superman is living in Duluth, MN... at our house!

recently Superman arrived at our house. He just kind of dropped in one day and plopped down on the couch. If you don't believe me I have some pictures of him as proof. Although I always thought he was a little bigger than he is.


It's been pretty nice having him around. He's really good at opening those really tight jars and fighting any bad guys that might show up at the house. When he's not fighting bad guys he is mostly just lounging around the house watching movies, playing with our toys, and eating all of our food. Sometimes he is surprisingly selfish. In the movies he is always portrayed as such a nice guy, but you'd be surprised at how he doesn't like to share toys with our daughter Aubrey or anyone else for that matter. And superman never seems to want to sleep by himself. It's really kind of cutting in on my chances for intimacy. But I guess it's worth it to have superman around.

Happy Holidays! It was a good year..

I just want to thank my family and neighbors for a great holiday. We celebrated Xmas 4 different times with 4 different families. Anna and I's parents are both divorced and remarried, so the kids have 4 sets of grandparents, a kids dream at the holidays. Needless to say the kids are spoiled rotten. They get at least 2-3 times the amount of stuff I used to get as a kid. I really appreciate the fact that the kids are close with all of their grandparents and they all have a very special relationship. I posted a new photo album from the holidays at picasa and piped it into this blog, a really cool feature since blogger is now integrated with google picasa I might add.

It's been a good year for us. I bought my first house ever - which was a miserable experience - but we are finally getting settled in. Our family was also very helpful in our move and every other aspect of our lives. The kids are healthy and happy, I finally graduated college (it only took me about 13 years since high school) and Anna is finishing her senior year at UMD as a philo major. We've been lucky to live next to some great neighbors that we've actually developed a great relationship with. Xavier was so sad to move away from Superior because we had the greatest neighbors there. But now we have a new great neighbor that has been very helpful with our move and welcoming us to the neighborhood. Thanks again!

I think this is something you just don't see in today's America anymore. When I was a kid I remember everyone in the 'hood knowing everyone else in the 'hood. We were always looking out for each other and each other's kids. That's a rarity in today's world. At least judging from my experience it has been. Everyone seems to be wrapped up in their self-absorbed cyber world. (I'm even guilty of that at times. I am a techno geek, but I try not to let it consume my life.)

I'm torn between a love for technology and a sadness about it at the same time. It seems to bring people around the world closer together, but it brings communities further apart. People stay indoors now trying to connect with the rest of the world instead of going outside and playing street hockey or football with their neighbors. It's transforming into a more digital society. There are many philosophical theories that say technology is at the root of all our problems. The constant struggle to automate things has actually created a much more complex, impersonal world to live in. Perhaps I'll expand on this in another post.

Happy Holidays.

I can't cook and I got robbed.

I just realized that I'm a terrible cook, or at least a lazy cook. I'm sitting here eating cheerios for dinner contemplating ordering chinese delivery, despite the fact I'm flat broke after being a victim of credit card fraud and the enormous investment of the capitalist holiday season. Then I realize that the reason I'm eating cheerios for dinner is becuase Anna isn't here. She does spoil me when it comes to food. Once again I'm helpless without her. The few dishes I knew how to make when I was single are long forgotten. I do miss her and the kids, but one can't complain about the rare peace and quiet. ;-) Back to being robbed. Someone got a hold of my check card number and managed to use it to create a fake card and proceed to use that card to charge $504.95 at a Safeway in Mill Valley, CA. I've never even been to California and the card was still in my possession. How you spend that much money at a grocery is beyond me, but that's what the amount was that came out of my checking account. Wells Fargo's systems were smart enough to recognize the fraud since the very same card was used in Duluth, MN the same day two hours prior to that. But they didn't lock my account until after the transaction was made. So I git ripped off first. Then Wells Fargo gets ripped off after they credit back my account. Then the Safeway will end up getting ripped off after Wells Fargo charges it back to them. Merry Christmas the American way! I hope they ate good with all of their Safeway take.

sexiest philosopher in Minnesota

I just had to share a picture of Anna, the sexiest philosopher in Minnesota. This is her getting ready for a rare thing, a night out for us without the kids! We stopped by the Red Star and had a drink and listened to some music. Then we hung out at the brewhouse and watched some crazy band that was playing a saw, washboards, and a bunch of other oddball instruments. Thanks for the great night out, love ya baby :-)

Holy snow!

This winter feels like the winters from my childhood in Minnesota. The last few years haven't delivered much more than long, cold, snowless winters. It just felt so unnatural and wrong. It really feels good to look out the window and see a scene like this up in the great north woods. I remember the great halloween storm when we got, hmmm what was it.. I think about 40 inches in one day. The city shuts down and every kid in the neighborhood grabs a sled and heads out for the great hills of Duluth. I remember opening my front door and not being able to see anything because almost the whole house was covered in snow. I remember having to dig a tunnel out of our front door just to get to the streets. these are the days that make our winters fun.
I was beginning to think that our climate was being changed for good or at least for the different. This year just feels the way Minnesota is supposed to feel. The winters are just too long, cold, and depressing without a little of the fluffy stuff. SHe looks like she's having a good time, Aubrey is not a big fan of winter yet. She is much happier inside where it's warm. But here's a rare picture of Aubrey smiling and having fun in the snow. Merry Christmas!

college daze as a parent-don't do it..

