Some Favorite Blogs

I am thrilled with all our blogging activity; thank you to everyone for participating and for taking the time to write and to post pictures. I am really enjoying hearing from all of you like this; I hope you are all enjoying it too.

I'm sure this is obvious, but I have a fascination with blogs and I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you. Actually, I only read three regularly, and I don't even read them very often, but here they are:

Elizabeth Foss, a home schooling mom of nine, got me started on blog reading.
She also has a column in the Arlington Catholic Herald and has written a few books.

I also LOVE Conversion Diary. Jennifer Fulwiler always makes me laugh. She is also writing a book about her conversion story, from atheism to Catholicism, and I think she is now a regular contributor to Envoy. This is one of my favorite posts....

Lastly, Shower of Roses is a really nice blog because Jessica includes so many beautiful pictures and has lots of great ideas for celebrating the liturgical year.

Do any of you have a favorite blog (or blogs)? Do any of you have your own blog? Please share.

Our New Dog

By now I'm sure everyone know that we have a new dog. She's exactly what Ellie was looking for as a competition dog. However she is still adjusting to living with a family with small boys. She came from a show home and had minimal socialization and is nervous around new people, especially men and children.


I think with careful training and good socialization she will become a great family dog. She has already accepted the rough play of Joseph and Anthony and will now let Matt approach her. However I don't think she will ever be as nice as Sugar, our Human Society Rescue.

Just a Reminder

I hope this is readable. I just screen printed it.

Backyard Projects

Andrew has been hard at work everyday with some project in the back yard, whether it is installing a new pre-hung door to the garage, puting up an exercise bar between two trees, removing stumps, laying mulch, tearing up the back deck, digging out the ground for a new patio, fixing his boat trailer, or fixing the fence after having three trees taken down.

Philip has been loving playing outside with daddy all day and getting terribly dirty as well. I guess that is what little boys are supposed to do, though! Here are some back yard views:

L'Chaim

Hello family, not only is this my first attempt to post on this blog, it's my first to ever blog from a smart phone. Sorry if anything doesn't turn out.

Recently Tristan and I have been trying to eat healthier, but also, more interesting foods. For dinner yesterday, Tristan made a kind of salad called Nicoise. It had boiled eggs, green beens, potatoes, tomatoes, feta cheese, and kalimata olives. Quite tasty!


We're also trying to eat a lot more fruit, as I'm sure you can see!

Test

If you read this blog, please leave a comment :)
(Just a test to see if anyone reads The Boyd Family Blog.)

Let me clarify...

I made a hasty and impulsive decision to get some cats; adult cats from a home with no kids. Below is a note I wrote for Paul so that he could know what to say to the lady who gave them to us when he calls her.

No Pets at the Smith Home

Hi Ana,

We’re very sorry but the Kitties are not working out here.

They were very aggressive with us last night and even went after us a couple of times.

We are not comfortable having them around our kids and especially our baby.

Do you want them back?

We would be happy to bring them back to you but we can’t even get close them. We could try to get them into a box .

We can be somewhat flexible if you can’t come today.

Thank you so much for driving all the way out here to bring them to us; I am so sorry it’s not working out.

Thank you, Good bye.

As promised, here are some pictures of where Elizabeth and I are living. The brightness is a little off in some of the pictures--sorry.

Here is what you see when you walk in. Mom and Dad might notice the fish tank is different--we upgraded and I built the stand and built the (LED!) light for it. The kitchen is off to the right in this photo:

Turning to the right you see the kitchen:

Once in the kitchen, looking to the left towards the front door (and bar stools):

Turning ninety degrees to the right you see the second half wall of the kitchen, into the living room. Notice the chic magnetic knife bars.

Then we have two pictures of the living room: Fish tank & Fireplace combo, and then our couch. I don't have a computer desk, so the coffee table works. In fact, I'm using that coffee table to prop my feet up right now.

I'll withhold a picture of the bathroom--not that it's dirty, it's just fairly unremarkable. That's pretty much it, except for the bedroom, which features little more than a closet and an uber-cushy craigslist bed. In fact, everything in the apartment came from craigslist! One of Dallas' perks is its excellent craigslist, man-o-man do I love it!

