Marvyn+Mary

For the past week we have been eating a cleaner diet revolving around avocados, kale, various greens and fish. Oh and when I say "we" I really mean Mary and I as Jagger has continued his daily diet of hot dogs, corn beef, and ice cream. But today Jagger is joining our healthy eating as he helps me make buckflour pancakes. More pics after you know...

What better way to to spend Friday hookey than with Jagger, the doggies, and some snow? I took my Canon DSLR and first press of the shutter button, "Please insert CF card". Grrr! So I present to you pictures with my trusty Nokia 920. More pics after the jump.

The end of result of our day at the park. Framed and given to mommy for her birthday.

The birthday marathon continues with Beast's 1st birthday.

For my birthday Jagger promised me I could bite his cheek. Best gift ever! More pics after the jump.

I'll be honest, I like Ikea. I know some of their furniture is cheaply made, but the pieces I own have held up quite well over the years. Plus their designs are so simple and universal that it's easy to combine pieces for a bigger installation or customize for a unique look. Click the image to see how I've furnished my house with select pieces.

I recently recorded Jagger "talking" away. He loves to talk! Video after the jump.

I was at my local Mythic Paint distributor and discovered that Mythic makes two types of primers: drywall Primer for new construction and multipurpose for existing walls. I have been using some leftover Mythic Paint drywall primer to get Jagger’s nursery ready. So far it’s done a good job of covering some dark blue and orange paint. I also applied it to wallpaper (I’m a bit pressed for time to try to chemically remove or steam it off). I should note that I did prep the walls a bit by scuffing it up with 150 grit sandpaper. So far so good.

In a 5 gallon container, the multipurpose primer is roughly $70 more expensive than the Drywall primer. So unless the paint starts peeling tomorrow, I’m going to have to say you save your money and stick to the drywall primer.…

It took my father and I roughly 8 months to complete the construction for my office which involved studding, drywall, paint, and hardwood. We cracked wood in June 2008 and finished in October 2008. Sort of, not all the trim is in place and the doors are not painted. And now I have moved on to the construction of Jagger's nursery. With 23 days left on the clock, read my struggles after the jump.

Each morning Mary starts her car to let it warm up while she scrapes frosted ice from her windshield, fighting fingertip biting wind from the north and the nagging I-just-want-to-go-back-to-bed-I'm-pregnant voice inside her head. As always, me—being the loving husband—decides to surprise her with a remote starter for her car as her Christmas gift. So that she can stay in the warmth of our house, sipping on a hot steaming cup of cocoa as she starts the car from a distance looking through our living room window. Unfortunately that dream is now dead. Read about the death of a dream after the jump...

Mary and I kicked off the start of the holiday season with a trip to a few local stores on Black Friday. Broke and exhausted, we came back with several stockings for every member of the family. Pictures after the jump...

I am now at the end of my 6th month and would like to share my experience so far. I have often heard that being pregnant is one of the best experiences a woman can go through. I can I agree with that, but I wish someone would have warned me what to expect. There are the usual morning sickness warnings. I already knew that. And I am very thankful that mine was not that bad because I hate throwing up. However there are things that I have experienced that has freaked me out and I wish I had known about them ahead of time. More after the jump...

The holidays are around the bend and you've got two sets of families. If you're lucky (or should I say unlucky) and live in the neighborhood, then you can easily visit both . Otherwise you have to work out a schedule with the spouse. I've been there and done that. Let's get into this. More after the jump...

The office construction has reached the point where it’s ready to be primed and painted. I was originally going to use the Harmony paint brand from Sherwin Williams, but Mary was concerned about the fumes that could be dangerous to both her, the baby, and Oreo. (Nobody cares if I breathe it in right?)

She suggested looking into Mythic Paint which is branded as a non-toxic, ultra low odor paint that does not have any off-gassing VOC’s and cancer-causing toxins that emit compared to other paints. A trip over to my nearest dealer and $500 later I’m ready to roll some paint. Stay tuned for results.

EDIT: My thoughts on the primer application can be read here.…