So anyone that wants to wait to go to college until after they have kids is a knucklehead. Go while you're young and you can enjoy it. Trust me, it's no fun when you have kids.

Anna and I have both continued on for our degrees after having one kid together, then two kids! What was I thinking? Why didn't I finish school already? It nevvveeerr ends! I'd have to say it's probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. Especially since I was working full time at the same time. You are in a constant state of rush and stress. Schoolwork and work are stressful enough, but try and add 2 young kids on top of that. I honestly can't believe we made it without killing each other.

I have to thank all of my family that was there to support us. Our kids have 8 grandparents since both mine and Anna's parents are divorced and remarried. So we have had a lot of help when we've needed it. But they are not always there, and sometimes you have to write two term papers, a take home final, prepare 2 presentations (one for work and one for school), cook dinner, do laundry, put the kids to bed, change poopy diapers, all in a few days time. I thought Army basic training at Fort Lost in the Woods was hard, but that was nothing compared to being a parent in a busy house. At least in basic training you get some exercise, but about the same amount of sleep.

But it sure feels good when you finally get that degree. Yippee, now I can start living large right?But of course then you have to start paying back your student loans. UGH! Can I have a raise boss? Well, they told me it would pay off some day. I'm still waiting. Perhaps next week. I blame it on Bush. I think he is at the root of most of our troubles somehow. Probably.

WEll at least I have more time to watch football. If only I could get paid to watch football. Hmm. That would be a good gig. Perhaps I'm in the wrong profession.

pukey kids.

so anyone out there thinking of having kids should know the whole truth. Not just the warm fuzzy stuff you see in pictures, but the down and dirty details of being a real parent. Being a parent is by far the most challenging thing I've ever experienced in my life. and here's a small sample of why..

last week the kids were feeling kind of.. well, crappy. I didn't think much of it, since the kids seem to always be coming home with some new bug. But this was different than your average cold. Everything seemed fine when we went to bed, until I was woke up in the middle of the night. something smelled really bad, really nasty. Half asleep I look over at the kids laying in the bed next to me. Of course I'm huddled in a corner while they, as usual, are stretched out hogging at least 3/4 of my wonderful king size bed because they refuse to sleep in their own room. At first I thought Aubrey just spit up, but then I realized the true scope of our crisis. Xavier had threw up in his sleep all over his himself, his sister, the bed, and me. I couldn't believe how much vomit came out of such a little person, and the smell was terrible. Being the super dad that I am, I quickly started to take action, I mean panic. I realized right away that this job was going to be too big for me alone, so I woke up Anna. Her grumbling told me she wasn't too happy with me for that, but I had no choice, I was desperate. Now I woke the kids who just couldn't understand why daddy was running around like a maniac bundling up the sheets and mumbling about pukeys. I finally decided that I needed to hose these kids down. So I threw them both in the shower. Of course they don't like showers and by this point they were both screaming at the top of their lungs. All I needed now was a towel and we're home free. NO TOWELS! ahhhh!! What to do? Oh the humanity, help... Anna, anyone, call 911!! nobody there, where did she go?? How could she just leave me in my moment of crisis. By this time, it's two in the morning and my kids are standing naked screaming at the top of their lungs soaking wet, freezing, trying to figure out why daddy woke them in the middle of the night to torture them for a while.

But alas, Anna came to my rescue with the towels and clean sheets! I'd be lost without her. In no time at all we had the kids dry, un-pukey, and in bed sound asleep. As usual she saved my butt. Thanks baby, love ya.

then of course two nights after that I was driving home with both kids in the car. For some reason, I decided it would be nice to take the long way home on skyline since the kids were both quiet in the back. Right when we pull onto skyline Aubrey starts to throw up in her car seat. Now there is nowhere to pull over on skyline, so I didn't know what to do. Xavier starts crying because our car has turned into a gas chamber and Aubrey keeps on puking. Oh Man!! Why did I go this way? I can't pull over. What if she is choking back there? I slowed down and made sure she was Ok, she's still breathing, I think we'll make it. There was nothing I could do but keep on driving. We finally made it home and Anna comes to the rescue again. Poor Aubrey, what a mess.
Then of course the kids passed their disease onto me and I spent all last week sick and miserable. Oh the joys of parenting, nobody said it was going to be like this! oh well, tomorrow's another day. Besides, Christmas is coming. That's something to look forward to, right? right? anyone? Oh man, Chrismas again!

Here's another parent's experience with pukey kids. http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2007/12/17/monday-baby-blogging-denim-sydney/ parenting ain't always fun..

New to the blog world. A blog about family and whatever else.

This is my first blog post. I'm new to the blogworld and wanted to try it out. I'm interested in the community of it and keeping in touch with people I know.

I'm a 32 year old guy living in Duluth, MN. I have two kids, a 4 year old son named Xavier and an 18 month old daughter named Aubrey. I live with both of my kids and their mother Anna O'Neil. I was going to use this blog to talk about the goings on in our family and post pictures and stuff. The kids grow up so quick I thought it might be cool to have a log of their activities and ours. I'm also kind of a computer geek. Well, I'm not a typical computer geek, but it's what I do, and something I like to do. I work as an IT specialist for the local newspapers, so I might ramble a little about technology on this blog as well. That's all I've gotta say right now.

Peace :-)