Friday, May 11, 2012

Down a Few

8 weeks ago, work started the weight loss competition and 4 of us in the shop got a team together.  Well last Thursday we weighed in and lost 86 pounds together and we are waiting for the results to be tallied.  Personally, I lost 27 pounds and am proud of myself.  Just watching what I eat and smaller portions sizes was all I did.  I hope I can keep it off now even though I did eat good this weekend(celebrating).  Another good thing is that I was able to wear my suit to Blayne's Confirmation and I haven't worn it in 10 years.

Now a week after the weigh-in the "Baby Back Ribs",our team, has won the contest and are still reigning champs! (4 years ago the maintenance team won the contest) We each go a $50 gift card for Dick's Sporting Goods. Congrats to my "Baby Back Ribs" team!!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Confirmation

A couple of weeks ago was my godson Blayne's confirmation.  I was his sponsor and I had hoped he was prepared for the big day.  He had picked St. Maximilian Kobe as his saint and this was a saint that I knew little about. Blayne told me about him months before and I googled St. Maximilian Kobe before going to the celebration.  Blayne was nervous about meeting the bishop and the questions that might be ask of him.  When we got to church, the kids and their sponsors gathered in the parish hall and waited patiently for the bishop to come and talk to us.  When the bishop came over, he talked to the young adults explained that he would ask questions to them in church and they would give the answer or simply say "Bishop, I do not know the answer."  The mass celebration was beautiful and full of singing.  The bishop's homily was very good and included the questions to the young adults receiving confirmation.  The questions were very difficult and most did not know the answers.  The bishop is a very intelligent man and knew alot about every saint.  After mass, there was a reception and a chance to shake the bishop's hand.  The nervousness in the room was now gone and everyone had smiles on their faces.  I can compare the experience to the Pentecost.  How the apostles were scared and fearful before the Holy Spirit; and after' they were relieved and confident to spread the word to all people!  What a wonderful day!!

Blayne and Godparents


My Kid's picture of the Bishop


Sunday, April 15, 2012

15 YEARS

This lastThursday marked a milestone for my wife and I.  We were able to put up with each other for 15 years.  I love more now than I ever did before.  We have accomplished so much.  We have 3 wonderful kids, family and friends who love us, and a roof over our heads.  In our 15 years we have had our ups and downs(seems like more downs than ups) but with our love and God's grace we were able to over come any challenges that came our way.  I love you, Brenda, and here's to the next 50+ years.

Brenda surprised me this weekend by having the kids stay at the Hancock's and Grandma and Grandpa's for the whole weekend.  We had the weekend to ourselves.  We did go to Montana Mike's and to see a movie(American Reunion) on Friday night.  Saturday we cleaned the house a little, went to resale shops, and that evening we DJed at the Sager wedding together.  Sunday after church, we went to Hovey's to eat and after Brenda's boy scout meeting will go out to get our children.  It seems like we may have not planned to do alot this past weekend but the fact we did not have rush around to go anywhere.  We were able to take our own sweet time doing things.  It is good to do this every once in a while.

                                                  LOVE YOU LOTS, BRENDA!!!

Caden's tubes

On Tuesday of last week, Caden had tubes put in his ears.  He has had trouble hearing and fluid behind the eardrums. 


Caden and his friend after surgery!


Everything went OK and in a few days maybe I won't have to yell at him anymore(ha ha)

Easter weekend pics


He doesn't look happy


These are pic to go along with my previous post about Colin's fight with the wire.  He made it through the painful week of not being able to play or run.  Sometimes the pain of not being able to do something is more than the physical pain itself.  He's doing great now that the week is over.


Easter weekend pics:

Caden and his search for the eggs with his cousins.

Kendra and Colin and cousins waiting for Grandma to say GO
so they can hunt eggs.

Looking for the not so easy to find eggs!



The kids got plenty of candy and played with their cousins.  There was 4-square being played and kites being flown after the Easter meal at Grandpa and Grandma Kocher's house.  Luckily there was no school the next day because they would have been grumpy.  And don't worry the Easter bunny did find our house and did hide eggs in our back yard.  Another Easter day successfully came and gone.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Colin's collision

Thursday evening, Colin was at Gavin's ball practice playing with Maddox.  While chasing a ball on the tennis courts, he clotheslined himself on a wire holding a net.  He doesn't remember much of the details after that but he had bruises and a goosegg on the back of his head.  We kept an eye on him thruout the night.  The next day we had the doctor look at him and he said he had a mild concussion.  No activity or PE for a week.  What are we going to do with the boy??  He is slowly getting back to normal but it is going to be hard to keep him from running or playing 4-square for a whole week.  Pictures will come later when I get them off the camera. 

