...And He's Single

The stats are in ladies. Yes, I'm talking to you Amelia, Abby and Lily. You better strike now while the iron's hot 'cause this hunka hunka burnin love won't stay single for long.

If you like an average sized guy, you are in luck. Weighing in at a whopping 20lbs and 28 inches long, he's just the right size. And with an 18 1/2 in. head circumference, his head is proportionate to his body. No bobble heads here.

And just look at that profile ladies. It shows off how nicely rounded his cheeks are. Lots of pinchability on those suckers. Pinch away ladies, pinch away.

His pastimes include annoying his brother, pulling himself up on furniture and walking along it, perfecting his army crawl, babbling, clapping his hands, and as of late, crying himself to sleep. He's a mature man, with mature tastes. Finger foods is what pleases this guy. Baby food is so two months ago.

Sporting a fauxhawk and old man sideburns makes him simply irresistible. Catch him while you still have the chance.

Ummm....Hello?

I know it's been a while, but in my defense, I'm lazy. So, to the three readers I have, you should know I'm lazy and have very low expectations of me.

That being said, I thought I'd catch up on the last couple of months. It seems we've become quite the nomadic family traveling here and there and everywhere lately. (Maybe I should have used traveling as my excuse for not blogging?) Anyway, in March I took the boys to visit my family in Pocatello while Chris continued to trudge through busy season. He happened to be in North Dakota the same time all the flooding and evacuations were happening. Lucky. Sam got to spend some quality time with his cousin Carter, and it was awesome. It seemed almost every minute of every day was like WWE Smackdown with those two. One minute Sam would be sitting on top of Carter just pinning him down. The next minute Carter has Sam in a headlock. Despite their odd way of showing affection to one another, they did manage to have some good times together. We spent a lot of time at the mall, at Wal-Mart, and eating ice cream. It don't get any better than that.

Testing gravity

Naked Cooking

Four kids, one bath...not such a good idea

One of the "nice" moments before it turns ugly.

Perusing the aisles of Wally World

"wear my sunglasses at night, so I can, so I can...."

Chris flew from North Dakota to Pocatello and we drove back to Spokane together. We got caught in the worst snow storm. I didn't get any pictures, but if you close your eyes and picture white, that's what it was like. Luckily for us, we were in a caravan since everyone was going so slow. When we drive to and from Pocatello/Spokane, we usually do it in 3 segments. Pocatello to Dillon, MT; Dillon to Missoula; and Missoula to Spokane. Each segment takes about 3 hours. It took us 7 hours to get from Pocatello to Dillon. The funny thing is that when we got to Dillon, the weather cleared up and the roads were totally fine. So, like the fools we are, we decided to keep going. And the weather turned bad again. We ended up stopping in Butte to stay the night. Oh good times, good times. I wish I could do that all over again with two little kids.

Moving on.

Chris was scheduled to be on a client the first week of April in Eatonville, WA. The boys and I decided to tag along. It was a tiny town, about 20 minutes from Yelm, if anyone knows where that is. The whole "city" downtown area is about two blocks. We walked everywhere we went. It was so much fun though. The boys and I went to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma and the Northwest Trek in Eatonville.

After spending a week at home, we headed off to our old stomping grounds of Seattle. Sniff. I miss it already. Anywho, we spent many a day at the parks, zoo, and the Interurban trail. We did go to a Sounders game and had a blast. The only thing I know about soccer is that they run a lot and hardly score, so it says a lot if I had a good time. We dragged Chris's brother and his wife with us too. Before the game though, had dinner at Ivars downtown. Sam was beside himself excited by all the birds. I think I managed to get a few bites of my food in before Sam fed it all to them.

I think that's it for now. We're home for two weeks and then off to Pocatello for a week. We are such jetsetters.

For Jill

My sister-in-law has been asking for family pictures, and I have yet to send her any. I'm working on getting an appointment for some professional pictures taken, but in the meantime, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Sam dressing up for the cold deep snow outside.

Posing for the camera.

Charlie eating carrots. This kid will eat anything!

Showing off his chubby legs. I love how fat they are.

Trying to get the camera.

Charlie just hanging out with his Uncle Mike.

Just trying to get those cute feet into his mouth.

I think Sam almost looks like that kid from A Christmas Story. Some people say he looks like Dennis the Menace.

This was taken on Christmas Eve. Sam decided to bring me every present from under the tree.

Opening presents on Christmas Day.

Gettin' Busy

Now that the holidays are over, the Skidmore family is entering into a period of time that is commonly referred to as the "Busy Season". I know what you're thinking, and I wish you were correct; unfortunately, it aint not that kind of gettin' busy.


Rather it's the time of year when I and my fellow CPAs retire to our nerderies only to emerge in late April, pale, malnurished, but no longer busy. It is the time of year when we call to action our 10-key skills and our spreadsheet skills and are forced to interact with other humans.

Some accountants refer to this time of year as the "harvest season", but those accountants are usually the accounting firm owners. For them this time is, in fact, the period of time when they bring in around 75% of their annual income. That is great for them, I am very happy for them. But for me and others like me, this is the time of year when our hourly rate gets dangerously close to that of minimum wage: we get paid the same, but work twice as much. This is the time of year when free time is sparce and usually reserved for laundry, paying bills, conjugal visits and other maintenance related tasks. This is the time of year when my caffeinated soda consumption spikes and shut-eye time dives. This is the time of year when my wife wonders (more often than she normally does), why she married a CPA.

We take some solice in that January is nearly over and only 3 months remain of this craziness. In the meantime we are going to try to pace ourselves and get through this busy season and, when we can, enjoy a few quite moments. Who knows...maybe in a few more years we can begin to call this time our harvest season, but until then its all about just getting busy.

Winter Wonderland

This is what is out of our window right now. I think it's close to two feet of snow. The snow on the deck comes up to my mid-thigh. I don't remember the last time I've seen weather like this. The really funny thing is that Chris is in Alaska right now. He had to go to Alaska of all places to get to better weather! He's supposed to come home tonight, but we'll see if he makes it. I'm completely unprepared for weather like this either. I'm used to the rainy winters of Seattle. Why did I ever complain about the rain? I need to buy some snow boots and gloves. If I can get out of our driveway, I'll have to do that.

Big Baby Buddha

Today was a big day for Charlie. He had his 4-month check up which also means he had to have some shots. I was a nervous wreck because I thought for sure he'd cry and cry. On the contrary, he cried for just a few seconds and was done. So here are his stats:

Weight: 18lbs 2oz (+95%)

Height: 25in (50%)

Charlie is rolling over like crazy, drools all over, and loves putting anything in his mouth. I gave him a candy cane the other day to play with, and somehow he got the packaging off. He was going at that thing like there was no tomorrow. So, he's had his first taste of sugar, and me thinks he liiiikes it.

I can't decide if Charlie reminds me of a little Buddha or Jabba the Hut in this picture. I also love his little man boobs.

Fun For The Whole Family

Sam always likes having someone play with him. He will literally grab shirt, pants or even a toe and say "play" or "play cars." He wants to include everyone during play time. This is especially true when it comes to playing with stickers. I know there are lots of types of therapy, such as physical therapy, retail therapy, and the ever popular shock therapy. For Sam, it seems to be sticker therapy and everyone gets to be the lucky recipients of his therapy. Hence the proof below.