Obligatory Snow Pictures

It snowed this week in Austin...here's proof.

A Close Shave

As I continue to struggle with the daily (or every other daily in my case) hassle of shaving, I've gone through almost every type of product there is.  Creams, oils, lotions, gels, clear, foamy...one blade, disposable, 3 blades, electric, 5 blades, lawnmower blades, henkel knives...whatever.  I hate shaving...always have.  Recently I discovered a website Badger & Blade (http://badgerandblade.com/)...a community dedicated to my nemesis.  On there, they review various shaving products, produce their own line of shaving accessories, and have actually started a mini revolution dedicated to the art of shaving with brushes, full lathers, and the most unbelievable part...double edged razor blades...super old school.  While they're convinced you can learn to shave the 'right' way with relative ease, I'm not ready to start hacking up my face quite yet (although our Costco membership would come in handy as we would surely have to quadruple the amount of toilet paper to cover up Freddy Kruger face) and I will more than likely stick with my 105 micro-blade concoction from Gillette.  I have however switched from my ridiculously expense shave gel by Zihr to a combination of shaving oil from Pacific Shaving Company ($4.99, 100 shaves)

and a good old fashioned can of Barbasol (with aloe...of course). ($1.99)


So...why am I boring you with details of my personal hygiene?   Well...Bryce caught a glimpse of me shaving with my new foamy shaving cream and thought it looked like a kick.  So...while at Target this weekend (what else do you do on the weekends...c'mon...you go too...it's ok) we happened upon a kiddie shaving kit...and the little man got a taste of what he has to look forward to in another 12 years or so.  The whole process was pretty hilarious as he was convinced that he didn't get it smooth enough (if he can't get it now while his face really is as smooth as his behind...he's screwed).  Anyway...he looked like such a little mensch...I had to post some pictures.  Who knows...with kids his age already having Facebook pages and playing World of Warcraft online...maybe he'll buck the trend and be old school...at least when it comes to shaving.

 

  

Love is in the air

Happy Valentine's day. Our day started as a lazy Sunday morning. With Paige at the grocery, I had the kids. The mission, as usual, was to have the same number of kids as when she left...success! The kids broke in to a spontaneous session of ring around the rosy and my video camera had just enough juice to capture a few seconds.



Since the weather was finally nice today, we headed out to the park for a little picnic and some digging time. The picture of Ivy above may be the first time I've successfully recorded a non food induced smile on film. The rest of the slideshow are just for fun.

We ended the day with some friends over to eat dinner. Ryan and Michelle made the drive down and David and Lindsey were nice enough to let Zach be harassed by Josie and Ivy for a few hours.

A Visit and a New Project

Last weekend, my Dad and Barbara came to visit. The standard mid winter visit to the warm Texas climate failed miserably as it was not much nicer than it was in NY. Well, I guess 45 is technically 30 degrees warmer than 15, but at this point I think we're splitting hairs. Despite being a little couped up, I think everyone had a good time. I know the kids have a few new expressions they're running around with, and I'm sure that Dad has a few bruises he's running around with after Bryce treated him as his personal trampoline.



This weekend was another Home Depot workshop. Bryce donned his apron and took to the aisle with his new project...a race car show stand thingy. I wish they had some smaller hammers so Bryce could do a full one handed swing (we tried that with the heavier hammer and...well...my fingers didn't appreciate it). Anyway...Bryce did great with the stickers and glue and couldn't wait to get home and set up his cars and trucks.