Congratulations, Ron! YesterdayToday my brother successfully defended his dissertation. I wonder what he’ll do now with all of his spare time?

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So, are you reading this? Comments are welcomed

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We’ve been taking so many pictures that it’s hard to easily organize them. Therefore, all I can say is that you’ll have to check our photo account or the sidebar on the right to view our expanding collection.

Here are a few pictures from the latest photo shoot. Mommy decided that she would make the girls’ hair as messy as possible.

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I had just finished feeding the girls when out of the corner of my eye I saw a pair of squirrels acting crazy. Mating ritual? Rabies? Who knows. I just wish I had acted sooner because there was so much funny footage I missed.

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You think you hate email? If you haven’t noticed, this site has gotten hit with major comment spam over the last few weeks. I’ve tried to stay on top of it, but this weekend things spiraled out of control. At last check, I see over 250 500+ spam messages filling in the comment areas of this site.

So, for a brief moment I will be turning off the ability to submit comments to the site - at least until I have a moment to upgrade the technology used on this site. Thanks for your patience - and sorry if you read any comments soliciting for you to buy some fun drug or asking you to gamble…

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Well, Dad and Emily got sick, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that everyone else is spared. For Dad, he was struck with a 24 hour fever. He returned to work, but then was stuck with a second wave of a fever, this time accompanied with severe congestion. Emily got hit with the same. We’re hoping the worst is over.

Over the last few weeks we’ve moved from straight formula feeding to introducing rice and oatmeal cereal. That has helped dampen their appetites, so they do not have to feed quite so much. Today Mom introduced vegetables - peas - and both girls loved them! Let’s see if the same is true for spinach!

Another first today - Mom determined that Isabel is starting to teethe! She’s been more irritable and has been drooling more, but today Mom could feel some razor-sharp niblet working its way out.

I will post some pics of Easter soon - I’ve been a bit lazy in my posting ever since coming down with my illness.

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No, we did not have quintuplets, but I could not help but pass this along - it will keep you laughing! I know my goal in life is to keep my girls laughing like this

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Well, it seems we may be stifling the development of our little girls by letting them sit around all day, pooping, feeding, and sleeping. How lazy is that? Recent news indicates that “the capacity for altruism emerges as early as 18 months of age.” I think we can leverage this in our favor. The article goes on to say:

“Psychology researcher Felix Warneken performed a series of ordinary tasks in front of toddlers, such as hanging towels with clothespins or stacking books. Sometimes he “struggled” with the tasks; sometimes he deliberately messed up.

Over and over, whether Warneken dropped clothespins or knocked over his books, each of 24 toddlers offered help within seconds — but only if he appeared to need it. Video shows how one overall-clad baby glanced between Warneken’s face and the dropped clothespin before quickly crawling over, grabbing the object, pushing up to his feet and eagerly handing back the pin.

Warneken never asked for the help and didn’t even say “thank you,” so as not to taint the research by training youngsters to expect praise if they helped. After all, altruism means helping with no expectation of anything in return.

And — this is key — the toddlers didn’t bother to offer help when he deliberately pulled a book off the stack or threw a pin to the floor, Warneken, of Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology, reports Thursday in the journal Science.

To be altruistic, babies must have the cognitive ability to understand other people’s goals plus possess what Warneken calls “pro-social motivation,” a desire to be part of their community.”

Okay, so somehow I need to show the girls how much I’m struggling with the yardwork. Perhaps I can play on this altruism thing.

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I think I found my new fashion statement. If ever you want to know what I like to eat, I’ll be wearing it…

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Okay, so this post is not about family, but it certainly will brighten your day. I usually never get choked up or get chills, except for the occasional sports movie like Field of Dreams, Hoosiers, or Rudy. However, this real life story might beat them all. I think a movie will be made of this one…

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