Monday, March 26, 2012

Spring Here Already??

I can't believe and worried about the weather we are having now.  Above normal temps and record highs for this time of year.  I can expect the pollen season will be horrible and my sinuses are going to be bad.  But like my grandpa always said " Not much we can do about it".  A lot of good is coming from it: kids outside playing, furnace is not running, and flowers are blooming.  We are getting a lot of compliments on our tulips in front of the house. 





The tulips have been there for the last 7 years and always look good every year. We will be keeping  an eye out for the rose trees when they start blooming.  They always look wonderful too.
  Now that I got my blogging caught up I have to do another spring time favorite   MOWING!!!
Enjoy the spring!!!

Week of the Birthday

  The past week was very busy and I was down in the back on top of that.  My back is alot better now and I am still babying it.  Like I put in the title, last wednesday was my birthday and I am creeping closer to that 40 year old mark.  It was a good birthday.  We ate at the Ole Tyme Steakhouse and the kids talked to the waiter to bring out a dessert with a sparkler lit in it.  I think the kids were amazed at it in it's glory.  It was a wonderful family outing.
  Saturday was 4-H shooting sports but after that I took the kids Geocaching.  For those that don't know what that is I will explain.  First you go on www.geocaching.com and pick coordinates for a cache near you.(they explain it on the website).  Insert the coordinates into a GPS and follow the GPS to where it leads you.  It should lead you to a box or canister hidden with trinkets and a log book to sign.  To the kids it was like treasure hunting.  We found six caches that afternoon and they did not want to stop.  This is a go way to get out and enjoy nature.  Other than gas money and a GPS, it is cheap entertainment and the kids really enjoyed it.  Now they want to go every waking moment.  Future Indiana Jones's!!!

Very First Find!

Another cache bites the dust.



Saturday, March 17, 2012

Pinewood Derby Races

Well this was the big day for Colin's Cub Scout Pinewood derby race.  He picked the design of Perry the platypus (imagine that).  He did most of the work on it and I thought he did a great job.  I probably pushed him to try and get it perfect then realized just let him do the best he can.  Looks just like a platypus!! 

This was one of the heats he was in.  As I was helping with the races, I took pictures.

The last picture shows his car (third lane over) flying down the track.  He races 4 times and came in first two of the times.  A computer was used to time the races and calculate the winners.  It also figures the speed and one of Colin's speed was 127 MPH.  Now that is fast!!!

GOOD JOB COLIN !!!!!!


Monday, March 12, 2012

Rock climbing

Two weekends ago, the family went to Terre Haute shopping and while at the mall they had free rock climbing for kids.  The boys were all about it but Kendra was skeptical.  We convinced her just to try it and to go as high as she felt comfortable.  Caden got too high and got upset until we told him to let go and the cable let him down slow.  Colin got to a point, he could not climb past, close to the top and had to come down because he was getting tired.  They all tried it and we are proud of them for that. Here's the pics.





Thursday, March 1, 2012

New look!

Well, when you are in the Hair Club for Men club, you know the beginning of March means no more full beard look. I usually start growing my beard out Oct. 1st and end it Mar. 1st. This year I decided to not to get rid of my beard completely. The guys at work have been talking about the "pork chop" look of the 70's. They convinced me to try that look. I didn't want to get rid of my goatee so I combined the look. Trust me, I researched images of "chops" on the net and was reluctant to shave my beard. After I was finished, it wasn't that bad of a look. I also had positive remarks about it at work. (Unless people were just nice about it) Scroll down and take a look. Feel free to post any comments!!!





One good looking guy?


Sunday, February 26, 2012

Where Have I Been?

