Legend of the Tooth Fairy

While making the beds in Ethan and Caleb's room the other night, my Dada came across a Two Dollar bill, found under Ethan's pillow. He couldn't remember placing the money there and Ethan certainly wouldn't have forgotten it, so my Dada was left with something of a mystery. Later, while making his own bed, he came across the other item pictured below, which appears to be an official reprimand for failure to recover a lost tooth properly. So the mystery deepens! Who doesn't like a good mystery? And one about a tooth! How cool is that?! I hope Ethan loses another tooth soon. If Dada forgets again, it sounds like something really cool will happen. The whole thing is really quite fascinating, but I'll let my Dada tell you about it, since it's kinda his thing.


Evidence Item #1 - (Above) White paper on black approximately 7" x 8" with large black font printing and handwritten note.

Preliminary examination of the found document suggests the document is some kind of official warning or citation. Edges and middle have burn marks, perhaps in an attempt to disguise the origin of the paper or to remove physical evidence. Font is an unknown type-face, larger than average size, and printed in black ink. Paper appears to be a mass market product available at most office supply stores and is composed of 90% recycled material. The white page is glued to the black using, once again, a common 3M glue product available anywhere scrapbooking supplies are sold.


Evidence Item #1 (Cont'd) - Type-face identified as "BoogieWoogieHMKBold". Relatively new font style. Ink appears to be a HP product, less than six months old and most likely printed on a laser printer.


Evidence #1 (Cont'd) - Handwriting was done in black ball point ink from a medium tip pen. It appears to be the same type of ink used in most Bic products. Handwriting is also printed in all lowercase with some variation in the form suggesting this is not the suspect's normal method of writing. I also noticed what appears to be a typographical error with the word "IF". Unless it has some meaning I'm not aware of, I would think the word which should have been used was "OF".


Evidence Item #1 (Cont'd) - With the help of Super Glue, I was able to locate two fingerprints at the edges of the item and lift them. Unfortunately, running the prints through AFIS gave me no more of a lead than I had at the beginning of this thing.

Accompanying the "Official Notice" was the two dollar bill pictured below. It appears to be a genuine U.S. Two Dollar Federal Reserve Note.



Without any further evidence, I can only imagine the suspect to be none other than the Tooth Fairy or at the very least one of his minions. As hard as that is to swallow, the evidence does not prove otherwise.

How cool is that story?! Anyway, gotta run. Check ya later.

Hunter out.

The New Year

We started the new year out pretty great with the 2nd Annual Sleepover at the Roberts' Home. With Grandma and the Jacobs over, we had a full, and I mean full house. But it was all so much fun.



Okay, so the pictures don't really do the day or night justice, but we really did have a lot of fun. There was tons of food and games, not that I participated in any of that nonsense, but everyone else sure had fun with it. We watched movies, played with new toys, ate some more, all just to bring in the new year.

But as I lay my head down to sleep that night, way before anyone else except my cousin Lauren, I wondered what the new year would bring, what I hoped the new year would bring. Oh, the usual things popped into my head: have g-tube removed, try every flavor of ice cream at Cold Stone, make my Mama smile at least once a day, but isn't that what everyone puts on their Resolution List? Honestly, though, there's really only one thing I hope happens this year and it's sort of a family thing, something I know my Mama and Dada have really struggled to make happen, and that's making our family bigger by ONE. A baby brother or sister, doesn't matter which, would be best thing to happen to us in 2009. That's really all we want.

Hope it's a grand 2009, for you as well.

Hunter.

Holiday Quick-Look 2: Merry Christmas

Barely a week after turning three, we began our annual family Christmas traditions: three crazy days of eating, baking, singing, gifts, and more eating. Unfortunately, this year the family was plagued with a vomitous 24 hour flu bug as well. But we won't get into that. What made this holiday even more extra special was having my two older brothers, Ethan and Caleb, home for the holiday.

