Abulsme.com: Alex

Pics from Jan 2015

1027 pictures for the month. First pass got it down to 80. Next to 48. Then finally to the 31 here.

2015-01-01 07:58 UTC – Sometimes waiting for the new year is not fun.

2015-02-01 08:04 UTC – Then the fireworks start.

2015-01-01 08:07 UTC – Then everybody was happy again. And it was 2015!

2015-01-02 02:07 UTC – For our anniversary, Brandy painted the planets as fruit. It is on the wall in my office now.

2015-01-03 00:02 UTC – We had to go to the courthouse in Seattle to pick up some documents. It has some pretty floors.

2015-01-03 00:08 UTC – We got there and back via the Bus/Train tunnel under Seattle. That was fun.

2015-01-03 04:35 UTC – Alex still prefers to wear his pants on his head instead of on his legs. We can usually get him to confine this fashion choice to home… usually.

2015-01-06 04:19 UTC – As usual, Roscoe is very patient. He is a good dog.

2015-01-09 13:34 UTC (picture by Brandy?) – Mike is a good skink too. But he doesn’t get to play with Alex much.

2015-01-09 21:50 UTC (Picture by Brandy) – We finally got Amy a new used car to replace the one totaled in November. She looks thrilled.

2015-01-09 21:51 UTC (Picture by Brandy): OK, that’s better.

2015-01-09 22:28 UTC – It is a Pontiac Aztek.

2015-01-10 23:54 UTC – Grandma Ruth helps Alex with a new Lego set.

2015-01-10 23:55 UTC – Sara really wants to help!

2015-01-11 19:59 UTC – Not sure exactly what we were watching here, but Alex was obviously impressed by it.

2015-01-12 05:04 UTC – Alex’s obsession with Minecraft increased in January. Mostly with Pocket Edition in Creative mode, although not always. More often than not though, this is not a solo endeavor, but includes several family members playing together. Here Alex and Amy work together while I watch.

2015-01-12 05:29 UTC – Roscoe sometimes plays with the iPad too. For sufficiently broad definitions of “plays”.

2015-01-12 05:53 UTC – Here are Alex and Amy playing Minecraft together from the other side of the screen.

2015-01-12 05:54 UTC – Roscoe wants to participate, but it is just so sleepy in here.

2015-01-13 08:33 UTC (Time when I got the picture, not when it was taken, Picture taken by Domography Photography) – Amy got a pro picture of herself for some reason. Came out great!

2015-01-15 14:27 UTC – Amy wanted to go to the annual company party with me and Brandy, but each person is only allowed one guest, so I had to ask if someone else at work would have Amy as a guest. So she made a sad face. We found a volunteer. So Amy would be able to go.

2015-01-17 02:52 UTC – But before party time, Alex was Minecrafting as usual. Here he built “a statue of Daddy”. He had my Minecraft avatar stand in front of him as a reference while he built the statue.

2015-01-18 04:34 UTC – At the party, Amy engages in one of the art activities.

2015-01-18 05:37 UTC – Brandy and Amy wanted to go to the party for the music. The opening band was “Walk the Moon“. Amy ended up with their set list hand written on a plate they threw into the crowd.

2015-01-18 06:15 UTC – The main band was “Weezer“. This is Rivers Cuomo. He looks like a normal dude.

2015-01-18 06:15 UTC – This is Brian Bell. He looks scary. But Amy ended up with one of his guitar picks that was thrown to the crowd anyway. Yup, two souvenirs from the show.

2015-01-20 05:12 UTC – Meanwhile Alex continues to build more and more elaborate things in Minecraft. This was a roller coaster he built, including a station where you get in and out, a ticket stand, etc.

2015-01-22 09:33 UTC (Picture by Amy on my phone) – One night Amy found me, Alex and Roscoe like this on the couch.

2015-01-26 06:58 UTC – Sometimes though, you don’t even make it to the couch.

2015-01-27 21:00 UTC – Oh yeah, Brandy also got completely obsessed with Minecraft and spent many hours building things. This was one of her houses.

2015-01-30 05:06 UTC – Roscoe looks on as Alex continues Minecrafting at the end of the month. This time on the full computer version. Still creative mode, not survival mode very often yet. But February awaits.

Pics from Dec 2014

979 pictures for the month. First cut got it down to 61. Second cut down to the required 31 for December. Here we go…

2014-12-01 02:47 UTC – Alex shows that he knows how to use chopsticks.