   Sorry, I've not been posting lately.  I would like to say that I've been busy with working last weekend and odd and end stuff going on, but I just didn't have much to say.  It's been a long week, Kendra's been sick running temp so she missed school all week.  Colin's been bored with nothing to do, and Caden's sensory disorder seemed to have came back.  Lucky us.
   I did get a chance to start working on Lucky's (our demon dog) doghouse.  It is the doghouse from the RMH's Christmas float.  It is a Snoopy style house, and I have been trying to insulate it and putting a metal roof on it.  When it is completed and you see it from the Pizza Hut parking lot, it will make you think that Lucky will have a 2 story mansion.  Knowing my luck she won't even use it.
   Lent started this week, so may the fasting begin.  Not eating between meals is one of my goals this Lenten season.  The other, that I might find a little tougher, is adding more daily personal prayer.  It is easy on weekends to remember to pray but during the week it will be hard to skew off the "normal" routine of my life.  Not only pray when I need to but also pray when I don't have to.  I think this will be a wonderful challenge for me and a practice that I hope will remain after Lent.
  This weekend was good.  I took Colin to Shooting Sports, went bowling with the Kocher Brother Construction, Inc. team, and went on a date with my loving wife.(Thanks to my sister Jenny and family for having the last minute babysitting service.)
  Date night was good for the both of us.  Went out to the steakhouse to eat, then a friend's pole barn for shuffleboard and conversation.  Which reminds me to question any road directions from a certain Kilpatrick couple unless you want to go to the river bottoms.(a "T" road should be in the shape of a letter "T")It was good laughs by all.
   Well that about all I have to say at this time, but I did change the music.  I hope you enjoy it and hope you will not have to wait so long for the next post.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

My Love!

Happy Valentine's Day to my one and only darling wife.   I think back to 1996 at the Old Mill Inn in Newton.  How it was snowing just a little and "Oh Yeah" I proposed to her. One of the greatest times of my life.  I had to trick her, the weekend before, to go to Terre Haute to get the ring without her knowing. An easy task for evil genius like me.  16 years later, I wouldn't trade her for anyone.  She takes care of me when I am sick and whiny.  She supports me when I go to all my meetings.  She makes me laugh when I feel blue.  She understands when I have bad day at work.  She is my soul mate and best friend in the world.  (I would show a pic of her right now, but that would just embarrass her.)  I know I don't tell her I love her as much as I should,  I don't seem to appreciate what she does around the house,  and that I am not romantic ... at....all.  Deep down I love her with all my heart and can only try to do better.


BRENDA

I LOVE YOU!


HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Saturday, February 11, 2012

When the girls are gone, the boys will play!!!

   It's Saturday, and my two girls went to Evansville with their friends, Ginder and Ginder's daughter for some girl time.  I know Kendra had some gift certificates to use and it was like money just burning a hole in her pocket.  About early afternoon, I received a pic of what the girls were doing and it was obvious they were having fun.


Two Hot Chickie's!!!


   Meanwhile on the home front, my young men are causing damage on their own.  First of all, they have been playing in their awesome sized tent(it took up a quarter of the room).  They have played everything from Perry the Platypus to ghost hunting in that tent.




Yes, my youngest does not have a shirt on.  It doesn't matter that it is 20 degree outside and the house is set at 68 degrees, he kept saying he is hot and it has been off all day.  At one point both boys had their shirts off.  Also while in the tent; they built a tower.  Colin had to get a picture of it and Caden had to pose for it.





Right after lunch,  the boys put on a puppet show for me.  They made their own puppets and created their own script.  It was full of song and suspense.  Just sorry Mom and Kendra missed the premiere.  Maybe they will catch it later on DVD.








Well between playing with the boys and tiding the house; I did take time to blog.  I also showed the boys some of the Superbowl commercials on YouTube.  They like the M&M commercial and Doritos commercials.  We had to go back a few years to see the Darth Vader kid commercial again.  It's amazing what commercials kids will remember. 

Until next time, ROCK ON!!!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Break out the Guitars

Recent events in the area has reminded me of my guitar lessons back in grade school.  I have played my guitar a few times in the past several years, but playing has always been on the back burner.  A few years back my brother, brother-in-law, and I got together and played around but I mainly played Bass guitar.  Well this week I got my guitar out and started to play again.  It's like riding a bike.  I doubt I will start a band but I can always make as much noise.  I got online and started looking for song chords.  The kids showed some interest so I showed them a few chords and told them they have to practice, practice, and practice.  Who knows in a month maybe I will have a partner or two to play with?  Hopfully I can keep my interest going.
Keep the Beat!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Weekend pics


Business Tycoon!!