Christmas was a lot better for me this year. I kinda got into the whole opening of the presents thing, although I still had some apprehension about what might come out of the wrapping paper (post-penguin trauma I think is what my Dada called it). I think it also helped seeing my brothers get so excited about the whole ordeal. And then, once we'd unwrapped everything from under our tree, we went to grandma's house and did even more!!

I could go on and on, describing the three days of fun to you with pretty words, adjectives that bring tears to your eyes, and verbs that make your stomach drop like the Hollywood Tower of Terror, but then what would I need all these pictures for?

Christmas Eve is always fun cause we all get together for food, singing, and story-telling. Mama usually participates in the singing while Dada always has something creative he's written to read to us. Oh, and of course the older boys always find their way into Uncle Chris' room for some gaming time.




And there was the food. That big bowl of yummy pink stuff was made by my Mama. From what I gathered from the food-eating family members, it was the talk of the table.


After our Christmas Eve festivities, we all returned home for a nice winter nap with visions of sugarplums and candy canes, alright maybe not all that, but there was some sleeping that took place, at least on my part. I don't think my brothers slept a wink that night. Too excited for the Big Show!

We got things started with our stockings. They were stuffed full of all kinds of goodies.




And then we got to the good stuff!






Mama and Dada really pulled out all the stops, within reason of course, nothing super expensive or fancy, just the perfect gifts for each one of us. It was a whole lot of fun and then we got to go to Grandma's and do it all over again! Here's a look at the fun we had with Grandma.




And what was I up to while everyone else was out opening gifts from Grandma? Well, I was playing with one of mine, of course.


I hope everyone's Christmas was as smashing a good time as ours. I love my family, every one.

Holiday Quick-Look

So, things got kinda busy during our holiday season with my IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meeting with the Antioch School District, my brothers getting into town, and Dada going to a new work schedule. But, nonetheless, we managed to get some holiday festiveness into our blood. Here's a look at some of our Holiday Season Highlights.

We'll start with Thanksgiving. Not particularly a favorite holiday of mine, but Dada and Mama sure seem to like it. Not to mention all my cousins, uncles and aunts, and my Afaw (that's short for Grandma).


The kitchen got pretty crazy at my Uncle Jer and Aunt April's house where we all gathered for the Thanksgiving feasting. Everybody had something to do. My Thanksgiving feast was much easier to prepare and consume, thanks to my Mama. Yes, that's me in the picture below being tube fed Kid's Essentials Boost 1.5 with a taste of Nestle's Benecalorie added in for protein and calories.


Next, would be Grandma, slaving over a hot pan full of sausage and bread crumbs. That stuffing mix is a coveted favorite at the dinner table and no body makes it like my Grandma.


And how did my family contribute to the feast? Well, my Dada spent the night before cooking up these babies. Pie. Two pumpkin and one cherry. The crust, he made from scratch, of course, just like his Dada taught him and like he'll teach me some day.


A couple weeks after Thanksgiving, it was time to celebrate my birthday, my third birthday. Yes, I am one, two, EEEE years old! Most of my birthday celebration involved penguins, my all time favorite animal, except for maybe when they're LIFE-SIZED and LIFE-LIKE!


This was a penguin book I got from the Jacob's family. It's a very cool book with soft, fuzzy penguins on the pages.


Then there was this giant surprise from my Uncle Chris. If you look closely, you can see Mama trying to show me what was in the wrapping paper, but I already knew and wanted it back in the wrapping paper! The life-sized, fluffy penguin scared the heebeegeebies out of me, prompting this comment from my Uncle Chris "That's not exactly the reaction I was expecting." I eventually warmed up to massive furball and we now are able to co-exist quite happily in the same home.


I also got some more, kid-friendly sized penguins from my Uncle Chris which took me no time at all to get comfortable with. Grandma and my folks also chipped in on some pretty cool stuff, but for some reason I couldn't find any pictures for those particular items before going to post. I'll have to keep lookin'.

