We've had some ups and downs but we're getting closer to have a fully working tub/shower with no leaks! On Saturday morning I tried to replace the three stems (I think that's the right terminology) for our tub/shower, but was unable to. Three nearby non-chain stores didn't have them. I then tried to put the old stems back in place until our plumber came out, but stripped one and then broke off the cold the shut off valve in the basement. Yikes! We were without hot water for a day and without a working shower for a few days. Our plumber visited us twice. We've got a nice new setup now, but it still leaks slightly. Ugh. I have to see if a new tool from Home Depot helps us out tonight. We're close!

Some better news is I was able to rig up our roof top antenna again (our cable is no more). It is now grabbing successfully all of the Boston digital stations that are over the air and free. It's about twenty channels. The digital tuner in our new TV works so much better than the ten year old stand-alone tuner we had in use before.

This past weekend we also had a great time at Henry's preschool Literacy Breakfast, got Henry a haircut (forced) and had a super crazy dinner at Papa Gino's. Why we persist in trying to go out to dinner right now with the kids I have no idea. Not this weekend, I swear! Take-out only for the next few months!

Henry's had some hard time adapting to his new, very short haircut. He has seemed embarrassed by it. He asked us, "Did the plumber see my new haircut?" and then was very apprehensive about going to school on Tuesday. So much so that (in his words) he "got to go to the Relaxation Station." (sounds like a good place to Meg and I) The assistant teacher and friend consoled him. It looks really cute to us! I hope today's schooling goes much better.

An exciting development with Henry lately has been his extreme interest in crafts. His new favorite show is all about making crafts with kids. It gives him lots of ideas and inspiration. He's been making all sorts of things and even sent out a special picture to Nonnie for her birthday. (He's also been very interested in the mail system ... he's old school!)

What's Hazel up to? Lots of getting in trouble. Right now she's a little twenty-five pound wrecking ball. It might be the teeth, it might her cold, lack of naps, all of that or just that she's very feisty. Today she put on two socks all by herself. She was very proud. I hope she can influence Henry in a positive way.

Meg made us the best waffles ever with her special Belgian sugar and new waffle maker. On Sunday she's participating in her first race in years. It's going to be great to see her out there again.

306 small dollars turned up one Canadian, one religious medal (thanks!) and one mint set dollar (2005D).

6,760 quarters rounded up two silver Washingtons (1944, 1964), thirteen Canadians, one Bermuda 25¢ and four US nickels.

4,050 dimes yielded four silver dimes (1943, 1946, 1962, 1963D), eight Canadians, three US pennies, three UK 5 pence, one Chinese 1 Jiao, one French ½ franc, one Bermuda 10¢, one button and one mystery object. I'm not sure what the last one is. It kind of looks like fake ancient coin to me.

1,880 nickels produced seven Canadians (2 Ni), one Brazil 10¢, one Bermuda 5¢ and one Cayman Islands 10¢.

50 small dollars had one Canadian.

8,000 halves had five 90% silver halves (1945D, 4 x 1964), eight 40% silver halves (4 x 1966, 2 x 1967, 2 x 1968D), three proof halves (1992S, 2001S, 2005S) and one Panama ½ Balboa (2008).

4,920 quarters produced six Canadians, thirteen US nickels, six US dimes and one French franc.

4,000 dimes yielded six Canadians, one Philippines 10¢ (1979), one Bermuda 10¢, one Barbados 10¢ and one Swiss ½ franc.

1,920 nickels turned up two dateless Buffalos, one War Time (1944S) and two Canadians (2 Ni).

5,000 pennies rounded up thirty-two Wheats and thirty-three Canadians.

1916(2), 1926, 1927

360 halves had nothing.

2,720 quarters produced one silver Washington (1964), two Canadians, two tokens and one US nickel.

1,150 dimes yielded one silver Rosie (1964), one Canadian and a Steelie (1943).

880 nickels rounded up four Canadians and two Cayman Islands 10¢.

