Halloween

Danielle dressed as a Renaissance Witch, while Sean showed off his Skateboarding Injury costume.

Homecoming

Ben & Danielle as they prepare to head off for their dinner and dance.

Recap

Here it is almost the end of October. So much has gone on and so much has stayed the same.

According to the High School news, marching band hasn't been all that great for the past few weeks. The trip to Charlottesville didn't come off neatly as it had last year. There were lots of communication errors that messed them up. They scored a 2, but had expectations of a 1.

Culinary Arts has been delicious. Walter has provided us with several interesting meals and has helped out during a catering event at the school.

Sean has gotten into the swing of the 5th grade. I'm so proud of his increased spelling abilities. He's even had his picture posted on the classroom door twice now for being one of the top ten readers of his class.

Dad's class is going. Hopefully quickly. The content is great, but the professor isn't all that great.

Drivers Ed

Danielle has put in a whole hour behind the wheel, so far. I've been slightly frightened. JK. She's been doing just fine. It's the optical illusion of being closer to the edge of the road that gets me from the passengers seat.

We only have 39 hours left, 10 which need to be at night.

Packing a Punch

Wow, The little guy really exploded. He set on of the neighborhood "bullies" right by punching him in the mouth, after they had tormented him for some time.

I hope that this little outburst will finally end the torment. Sometimes after an altercation like this the two parties become best friends....

Here's hope for a change to the better.

October

Here it is already October. Tonight is the football game between Manchester and Clover Hill. It will be quite interesting attending with the Manchester Band, when I am an alumni of the Clover Hill Band. Hmmmmm......

The kids will do great. Who knows maybe I'll even see a former classmate or two.

Big Game

Tonight is the first home football game. Time for the Marching Band to show off for the evening. This will put everyone in that old "School Spirit" mood.

Good luck Danielle.

X-Game Event

Sean put in his time this afternoon attempting to do some X-Game style tricks on his bicycle. He did manage to pull the stunt off once, but the second go round didn't work out nearly as well. He crashed and then fell onto his handlebars and put a really nasty looking bruised and scrapped up place on his left side. A quick trip to the doctor reassured us that it was pretty much superficial.

A New Driver

Well, Miss Danielle has done it. She passed the driver's license test, and received her learner's permit. Now only to complete 40 hours drive time, behind-the-wheel training, and driver's education. By June 2005, she'll have her full fledged license.

Trip Extended

Oh boy, Shrek's business trip has been extended an additional three days. They ended up staying at The Homestead.

Shrek's Business Trip

Hee hee. Mr. Walt is having a grand time on his 'business trip'. Work has been going well and he is enjoying his time at The Inn at Grist Mill Square, a Bed & Breakfast where he is staying. He has been enjoying sleeping in a queen-size bed. Lots of room to spread out. He has informed me that he has been keeping his room clean and even making the bed. He says that they come in and fluff the pillows during the day for him. He appreciates that. He has discovered RC colas - and will bringing a few of them home to enjoy later. Before he leaves he will have an opportunity to soak in one of the local hot springs. With all their physical labor, I'm sure that they all will enjoy the benefits of the hot water and 'bubbles'.

Here is a Lesson in History

The division of the human family into its two distinct political branches occurred some 10,000 years ago, when humans existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunter/gatherers.

The pivotal event of societal evolution was the invention of beer. This epochal event was both the foundation of modern civilization and the occasion of the bifurcation of humanity into its two distinct subgroups: Liberals and Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain, and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so it was necessary to stick close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days killing animals to barbecue at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of the conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting, learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly barbecues and doing the sewing, fetching and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the liberal movement. An interesting evolutionary side note: some of these early liberal men evolved into pseudo-women.

Liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the trade union, the invention of group therapy and group hugs, and the concept of democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that the conservatives provided.

Over the years, conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth.

Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Modern liberals like imported beer (with lime added), but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men.

Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't "fair" to make the pitcher bat.

Conservatives drink domestic beer, They eat red meat, and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumber jacks, construction workers, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, soldiers, athletes, and generally anyone who works productively outside government. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living.

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to "govern" the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America. They crept in after the wild west was tame and created a business of trying to get MORE for nothing.
Here ends this lesson in world history.

Dad's Fall Class

History and Methods of Science

Reviews some of the pivotal moments in the history of science, focusing on how they changed our understanding of science and the world. Covers topics such as: the Aristotelian and Ptolemaic views of the cosmos, the Copernican revolution and Galileo, Newton’s Principia Mathematica, Einstein’s theory of relativity, Quantum Mechanics and the uncertainty principle, the Big Bang, Darwin and evolution, microbiology, and genetics. Studies the rise of information technology as a major medium of communications in our time. Establishes the claims of natural sciences and how these methods differ from those of the social sciences.

Lance & Shanna's Wedding

The Bride & Groom

The Family. Everyone looks great.

Band Camp

Danielle has been at band camp for the past couple of days. They are working on the show for the coming season. They are using a Western theme. They will all look so cute in their new uniforms and using all new equipment.

Squash the Terrorist

Mama sent this over. It is kind of humorous. Play

Trip to the DMV

Well, Danielle made her first attempt at obtaining her learner's permit. However, there was this one question that stumped her. She didn't miss any questions regarding the signage, just the regular ones. We'll let her try again at the end of the month.

Automotive Adventures

What a day! Starting with an early morning phone call regarding a needed car repair. Next on my first trip out of the day, I get a flat tire. Calvary to the rescue....help with that tire changing.

By dinner, it was time to get with the car repair - the Mr. handled it beautifully. The Oldest helped out greatly by having my tire repaired at the same time.

Crisis averted - cars repaired. YEAH!

Shrek Walter

Walter received his nickname at work, "Shrek". So in honor of this event, I present.........

Massive Rain

The weather has been hideous.  Yesterdays "rain shower" dumped a massive amount of rain.  We had a river around the house, just like when we first moved into this house.  The runoff puddled between our house and our neighbors in a large pond.  The ducks could have landed there and swam around awhile.

Hopefully we won't have storms like that any further this year....