2014-12-05 23:57 UTC (picture by Brandy) – Brandy installed a brand new sink!

2014-12-07 20:32 UTC (picture by Brandy) – Roscoe is pretty sure he is much smaller than he really is. He is the right size for a lap dog, right?

2014-12-07 20:38 UTC (picture by Brandy) – Of course, there was one person who noticed they were not in the picture, and they felt they needed to be. So we made room.

2014-12-08 00:30 UTC (posted earlier) – Alex celebrates the picking of the Christmas tree.

2014-12-08 16:51 – Alex watching Roscoe as Roscoe contemplates if he should get out while the getting is good.

2014-12-09 06:39 UTC – This IS what stockings are for, aren’t they?

2014-12-09 20:39 UTC (picture by my mom) – Sara posed by some of my mom’s Christmas decorations

2014-12-10 01:17 UTC – Alex kicking back in my home office.

2014-12-11 04:02 UTC – And in the lobby during one of Amy’s performances for school.

2014-12-12 06:09 UTC – A Lego creation by Alex.

2014-12-17 04:19 UTC (picture by Brandy) – Brandy took Alex to the bookstore. He got mad at her about something. He decided to sit at his own table. Then he fell asleep with his head down on the table.

2014-12-20 01:20 UTC – Alex in my office playing Minecraft… which in December was rapidly on the way to displacing Portal 2 and Trainz Driver for the “favorite computer game” crown.

2014-12-21 01:59 UTC (picture by my mom) – Sara and Alex playing at Grandma Ruth’s house.

2014-12-21 03:27 UTC – Alex gets into giggle fits when Sara licks him.

2014-12-24 05:49 UTC – Excitement builds! Christmas approaches!

2014-12-24 13:05 UTC – Regardless of the excitement, I’m not sure I would choose to sleep with my head by this part of the dog. But it was just fine for Alex!

2014-12-24 20:12 UTC (picture by my mom) – Sara got a new bed as an early Christmas present. She liked it!

2014-12-25 05:56 UTC – For the first time this year we put lights on the outside of the house!

2014-12-25 05:56 UTC – The lights were color shifting, so there were different colors and patterns every few seconds.

2014-12-25 08:11 UTC – As he prepares for bed on Christmas eve, Alex surveys the presents. In our family, everybody opens one present on Christmas eve. Here Alex has picked the one for me to open… one of his gifts for me of course. (It was candy.)

2014-12-25 15:55 UTC (posted earlier) – In the morning, not a creature was stirring, not even a dog…

2014-12-25 16:00 UTC – The stockings were hung by the chimney with care…

2014-12-25 18:49 UTC – In the hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there! (OK, some sort of photographic accident, but it could be St. Nick, right? :-) )

2014-12-25 18:49 UTC – Soon the presents were flowing. Here is Grandma Ruth in the wonderful vest Alex bought for her! I’m sure she’ll be wearing it all over town!

2014-12-25 19:18 UTC – Amy and Alex worked together opening some presents.

2014-12-25 19:20 UTC (picture by my mom) – I relax and observe the activities while Alex attacks Amy in the background.

2014-12-26 00:10 UTC – Christmas over, Alex was very insistent that we take a picture of this mutant potato chip.

2014-12-28 01:37 UTC – Then Brandy broke her phone.

2014-12-30 04:57 UTC (picture by Brandy) – We go out for the evening and Amy and Alex enjoy some pizza. Yes, Alex is wearing pants on his head. As he does.

2014-12-31 06:34 UTC – As New Year’s approached, time for one last snuggle on the couch to watch TV

Pics from Nov 2014

937 pictures for the month. First cut got it down to 50. Second cut got it to the required 1 per day 30 for the month of November.

2014-11-01 01:13 UTC – Remember I divide things based on Universal time, so in Seattle Trick or Treat is early on November 1st and that is how we start the month. For the second year running, Brandy made Alex a train as his costume. He also wore a conductor-like outfit.

2014-11-01 02:08 UTC – The train leaves the station with Grandma Ruth right behind.

2014-11-01 02:14 UTC (picture by Grandma Ruth) – At first, all the stops were like this. Alex insisting on hiding in the train while begging me to do the doorbell ringing to collect his candy.

2014-11-01 02:34 UTC – Later, after a bit of coaxing, we got him to actually go up and ring the bell.

2014-11-01 02:34 UTC – After which he would immediately turn and run. He would then hide in the train again.