23,700 pennies got me one Indian Head penny (1907), one hundred five Wheats, one hundred sixty-nine Canadians, six US dimes, two Panama 1¢, one UK penny and one German 2 Pfennig. That's the first Indian Head penny I've found in penny rolls this year.



1918D, 1919, 1920, 1925, 1929, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939(4)

I also found a 1950 silver (80%) Canadian dime at a supermarket!

Last night I searched a bit of coin. Some I searched with Hazel, my coin searching partner.

1,800 quarters had three Canadians and one US nickel.

1,350 dimes produced just four Canadians.

3,520 nickels rounded up one gold plated Buffalo (1935), two War Times (1943P, 1945P), two US dimes, three Canadians, one Japanese 100 Yen, one Columbia 20 Pesos (1991) and one Columbia 50 Pesos (1992). Coincidentally those two Colombian coins were from two different sources.





One of the War Time, silver nickels, the 1943P, was found by Hazel. She likes to rip open rolls with me. It's her first silver nickel. Better than that even last night she found her first Indian Head penny (1907)!

Just a quick coin update ...

36 large dollars, 64 small dollars and 20 half dollars had nothing.

10,480 quarter turned up fifteen Canadians, eleven US nickels and five US dimes.

4,950 dimes rounded up four silver Rosies (1949S, 1963, 1963D, 1964), thirteen Canadians, one UK 5 pence, one Aruba 10¢, one US penny and one Polish 20 Grozy. The 1949S is one I rarely see.

960 nickels got me one dateless Buffalo, five Canadians (1 Ni) and a key date Jefferson (1938S). This batch of nickels pushes me past the 1,000,000 mark! It took just under five years to do this.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This weekend we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a special corned beef, steamed vegetables and soda bread supper. Afterwards the kids got dressed up in some "Irish" clothes. Here are a few good pictures from the fun times we were having.







We also enjoyed the nice weather yesterday and spent lots of time outside. Before long Henry and Hazel will be begging us to let them play outside as soon as they get up and until they go to bed. It's great to add "going to the park" to our repertoire of activities. Being outside definitely burns off some bad energy.

My coins were very good to me this weekend.

8,000 halves had fourteen 90% silver halves (1943, 1944D, 1945, 1952, 9 x 1964, 1964D) and fifty-two 40% silver halves (1965, 6 x 1966, 23 x 1967, 14 x 1968D, 8 x 1969D).

1,240 nickels turned up one dateless Buffalo, two War Times (1943P, 1944P) and two Canadians.

9,300 pennies yielded fifty-four Wheats, ninety-one Canadians and four US dimes.

1930(2), 1934, 1937, 1939

Last night after a long church meeting I searched some coin, just a bit.

75 small dollars didn't have anything.

2,640 quarters had four Canadians and one new modern quarter for me, the 2012 PR.

1,050 dimes turned up one Canadian.

Last night I searched just a bit of coin.

1,320 quarters yielded three Canadians and one US dime.

1,200 dimes had two silver Rosies (1954, 1956) and one Swiss 5 Rappen.

600 nickels produced just one Canadian.

Yesterday Henry told Meg, "Duck has a penis and a pajama." Hmmm.

This morning I was reminded just how different Hazel is from Henry. She asked me to get dressed and then to cut her finger nails!

4,960 quarters turned up four US dimes, two Canadians, one Bermuda 25¢, one Singapore 50¢ and one German Mark.

2,500 dimes yielded eight Canadians, one Polish 10 Grozy, one UK 5 pence and one Australian 5¢.

1,720 nickels rounded up three War Times (1943P, 2 x 1944P), three Canadians and one US dime.

Well things have definitely been busy with us and so it has been a bit difficult to find the time to post here. It hasn't calmed down too much, but I'm writing anyway.

Last Friday was Henry's fourth birthday! That day he celebrated with his friends, had a celebratory dinner at the Olive Garden with us and on Sunday he had his family party. It didn't go exactly as we wanted it too. Henry was very stressed out by the birthday wasn't very pleasant during some big parts of it, especially on Friday. It was tough to be honest. Meg spent a lot of time preparing for his party and we were both really looking forward to the whole thing. Henry rejected a lot of her efforts. We don't blame him ... he's four, but I can't say it's easy to deal with.

