Not all of the Christmas Cards.....

Not all of the Christmas Cards made it out......so consider this my mass greeting to those whom I hadn't had an opportunity to get a card in the mail to!

A Year in the Life of the Osenbaugh Family

(With apologies to Robert W. Service and "The Cremation of Sam McGee)

There are strange things done in the name of fun
By we parents of two “baby” boys
For the year simply flies, with a speed that belies
All those Teenage and Toddler “Joys”
Two Thousand Six had its big bag of tricks
But the trickiest part you can bet
Is recounting the tales, and the trials and travails
Of the King and of one young Cadet.

Now the King and Cadet are quite a close set
And the best of “Brubah”-style buds
Though ages apart, they are quite linked by heart
And of course by their status as “studs”.

This past year started “slow“, with a broken elbow
And the Cadet found himself on the side
But the elbow healed fast, three short weeks in a cast,
“Back to hockey“, the defense Cadet cried.

Then as the spring sprung and the flowers were young
A trip, mighty in length was the plan.
From the Point at Fort Pitt, to the Old Missisip
Along the Byway, the (Ohio) River was grand.

It was early in May, when one Mother did say
“Cut your Hair and I’ll give you some cash”
The Cadet ran outside while his Mom rolled her eyes
And the hair? It was gone in a Flash!
Then the King got his due, when he finally turned two
Although he thinks that he’s just under Nine
With a passion for trains, cars, boats and airplanes
The King learned a “new” word and it’s MINE.

‘Ere the summer came fast, and the heat it did last,
In the pool where the Brubahs did vamp
Swimming round to and fro, two young studs on the go
Til’ the elder Ca-det left for his camp.

Named Company Commander, Cadet Hunt with great Candor
Began a full press to attend “Winter School”
It was five years in coming, and the toddler was bumming
The Cadet got his wish…way too cool

So off he did go, as a Freshman you know
To a military school steeped in pride
But the King sure does miss, and quite often insists
That his Brubah is “only outside”.


With no hockey in sight, Hunt changed sports with a sleight
Into soccer he went…a go getter
So we learned the new rules, and supported his school
And he ended the year Varsity Lettered!

As the fall came a knocking, the King’s traits came a “Rockin”
His vocab and his wit are a riot.
Gentle, kind, funny and witty, (he is still “itty bitty“)
Life ‘round him can never once be called quiet!

So as the year ends, we’re surrounded by friends,
The King, Cadet and we too are quite certain,
That the year that’s ahead, holds nothing to dread,
Good Bye 2006, Drop the Curtain!

There are strange things done in the name of fun
By we parents of two “baby” boys
For the year simply flies, with a speed that belies
All those Teenage and Toddler “Joys”
Two Thousand Six had its big bag of tricks
But the trickiest part you can bet
Is recounting the tales, and the trials and travails
Of the King and of one young Cadet.