Christmas, a Time of Peace

There will be more pictures to follow, but I thought I would show some "action" shots from the Hubbellnation Christmas.  The first picture is just fun.  He looks the part of the gun wielding maniac.  The second is precious because Molly looks so sweet, unaware she has been targeted by said maniac.

Christmas Card

During this busy time of year, it's sometimes difficult to get cards designed, printed, and mailed.  In light of this, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make an e-card.  I hope it warms your collective hearts as it does ours...

Artists

So, here are a couple of portraits that will be going on sale after making the museum rounds.  On the left is my drawing of Autumn and on the right is her drawing of me.  Critiques are welcome...

Dreams

Maybe it's my age, or this "season" of life, but whatever the reason I do not feel I'm living the American dream, which might not be so bad if I felt I was living my dream.  Or Michele's dream.  At this point, if the kids had a dream I might be up for living that.  As it stands, I guess I AM living the American dream.  I produce nothing, I'm skilled at nothing, I give myself to nothing, I feel I'm entitled to everything, and I complain.  I complain a lot.  I worry about my comfort more than I do my health.  I assume I will have nothing to leave to my children so I accept that instead of work to change it.  I replace instead of fix, buy instead of make, copy instead of create, and settle instead of improve.  I’ve bought into the popular thinking that nothing really matters.  That’s not good for me or my family, and it’s beginning to show.

The fact is, I think my little family is dying, and I don't have the know how, or more likely the courage, to do anything about it.  I have some ideas, but none are popular.  People cringe at the thought of homeschooling, usually because of the "socialization" they receive with their peers at public school.  I see the effects of that socialization, and more often than not it makes me angry.  When my kids are de-socialized during the Summer, or after a period of time where it's just us, just Hubbellnation, we start to connect.  Once school rolls around, and they get all socialized up, they change.  I'm not saying all the other kids are bad and mine are good, or they are a bad influence on my kids, I'm saying I don't think they were meant to be together in that environment in this culture.  It's a lot like the military.  When the military is doing what it's designed to do, which is fight, it works well.  When there is no battlefield and no obvious enemy, everything that should be focused downrange is now focused down the hall.  Bickering and petty feuds pop up, people don't perform well, so much is wasted.

People are the same way in school, especially when they're young.  They work better when they're doing what they're designed to do, which is work and learn.  When summer break meant kids were turned loose to help harvest and it was hard work, that was good for kids.  Now over the Summer break, for the most part, they lose most of what they might have learned the year before and grown just a bit more lazy.  Not only do teachers have to try to get back some of what was lost, they're supposed to add new things and compete with video games and movies for the children’s imagination.  Most parents, including me, have given up on the idea of preparing our children for life, and assume they'll get what they need from the State.  How did that happen?

The culture is constantly changing, but I don't feel the need to keep up.  I make Ella go to school when she's bawling, begging to stay home.  I make Molly go to school after she's come home in tears begging for us not to make her go back.  Is that wise?  I don't know what the answer is.  I do know I'm the only one happy here.  I have a good job that provides income and a challenge for me.  The kids are miserable going to school and Michele is miserable sending them.  She feels like she's forfeiting something she was meant to do...teach her children.  It’s not a blame thing either.  It’s not Michele’s fault she isn’t thriving here, it’s just how it is.  I think I'm measuring success by the world's standards.  Am I really more worried about whether or not my kids will be able to socialize at a cocktail party than I am about their emotional/physical/mental health?  So, do I keep on doing the same old thing hoping for a different outcome?  In some ways we are closer than we’ve ever been, yet at times it feels like we're at war.  We start to heal up over the weekend, then drag ourselves, wounded and bleeding into the week...and for what?  We send the kids off to school because we're "supposed" to so they can get into college and get an education.  Again, to what end?  It’s not all doom and gloom, but something has to give, so if anyone has any good ideas, I’m all ears.

A Family Affair

We're getting ready to install the new floor and the Little Ones are all gung ho to help.