Best,

T

I took some pictures last night of the apartment where Elizabeth and I are living; I'll try to post them later this afternoon.

In other news, the Barton Family recently visited the Dallas branch of the Boyds, and we had a great time. They arrived Wednesday night, and left in the afternoon of the following Monday. We took them all around Dallas, though my favorite destinations were the Dallas Zoo (where we fed giraffes--it was quite neat--), and of course, playing pool during happy hour. Here's a picture of Elizabeth cleaning house:

Choo Choo Train

Our neighbor gave us a train that he had in his garage. The battery didn't work to make it go around the track, but Philip liked sitting on it anyway. You will see he even left teddy bear behind to play with.

Daniel's First Post

Hello everyone,

I don't have much worth writing about right now, but I do have a few funny pictures that I can put up from school, our trip to Toronto, and one cool picture of St. Michael.

This first one is from homecoming week. Each day of the week had a different theme that the students, faculty, and staff could join in, and this photo is from nerd day. I didn't actually plan to

dress like a nerd, I just borrowed a pair of thick rimmed glasses from a student, and then pulled my pants up. I guess I just naturally dress 60% nerdy anyway...

This next picture is of a Tobacco shop in a grocery store in Toronto. When Regina and I saw it we thought it was funny, because there was always talk about starting a Christian Cigar club at UCF, and calling it, "Holy Smokes." The club never got off the ground, but the concept stayed around to be used in jokes and references to the good old days. We never thought we would find a tobacco store actually called, "Holy Smokes."
Take a look....

Finally, below is one of the coolest images of St. Michael the archangel that I have ever seen. I remember hearing someone complain once that every picture of St. Michael makes him look like a ballerina, with a skirt, dainty little sword pinning a weak looking devil down, and usually pale, clammy looking skin. This one however, makes him look like a warrior.

That is all for now. Regina and I love everyone, and are excited to see you soon!

P.s. All of these pictures were taken with a 3.o MP cell phone camera (except of course, the one of St. Michael. I didn't take that one ;-) ).

Grandpa's first post

Good morning family:

The weather is turning cold here in Orlando. 42 friday night, and 49 last night.

We are settling in after the long vacation and getting caught up on everything.

God Bless you all
Grandpa

What Thomas Bought with His Birthday Money

Thomas got some birthday money from Mom and also from Grandpa and this is what he got:

I am sure you can see the Construction hat, goggles and vest, but he is also holding a little lego knight set. It came with three knights, a horse, and a buggy. He really liked everything and picked it out himself at "the present store".

I was very excited for him that he got to go there, because a while back he asked me if, for his birthday, he could go to "the present store" and pick something out. So we went yesterday and the boys had a great time looking at all the toys.

He has been wearing the Construction Worker costume ever since he got home. We require him to take it off when he goes to bed or when we go somewhere but whenever we are home, he is a Construction Worker, and he and Dominic are working on some project together. (Dominic is "the guy who tells the construction worker what to do.")

Thanks Mom and Dad and Grandpa!

Andrew's Homecoming

For those of you who haven't seen pictures yet of Andrew's homecoming, here are some that were taken by a friend of mine:

Philip sleeping while we waited for the soldiers to arrive

Finding each other on the parade field

Philip is a little apprehensive

Family Photo

South Carolina All Hallows Eve

Catholics have much more fun! Not only do we get to Trick or Treat, but we can also celebrate All Saints Day and All Souls Day. I'll try to track don those pictures, but here's Anthony all set for Trick or Treating.

Welcome to the Boyd Family Blog!

Hi Family!

I hope this helps us keep up with each other; it should be fun.

Today was the Feast of All Saints. Overall, it's been an uneventful day. We went to Mass at noon.

Saturday evening our neighbors had their annual Halloween party; Dominic was Peter Pan, Thomas was Tigger (wearing a 2T costume which was clearly to small for him), and Andre was a baby elephant.

Here is a picture of the boys:

Yesterday we went to an all Saints Day party at church, Dominic dressed up as St. Paul, Thomas was St. Joseph the worker, and Andre was again a baby elephant.

Then yesterday evening, Paul took the big boys trick or treating; Dominic was Peter Pan and Thomas was a knight. The baby elephant stayed with me to help hand out candy.