New Red Pup

Meet "Swimmer". She is the new addition to our family. She is part "fox red" Lab and part Vizsla. She was born October 30th. She is a little over 8 weeks now. She and Gavin are very fond of each other.

Future Olympian

Tonight I got home from work and Amber was snoozing before work, so Gavin was quasi-babysitting himself. He loves the interactive bike he got for Christmas and had it plugged into the TV. He was pedaling away when I walked in the door and the screen was zooming along as if he were riding down a road. I noticed his hands weren't on the handlebars, but didn't think much of it.

I put down my bag and walked up behind him and asked, "what ya up to, bud?"

He hadn't realized I was home until that instant, but his answer was this beautifully honest, guilt free, self confident statement of fact. As he swung around and flashed a cheesy grin he announced, "I'm riding my bike with Cheetos."

He saw nothing odd about exercising with a bag of Cheetos in your hands and I'm glad. The concept of irony can wait.

...Heck, Elanis Morisett is over 40 and she still doesn't get it.

Gabrito, hold the beans please.

We went out for Mexican food last night to celebrate Mother's Day. Gavin wanted to go to Cabo, Mexico, but we decided El Cazador Restaraunt in Burlington was close enough. He got a chicken "gabrito" which came with rice and beans. Gav dug into the refried beans and, pleased with the flavor, asked Amber how they were made.

Amber chose to give him the Bill Oehlman explanation... "Well, it all started with the Mayan belief that the sun was an angry god..." (OK, not quite that Bill Oehlmany.) But she did start by telling him beans are plants that grow in a field. Men pick them and put them in a big pot. "Then they fill the pot with salt and water and boil the beans for a loooong time. When the beans get soft, they drain the water..." blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The explanation went on for at least ten minutes. She ended with, "they fry them again, scoop them out of the pan and put them on your plate, and that's how they make the beans."


By this time, Gavin's eyes had glassed over and he appeared to be in a modest trance. "Wow, mom," he said, blinking himself back to consciousness, "that sure was a lot of words."

When they're small...

A while back Gavin and I were at the office looking at animals on the computer, discussing what they eat, where they live, are they dangerous, etc.

Gavin asked me what snakes like to eat I and replied "mice." He then informed that Spike and IBK also like to eat mice and that "when they're small they're delicious."

An Extra Puka

Two nights ago we sent Gavin to put on his Jammies before bedtime. He headed into his room and we could hear him shuffling drawers and talking to himself in a productive manner. A few minutes later he appeared back in the living room wearing two snug-fitting Jammy tops. One was correctly adorned as a top, but the second one was pulled up and bunched around his waste as bottoms. He had one leg through a sleeve and the other through the neck hole.

Foolishly, I decided to point out the mistake. "Gavin," I said, "I don't think those are Jammy pants."

"Yes they are," he responded.

Not one to loose an argument, I pointed to the unused sleeve and asked, "...then what's that?"

He looked down and for a moment I caught that "I never noticed that before" look in his eye, but he quickly recovered and decided to play through. "Well, dad." he paused to think, and he reached down with the other hand and reefed the sleeve past the neck hole, (serving as a pant leg) and brought it front and center, "that is the puka."

PUKA (poo-kuh) is the Hawaiian word for a hole that goes all the way through. It is a part of Gramma Barber's daily vocabulary which he picked up somewhere along the way.

Gavin called me today to ask when I was coming home. We have two days left before a big trade-show, so unfortunately my answer was, "Sorry buddy, but I have to stay late."
He got really bummed and asked, "why?"
"Oh, dude, I just have so much work to do." I replied.
His little mind didn't miss a beat and in classic management style he declared, "Well, dad... maybe KaKa could do all the work.

I love the way he thinks.

Try Again Gramma

Spring Break was a terrific week for GrammaBarber! I got to come up to your house, Gavin, and spend lots of quality time with you! We had such fun!We played "make a fort", trucks, tinker-toys, and then we played outside! That was the first hour I was there. The second hour went a little slower.

When the rain stopped for a little while, we dragged out the big blue hose , and made a line in the grass to kick the yellow ball across. The wind was blowing VERY strong, from the west, and that wind was in my face. So, when we played kick the ball across the line, GrammaBarber had a little bit of trouble, what with the STRONG wind and all. But you were gracious, and very encouraging. You would stand on your side of the blue hose, patiently waiting for GrammaBarber to get her act together, and kick the ball further than 6 feet. You encouraged her with shouted phrases: "Try again, Gramma"..."You can do it this time, Gramma!!" " Almost" "Good try!"