Toofs

Today was Dentist Day, aka "lets spend goofy amounts of money to find out how horrible the kid's teeth are" Day.  It turned out being a more pleasant day than we expected.  Here's the damage:

Autumn - Sealant on new molar
Molly - Three cavities and one pulled molar
Ella - Enamel defect covered with filing material
Nash - One pulled front tooth

$273 in total....which is much better than we expected.

My Boy

No cute pictures this time, but Nash has cracked us up a couple times recently with his pearls of wisdom.

The kids were at Grandpa and Grandma's while Michele and I went to Denver for our anniversary.  Apprently Grandpa did a great job at wearing them out because when we got home I asked Nash to do something and his response was, "Awwww, Grandpa made all my running energy fall asleep!"

Just yesterday he told me his tummy hurt so I asked him why.  He said, "My brains are making my tummy hurt because I need to play something electric."

Also yesterday, he came out of his bathroom carrying a jar of Noxema telling us how he needs to use that because he gets pimples.  It was hilarious.

Art....?

I don't know if y'all have seen these, but they are worth a repeat.  The first is Molly's and makes me laugh every time I see "Sam the angry loin" and the other is Autumn's and I believe it accurately captures my vacant stare.

Buddies

Our new kitten with our old dog.

One Big Happy....eh, nevermind

Our trips, short or long, bring us closer together.  Obviously.

Victory!

Michele's Kindle got to where it wouldn't charge and since I like to take things apart, I thought I'd see what the problem was.  They have a reputation for failing like this, and I was sure I could fix it.  Arlan found a much more elegant solution, but I'll pick up on that later.  I opened said Kindle up and the USB jack had broken leads.  How that design ever left the factory is a mystery.  Anyhoo, I ordered a new jack and tonight I soldered it in.  I don't know how long my fix will work, but it was fun.

That tiny thing in the center with the 5 tiny leads attached is what I replaced.  The original had nothing except those teensy leads holding it to the board, so it's no wonder it didn't last.

P.S.

Arlan's solution?  He contacted Amazon and they send him a whole new Kindle.  That's why I will never get ahead....

Ummmmm.....

So, my Boss got me this hot sauce to try.  I don't know if you can read that, but it says, "Xtinction sauce."  It's made with Ghost peppers and I'm scared to try it.  What say you, should I throw caution to the wind?

Catch All

I've had some pictures on my phone for awhile now and I haven't got around to posting them.  Nothing particularly ground breaking, but stuff you had probably better see.

First we have Grandpa and Nash changing a tire when we went to go pick up Dad's Bobcat.  A nice "Manly" moment.  It's the kind of thing he'll remember even if he doesn't remember he remembers.

Now we move to a note left to me by my children.  I believe it was Autumn, and after you see it, you'll see I'm not the only one that is "specil"...

Some parents hope their children are Astronauts or cure cancer.  I have different goals for my children.  I hope they leave the house...of their own free will...NOT in the white coats that tie your hands behind your back.

Which leads to an incident that happened quite awhile ago.  I was in the kitchen, turned around, and was met with this.  I'm quite certain it was meant to be intimidating (or funny) but it really just made me wonder what kind of facility we'll house her in.  "Death Mobile" is what the sign says, but "Goofball Mobile" is what was intended...

And come one, how adorable is this little girl?  She's a keeper.

Home at last

So, 3,226.9 miles later we're home. It was a wonderful vacation but it's good to be back. Members of our party would disagree with that, but a great time was had by all. 

Rogers that

On our way back to Colorado we stopped by Rogers, AR to see my friend Cliff and his wife Allison. They have a beautiful place with a huge front yard, kittens, rubber band guns, and an Xbox with Kinect...everything you need to keep four kids busy for a day. They spoiled us with a breakfast of homemade biscuits and cream gravy, as well as chocolate gravy, and a breakfast casserole.  For dinner we had salad, smoked ribs, homemade rolls, fried white potatoes and sweet potatoes, and tea. It was all amazing. As evening came we sat on the porch and watched fireflies and played with kittens. Pretty much a perfect way to end the vacation. 

