Thursday, September 29, 2011

Some quick happenings around the house

I realized abut a month or so ago that I had a bee problem... a nest under our front step... I emailed a question to one of my coworkers who is a beekeeper himself to help me identify if they were honeybees and how to get rid of them... After trying to send him a picture he ended up just coming on by the house where he confirmed his suspicion, they were wasps, not bees... He said he's tried everythign to get rid of them, drowning, covering in dirt, mixing up various 'chemicals', to no avail until at a convention he was told to pour a little gasoline in the hole and light it and that does the trick... so I gave it a shot one morning while Daisy was still in bed and the bees, i mean wasps, were well, still sleeping to, so i hoped...



after a couple tries getting the match to light the gasoline, it worked!





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and my wasp problem is no more. It's a good thing when new visistors come, since they come to the front door, even though we use our side door more, but moreso because daisy and i love to sit on the front step and wait for mommy to come home... we haven't gotten to do it in a while, since mommy's been home the last two months, but daisy still likes to wonder over to the front step and sit down and watch the cars go by... and she can now do it again safely without the risk of being stung!






The past few weeks have been especially nice at lunch time, where Rose and Wendy have come to visit me. Here is Rose working hard in my co-worker's chair... I'll miss these lunch dates when wendy goes back to work, not too mention the eating out that we've done in just the past week, mexican, chinese, pizza buffet at Ceritanos (mmmm), etc... next week... back to pb and j...




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Here is a short video of a birthday gift for Daisy from Aunt Katie and Uncle Chris.




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One of the first words she learned was ladybug, which she still just calls, lbug,... she loves lbugs like her mommy loves ladybugs...
We love you Aunt Katie and will be praying for your surgery.



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and finally.... as I took Daisy to 'school' the other day, i was trying to grab a picture of daisy with her back-pack on, but i couldn't get her to walk in front of me...



What trio of beautiful girls I have in my life...

Double the pleasure

It's week 2 of the NFL season and the bears are 1-0 and looking good! Speaking of looking good... check out these girls!



















Daisy is wearing her monkey back-pack that she got for her birthday. As you know she's fascinated with her clothing and accessories, and this one is no different. she loves putting it on and taking it off and putting it back on...and wearing it around the house, even with nothing in it.







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A short video of Daisy and Rose snuggling...and Daisy getting her teams mixed up, but she's learning! Rose, you're up next!




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On the way back from Richmond, Aunt Lisa gave Daisy a cute pink jammies outfit and some other pink clothes... perfect gifts, she loves her pink clothes!




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Aunt lisa also gave Daisy another back-pack!!! Much to Daisy's delight! Although she doesn't yet know who is on the back of the back-pack i'm sure she'll learn soon...

Granny Rose meets Rose

While in Richmond, Granny Rose was visiting and she got to meet her Great Granddaughter, Rose.

It was a lot of fun to have four generation of Roses together under the same roof...


10 years, don't they go bye in a blink?

May anyone who read's this blog, have a life, as lucky as mine where you can wake up one morning and say, "I don't want anything more." 10 years, don't they go by in a blink? (okay, so that's not exactly how the quote goes from Meet Joe Black, but its close... I'm so lucky to have Wendy, and these past 10 years have gone by in a blink.

I surprised Wendy with some of our wedding favors to celebrate at our 10 year anniversary lunch... so... IBC Cream Soda (Wendy's favorite) isn't really all that good after 10 years! :)



Neither was my black cherry after 10 years...





After lunch we got on the road and headed to Richmond for the evening. We had a date at Shula's for dinner. I don't have any pictures but it was such a delightful meal with Wendy. We both got the shula cut 12 oz filet mignon, and split the twice baked potatoes, crab macaroni and cheese and creamed spinach. We also ordered desert, actually before dinner since they made it fresh, and got the molten lava cake...it was very delightful. The service was excellent, the football menus was kind of cool and mom and dad watching the girls for us made for a perfect night to celebrate ten years.

BBQ Contest with Mike

My brother Mike who lives in Newport News inivited me to join him in an official Kansas City BBQ Contest. It is an inaugural contest for 'Bay Days' the downtown Hampton, Va fair. There were four categories, Poultry, Ribs, Brisket and Pork... The Grand Champion is the winner of all four categories and received a 5 digit sum of money! So naturally, we had to enter all four categories. A friend of Mike's joined us to make up the 'Meataterians' team.

I took a bunch of video of the contest on our video camera which I can't post here, but when we first go there, we realized that we were out of our league. Some of the 'competition' had local restaurants, and a few posted their numerous trophies from around the country in front of their area. But, there were also some novices, or rookies, like ourselves, so we thoguht we had a chance to at least place (1-5 get awards).

Turn in starts at 11:00 AM on Saturday, but due to the nature of smoking meat, everyone starts smoking sometime late Friday night or very early Saturday morning. Why not make the turn in at 3 Pm, so I could get some sleep? Don't the judges know I have two little girls at home that keep me from sleeping as it is? We started around 10 PM or 11 PM as I recall...and I did doze off for a couple hours.



