Skate or Die

Today was a historic day for the Clark boys. Sambo has been begging to try out a local skate park and with cooler temps arriving this next week, we figured this might be one of our last chances to shred with the locals. It was an absolute blast. Sambo loved riding the walls and Wilbur loved drinking his blue gatorade. he also told me he wanted to be a Rockstar so he could "drive a big van and wear a metal shirt", but that is a story for another day! Any way here they are in action. I hope the weather holds so we can have a few more days with the local skaters.

Night Prowler

In addition to the six Clarks we also have an African Bullfrog named Shortleg and a Yellow Lab named Daisy. This story is about Daisy. You see everything she does is intended to please her family. What we didn't find out until this morning is that Daisy lives 2 seperate lives.

Ever since we moved into our house 2 years ago Daisy has had a wireless shock collar that defined her boundary. Don't worry PETA, for the last year the battery was dead and it didn't work. We didn't tell her this and she thought that as long as her collar was on she better not try to bolt. A couple weeks ago I took her collar off and was throwing the ball to her for a little exercise. This is a daily routine and she loves it. Anyway I placed the collar on the bumper of our Suburban and forgot about it. The next morning we tore the house apart looking for the collar. Those things ain't cheap. On my way to work I noticed a pink strip on the highway near our house. After further review, it was the collar/shock box, completely destroyed and broken in a hundred pieces. We were faced with a decision, pay $150 for a new collar that we really didn't need, or try a regular collar that was $10. I went with the $10 collar and it worked like a charm; at least that is what I thought.

Here is how I found our beloved Daisy this morning.


She had snuck off and raided someone's dog food storage container and literally got caught. If you are missing a lid like this please let me know and I will replace it. I wonder how long these night food raids have been going on. It looks like someone is going to have to cough up the money and get a working collar.

For the love of............Wilbur!

We have a built-in comedian living in our home. His name is Will (he calls himself Wilbur T. Thomas Clark - but you have to say it in a monotone voice, like Squidword on Spongebob). I don't even know how to explain how funny he is. He's also the weird kid. He's very expressive with his eyes and lips. I regret that we have forgotten SO MANY hilarious things he has said/done. Not any more thanks to this blog thing. Here's the latest:

When school starts each year Sam and I sit down with the kids, give them a talk, and Sam gives them a blessing. The annual talk is about rules, bedtimes, schedules, safety, etc. This included the "good touch, bad touch" lecture (thanks to Holly being paranoid by her job). We were bringing up examples of "good touch" like hugs, giving bones, high-fives, etc. Then we talked about "bad touch" like hitting, touching someone's privates, someone else touching their privates, etc. Then Holly started quizzing them about what we had just talked about. Soon Millie asked, "what if you touch your own privates?" and WITHOUT HESITATION Will answered, "Good touch!"

Will, you are a "great man." We love you.

Dang cute kids

Just some recent pictures of the kids. Our neighbor, Lacey, is starting a photography business and asked if she could borrow them for a photo shoot. She did a great job. She was awesome at capturing their personalities...

Millie - always posing and loving her picture taken

Sam - Cooperative and sweet, in fact talking without breaking his smile

Will - Goofball, laughing and doing weird things with his eyes and face

Quincy - Sassy pants who always had to be holding a prop (flower, cupcake, etc) She spinned around in her poofy skirt; she would cover her face with it then lower it and say "peek boo" in the cute way that she does. My fav. is the one where she's looking for her belly button. We asked her where it was and this is what she did.

We were happy to have a CD full of darling photos of the kids...quick, easy, and cheap. I put them together and designed collages to replace the ones that are now almost 3 years old. It was super hard to pick just 3!

Anyway, after days like today, it's a good thing they are so cute. It helps buffer my temper when they are being knuckleheads!

Quincy Tshirt

This picture is one of my favorites!

Picture day for the Clarks

Are there any words in the English language that bring more stress to parents than "Family Pictures"? Well yesterday we had our pictures done, and the verdict is still out on how they will turn out. I don't know what was more frustrating; Quincy wanting to sit alone(all by herself with no one around), or Will giving thumbs up in the only pictures where Quincy was actually smiling. I have a feeling Holly and her Photoshop skills will be seriously tested!

Ninjas and Transformers

Big day for Sam and Will. The Transformers(Will) and the Black Ninjas(Sam) began their 2008 Fall season. Last year was not so stellar for Will as he spent the majority of his playing time tracking down and talking to the player on the other team with the #2 on their jersey. (He was #2). The highlight of his season last year was when he dropped a deuce (pooped) at mid field during practice. This year though we are actually seeing him run after the ball. In fact it appeared that he even tried to kick the ball a time or two.

Sambo and the ninjas made the jump to the big league. They even have goalies this year!!! After watching their opponent do organized stretching and passing drill, we knew we would be in trouble. The coach even carried a white board and wore a matching baby blue coaching suit. Sambo volunteered to be the goalie and within 2 minutes was on the ground and bleeding from both nostrils(he took a ball right to the noggin). It took a quarter to stop the bleeding, but he got back in the action. He really is a tough kid!