Elfed!

We Elfed Ourselves.

Cheese!

Just a little pre-Christmas picture for everyone.

Snow!

It snowed a lot last night! After daddy shoveled (and a neighbor helped with nice snowblower), Catherine got to go outside during Liam's naptime.

Happy 5th Birthday, Catherine!

Catherine turns 5! Here's a look back and her birthdays so far, plus one just prior:


Mommy-to-be with Catherine out front!


Hello, world!


First birthday, 2003.


2 years old in 2004.


3 is a magic number, 2005.


4 more years! 2006.

Wishful Thinking!

Here's Cat and Liam looking through all the Christmas toy catalogs that seem to come in the mail daily.

Catherine meets Google

Catherine called me over to help her find a Barbie pajamas dress-up game on the web. When I got to the computer, I saw that she had already done some searching on her own! She is truly hooked on phonics.

Trick or Treat!

Jane turns 29 for the 4th time

Up North!

Here's Catherine doing all the work to make uncle Jay look good. More pictures from our trip to Brooke & Jay's northern retreat on our Flickr set.

Catherine Goes to Kindergarten!

Catherine started her year at the new 4K program at the YMCA this week!

Life's a (Bay) Beach

The Seilers and Maurers made a trip to Bay Beach. Don shared his big slide technique with Owen and now demands a rematch! See more photos here.

Liam's Jeep Ad

Jeep used a picture of Liam with the remote control Jeep he got from Hummy for Christmas. It appeared in the NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today on August 13th and 24th 2007. See if you can find him!

Original picture of Liam and his Jeep.

Happy Birthday Liam!

For pictures, check out the birthday set!

Hillbilly Bonnie

Liam Flaunting the Rules!

NO JUMPING!

All I learned I learned from Sesame Street...

Don wants to know why I get a kick out of pushing people's buttons. I must have learned it from the master... Ernie! (Also, I love Bert's psychotic laugh at the end.)

The Lighthouse Family

The Lighthouse Family, originally uploaded by Seiler Family.

The Seilers and aunt Lauren took a walk out to the lighthouse yesterday. Lauren snapped this picture, there are more in our flickr pool.

Domino Rally

Another racing Junior

Pictures 062, originally uploaded by Seiler Family.

Knock-knock Joke Transcription and Analysis

Some of you might not fully understand what's being said here, so I'll provide a transcription and some explanation to help out.

Joke 1

Catherine: Knock-knock
Liam: Who's there?
Catherine: Peach!
Liam: Peach Who?
Catherine: Peach you gonna lock the door?
Liam: Ha ha ha.

It took me a few days before I realized that the joke should have been "Orange you gonna lock the door?" where "Orange" is like "Aren't" in classic knock-knock verbiage. Catherine probably assumed that all fruits are interchangeable and went with our fuzzy friend, the peach. Liam still liked it.

Joke 2

Liam: Knock-knock
Catherine: Who's there?
Liam: Ahhchoo!
Catherine: God bless you who?
Liam: Ha ha ha.

This one is a bit easier to understand. Liam gave the punch-line when he should have just said "Ahhch" and Catherine responded in kind. Then Liam laughed at his own awesome joke.

Prepare to have your sides split

Huh?

Catherine Posing at the Milwaukee Zoo

Thanks to aunt Kate for the photo!

Owen's Nuptials

I just showed Catherine the footage of the movie that James took of Owen's First Communion.

She said "I didn't know Owen got married!!!" She was very shocked.

My mother-in-law the child pornographer

As many of you know, up until recently I hosted some Gallery installs for my family and my in-laws. I've stopped offering this and have convinced most to switch to flickr, but I hadn't yet removed the old pictures.

So last week, the ISP that hosts those old galleries forwarded me this email:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Telefono Arcobaleno" <reports@telefonoarcobaleno.com>
To: <redacted>
Cc: <newyork@fbi.gov>; <children@interpol.int>;
<nit.procura.siracusa@giustizia.it>
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 5:48 PM
Subject: Pedo hard pics (4290/2007)

>
> Hello,
>
>
> we wish to inform you that the following internet site/s hosted on your
> server/network were marked out as containing pedophiliac material (pedo
> hard pics)
>
> http://www.vater.us/gallery/v/Family-Album-2005/album31/album26/
>
>
>
> Thank you in advance for your co-operation.
> Awaiting your kind reply to
> reports@telefonoarcobaleno.com
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Telefono Arcobaleno (Rainbow Telephone),
> a non-profit making Association for Children's Rights
> via Cavour, 68 - 96012 - AVOLA (Siracusa) - Italy
> http://www.telefonoarcobaleno.org
> +39 0931 562098 (phone)
> +39 0931 564950 (fax)
> -------------------------------------------------------
> 