Words to live by, uttered by a three year old!

Then, later in the week, I watched while you played ball with your daddy and the goats.. and I can see why you are such a good little ball player!

Love you very, very much Gavin. Hope you come to see me at the "big house in Vancouver" very soon!

Love, GrammaBarber

Here is your new cousin, Tyler!

Hey! Gavin! It looked like you and Willow had such a wonderful time looking at Tulips and going to the park! Grandpa and I looooovvvvveeee Tulip festival time! We want to share your new cousin. Uncle Dave and Auntie Christie have a brand-new little baby boy. His name is Tyler Kadin Oehlman and he is one week old today. Ask mommy to show you your picture when you were just a week old. This is Tyler on the day he was born. He weighted 9lbs 2oz and was 21 inches long. He has gobs of hair! (He looks a lot like your grandpa Oehlman when he was a baby.) Babies can be funny that way. We see the links and smiles that join our families together through your eyes and chins and noses. It's lots of fun and makes grammys smile deep down inside their hearts. We love you, Gavin. We know you will love baby Tyler too.

Grammy Pam

A Day With Willow

It was a fun day for Gavin and Willow yesterday. Giggles galore! A trip to muddy Tulip Town was first on the agenda. (Of course, I had envisioned these beautiful mud-free portraits of the two of them posing in front of abundant colorful tulips. Uhhh. Are ya' sure it's Spring?)

We only found three rows out of 400 in bloom. Gavin face planted in the mud four times. On the final fall he managed to take me down with him. Yes, it was graceful. I found mud in places I hadn't yet discovered. Enough said. We were caked in mud. Willow escaped the falls by sheer luck. Lord knows why. The kids were troopers. Good thing we were wearing boots.

After the muddy trek we ventured back inside where they got their faces painted. Willow wanted a pink butterfly and Gavin wanted a monster truck. We left to refuel and stopped at The Mexico Cafe. (I'm sorry to the employee that has to clean the muddy bathroom. I had no idea he could get dried mud to stick like that.) They ate a great lunch while I read them two stories. They proudly showed off their painted cheeks to anyone that passed our table.

We moved on to the park after lunch. Willow pushed Gavin in the swing and soon both rediscovered the slide. What a great day. They sure do love each other!!!

For Grammers

I dedicate this story to my Grandmother:

Gavin and I were trying to get ready for Willow's Birthday party this afternoon and, as is his custom, Gavin was taking forever. He was easily distracted and refused to stay on task. After about half an hour of patient prodding I finally let out a groan of resigned frustration.

UUUGGGGGH!

Gavin stopped, spun around, assumed his fist-in-the-air Superman pose and shouted, "ALCOHOL TO THE RESCUE!" as he ran across the living room.


I'm not sure where he got it or what it says about us as parents, but I had to laugh out loud. All I could think was, "It sounds like a punchline to a story Grammers would have told from her piano."

Piece of Candy

The other night Amber told Gavin he could have one piece of Easter candy after he finished his dinner.

He stuffed everything in his mouth and announced he was done.

Amber said, "OK, you can have one piece. What do you want."

He thought for a second and replied, "The Chocolate Bunny."

...This is where parenting gets less easy: While technically a 1/2 LB chocolate easter bunny is 0NE piece of candy, we had to engage in a precedent-setting legal battle to amend the court's definition of a "piece" of candy. After a lengthy debate, the proceedings ended with a hung jury, lots of tears, and one party going to bed early.

By order of the court, the bunny was later dropped on the kitchen floor, breaking it into hundreds of pieces and effectively preventing future litigation... or so we hope.

Hello from California!

Hey! The entire Oehlman Clan is thrilled to see the Gavinator's spiffy blog! Way to move into web2.0 in style! Fourth of July just can't come fast enough. We've booked our tickets, we are coming. Gav, you are going to have a new baby cousin on Friday! Tyler Oehlman is on his way. Will send pictures asap. We love you all!!
Gramma Pam

Hello Family

Hey everybody,

Paddle Hands has been a little hit and miss lately so we've decided to try Blogger. I think you'll find it a little easier to use and a lot more dependable. There are also a lot of cool features like videos, surveys, and other stuff. Now anyone can add pictures and video.

<<<--- Click photo to enlarge

Anyway, you'll see. Please bookmark this page, because this is Gav's new Spot.