Wow. My quick-look at our holiday season has turned into a bit of a project, so I think I'll break this thing up a bit and give it to you in more manageable sizes. But before I go, I thought I'd give you another look at that giant penguin and how we're getting along.


Of course, what you don't see is me puttin' the smackdown on my furry friend just after this picture was taken. Check back for more soon. Hunter 10-10.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium

As a part of our Carmel Valley Getaway, we often go to Cannery Row in Monterey. It's quite the street with loads of shops like the Rip Squeak Showroom (one of our favorite), the Ghirradeli Ice Cream Parlor, and of course the Aquarium. My Dada loves the Aquarium and all its cool ocean wildlife.

Everyone that heard we were going to the Aquarium thought I would just have the most excellent time there. I love penguins and whales and dolphins and water, so who would've known I would want nothing to do with the inside of that building. So we spent fifty bucks and about thirty minutes out on the observation deck before leaving to go back down Cannery Row. Here's a look at us on the observation deck, which had a pretty amazing view of Monterey Bay.





This place really was pretty cool. The open-sea tidal pool had all kinds of underwater life you could look down on and they had this awesome raised tidal pool where actual seawater would come rushing in and you could watch what happened in the pool with each wave. I found this area soothing, but didn't enjoy it as much as I would have normally because I knew lurking somewhere inside the building close by, there were hoards of screaming, obnoxious children I wanted no contact with. Anyway, here's a look at some of the wildlife we got to see.


You'll have to look close at the pic above to find the wildlife (other than the sea birds), but scattered about this rock outcropping are five or six seals. You can see one, the white spec at far right side of the rock, and the smaller rock out-cropping even further to the right, see how it looks sort of rounded. That's a seal as well. The others are pretty hidden, at least inthe picture. Maybe Mama will got Dada a camera like my Uncle Chris someday when life doesn't cost so much. On with the wildlife pics!



That last picture is of the open-sea tidal pool. The water was crystal clear and you could see a lot more than you can in the picture, but I can tell you everywhere you see a spec of orange, that's a STARFISH! Seriously, dudes! Way cool!


Mama and Dada finally got the courage to force me indoors, thinking that maybe a look at my most favorite animal in the whole world might get me interested in some of the other super cool secrets I hadn't yet discovered. I gave the penguins about two seconds before yanking Mama and Dada into the nearby giftshop where I found comfort with all the books and lifeless animal replicas. I'm sorry flightless bird friends, maybe next time. Alright, so that does it for the animal wildlife. Time to wrap this visit up with some of my favorite pics of the day.






So that concluded our Carmel Valley/Monterey trip. This is by far my most favorite vacation spot. Hope we get to go back soon. Choa for now, my peeps.

Hunter. Oh, and Merry Christmas!!

Carmel Valley Ranch Getaway

We celebrated Mama's birthday down south at Carmel Valley Ranch, one of our favorite places to go when we wanna just getaway for a few days. The condos are perched high up on the hillside overlooking the valley, and it's quite a view with wildlife always around (mostly deer and wild turkeys). Steelhead run the river that winds through the bottom of the valley and the beach isn't too far away. Oh, and of course there's room service (not that food is something I get all that excited about).

So here's a look at our weekend away from therapy and tutors and work and doctor's appointments. Here's us just having some fun. Okay, so I decided to start with a pic of some of the wildlife. There are lots of deer wandering the ranch but Mama wouldn't let me get out and chase them with Dada. She said something about him being crazy if he thought he would be able to ride one.


Other than some shopping and a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (which I'll cover in my next entry), this little organic growers market turned out to be the most fun of all.




And while I'd never seen so many wild, crazy-colored organic squashes in one place, the Secret Garden was the area that was hard for me to leave behind at the end of our chilly visit. Here are some of the pics my Dada got while we ran around in the garden.






There was a corn maze that had just been plowed back into the earth, but the giant TeePee was pretty cool. I really like being outside, outdoors, even when it's a bit on the cool side. It was an excellent trip. Hopefully, we'll get to go back soon.


Chat with you again soon, Hunter.