Above is the Briskett

and the ribs


and the chicken before cooking. We all like thighs/dark meat, so that's what Mike purchased and then de-boned...




the chicken going on the smoker...




the ribs nearing completion




making me very hungry... forget teh competition, let's just eat!



the Pork (shoulder)...



....fall off the pone...




the Pork turn in...some with the crust, some without...




the ribs at turn in



the chicken at turn in...Bertie (Mike's wife) helped with the 'plating', which was also scored in addition to taste.

The briskett...



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doesn't that look good?




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and the final plating of the briskett...


At the award presentation, they started with poultry and the fifth place award and they called, 'Meataterians'!!!! To our surprise, we were in fifth place for chicken! We started to let it get to us and I know I started to think, those Chinn boys really know what they are doing with the smoker's, they aren't amateur backyard smokers!!! We can take on these nationwide professional smokers and restaurant owners!


Well... we didn't place in any thing else and as expected the 'professionals' got most of the awards, but Mike (and the team) came away with a small check and a medal.... Where's the next contest, maybe Woodstock, Va....


Double the daughters

Quadruple the fun!!! It's been a while since we've made any updates and following this one will be there or four more posts that include our 10th Anniversary, Grandma Chinn visiting, Rose meeting Great Granny Rose, the BBQ Contest, Daisy opening some birthday presents and of course some pictures of Rose and Daisy and more. Enjoy!

PS Wendy has more pictures to add and I would, too, but the last month or two, or maybe even three, who can keep time anymore? Daisy has asked for my or Wendy's iPhone's by saying, 'Pictures of Daisy', which means she wants to scroll through the pictures on our phones. She knows how to turn on the iphone, slide to unlock it, and knows which ap to press to get to the picture as well as some of the other aps that are 'for her' (ie Animal noises, etc. that she enjoys). I did catch her about a month ago making a phone call to a civil engineering company here in town... for two minutes. Luckily it was a weekend and went to their voicemail system. I bet they liked that message. I hope they don't have caller ID! The other thing I think she has done inadvertantly is deleted some pictures since its so easy to do with a click of a button... here goes!






Daisy loves to play with these bowls and tupperware. She loves to take them out, spread them out, and stack them up. She's actually generally pretty good about putting them away, too. She is really enjoying taking lids off and putting lids back on and stacking cups and bowls. Playing in this kitchen is one of her favorite past times.



I honestly can't remember why/when I took this picture, apparently at night, but its Daisy, and she's beautiful.


Here is a good shot of Grandma Chinn and Daisy reading. Daisy is in her jammies (or pajama jamas as I call them). Daisy doesn't get to see Grandma Chinn as often as she likes, but she points her out in photos and says, 'Grandma Chinn'. (Last night (sept 28) after, Daisy pointed a picture of Wendy and I at graduation with our parents. Daisy proudly points at the people and says, Grandma Chinn, Daddy, Mommy, Grammy, and I don't knowhim...when pointing at Grandpa Rose...for some reason. She clearly knows who he is. Unfortunately she pointed at my dad and said, 'who dis',...too. I miss him, and he would have loved Daisy and her love of running around the house saying, 'Go white sox!' throughout the day.



Daisy out tailgating...for the second season! Grandma Chinn joined us, as did Rose, for her first tailgating experience, although she slept for most of it... and the Hokies won!



Just like when Daisy was born, we went with Grandma Chinn to the Palisades for dinner. It's become a tradition, have a baby girl, go with Grandma to the Palisades! Who knows, maybe this was the last trip for this tradition?!?!? Anyway, Grandma showing off a maple and walnut desert I think.


Wendy showing off some homemade ice cream... I can't remember what was in it.



and I had some kind of homemade cheesecake.... The whole evening was a lot of fun. The weather outside was blustery, which was odd for an early September, but it just made the setting perfect on the beautiful drive out there. Daisy's godmother Jeanette joined us, as did Betty and Carl, which was a treat. Grandma Chinn, Carl and Betty, and Jeanette are always helping us out and giving us stuff for the girls. A further treat was Grandma Chinn picking up the tab. We also had very good dinners.... though I failed to get a picture of them. Daisy did well, she colored and played some in the corner and we went outside for a short walk, too.... and as our tradition, I placed Rose on the bookshelf in the restaurant and Wendy took a picture. Hopefully she can post that soon. I did the same with Daisy before.



Finally, here is a picture of Daisy riding her elephant with a gift from my Aunt Elaine in Colorado. Daisy got a couple tu-tus from her when we were visiting last fall and this year sent her a long flowy headband that Daisy loves. Daisy loves her girly clothes, and has started dressing herself, usually in multiple skirts!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Rose speaks

I'll try to post a massive update soon... I have a month's worth of updating to do.

For now, I'll start by simply sharing this video of Rose from tonight. She is moving a ton and is getting really expressive. :)

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The way to my heart...

This morning, unprovoked Daisy asked to wear her white sox hat. Even though the season has long been over she still proudly wears it and warms my heart.






Thursday, September 1, 2011

Meeting Gramma

Today I met my other grandma. Gramma Chinn lives in Florida and is a teacher. She started school a few weeks ago but took a few days off this week to come meet me and visit my big sis, too.


More about her visit in the coming days!