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology has brought this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to make a difference, or to just hit delete.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Balloons and Pillows

What does it take to keep the Deur boys entertained? Tonight it was five balloons and a couple throw pillows from the couch.

First I exacted some revenge for the bean bag incident that occurred a few months ago. We “fought” with balloons and Aidan quickly found my double balloon whirly bird action was just too much to take. I also may have had a slight reach advantage. After working up a good sweat I backed them both into a creative corner rubbing the balloons on my frazzled hair and sticking them to the ceiling. Aidan had some good ideas for getting them down but again his reach was just not long enough. I assisted them in knocking the balloons from their static charged grip overhead.

Next we stuffed pillows in our shirts and sumo wrestled. Does everyone do that or is it just us? The added cushion had Aidan bumping with me and diving around much more aggressively than is typical for him. Kellen needs no such added invitation. He likes to run the length of the hallway and catapult himself recklessly at me with or without the aid of extra cushioning.

At several points during the evening festivities I considered setting the video camera out to capture the moment but didn’t want the energy to break and pass. You’ll just have to visualize balloons bouncing around the basement or stuck to the ceiling and a puffy chested trio of goofy males chasing each other around the furniture.

VIDEOS: Kellen Being Kellen

The first half of our all-day birthday celebration belonged to Aidan but Kellen was just as active in the videos. The first clip includes Kellen and my dad putting on an impromptu finger puppet show with Aidan's cake decorations. The second and third videos were taken during Kellen's evening party.

Scene Stealer

Candles and Manny's Tools

Lil' Musician