2014-11-01 02:56 UTC (Picture by Grandma Ruth) – Eventually toward the end, he finally (reluctantly) did the whole thing himself a couple of times.

2014-11-01 03:57 UTC (picture by Brandy) – This was Amy’s first outfit for Freaknight.

2014-11-01 04:04 UTC – Trick or Treating over, Alex wants us to inspect some food he found.

2014-11-02 01:1? UTC (picture by Brandy) – Amy was going to be Chell (from Portal and Portal 2) for her second costume for Freaknight, but it was canceled for this evening. Amy was sad.

2014-11-02 01:14 UTC – Amy was not the only one in the family into Portal though, and Alex wanted a turn at the Portal Device.

2014-11-04 20:35 UTC – Alex was working hard in his workshop on new train layouts, but it wouldn’t do quite what he wanted, so he was getting very frustrated. Not much later, this particular layout was no more.

2014-11-07 00:54 UTC – I got a pic of a nice sunset in Lynnwood, WA.

2014-11-08 20:23 UTC – Roscoe wants to know why I am taking his picture.

2014-11-13 21:59 UTC – Alex had a trip to the dentist that required him to be asleep via anesthesia. This was right afterwards. He had roused enough that they were OK sending him home, but he was still basically asleep.

2014-11-13 22:19 UTC – Once he woke up his first request was McDonald’s. We had to tell him he wasn’t supposed to eat for another hour or so. He was very unhappy about this. He really wanted McDonald’s.

2014-11-15 21:52 UTC – A few days later though it was all forgotten. He wandered the aisles of a drug store choosing things he wanted, including the hat, glasses and brush, and asked to pose with his loot. (Which he did get to have.)

2014-11-17 22:42 UTC (Picture by Amy) – Um, then Amy totaled her car. Nobody was hurt except the car.

2014-11-17 22:?? UTC (Picture by Amy) – Amy was very sad though. Poor car.

2014-11-20 22:39 UTC (picture by Brandy) – Brandy got to go with Alex to a Thanksgiving thing at his school. Alex made faces while he ate.

2014-11-22 01:56 UTC – I’ve got Alex pumping gas for me.

2014-11-23 04:58 UTC – Alex decided that to be warm he needed to join me inside my sweater.

2014-11-23 18:37 UTC – Alex is starting to REALLY get into Lego. Usually it is vehicles of one sort or another, but this time he made this, which he said was “a dog in his yard”.

2014-11-27 03:16 UTC – And when he visits Grandma Ruth, he plays with MY old Lego from when I was a kid. You can also see the Mr. Potato Head that was modified to look like my High School Physics teacher Mr. Posa as part of a Rube Goldberg project my senior year of high school.

2014-11-28 01:45 UTC – Amy is not amused as I attempt to take pictures of her as we get ready for Thanksgiving dinner.

2014-11-28 01:50 UTC – A few minutes later, Alex elaborates on a story he wanted to tell before dinner.

2014-11-28 05:49 UTC – Later in the evening, food cleared away, Alex starts on some crafts.

2014-11-28 21:00 UTC – Pair of pants on head as a hat? Check! Second pair of pants in case you lose the first hat? Check! Blanket? Check! One of mommy’s purses? Check! Lets go on an adventure!

2014-11-29 16:26 UTC – Alex and Roscoe check out the first snowfall of the season.

2014-11-29 18:24 UTC – Daddy is just cold.

2014-11-29 18:36 UTC – There wasn’t that much snow, and it wasn’t very good for packing, but this was our pitiful attempt at a snowman. It was about 4 to 5 inches tall.

And thus ends November.

What An Apple Tastes Like (as described by Alex, interpreted by Siri dictation)

Cool applesauce got applesauce at his lake and pour sauce that he gets more

I got it

like microwave

July popcorn

just one taste like who smoosh darn

what you likeWilbur who

tastes likealexlike Robert is supported go to ghostlike loverвЂ¦ The fuck she

Does caused by Google

West strike and easy by two days about Google girl

Edit 06:34 UTC to remove a couple words that were clearly actually me talking in the background that Siri picked up too. (Like telling Alex to talk louder.)

Tree Acquired

Alex makes goofy poses as we prepare to take the tree home. We also got a tiny little tree for our “train room”.

Pics from Oct 2014

941 pictures for the month. First cut got it to 45 pictures. Second cut got it to 27. So then I added some others to get 33. Then one last cut down to 31. :-)

2014-10-03 01:21 UTC – Alex still “arting” whenever he gets the chance. This is a nice swirly one.

