The pictures will do the rest of the talking...
4.30.2011
shave and a haircut...
WARNING. These images are not for the faint of heart. George's hair was getting pretty shabby... and... like his dad and MANY Pulsipher men before him... went the way of the buzz cut. He looks so friggin cute.
The pictures will do the rest of the talking...
I love my little man.
The pictures will do the rest of the talking...
4.27.2011
4.24.2011
busy easter weekend
This may have been the busiest weekend of our entire marriage, and to that point Ashley could not have been happier. She has an insatiable appetite for adventure, events, fanfare, jubilation, sociality and good times. We had an impromptu, action packed itinerary this weekend that started off with an easter egg hunt.
Like most communities, Bozeman puts on an Easter egg hunt that is probably more akin to a food riot than it is an easter egg hunt. 50,000 eggs gone in 2 minutes. No joke. They separate the age groups, which is nice. You'd think that would mean that George would have a fighting chance to get some eggs... well... not exactly when he's competing against parents doing all of the "hunting" for their kids. The place was a zoo.
We were all smiles after the event. I'd reckon that George's sugar-intake this weekend rivaled any of his young 2 years of living. The little man sure has a sweet tooth.
After the toddler mosh-pit egg hunt we hit up the bouncy castles. George had a pretty fun time, despite being the youngest one in the castle and who's trajectory was heavily altered by older patrons of said castle.
Later in the afternoon, we dyed our hands easter eggs. Ashley made a brilliant call and decided to take operation egg dye outside. The weather was absolutely heavenly, and as I told anyone who would listen, was probably "the best weather we've had this year." It was gorgeous.
Here's a cute picture of Ashley. She was the mastermind behind most of the fun this weekend everything went off without a hitch... well... except one...
George wasn't really interested in using the flimsy little dipper sticks and opted for the more direct approach, his hand. Exposure of varying colors and times gave George's left hand a lovely Hulk/corpse type hue. It was absolutely lovely.
Following the sun pattern behind our house, we decided to stretch out the fun and get to work clearing our back yard so we could start our garden and begin phase one construction on our fire pit.
Did I mention how nice the weather was? It was so nice, that George and neighbor Jackson stripped off their duds and helped their Dads in the mud pit.
George contemplates the garden plans and ultimately decided that we should go with eggplant as opposed to summer squash.
George's vegetable preferences inevitably fell on deaf ears and was clearly perturbed at his father's plans to grow a field of poinsettias instead.
The next morning we did an easter egg hunt before church, just for Jackson and George. George was a big fan of the eggs. In fact, every time we transitioned him from his car seat (asleep) to his bed for nap time, the first words out of his mouth would be something to do with eggs or treats.
At one point George's enthusiasm for his egg collection led to a jubilant "shake" of his basket. Like many times in parenthood, the heavens were opened and I was given a vision of what was just about to happen.
BINGO - eggs everywhere.
Like most communities, Bozeman puts on an Easter egg hunt that is probably more akin to a food riot than it is an easter egg hunt. 50,000 eggs gone in 2 minutes. No joke. They separate the age groups, which is nice. You'd think that would mean that George would have a fighting chance to get some eggs... well... not exactly when he's competing against parents doing all of the "hunting" for their kids. The place was a zoo.
George was holding his own... ok. Between the mob of egg-hungry helicopter parents George was able to get about 10 eggs. He was pleased with his effort, but as you can see in the next image the competition was pretty stiff.
This shot perfectly captures the insanity of the event. A random mom almost clocked George in the head with a basket that is now close to weighing more than her child because of the amount of eggs she had procured on behalf of her child. Totally nuts. I don't know if I ever want to do something like this again. Community events perfectly exemplify the economic principle dubbed the tragedy of the commons. People get crazy when something is being given away for free. Even if they are plastic eggs with abnormally sized lemon heads in them. Our private hunt with the neighbors was much more enjoyable.
As soon as it started, it was over. You can see George's bewilderment in what just transpired. It was truly a sight to see. One minute there's a mob, the next George is left to reflect on his narrow escape from blunt force trauma to the head.
Lest you think I'm exaggerating the mania, I put together a panorama of the event just after the crowd had reached its peak in activity. Click to enlarge!
Following the sun pattern behind our house, we decided to stretch out the fun and get to work clearing our back yard so we could start our garden and begin phase one construction on our fire pit.
A little rushed to head out the door to church, but we had just enough time to take a family picture. The boys were in matching pink shirts. It was a great easter weekend and a lot of fun. We are exhausted. We hope you all had a great weekend as well.
4.21.2011
Spring?
