The Black and White Dance

February 12, 2024

For the second dance of the year, the theme was “Black and White” in hopes the kids would make an attempt at dressing more formally.


Chloe went with white dress shirt, black skirt, stompy-boots and of course, a black tie.
This is the “Before” shot.


Here’s the “during” shot…


…and pooped-out afterwards!

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Ice Sledding

January 17, 2024

Our cold snap is coming to an end, much to the relief of the people out there who lost power. Ice storm last night and today we went out in a light drizzle to see if we could sled.


Icicle nose!


Setting up the tube…


Introduction to ice on hills.


This time, for sure!


And another victory walk home.

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More Sledding!

January 17, 2024

Here in the Pacific Northwest, especially in the lower elevations, snow is pretty rare. It also often turns to rain quickly and opportunities for sledding here in the Willamette Valley are few and far between. When it does snow, it tends to be pretty wet but during this cold snap it’s been very dry and produced a very good sledding field around the corner and it stuck around a second day! So we went back for more!


Belly flop!


Victory!


And here Chloe gets covered in snow…

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Snow and Sledding

January 15, 2024

Hey Joe, whaddaya know? A long cold snap brought several inches of snow.


Dry snow, like we never get!


Let’s go sledding Dad!






Another good run.


And a victorious walk home.

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Teens Go Shopping

January 10, 2024


When 13-yr-olds take their holiday gift cards shopping…


These boots are made for… ?


And below Chloe models her new baggie pants, stomp-y boots and T-shirt.

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Say “Hello” to Pho

January 3, 2024


Time for some Vietnamese food at (yes, this is the name) Pho King Good.


Back at home Chloe and Dad teach themselves how to make fresh bread from scratch. Yum!


Chloe’s first visit to The Japanese Gardens.


Followed by train sushi, a great way to snack.


Snugglebunnies


Here Chloe and I collaborate on a comic called “Duck & Friend”.
I started by drawing the panels and the duck, Chloe added his friend.

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Happy New Year, 2024

January 1, 2024


Time for our traditional Pennsylvania Dutch New Year’s meal of Pork and Kraut!


All home-made! I even made hot bacon dressing from scratch!


Yes, it was delicious, and happy birthday to me!

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Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, 2023

December 25, 2023


Santa Claus was here, or at least a Santa Claus.


Chloe and her new Cactus friend.


Shady Cat. He likes to eat pine needles, and then barf them up.
Yay for America…

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Heading Into The 2023 Holidays

December 20, 2023


Hey, here’s the kid!



Chloe had never cooked a whole fish before.


…and her first time having a whole crab! (Oregon Dungeness crab)


Ice skating at Lloyd Center

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School Photos & Plushies

December 10, 2023

2023 Chloe School Photos
Well, these are two samples of the six taken. If you’d like to order them printed nicely and delivered from the photographer, just ask me and I’ll send you the link to the web site. They are really quite nice.


These are two photos I snitched and did a rough job of removing the watermark.
The top one came out better, but you can really see the blotches on the one below:


Any photos you order won’t have these blotches, promise!

Chloe’s school has a fundraiser every holiday season called The Winter Market. Chloe make this giant pile of plushies and sold almost every one!


Spider with a party hat!

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