Trip to the park.

Trip to the park.

Went out with the family to the local bicycle festival.

Went out with the family to the local bicycle festival.

We went on a cabin weekend with some friends and their families.

We went on a cabin weekend with some friends and their families. James to one of the older boys, "Do you know my name?"
Older boy puzzled, "Yeah, it's James."
James with conviction, "No! Today my name is DARTH VADER!!"

At the playground.

At the playground. Sara yelling to the boys on the play structure, "If you want to take off your hats, you can. You just have to bring them to me."
James excited, "I want to take off my pants!"
Sara, "No, HATS. If you want to take off your HATS, you can."

Nate, "I practice for petting dogs, by petting Liam's head."

Is it wrong if it feels so right?

Is it wrong if it feels so right?

Originally shared by Chris Blasko

Today is a good day. I just had a call from a telemarketer. Did I yell and scream at them, you ask? Certainly not. Like a good IT administrator I put my skills to use for their benefit. Here's how the conversation went:

Computer: "Press 9 to not be contacted in the future. Press 4 to speak to someone about your mortgage issues"

TM: "Hello, are you having problems paying your mortgage?"
Me: "Hi, this is the IT department. We intercepted your call as we detected a problem with you phone and need to fix it."
TM: "Oh... ok, well what do we need to do?"
Me: "We're going to need to fix the settings by pressing 4-6-8 and * at the same time"
TM: "Ok, nothing happened."

Me: "Are you using the new Polycom phones that we deployed?"
TM: "No, it's a Yealink"
Me: "Ok, I see. You haven't had the new Polycom phone deployed to your desk yet. Let me check our technical documentations for the Yealink."

Me: "Alright, do you see an "OK" button on your phone?"
TM: "Yes I do"
Me: "Alright, you're going to press and hold that button for 10 seconds."
TM: "OK, pressing it now"
Me: "Perfect, let me know if you get a password request"
TM: "OK, nothing has popped up ye----"


That's right. I made a telemarketer unwittingly factory reset his phone which means he will be unable to make anymore calls until someone is able to reconfigure his phone and that will take at least an hour or longer if they can't do it right away!

James gets a letter in the mail.

James gets a letter in the mail.

Picking up maps for our road trip, Nate, "Why don't you just use your phones?"

The back lane just got redone.

The back lane just got redone.

Clickbaiting the 10 Commandments http://kottke.org/14/07/clickbaiting-the-10-commandments

Clickbaiting the 10 Commandments http://kottke.org/14/07/clickbaiting-the-10-commandments
http://kottke.org/14/07/clickbaiting-the-10-commandments

Lego regularly washing up on the beach is neat.

Lego regularly washing up on the beach is neat. The fact that that Lego is maritime themed is proof that there is a God and he wants you to know that everything is awesome.
http://m.bbc.com/news/magazine-28367198

Random photos I never got around to posting...

Random photos I never got around to posting...

Trip to Blue Lake Provincial Park

https://plus.google.com/105658762607562611785/stories/6f236784-aa1d-36a0-8b80-be5891f270391475795c089/1

For Jeff Lukin

For Jeff Lukin 
http://grooveshark.com/playlist/Country+Fried/99538136

Liam

Liam

For Sara Epp

For Sara Epp
http://feedly.com/e/QVIAYVFi

Liam is a really easy going baby, but when he laughs when I try to put a soother in his mouth at 3 o'clock at night,...

Liam is a really easy going baby, but when he laughs when I try to put a soother in his mouth at 3 o'clock at night, that's not really easy going I was hoping for.

Brothers

Brothers

Drone + fireworks

Drone + fireworks
http://i.imgur.com/jFEGGnI.gif

Nate thinks he's hilarious, because when I went to take a photo of his latest Lego creation it shot a dart at my...

Nate thinks he's hilarious, because when I went to take a photo of his latest Lego creation it shot a dart at my face.

Walked the boys to school today. James exhibiting his unique fashion sense as always.

Walked the boys to school today. James exhibiting his unique fashion sense as always.

Nate made me a card for Father's Day.

Nate made me a card for Father's Day. Before I opened it, he noted that it was a very "manly" card. On it, drawings of boy faeries and boy ponies. I guess it goes with the pastel pink pot he made for me.

When I went to put the pot away, I noted, "I'm going to put this somewhere safe so it doesn't break." James immediately, "Yeah, that's good, that way I can't reach it."

Was playing a game with James yesterday.

Was playing a game with James yesterday. 
Me, "James, I'm going to knock your ball out."
James, "NOOOO, don't do that!"
"But, that's just how you play the game."
"We friends. We're on the same team."
Shrug, "Alright", flick ball into my scoring area without knocking his ball out.
James' turn, "I'm going to knock your ball out, Dad!"
"But, I thought we were friends."
Cheerfully, "That's just how you play the game, Dad."
Wait a minute...

Trying the new story feature. (Event is from last year)

Trying the new story feature. (Event is from last year)
https://plus.google.com/105658762607562611785/stories/62fe9932-44bc-34d0-b81f-ad95ed87f5ae/1

Nate Learns About Money

Nate Learns About Money

So, Nate earned his first money yesterday, five cents for catching a slug for Sara. He was super excited about receiving the money and immediately wanted to know what he could buy with it. So Sara explained with the five cents he had, he could buy a piece of candy, or if he saved up a one hundred more he could buy a small Lego set. He thought about it a bit, and decided he was going to sell some of his possessions to speed up the process (but only to family members, so he could use them whenever he wants). 

On a related note, Nate's prayer last night was that God send lots of slugs into the garden and to make them easy to catch.

Nate's top four best friends: Toban, Leif, himself, Samia

James, "Jesus is my friend, because he gives me such good food."

Really interesting.

Really interesting. Jason Kottke is an atheist for context. Creation clip from Noah http://kottke.org/14/05/creation-clip-from-noah
http://kottke.org/14/05/creation-clip-from-noah

Liam's first bow tie, courtesy of my cousins.

Liam's first bow tie, courtesy of my cousins.

A mother's day tradition.

A mother's day tradition.

Nate to James, "If you bring my socks to me three days in a row, I'll give you part of my allowance when I get it.

Nate to James, "If you bring my socks to me three days in a row, I'll give you part of my allowance when I get it." (We haven't even started giving Nate allowance.)