Unfortunately Meg was sick on the Monday and Tuesday after the party - really sick. On the first day Meg was unable to get off the couch. I stayed home for two days. The kids and I had two good days together, especially the first day. We went to a play center with another father who's wife was also home sick. Our kids were great there. I had a ball watching them play and then eating lunch with them there. I just wish it didn't come about because Meg was home feeling bad.

This past weekend we went out to see relatives who could not make it to Henry's party. My mother-in-law made a super race car cake with cupcakes and donuts. Henry and Hazel had lots of fun there especially playing outside with Henry's new stomp rocket.



Henry's birthday cake as made by Meg to his specifications, "a city cake with real cars, not made of frosting."



The cake presentation.



Henry opening gifts.



Henry having fun with Jess and Tim after his birthday party.



Henry, Griffin and mysterious third boy (who asked me, "Are you a dad?") attempting to climb the "mountain" to get the flags.



Hazel prepping food for Henry's play bar-be-que.

8,000 halves produced one 90% silver half (1964), four 40% silver halves (1966, 2 x 1967, 1968D), nine proofs (2 x 1976S, 2 x 1977S, 2 x 1991S, 1996S, 1998S, 2003S) and one religious medal. The religious medal is "coin" of St. Peregrine the patron saint of cancer survivors.



16,600 pennies yielded one hundred forty-one Wheats (including one Steelie), one hundred fifty-nine Canadians, three Bermuda 1¢, two Euro 2¢ and nine US dimes.

1911, 1918, 1923, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1934(2), 1935, 1936, 1937, 1939(2)

Things have been very busy here so it has been tough to find time to post. I'll have to put up some pictures tonight. We've got some good ones.

95 small dollars had nothing.

8,020 half dollars turned up two 90% silver halves (1964, 1964D), eleven 40% silver halves (2 x 1965, 6 x 1967, 2 x 1968D, 1969D), three proof halves (1971S, 1976S, 1981S), one commemorative half (1986D Statue of Liberty), one UK penny (1964), one South African Rand (1975), four Mexican 10 Pesos (1978, 1980, 2 x 1981), a British Caribbean Territories 50¢ (1955), one Irish pound (1990) and one Dominican Republic ½ Peso. It was cool to find a new commemorative, especially one for which I had found multiple proof copies of, and I have never found this many foreign coins in half dollars before.











15,480 quarters produced one silver Washington (1964D), thirty-six Canadians, two car wash tokens, one arcade token, one US penny, three US dimes, three UK 10 pence, thirteen US nickels, three Bermuda 25¢, one Greek 2 Drachma (1984) and one Barbados 25¢.



9,700 dimes yielded ten silver Rosies (1947, 1956, 1957, 1958D, 1959, 1963, 2 x 1964, 2 x 1964D), twenty-three Canadians, one Norway 25 ore, one Bermuda 10¢, one UK 5 pence and one East Caribbean States 10¢.

6,200 nickels rounded up three War Times (1942S, 2 x 1945P), fourteen Canadians (5 Ni), one Euro 20¢, one Bermuda 5¢ and one US dime. One of the Canadians was a 1929 George V nickel. That's the oldest Canadian nickel I've found.



15,400 pennies turned up ninety-one Wheats, one hundred seven Canadians, one UK ½ penny (1974), two UK pennies, four US dimes, one Euro 2¢, one Bahamas 1¢, one Barbados 1¢ and two Bermuda 2¢. That's only the second ½ penny I've found!

1910(2), 1913, 1914, 1917, 1917D, 1924, 1925, 1929, 1935(2), 1939(2)

Just a quick coin posting ...

275 small dollars had just one mint set dollar (2002P).

3,360 quarters produced one silver Washington (1964D), one Canadian and three US nickels.

650 dimes yielded five Canadians and one Bermuda 10¢.

520 nickels rounded up four Canadians.