2014-10-05 00:23 UTC – Roscoe REALLY needed a bath.

2014-10-05 23:59 UTC – More art. This time something more realistic. It is a plant growing out of a pot.

2014-10-06 20:15 UTC – October was also a big comeback month for Portal and Portal 2. Alex had taken a break from them for a few months, but spent MANY hours on them this month!

2014-10-10 02:46 UTC – We played through both Portal and Portal 2 from start to finish. In both cases Alex did most of the early levels, then handed it over to me. This is right as we finished up Portal 2 and the turrets were singing.

2014-10-11 03:12 UTC – Alex took my phone and took a bunch of pictures of himself and of his trains. This was the best of the bunch.

2014-10-11 15:38 UTC – It is important to Alex that his hair reaches his mouth.

2014-10-12 04:17 UTC – Tortilla Face

2014-10-13 19:56 UTC – Hat Head

2014-10-14 05:11 UTC (picture by my mom, time is when I got a copy of this, not when it was taken) – Mom Selfie

2014-10-14 06:39 UTC – The boys sleeping

2014-10-15 01:08 UTC – Rainbow from our front porch

2014-10-15 16:52 UTC – Pumpkin Patch Field Trip!

2014-10-15 16:53 UTC – A friend from school leads Alex to the good pumpkins

2014-10-15 17:01 UTC – Alex didn’t want to pick

2014-10-15 17:10 UTC – So we helped pick one

2014-10-15 17:59 UTC – Here’s the crew that came in our car as we were leaving. They look thrilled, don’t they?

2014-10-18 21:35 UTC – We had been talking about how he needed a haircut, so Alex started doing it himself. We caught him after just one cut though. Amy had to take pictures.

2014-10-18 21:35 UTC (picture by Amy) – One of Amy’s pictures of Alex and the hair he cut off

2014-10-18 22:18 UTC – Of course, after that, Alex had to cut my hair too.

2014-10-19 17:55 UTC (picture by Amy) – A squirrel came to visit our back patio

2014-10-20 02:02 UTC – My mom and Alex work together on an activity book

2014-10-21 01:24 UTC – If you look REALLY carefully, you might find Alex hiding from us at the store. Hint: Look closely at the four manikins, one of them might not be the same as the others.

2014-10-25 03:24 UTC – Amy and Shane at Amy’s birthday dinner a few days after her actual birthday

2014-10-25 05:17 UTC – Amy glares at me as I take a picture of her birthday outfit

2014-10-25 05:24 UTC – Amy’s birthday cake, made by Brandy

2014-10-25 05:37 UTC – Alex and Amy eagerly await the presents. Maybe one of them is more excited than the other.

2014-10-26 05:14 UTC – Crazy Alex attacking me

2014-10-27 01:58 UTC – Grandma Ruth watches Alex make a drawing for her

2014-10-27 06:24 UTC – Someone fell asleep in my lap.

2014-10-31 01:59 UTC (picture by my mom, time is when I got a copy of this, not when it was taken) – Alex getting ready to come home after carving a pumpkin at Grandma Ruth’s house. Ready for Halloween night! (Which happened on November 1st UTC in Seattle, so that will be in next month’s pictures…)

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Just Not True

In the latest Curmudgeon’s Corner Sam talks about:
* Thanksgiving / iMac / Movies and Books
* Star Wars / Immigration Reaction
* Iran Talks
* Bill Cosby
* Alex Interlude
* Ferguson

Recorded 2014-11-28

Length this week – 1:39:53

1-Click Subscribe in iTunes
Download MP3 File
View Podcast in iTunes
View Raw XML Feed

Fall 2014 Alex School Pics

All three taken 2014-09-16 16:38 UTC, seconds apart. Goofy faces on all three. :-)

Pics from Sep 2014

1076 pictures for the month. First pass narrowed to 70. These are the 30 that best represent September.

2014-09-01 06:39 UTC (Picture by Amy) – An Amy Selfie to start the month. (Yeah, yeah, I already used this one on her birthday post.)

2014-09-01 21:44 UTC – Alex chases after Amy at Bumbershoot

2014-09-02 02:19 UTC – Alex and me joining the family after a quick romp through the fountain at Bumbershoot

2014-09-02 04:36 UTC – Amy comforts Alex after he tripped and took a bad spill while running after her to get into the EDM venue at Bumbershoot. After this he was done for the night.

