Peas in a Pod

The long awaited Jack as a Pea pictures...
Here's Steph, Jack and a whole gaggle of babies/Moms all dressed for Halloween!

Here's a close up of the two peas!


and here's Jack learning the ways of the dark side.

Kodak, in his K-9 outfit closes out the post.



Finally, it seems we've seen a steady decline for the past few years in trick or treaters. Well - tonight that trend changed! There were probably 30-40 kids who came through and we began running low on candy. I pulled out containers of Hunts pudding just in case but fortunately we didn't have to go there.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

And happy birthday to Mullins! I'm sure you're all celebrating the day just as we are...watching the Live with Regis & Kelly 3D Halloween Spectacular over and over with your special Regis & Kelly 3D glasses!!!

Here Mullins dawns his pair of the R&K shades.

Also, in between Regis & Kelly viewings, we're handing out Clark Bars to the trick or treaters. If you've never had a Clark, think "high end" Butterfinger.

The Pumpkin Ice Cream Plot Thickens

Seems as though the Jayhawks' out of the blue success is leading to some really excellent endorsement opportunities for KU Super-Coach Mark Mangino!!!!

Pumpkin Found

East of the Rockies Dreyer's is known as Edy's! The company is based in Oakland, California though owned by Nestle of Switzerland.

Falling Leaves

I raked the leaves with Yuki's help today. Yuki is a true dry leaf fan! Here he happily sits in a pile of raked leaves.

After awhile, the animal began to get tired. He used the leaves as nature's blanket.

Lately the Halloween decorations have been showing up on houses around the neighborhood. One house in particular had tons of grave stones, skeletons, and a large variety or creepy decor. 2 days ago though, all the decorations were gone. In their place was this hand painted cardboard sign. Some people are really lousy.

2008 Corvette Z06...Awesome!

A friend at work snapped up the new '08 Corvette Z06. After spending the last few months looking at SUVs and the like this car was a breath of fresh air. Though there isn't much room for a baby there's still a lot to like in this 500+ HP beast.



The engine looks equally cool...

Harry and David's Finest???

I was excited when my box of Harry and David Royal Riviera pears arrived! Steph enrolled my in the fruit of the quarter club and these pears were the pinnacle. I opened the box and they looked great. One of the pears was wrapped in foil and as I unwrapped I discovered a bad pear! Hopefully this isn't why they wrap the things? Maybe I'll stick to buying my pears from safeway from now on...

Jayhawks Power to 8-0

KU knocks off A&M along with their 12th man to become the first Jayhawk team in 100 years be undefeated this far into the season!

Here Jayhawk coach Mark Man-Genius looks cool in his blue suede gear. Yes America, this is the face of Cinderella!

The majority of ESPN wizards referred to the Jayhawks as a paper tiger. Well guys, looks like kitty has claws! Hopefully other teams will keep on underestimating the Hawks!

Meanwhile the Huskers showed early signs of life, but then faded yet again. The only bright spot for the Huskers is the new team chant which is demonstrated in the following image.

All Aboard the Pumpkin Express

Thanks to Mullins for letting me know about this stuff. It's Edy's Pumpkin Ice Cream. Excellent pumpkin flavor! If you like pumpkin stuff at all, this is a mandatory addition to your next grocery list.

Our Trip to Apple Hill

It's peak season at Apple Hill. To go on the week-end is to subject yourself to frustrating traffic and lines. So I took some time off from work and we took the little flapjack this afternoon.



You can see why people flock to the area. The colors on the grape vines are as vivid as we get out here on the west coast.



And there are bins and bins of apples. I wanted Steph to lay Jack in them for a photo but she wouldn't have any part of it. She didn't want him to spit up on the apples!

Not only are there apples - but brussel sprouts are in plentiful supply as well...I never knew this is how brussel sprouts came...



We also stopped by one of our favorite El Dorado wineries - Lava Cap! So named because it sits upon a cap of lava. Go figure. We tried their new 2005 Sangiovese - which I didn't care for. Their '04 was much better. Jack enjoyed his first winery as you can tell from the pictures:



Not sure whether or not this tractor runs.



A fun afternoon...



that tired little Jack out!

Mullins Claims Video Game Champ Title

My good friend Mullins has made the ultimate video game purchase...an 80 gig Playstation 3. Although he got it mainly for blue-ray functionality, here he seems happy playing the pack-in racer "Motorstorm". As you may be able to make out, he has decided to stack his PS3 on top of his Tivo box. Let's hope the considerable heat each unit produces doesn't cause them to melt and fuse together into a black high-tech mass. You'll also note that to the right of his Sony Bravia High-def T.V. he has a horizontally resting Nintendo Wii and an Apple TV. Is Mullheimer cutting edge on tech or what!!!