Due to the weird weather of Montana's spring, George and I have kept busy painting, making bread and dreaming of warm weather. I have vowed to not step foot inside our home during the summer-- we can't wait for the sun!
4.11.2011
4.10.2011
4.04.2011
bird watching
Some of you may not be aware (which would be rare because I brag about this all the time), but one summer before graduate school I had a pretty awesome job. I built birdhouses and bird feeders out of recycled, re-used, and reclaimed projects. It was so much fun. My first day on the job I built my own work desk. One day I was looking through all the loot my boss had, and noticed that he had quite a stack of old license plates. As I skimmed through them, I found a particularly handsome with my birth state on it. I asked him if I could use it to build a bird feeder. He said "sure." Up to this point, we hadn't built any bird feeders with license plates, only bird houses (we were using them for roofs).
So the wheels started spinning and I put together this proprietary design. It's made with some plywood, copper trim, and the bottom of an old wine bottle for the top. Quite an ingenious design if I do say so myself.
So I've been trucking this thing around with me for the past six years, with nary a minute in the real world to see how my design actually works. Now that George is becoming more and more fascinated with the outside world and wildlife, I figured this would be a perfect time to test this baby out. With a quick trip to the crawl space and pet store (for bird seed), the feeder was ready to go! As soon as it was up I kind of expected it to be crawling with birds... I mean c'mon birds, it's like a Furr's up in here.
(quick side note. Once me and my brothers begged my parents to take us to Furr's for dinner. I think they were shocked at our request, but happily obliged. The thought of being able to stuff our faces with all the food we could handle was too good to pass up. Keep in mind, this was in the early days of all-you-can-eat-buffets, so we didn't really know what to expect. When we got there, it was like being a time warp. We were the only people below 70, no question. Kind of weird smells from the food and patrons. We didn't go back...)
So George and I spent a few minutes picking out the perfect spot on our back porch, and I think you'll agree we found the ideal location.
I don't know how birds get the word out (twitter?) that there's a very anxious, family of nascent bird watchers providing a smorgasboard grub out there... but I'm hoping that all the birds in the know start telling their friends about our generous spread.
After an hour or so, 6-10 birds started coming out. They were very cautious, and any movement by George or I (behind a glass door) sent them away rather quickly. It would take about ten minutes before they'd come back. They are cautious little stinkers!
It's pretty fun being so close to these little guys. You think those small birds that you see frequently are just boring old gray birds. But up close, they really have some brilliant coloring. We are VERY excited to see what kind of visitors come our way and take advantage of our generosity.
That goes for both visitors of the avian and human variety. Come one, come all! Any of you have experience with bird watching, feeding, tending? I'd love to hear your experiences. I think my only prior experience to this was making a bird feeder with a ear of corn and peanut butter in 2nd grade, and wanting to eat the peanut butter really bad.
So the wheels started spinning and I put together this proprietary design. It's made with some plywood, copper trim, and the bottom of an old wine bottle for the top. Quite an ingenious design if I do say so myself.
So I've been trucking this thing around with me for the past six years, with nary a minute in the real world to see how my design actually works. Now that George is becoming more and more fascinated with the outside world and wildlife, I figured this would be a perfect time to test this baby out. With a quick trip to the crawl space and pet store (for bird seed), the feeder was ready to go! As soon as it was up I kind of expected it to be crawling with birds... I mean c'mon birds, it's like a Furr's up in here.
(quick side note. Once me and my brothers begged my parents to take us to Furr's for dinner. I think they were shocked at our request, but happily obliged. The thought of being able to stuff our faces with all the food we could handle was too good to pass up. Keep in mind, this was in the early days of all-you-can-eat-buffets, so we didn't really know what to expect. When we got there, it was like being a time warp. We were the only people below 70, no question. Kind of weird smells from the food and patrons. We didn't go back...)
So George and I spent a few minutes picking out the perfect spot on our back porch, and I think you'll agree we found the ideal location.
I don't know how birds get the word out (twitter?) that there's a very anxious, family of nascent bird watchers providing a smorgasboard grub out there... but I'm hoping that all the birds in the know start telling their friends about our generous spread.
After an hour or so, 6-10 birds started coming out. They were very cautious, and any movement by George or I (behind a glass door) sent them away rather quickly. It would take about ten minutes before they'd come back. They are cautious little stinkers!
That goes for both visitors of the avian and human variety. Come one, come all! Any of you have experience with bird watching, feeding, tending? I'd love to hear your experiences. I think my only prior experience to this was making a bird feeder with a ear of corn and peanut butter in 2nd grade, and wanting to eat the peanut butter really bad.
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