BilikFamily.com

Alyssa justly asked where I've been. It seems like just yesterday that Abby and I were doctoring an old Calvin and Hobbes cartoon to poke fun at Belle, the screen ripper. While sometimes writing is therapeutic, I have to admit that often it can feel like I'm just naval gazing. At times I consider not renewing the hosting of the site.

So, what's been going on since Abby's birthday and moving stuff into the shed?

Abby - We were recently shipped our pre-order of Super Paper Mario for the Wii. With some assist from the official guide book, Abby has gotten fairly far along in the game. Now that she's an accomplished reader, these types of role playing games are starting to appeal to her. Yesterday I got her the guide and cartridge for Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time so that she'll have something for after Super Paper Mario.

Audiobooks - Meanwhile for Opus Dei Catholic geeks like me, I recently discovered that R. B. Media has works by St. Josemaria, the founder of Opus Dei, on audio CD in regular and MP3 format. While a bit pricey, they do make for good contemplation on the long commute.

Jetta - In a minor bit of vanity, I ordered an emblem for the Jetta. I'm passed by many Prius's on my commute and an annoyingly high percentage have 'holier greener than thou' vanity license plates. I don't like the annual surcharge required to keep a vanity plate so I opted for this chrome lettering which looks a lot like the official VW lettering. I just wanted to raise awareness that there are cars besides hybrids that are efficient.

Boys - The school system has evaluated the boys' progress. While it has improved significantly over when they started, they are eligible for "extended school year". It's basically more school three mornings a week for five weeks this summer so that they can continue the educational momentum. Michelle is pretty certain that they'd all go at the same time, unlike the insanity of this school year with it's Timothy in the morning, twins in the afternoon schedule. Michelle has been super taxi mom this year.

Veggies - The folks at Big Idea have released yet another video: Moe and the Big Exit. It turns the story of Moses into an entertaining western for children. In the leadin to body of the DVD, they made mention that they're going to try another feature length movie. After their Jonah movie nearly bankrupted the company out of existence, I hope they keep this one within reasonable budgets.

Home - Our friends at Bishop Painting stained the front and back deck last weekend. They'll come back in a few weeks to install some Pergo laminate on the first floor family room. Meanwhile we tested the sprinklers and programmed them for another season of watering. Timbo and I also setup the Mosquito Magnet for the season to ward off our friends from our swamp wetlands.

Weather - So, it's been pretty much an autopilot week. Not a lot of excitement. Many of us are trying to get used to how quickly we went from chilly weather to upper 80's. I was just cleaning a stove the other morning and by that afternoon Michelle had all the windows open and fans running. This minor May heat wave is supposed to break soon and give us back more seasonal moderate temperatures soon.