Consumed by fire, not a little girl anymore and Spidermen are ready for bed

Today was the last weekend we could burn yard debris. I had to call in for a permit, which is really more than what it sounds like. You listen to a message telling you the weather conditions are ok for a fire and then what NOT to do. That's it.

The boys were excited to build a fire, of course! I had it going for about 4 hours. Yup, we had a lot of yard trash, leaves, branches and I even had to take down three trees in He-Man fashion. I guess that's where all that German muscle I pack came in handy. No seriously, one of them I cut down with a saw, but two of them I pushed down by brute force!

Elizabeth of course made me almost cry like a little girl, when I picked up one of the trees to move. Instead she thought I meant for her to kick it really hard and break it. That thing hit the top of my foot full force and I once again confessed aloud that I'm not yet perfect... The worst of it was that my lovely wife found it funny and was laughing at me, all the time asking me for forgiveness!

After the fire had died down and all the kids and Elizabeth had gone back inside I hosed it all down for a good 20 minutes. It had been a big fire and you always want to make sure there is not a single little amber left that could then set your backyard on fire. This is what appeared:
Doesn't it look like some sickly kind of alien monster worm thingy? It sure grossed me out.

In the evening I decided that it had been quite a long time since Sophie and I want on a Daddy-Daughter date. Sicne I had already given the boys a shower earlier that afternoon I didn't feel bad to leave my wife in the dust, plus she owed me one (see above).

After a quick stop to pick up a new game for the Wii (Sega Superstar Tennis, only $19.99 at Gamespot this week) I asked Sophie on a whim if she still wanted her ears pierced? We stopped by the store, but she just wasn't quite ready she said. We went to a nice restaurant and had a fun Daddy-Daughter talk about all kinds of things. The topic of earrings came up again. I assured her it wouldn't hurt much at all, speaking from experience (Yes, there was a time in my life when I thought being a cool young man included wearing a little earring. I have since changed my ways and it's grown shut.)

Sophie asked me why I got my ear pierced if I knew it would hurt? I said because I wanted an earring more than I was afraid of the pain. That's when she decided that she wanted earrings more thatn she was afraid. So without further ado here you go, not a little girl anymore:

Coming home it was about time for the boys to go to bed. Henry insisted on wearing his old Spiderman pajamas. It old him he'd be too hot, since they are the long sleeve and long pants kind. This was his 4 year old solution to the "heat" problem:

"See Daddy, I won't be hot like this!"

He did agree to change into some cooler jamies after all, though.

Alex had insisted earlier to wear his Christmas pajamas. He absolutely loves them and there was no talking him out of them. He insisted I take a photo of him, too. Just like Henry he loves Spiderman and here he is showing of his jamies AND his Spiderman move at the same time:

PS: Elizabeth was supportive of Sophie's earrings, but not happy at all that I did it without her. My thought just was that Sophie would remember for the rest of her life that she got her earrings on a Daddy-Daughter date!