Category Archives: News

Happy 14th birthday, Josh!

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Joel

Our son Joshua turned 14 this week. Serious. If you look away for too long, your kids will be taller before you know it. They have their own tastes in music. They make their own decisions on who they want … Continue reading →

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News flash! Lily wins her 2nd Spelling Bee with the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs 2019 District Spelling Bee

Posted on February 23, 2019 by Joel

I gotta give the girl credit – she can be cool and calm under pressure. On Saturday Feb 23rd morning, we drove up to the headquarters for the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs 2019 district spelling bee.  There … Continue reading →

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The Ipes stayed overnight in Manhattan to see Waitress on Broadway, but the Universe desperately tried to throw roadblocks every step of the way

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Joel

I don’t know what our deal is. Nothing is ever simple. Is it us? Is it life? Is it random? Let me take a breath before I get into it. For Christmas, we bought tickets for the four of us … Continue reading →

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We went to see The Book of Mormon on a Tuesday night

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Joel

Gotta love the randomness of life sometimes. Well, the good random events. Not the type where you fracture your arm on the way to work. Nums has had some interesting luck this past year with playing these lotteries for tickets … Continue reading →

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Three years later, the boy is finally free of orthodontic braces

Posted on February 14, 2019 by Joel

In June 2016, Josh got his orthodontic braces at Monroe Orthodontics. If all went well, he would have been done within two years. Unfortunately, it took a nearly three years to finally be done with them. In February this year, … Continue reading →

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Lily and the Spelling Bee

Posted on February 9, 2019 by Joel

I mentioned that Lily was attending her 2nd spelling bee ever while we were standing in line at Immigration and Customs in Newark Airport. Last year, she made it far but not to 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. As we were … Continue reading →

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I’m trying something new – life with Google Assistant, the Google Home Hub, and Google Mini

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Joel

We’ve been using the Amazon ‘Alexa’ AI assistant through their Echo Dot product since Oct 2017. After about a year of heavy usage, I still think it’s interesting. The family and I have various uses for it. I like that Amazon … Continue reading →

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New additions to my life – the Sonos Connect and Klipsch in-ear headphones

Posted on December 29, 2018 by Joel

I’ve always loved music. I’m a visual person at heart, but music has always been important. I enjoyed my music classes in junior high school. I played string bass for 8 years before college. I keep an extensive local music … Continue reading →

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My new toys for terrorizing my flesh & blood children – Nerf Rival

Posted on December 28, 2018 by Joel

In the past few months, the kids and I have been playing this Marvel S.H.I.E.L.D. -themed role-playing game. I conducted a short scavenger hunt with the kids in August and it went over well. I even created a ‘Mad Scavenger’ … Continue reading →

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The Christmas tree is up!

Posted on December 11, 2018 by Joel
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