This is my Dad, posing with my kids (2/5 of his grandchildren).

This is Brian, dad to our kids. Ignore the awful haircut I had recently given Gannon. Focus on the great fathering going on.

This is my Grandfather. When he was alive he’d tell me I was his favorite granddaughter. I know he meant it, because I am cool like that.

Here’s Brian’s Dad, the kids’ Pop-Pop. He used to put up a good front, but he’s always been a softie. Now he doesn’t bother with the front.

This is my brother Josh. He’s a great dad to three great kids. He’s not as stern as he looks in this picture.

Go love your dad.

This post is less than clever because it is pretty awkward to type right now. I’m wearing two wrist splints because I’ve got carpal tunnel syndrome. Too much blogging? I am not really sure what it is that I’ve been doing to cause this, but here it is nonetheless. Brian’s been opening jars, straining pasta, and bagging up the trash. Like he needs more work to do.

Ready for the worst?

It hurts to use my camera. *sob* That’s one job I don’t want to delegate.

This had better clear up by next week’s trip to Camp Spofford. I can’t let that go undocumented!

Not that you shouldn’t be able to see a scene like this in any household with small children. But I like to attribute our homeschooling to our love for our children. And our love for silliness.

Other things to note:

• snow still present in the yard.
• art project in the window.
• lots of books on the messy [well-used] bookshelves.
• blocks.
• toolbox full of Legos.
• laundry not put away.
• Carcassonne game on the end table.
• boy-kid sitting on the arm of the couch, which is forbidden.
• girl-kid wearing shorts (see #1).
• homeschooly outfits worn by the children (would you send your kid to school looking like that?).
• oh yeah, and the hat quite willingly worn by Daddy.
• although I didn’t check with him about his desire to have this particular photo posted on my blog for all to see.

Our family is fun.

Our household has fallen victim to an insidious illness that lasts for days. Long, long days. Nights, too. It might be the flu, says Brian’s doctor. We’ll see what the kids’ doctor says this morning when we take them in. I, so far, have remained healthy, despite the lack of sleep and the sympathy symptoms that don’t last.

I won’t disgust you with the respiratory yuckiness that pervades our home, except for this quote from the ever-effusive Acadia:

See? This is the stuff on my eye and when I woke up I couldn’t open them, so… (pause, shrug) I had to eat it! Wasn’t that silly?

Uh…that’s one word for it….

Make a man a sandwich, and you feed him for one meal.

Make him make his own sandwich, and you feed him for the same amount of time with far less effort on your part.

These words were uttered yesterday at the lunch table by my wise, wise husband, Dluxe. Write them down. Put them on a bumper sticker. Live the wisdom.

For a brief and perfectly accurate description of what happens to a woman after she becomes a mother (at least after she becomes a mother through giving birth…I can’t speak for the moms whose first baby comes into their family through adoption but I imagine it is much the same, perhaps without the disappearance of her abdominal muscles), go see Kristen’s blog, Walking Circumspectly.

I’ve been posting a lot of linkage these days. Am I lazy? No, just sharing and caring for my pals. If I enjoyed it, you might too. Right? I’m certainly not lazy. But I do have a lot on my mental plate these days (not that I have a plate in my head, setting off the alarm at airports and stuff, I just mean I have a lot to think about). And maybe it’s taking up most of my creativity.

That, and I just started reading The Deathly Hallows. Which kept me up a little bit last night. (I’m just up to the part where….never mind. You might not have read it, and in that case I’m not allowed to talk to you about it.)

I’m gearing up for school to start in a couple of weeks. Gannon will be in 1st(ish) grade and I am going to do some preschooly things with Acadia. When I figure it all out I will post what we’re using for materials/curriculum.

Then there are Bible studies to prepare for, children’s church, preschool worship, house issues, kid issues, and car issues. You know, just the usual stuff. Plus the added energy of figuring out how I can get to see The Simpsons Movie. Which is very important, people.

I read a magazine this morning while I was eating my Kashi and lactose-free milk. Family Fun magazine is owned by Disney, and the subscription department is relentless. They have called me at least 3 times, sent countless letters, and now this issue. My subscription ran out about a year ago, and I have no wish to renew. They just didn’t believe me, I guess, so it appears they have decided to send it to me anyway.

Part of why I think magazines are almost worthless is stuff like this: a reader from California wrote in to say the following, and I quote…

I’m pretty sure I can pinpoint one reason that 40 percent of fathers never cook dinner ["The Dish on Dinner," page 70]. When was the last time you saw a commercial in which Dad was calling Mom and the kids to dinner? If pressure isn’t put on advertisers to change that picture (at the very least, to reflect the dads who do cook dinner, such as my husband), this is never going to change.

Um, advertisers? Commercials? Is that really where most (or at least 40% of) Americans get their basis for gender roles? I wonder if this letter represents a bunch of letters the editor received, or if the author stands alone in her cause. Perhaps the author herself watches too much television, therefore perceiving it as having more power than it actually does.

Or maybe my own family watches less TV than at least 40% of Americans, thereby escaping its evil influence.

My husband has been known to cook dinner on occasion. More often, we cook it together. Mostly I cook it myself. It’s a good arrangement, I think. Especially during grilling season (which, here in VT, is too short).

I’ve been messing with my blog’s look.  (Can you tell the kids are asleep and Brian’s not home for me to talk to?)  I am having trouble finding a text color that goes with this photo, but I like the photo, so I guess people will just have to squint.

I’ve also added some links in the sidebar, and made sure they’ve all got little descriptions that appear when your clicker hovers over the links.  One new one you’ll want to check out, especially this time of year, is Letterboxing North America.  LbNA is your complete guide to the fun-for-all-ages hobby of letterboxing.

This weekend is a remarkable one in the yearly life of the Dellingers. Today Acadia turns three. My sis-in-law also has a birthday. My unofficially adopted “little sister”’s birthday is today. Tomorrow is Brian’s birthday. And of course today is St. Partick’s Day.

I am unfamiliar with the origins of this holiday, except a vague recollection from college that Patrick was a persecuted missionary to the Irish. I thought there would be a few good blog posts on the subject, but I couldn’t find any. Maybe because it’s on a Saturday.