Guzzling Down the Halloween Spirit

Out of curiosity, I picked up a 4-pack of Jones Candy Corn Soda. It has the look of a slightly florecent Orange Crush. As you take a drink, all of your taste buds scream orange soda, but they are betrayed as the flavor quickly converts to maple syrup. This is an interesting limited edition soda. The whole experience, however, has made me thirsty for an Orange Crush.

Preemptive Memorial Honors Future Victims Of Imminent Dam Disaster

Preemptive Memorial Honors Future Victims Of Imminent Dam Disaster

Happy Jack!

Jack is planning on dressing up as a pea this year for Halloween. Two of our friends also have new babies and coincidentally, they two will be peas. Three peas in a pod it seems - pictures within a week!

The Rat is Back!!!!

The rats out back are getting bolder...and who knew they were such good climbers. I've received a permit to get a BB Gun though!

Husker Shake-up

Let the firings begin! NU Athletic Director hits the turf. Look for Callahan and staff to follow soon. My prediction is for Tom Osborne to take the A.D. job and Bo Pellini (LSU's defensive guru) to take over as head coach for the Huskers. My million to one shot is that Houston Nutt gets another offer.

Former Husker A.D. Steve Pederson


Faltering Hogs coach Houston Nutt.


Bo Pelini...future Husker coach?


True Blue Jayhawk fans are hoping Huskerville steers clear of KU's Mangino, who has guided the undefeated Jayhawks to #13 in the BCS!!!

Trouble in corn-land???

This was a quote from a big Nebraska booster BEFORE today's Husker debacle!

“I expected a lot more this year, and I’m not the only one,” Jensen said. “There’s a general undercurrent of severe discontent. The chemistry of the program is out of whack. Something is seriously wrong. There are too many people incredibly upset.”

Jayhawks Bowl Eligible!

The Jayhawks blow out Baylor moving to a perfect 6 - 0! Go Hawks!!!

Happy Jack with Michigan and GT Victories

Christmas Coming Early This Year

We've already had our first Christmas post. Here's one even more exciting - at least to a select few. There's a new Rick Springfield Christmas album coming out this year in early November.



A year back it was Twisted Sister, now Rick Springfield! Who knows what next year may bring!

Flapjack Smiling???

He's definitely becoming more expressive!

Bye Bye Infiniti

With the arrival of Jack we decided to get a larger vehicle. We leveraged Dermot's employee discount and landed ourselves on new Jeep Grand Cherokee. But first, the last photograph of the faithful Infiniti G35...which we sold this week-end.



The new truck is the largest vehicle we've ever owned. It's pretty nice though. Here are some initial snaps.



The back of the truck features a "Hemi" nameplate.



Now a strange thing happened this afternoon as I drove the Jeep to Safeway for groceries. Some cat in what appeared to be a new Dodge Nitro pulled up and was honking at me - seemingly impressed by the Jeep - or welcoming me to a wierd sort of Chrysler cult? Not sure.

The 2007 Christmas Challenge

The Christmas junk is arriving in force - even before the peak of the Halloween junk! Here's the challenge - I spotted boxes of this horrible looking "Christmas Story" ornament featuring Ralphie, the kid who nearly shot his eye out, in a local Wal-Mart. Retail price is $5.97. Our goal is to monitor these fine items and see how they sell and the lowest selling price. Anyone who spots one below a $1 needs to buy it. First evidence of this (receipt and ornament) wins a crisp $20.

Boy Scout Popcorn Time

We were lounging around watching football yesterday when the doorbell rings. It's a cub scout, maybe 9 years old, with an all too familiar sign-up sheet in hand. I'm normally pretty good at turning away door to door peddlers, but I bought from this kid. Call it a shared miserable experience.

What we got was a tin of chocolate covered caramel corn. Cost: $16. It's a good quality product, but for that price it ought to be.


The regular box of microwave popcorn, what went for an overpriced $5 when I was forced to sell it as a kid, is now priced at an insane $13. The traditional non-microwave popping corn is no longer offered. Instead, they sling a variety of gift tins, the most expensive of which was $50.


Whoever these Trails End people are, they've got a good thing going. They inflate their product prices to up to 400% or regular retail value. Then, they get armys of cute kids (and their parents) to go door to door making sales in exchange for maybe 40% of the take. Can you say slave labor?

Huskers wet pants, Jackets falter, JAYHAWKS UNDEFEATED!!!

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!!

As an aside, Mangino is the coolest coach in football!!

Jack is Getting Stronger!

Jack is now regularly able to hold his head up. Here's a cute picture from this past week-end.