Guess what? Time for more pictures....from the end of Summer.

What? Did you actually expect me to be on time?

Wow...is summer already over? A lot went on this summer. However, do you know what didn't go on? Posting pictures.

Here's the first batch of summer photos with the rest to follow at a later date. Hopefully it'll be before the end of the year. Just kidding...it will. (Maybe.)

I know it's been nearly forever since I posted anything here on the site and I've probably lost a few regular visitors when they thought the site was dead. Now that I've just got you die-hards here, I'm posting some pictures from Spring.

I realize that it's been a while since the last update. There have been a few things going on since then, so I've been a little busy. We've had Thanksgiving, Christmas and 3 birthdays (4 parties) for the other people in my house. Things have finally calmed down, so here's the latest round of pictures of the crew...

Delaney stayed home from school one day last week because she had an odd-sounding cough and a very high overnight fever. She acted OK when she woke up, but we didn’t think it was a great idea to infect the rest of her class with whatever random winter illness she had. Also, she actually said that she wanted to go see the doctor. How can you argue with that?

So, I stayed home with her and we had a pretty lazy day around the house. After nap, we all loaded into the car to go see Dr. Reger. End result, she had a virus that should go away in a few days. She even told me that she felt better after we got back in the car in the doctor’s office parking lot. Apparently just seeing the doctor is a miracle cure of some sort.

Delaney really likes Dr. Reger for some reason. Without prompting, she told us that she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up. Over dinner, she broke the news to her sister:

Me: Tell your sister what you’re going to be when you grow up.

Delaney: I gonna be a doctor.

Mackenzie: Are you going to still be sucking on that [pacifier] when you’re a doctor?

Delaney: Yeah! NUKKIE DOCTOR!

I may be mistaken, but isn’t Dr. Ruth a nukkie doctor?

Instead of waiting 3 months this time, everyone gets an update after two. After all, it might be a little weird putting swimming pool pics in the same batch as Thanksgiving. So instead you get pool with Halloween. Enjoy.

So an entire summer has come and gone since I last posted pictures. Consider yourselves caught up now. Here is everything from Summer 2007.

After much nagging many requests from Emily, I finally have photos up from our Florida trip in May. Pack a lunch...there's more than 80 pictures.

While watching the beginning of a show about Europe on the Travel Channel...

Mackenzie: Where is that, daddy?

Me: Well, that's Paris. And there's London. Mommy and Daddy have been to London. There's Spain.

Mackenzie: Is Collinsville there?

So, geography isn't the kid's strong subject. We'll work on it.

We just got back from Florida yesterday and Emily is already hounding me about when I'm going to be able to get pictures up from the trip. Before I can do that, I feel that I need to clean up the rest of the previous two months, so before you can all see what happened in Florida, you have to suffer through 2 months of cuteness...

Today was Sunday, so the whole family went to church. Mackenzie likes going each week, but usually she likes going for the bagels and coloring during the service. Since her understanding of what church is all about seems so surface-level, I never would have expected the questions I got today from my little 4-year-old.

Have you ever thought how you might explain omnipresence to a little kid?

Mackenzie: Daddy...Is Jesus everywhere.

Me: Yes, he's everywhere. He's all around us.

Mackenzie: Is he on the roof?

Me: Yes, he's even on the roof.

And, the thought of the creation of all things just has to be mind-boggling...

Mackenzie: Daddy...Did Jesus make everything.

Me: Yes...he created everything.

Mackenzie: Not our house though, right?

While he WAS a carpenter, I don't think he's in the drywall union.

And then the big one...

Mackenzie: Daddy...how did you get us?

Me: What? What do you mean?

Mackenzie: A long time ago, Me and Delaney was in Mommy's belly. How did Jesus get us in there?

Me: You're going to have to ask mommy.

Seriously...I wasn't expecting THAT one for a few more years. I don't have answers for everything.

Just like last year (and the last time I put up pictures) I've crammed 2 months into a single batch. February and March are just so slow.

I know it was probably time to retire Chief Illiniwek at the University of Illinois. Hell, it was probably time to retire him 10 years ago when I was there. And when you look at his halftime performances as an outsider, it possibly looks a little cheesy and maybe insensitive to real Native Americans. So, I get it. It was time for him to go. Fine.

It doesn't mean I have to like it.

In case you missed it (and care), here is the Chief's last performance from Wednesday night (February 21) as well as a tribute video to all of the students who portrayed the Chief over the last 81 years. CHIEEEEEEEEEEFFFFFFF!

See Full Size Video

After my annual month-long hibernation, I finally woke up and have now added the last 2 months of pictures to the site. Hope it was worth the wait for everyone.