Cliff also makes slingshots and I had a great time learning how bad I am with one. 

Relaxing

Michele's cousin Cathy and her husband Scott live in a nice neighborhood with a nice, big pool. Their daughter Camryn is Molly's age so we went with them a couple times and the kids had a blast. 

We head to Arkansas in the morning to see Cliff and Allison, then start the long ride home. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 

Boating

We left the beach house today and headed back to Conroe. Instead of taking the straight shot way we  took the long way which includes a ferry ride. The birds we in attack mode so Michele made the kids put the crackers away. They got to see dolphins following the ferry for awhile. It was free so definitely worth the price of admission. 

A few of us walked The Strand in Galveston, which is an old historic part of town with buildings wearing badges that show they survived the monster hurricane of1900. I have no pictures of that because I'm a moron, but I do have pictures of some snacks. They had several flavors.....

Peril. Peril and danger.

The camera on my phone is terrible so you probably won't be able to see it, but in the center of the picture is an Alligator.  The girls came back to the house and said the Fish and Parks guys told them to get out of the water because there was an alligator near shore. So we had to go check it out, and sure enough, about a 6 ft dude was staying just off shore and seemed mighty interested in those birds. Since I was Captain of my High School Gator Wrestling Squad I offered to wrangle the critter, but was denied. 

Da Beach

We're here in Galveston in a house near the beach. It's nice and the beach tonight was beautiful with the full moon and all. 

And the sign on the inside of the door was a reminder of home. 

Tradition

Traditions are important. They let us feel connected to the past while making us comfortable in the present and offer a heading to follow when facing the future. I'm happy to say our Hubbell tradition of someone getting sick on each camping trip or vacation has been upheld!  I give you Nash with a 102 fever....

Eckercise

There is a park close to Donna's house that has exercise equipment and a nice sidewalk all the way around the pond where the Hubbellets could ride their scooters till they were nearly done in by heat stroke. There were a bazillion turtles and lots of fish with a few ducks patrolling the perimeter. It took approximately 4 seconds for the Crane in the first picture to seek refuge on the other side of the water in advance of the approaching hoard.

P.S.

The girls used to call it "eckercise", I'm a bad speller, but....

Lights on for safety

Donna told us her headlights were dim and yellow before we came and asked if I could replace them.  Some co-workers told me about a headlight restoration kit that worked well, so we got one and that was one of my projects today. If you're wondering, all it takes to go from this:

To this:

Is a permanently immobilized shoulder, 10 sheets of 220 and 360 grit sandpaper, one beer and a genuine love for one's mother in law. 

Make that two beers......and some wine.

Tejas

We went to Washington on the Brazos yesterday, the "Birthplace of Texas."  There is a museum there that chronicles the history of Texas and it's like a whole other country, probably because it was a whole other country.   We visited the home of the last President of the Republic of Texas which is a working farm with people in period dress.  It was interesting to consider the Republic of Texas voted to be annexed by the United States after gaining independence from Mexico, and all that was in the mid 1800's.  It's a different place, no doubt, but now it makes more sense.

Lookin' Good...

We're pretty sure Ella is going to be a Rock n' Roll singer, but in her shades she kind of looks like a bounty hunter.  Either way, she's cute. 

Number 1 Fan

Morgan, if you're listening, you still have a long time adoring fan. She plays your songs over and over again. If you haven't guessed, it's Ella. During every song she asks, "Is he singing that to me?"  Yes Ella, he is singing to you. "Right here, is he singing that part to me?"  Yes Ella, that part too. It's the real deal, she's hooked. 

P.S.

She hopes you don't have a girlfriend....

Green Girl

So, Autumn is apparently going Green, but I prefer to think she is just trying to save us money. She hung the clothes up outside and posted this sign on the dryer.