2014-09-03 16:58 UTC – First day of school for Alex

2014-09-05 01:19 UTC – We didn’t even know we had an apple tree, but one day we noticed this hanging off a tree in our front yard. We think it is the tree’s very first apple. Awww…

2014-09-07 19:44 UTC – Brandy accidentally made a sculpture out of frosting.

2014-09-11 21:53 UTC – Alex plays in a balloon room at a local mall. (Posted before as part of Alex through the Years.)

2014-09-11 22:13 UTC – Alex and I built a robot! He knocked it over seconds later of course.

2014-09-12 20:28 UTC – Alex’s class at school prepares for his birthday ceremony, where the birthday kid circles a candle representing the sun once for each year of their lives, while the parents show pictures of them from each year and say something brief about what the kid was like each year. Brandy and I were participating, so no pictures of the actual event.

2014-09-12 22:21 UTC – Once we were home, it was time for our own birthday celebrations, and Roscoe got to wear the birthday hat from school.

2014-09-12 22:22 UTC – Grandma Ruth got to wear the hat too.

2014-09-12 22:48 UTC – Brandy made a train cake for Alex.

2014-09-12 23:11 UTC – Alex with a present from Grandma Ruth.

2014-09-12 23:14 UTC – Alex opening a present from Amy.

2014-09-14 05:27 UTC – One of Alex’s presents was a lego set from Papa Bill and Grandma Cathy. Alex has been getting more into Lego lately. Here he diligently follows the instructions to assemble this set.

2014-09-14 05:45 UTC – And here is the final product. Alex assembled it almost entirely himself, following the instructions in the booklet. He only asked for help on one or two of the many steps in the process. In the following days, he did several other lego sets too.

2014-09-16 23:48 UTC – A few days later, it was time for my birthday. Alex wanted Brandy to make me a train cake too, but Brandy was sick at the time, so instead Amy and Alex went to the store. Alex picked this hamburger and fries cake for me instead.

2014-09-17 00:19 UTC – Amy presents me with my biggest present, from her and Brandy. Can you guess what it is? (It was a much needed new chair for my home office.)

2014-09-20 22:31 UTC – Grandma Ruth took Alex, Roscoe and me on an adventure in a nearby park. This was the start of our hike.

2014-09-20 23:22 UTC – The destination of the hike was a little area on the shore of Lake Washington. Roscoe and Alex spent a few minutes playing in the water!

2014-09-20 23:34 UTC – After the hike and playing a bit, Roscoe was ready for a bit of a rest. We had a picnic. Roscoe patiently waited to share.

2014-09-21 00:02 UTC – Alex and I climb up on a large tree that had fallen over and leaned over the lake

2014-09-21 00:04 UTC – Alex does not seem impressed as he dismounts from the fallen tree.

2014-09-21 00:07 UTC – After the tree, there is some time for some more splashing at the edge of the lake.

2014-09-21 00:18 UTC – Then it was time for the hike back to the car. Everybody was a little tired by this point. But we had to keep going.

2014-09-21 01:50 to 01:56 UTC – Once back in the car, a certain someone couldn’t quite manage to stay awake.

2014-09-23 01:11 UTC – Uh, he is not supposed to climb up there.

2014-09-26 00:31 UTC – My mom and Sara. A good team.

2014-09-27 22:24 UTC – Alex told Brandy that he wanted some fresh paper and markers and such. Brandy got him this new art desk thing. Since then Alex has been “art-ing” every chance he gets, producing many many pages of drawings and paintings and other things. He uses that desk almost every day now!

And that wraps up September…

Bad Idea?

I told him I would let him try… So there we go. Alex cutting my hair.

But we are now both on the way to the barber for our periodic joint haircuts. He really wants to keep his hair long though, so just a trim for him. He doesn’t even want that, but we are going anyway. We shall see how cooperative he is.

I want mine short again. We considered actually doing mine at home, but Brandy didn’t like my plan of “just go vroop vroop vroop with the beard trimmer across my whole head”. So barber it is… After letting Alex have his try first of course.

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Pics from Jan 2015

Pics from Dec 2014

Pics from Nov 2014

What An Apple Tastes Like (as described by Alex, interpreted by Siri dictation)

Tree Acquired

Pics from Oct 2014

Curmudgeon’s Corner: Just Not True

Fall 2014 Alex School Pics

Pics from Sep 2014

Bad Idea?

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