There are a few of reasons I like to blog and really only two reasons I don't.  I want to blog because I like to write, I like to keep a personal record and it pushes me to take pictures.  I don't actually blog much anymore because I'm lazy.  Oddly, the fact that I live a pretty generic life that nobody else cares to read about isn't a reason I don't blog.  Here is a 45 second summary (in no particular order) of the events of the past four months.

ason and Porter had a blast at Christmas.  They got some fun toys but Mason was more excited about an old clock that I gave him around New Years day.  I had won it at a family auction for a buck or two.  It's nothing fancy, but he loved it.  You just never know what kids are going to like.  This spring we took the training wheels of his bike.  He picked it up very quickly and now likes to cruise the block and make tight corners on the driveway.  He has been going to pre-school twice a week.  He really likes his teacher Mrs. Harms and his attention span has improved since we changed from once a week to twice a week.  Go figure.  He's getting really smart now and is asking a lot of questions that are either really difficult to answer or that I don't know the answer to.  The other day he asked what happens if you floated out into space.  I tried to dodge the inevitable outcome of such a situation, but he pressed me and I couldn't lie. Yes. even if you had a space suite, you'd eventually die of starvation, thirst or suffocation.  It took me about 20 minutes to get him to stop crying and convince him that he would not in fact float out into space because of gravity.  We are both thankful for gravity.

ere's some Porter trivia for you.  Please translate the following: "wary, wary has", "hie, hie way".  That's Porter's way of saying "very, very fast" and "far, far away."  "F" is not part of Porter's speech tool kit.  "F" usually gets replaced with "H".  He also can't seem to end a sentence with "R" which miraculously gets changed to an "ie" sound.  "Car" become "Caie" and "Far" becomes "hie".  If you can understand what he's saying you'll quickly find out that he says quite a bit.  He's usually talking up a storm.  He's also quite aware that he talks differently from others and he is quite self conscious of it.  He's deceivingly smart, so if he notices that you're paying attention to the way he talks he'll typically stop talking all together or try to do something funny to make you laugh.  Starting in September he'll be attending Renfru school four days a week.  Renfru is a school that helps kids like Porter get a jump start so that they'll be ready for big-kid school when he's old enough.

lise has her hands full with the boys.  I'm not really sure how she keeps up with them.  This winter was dang cold and the boys got a little stir crazy being cooped up for so long.  I think it'll be a real shock to her system when both Mason and Porter are out of the house every afternoon next fall.  Elise has recently been trying to figure out why certain food don't sit well with her and why she is so tired.  She went to an allergist (several allergists I think).  They did various types of test like skin poke tests, blood tests etc.  It became quite apparent why she hasn't been feeling great the past few years.  She's pretty much allergic to everything that tastes good.  Here is an incomplete list in no particular order: beef, wheat, soy, nuts, pork, egg whites and milk.  After a long process of elimination Elise and I had previously thought she was allergic to potatoes but it was most likely the flour in the gravy that was making her sick.  Needless to say, her food choices are very limited.  Almost everything is made with flour, soy or dairy products.  She can basically eat rice and chicken.  That gets boring quickly so if anyone has any ideas. feel free to send her an email.

I have been busy at work lately.  I like it.  I really like my job.  I like what I do and I like the company.  I tried growing a playoff beard this season.  It only lasted a couple of weeks since the Flames were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.  I know it looked hideous but I had a really hard time shaving it off.  Something primitive in me wants to grow a full thick beard at least once in my life.  I know it'll take me about 6 months to do so I've never actually done it.  This weekend I achieve a goal I've had for the past 10 years or so.  For some inexplicable reason I've really wanted an aquarium.  On Saturday I bought one at a garage sale.  I think it's a 25 gallon tank and it came with pretty much everything including rocks, plants, filter, lights etc.  I'm pretty happy about that.  I spent the weekend working in the back yard.  It was a gorgeous weekend .  I'm happy to announce that I got a sunburn.  I'm happy because that means two things.  A) It was hot and sunny.  2) I was outside to enjoy it.

o there you have it.  The summation of the first quarter of the year.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have.  Pictures to come.