Big Brother Ben (week 171)

Each year, when the orange tree gets too full, the Keislers have to climb-up the ladder and pick as many oranges as we can reach. Mama gets the laundry basket ready and I put on my baseball glove to try and catch them as dada throws them down. This year, we got over (600) oranges in two shifts. After we wash them down, we put plastic bags with about (25) oranges each into the wagon for delivery to the neighbors on Carfax. This year, a bug or something got into dada's pants and bit him over and over again. Now, we mama is working on the apricots and trying to beat the birds to them each morning.

This week we also went to a pool party at Ellie's house. It was the first time that Christopher went swimming in a hot tub and a pool. The hot tub wasn't too hot, but it had lots of bubbles that he tried to eat. I am still very nervous about pools and swimming; and won't put my head under water or venture beyond the first step of the pool. Dada says that he was the same way when he was little but got more and more into swimming when he got older and injured his back. I guess I will just have to wait until I have to swim for exercise and have no other optionns before I get used to the pool.

Over the weekend, we also set-up the water slide in the backyard and had all the neighborhood kids from Carfax over to our house for barbecue and juice boxes. The parents of Carfax all chipped-in to buy a giant slide and we set-it-up on a different lawn every week during the warmer days. It works out well...particularly because dada says it is a pain to dry-out and put away...and that it kills his grass if someone had to set-up every weekend. The parents also like it because one or two parents can keep (10) kids occupied on a weekend day.

Project Little Brother (week 26)
I fed Christopher his green beans and potatoes for the first time this week. Dada let me use the spoon to feed him in his high chair. Since he is an avid eater, it didn't take much in terms of motivation. If anything, he gets most mad at me when I can't get the food into his mouth quick enough. I did get in trouble for pushing the spoon too far back into his throat and gagging him...but it is all a matter of details.

Word(s) of the Week
Your Killing Me! derived from Ham's repeated statement on the Sandlot "you're killing me Smalls". Usually used to show exasperation or outrage for a bad pitch, uninvited order or direction.