Odds and Ends

I got back from work one night and wondered why there was flour
all over the kitchen. Hailey decided to make bread dough "all by
herself".Flour plus water equals sticky dough.....cool....

How does it taste Hailey?

Kneading the dough in hopes of a golden brown loaf of bread....
will it work?
uh, no


Hailey always closes her bedroom door so that Tanner
doesn't rummage through her things. Last week I
opened her door for a little cleaning/snooping and I
was shocked by the smell of a cigar. Hailey had
promised me that she wouldn't smoke cigars until
she left home. I began to feel betrayed until I realized
that the smell came from the guinea pig's new cedar
bedding. What a relief! There is nothing worse than
a 10 year old with a cigar smoking habit.



Tanner's head has abused the walls too many times.
Finally the wall bit back



I've always known that Tanner's brain has a fair amount
of damage, but this week I discovered how damaged
it really is. He has spent a lot of time staring at the
psychedelic screen saver while listening to Pink Floyd
music. If he could talk perhaps he would ask for some
medical marijuana.

Hailey's Wonderland

Inside Hailey's brain there is a vast landscape of imagination. From the very beginning of her life she started collecting treasures to become props for her "imaginating". I saved every cardboard box, every extra button and every scrap of anything she thought had potential. Thus her room is stuffed with what I call "junk", but to Hailey her "junk" is a gateway to a special world all in her head.

A fully furnished 3 bedroom cardboard house for her
little plastic friends. Notice the wallpaper, notice the
windows, notice the kitchen appliances.

Everything has it's own details.



This is the neighborhood school. There is a blackboard
and desks with miniature books for each student.
See the bike rack? The next room is the lunchroom
with nutrition labels on the walls. Each lunch table
has a ketchup and mustard bottle on it.


This is a movie theater where every one of Hailey's little
"characters" can sit and watch the TV with her. Notice
the bowl of candy in the back. Each little guy gets a piece
while watching the movie.



Hailey is doing a little dental work on her hippo. Open wide!


A great "box fort" for hours of fun pretend time

A rollercoaster! Everyone strapped in? Weeeee!

They're Here

Is it just static or is Tanner communicating with the
poltergeist world? Should I be worried?

We Caught It!

A few weeks ago Hailey complained that there were noises in her room late at night. Scratching noises, crinkling noises. I asked her if there was any food in her room. Of course not!, she assured me, except for the bag of chips and the old Halloween candy and the cereal box and the bowl that once had ice cream in it. Later, she tearfully came to me holding up a treasured stuffed animal with two little mouse poops on it's head.

We cleaned and vacuumed and set out an enticing trap.... cream cheese with cheddar sprinkles. It wasn't long before the mouse succumbed to the temptation and got it's little neck snapped. Hailey went in to check on the trap and came out with a look of both triumph and pity.

My Two Cents About the Big Game

The Superbowl is a great excuse to eat weird stuff like powdered-sugared donuts, chicken meatballs and cookie dough. It's the perfect time for the rooster of the house to puff up his feathers and show off the HD on his new Sony Bravia 60" flat screen. It's the perfect occasion to let the kids run wild outside on a cold February night without shoes. Most of all, it's great to "watch the Superbowl" without actually watching it. Who won by the way?