That's right. The FBI and Interpol were even brought in. I've since pulled all of the galleries, not because of this garbage, but simply because I had been meaning to do it since the end of last year. That particular link went to an album that my mother-in-law had set up entitled "Rub-a-dub-dub, Three kids in a tub" and had pictures of my daughter Catherine and two of her cousins, Gavin and Quinnie. NAKED IN THE BATHTUB!!!!!!111

I pulled a backup and am presenting you with the most offensive picture in the group, tastefully censored for God-fearing eyes.


The scandal! Thankfully this was the only photo where YOUNG PENISES were on display. I'll say nothing of the bare, female chests. AVERT YOUR EYES!

The rest of the photos pretty much only show above the waist, and anything below the waste is always underwater. Leave it to Italy's finest to keep things in line.

What does a horse say?

The Revenge of Liam

I finally bought a normal doorknob and baby-proof doorknob cover for the downstairs bathroom and installed it. Liam proceeded to do the following...

Pulling himself up and over the gate on the stairway he made his way upstairs where he raided the game cupboard and spread its contents on the landing. On the way upstairs he grabbed the wood ducks and took them to his room where he jumped on his bed and pulled everything out of the closet. Then he went into my room and unpotted my flowers spreading the dirt throughout the room. Next he raided Catherine's room where he went through the closet pulling down everything that he could reach and then he unplugged her night light and dumped it in the hall. Finally, I found him in the bathroom with all of the toys in the tub. (Thankfully with no water in it.)

Maximum time frame: 10 minutes

While I was upstairs cleaning up the mess...

Liam vaulted over the gate at the door of the den and ransacked the kitchen cupboards getting out a bag of chips and eating some and dumping the rest on the floor. Then he opened the dishwasher and took out most of the silverware and played with it.

Maximum time frame: 5 minutes before I heard the dishwasher crash

Also today:
- dumped over Catherine's 3 story dollhouse and used it as a stool to reach the lights in the living room and twist them upside down
- emptied a pitcher of water from the fridge all over the kitchen floor

If anybody thinks that stay at home moms have it easy I challenge them to watch my son for 1/2 hour. Welcome to hell.

Liam auditions for Metallica

Liam auditions for Metallica, originally uploaded by Seiler Family.

Now grandma can stop worrying that he doesn't play with her present!

O Catherine! My Catherine!

On the ride home from mom and dad's house for our weekly Sunday gathering Catherine was having a conversation with one of her imaginary friends in the backseat and I overheard the last part. Here is our following conversation...

Catherine: ...so scruffles rhymes with scruffy.

Jane: No sweetie, scruffles doesn't rhyme with scruffy. Fluffy rhymes with scruffy. Just like cat rhymes with hat. Now let's try another one. Let's see... what rhymes with house?

Catherine: (long pause) cowse

(Don laughing)

Jane: Well, that is true. But cowse isn't a word. I was thinking of something else, like mouse. Mouse rhymes with house.

Don: How about something to rhyme with dad?

Catherine: waaad

(Don laughing)

I guess she gets the rhyming thing.

Classic Sesame

This is the good stuff. Real Sesame Street!!!!!! What is that crap they show now?? Check out Kermit's reaction to dancing with the old lady.

Move over Little Richard ...

Liam tickles the ivories
Originally uploaded by Seiler Family.

Winter Wonderland

Tree in front yard
Originally uploaded by Seiler Family.

Back-to-back days of big snowfall means back-to-back days of digging out. At least the trees look nice.

Jane with sick babies

Jane with sick babies
Originally uploaded by Seiler Family.

Catherine and Liam both have ear infections (Liam has a double ... AGAIN!).

Valentine's Help

Amazon has a list of what NOT to buy your loved one for Valentine's Day.

America's Next Top Model

Catherine made her debut as a runway model, joining her mom and aunt Jen and cousins Draven and Ae-Na in the Affairs to Remember bridal show. Click the photo to view the set of pictures that we have. (Some of the last ones are blurry due to someone's fat thumb accidentally changing which mode the camera was in)

Sledding!

The Seilers, Maurers and a Vater hit the hills this past weekend, and there was much rejoicing.

This Could Be You!

Found this and thought you guys might like it.