Limbo Winner!



Colin makes it look easy!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Busy weekend

Just what I like in a weekend: Busy.  Had plenty of boring stuff to do like laundry, dishes, and cleaning house; but still had time for fun.  Saturday we were able to go to the St. Joe skating party and burn up some energy that I don't ever seem to have enough of.  Caden ended up winning limbo and everyone had plenty of pizza to eat.  After the party the 2 boys went to their friends' houses.  Kendra wanted so much go to or have a friend come over.  I ended up being her "girl" friend for the afternoon.  We played "Pass the Pig" and "Monopoly".  I was impressed with how she played Monopoly.  She tried hard to not go bankrupt and beat me.  Let's just say neither of us lost.  An excellent supper of turkey and mashed potatoes were served later; and Dorn's showed up to drop off Caden.  They stayed and ate with us; and visited for a while.
  Sunday we went to church.  Kendra and Colin had to serve and once again they did a good job.  Got home did some more boring stuff.  Made lunch from leftovers and laid down with Caden for a little while.  At 3, the two older kids went with me to my volleyball game.  They said I tend to fall alot and are glad that I wear knee pads(so do I).  Five games later and a lost match we headed home.  Later that night, we watched the Super Bowl halftime show and the second half of the game.  All the good commercials must have been played during the first half and the halftime show wasn't up to my expectation for a Madonna show.  Not much of a football fan so I assume the best team won?!?
  Once again I say it was a busy weekend; but I think "busy" is turning into "normal".  If kids are the main reason for "busy" I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

Keep up with the Beat!!!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Health Nut??

  What I am eating has taken on a new meaning for me.  A couple of weeks ago,  RMH wanted the employees to take a health assessment test provided by our insurance company.  I consider myself halfway fit, always room for improvement.  Some of the questions they ask help me realize that I may need to change some of my eating habits.  What do they mean 5 to 6 servings of fruit and veggies a day??  I also know why my brother and his wife trim off alot of fat when we butcher.  The test also said that it wouldn't hurt to lose a few pounds.  It seems I am getting enough sleep but I need to exercise more.  And if the test wasn't enough to wake me up, having a gout attack last week opened my eyes.  I figured that I am getting too much protein in my diet like eating way to much meats and no fruit and veggies at most meals.  Gout may not be the most amount of pain for a person to have; but it is enough to consider changing his lifestyle.
  It's been about a week now; and I have added more fruits and veggies into my diet(at least 1 serving at each meal) and sticking to the proper servings of meat.  My uncle keeps me in check at lunch time and Brenda watches me at supper time.  It is not as hard as I thought it would be.  The gout attack ran it's normal course and I hope the next attack will not happen for a long time.  I also plan on increasing my activities to stay fit.  Then maybe in 6 months, if I dare, I will take the test again and see if my scores go up.
  Keep up with the Beat!!!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Skating Party Revisited

Yes, Caden got to go to his rescheduled skating party.  Last week it was canceled due to owners not showing up.  Kidzone decided to have it a week later and all was well.  They had a good turn out of children and they were all ready to skate whether they knew how or not.  Kendra and Colin are old pros so they got skates on and took off.  Caden's maybe third time skating? so still new at it.  I had the workers tighten the wheels on his skates starting out.  Tried to teach him the "waddling like a penguin" trick I used to teach the other kids.  Caden is a little young to get that concept but he did good trying.  After about an hour, I had his wheels loosened so he would learn more balance plus he was trying to roll forward with wheels that wouldn't roll.  He at one point rolled a wheel completely off the skate and had to get a new pair.  He fell several times and I'm sure his butt is sore but he kept getting up and trying again.  At one point he was trying to skate backwards like his old man was (quite the funny sight).  I worked a little with Kendra and Colin on skating backwards and they tried it but realized it causes more falls than they wanted.  Of course there were snacks and video games .(Try convincing a child that we are there to skate not to play video games.)  After about 2 hours I think the kids(and me)were ready to go home.  Now we can't wait until the St. Joe School skating party!!


Two high speed skaters


Snack time buddies

4-H Shooting Sports

Saturday morning, Kendra, Colin, and I went to 4-H Shooting Sports. It is a 4-H program to teach kids how to safely handle and use bow and arrows and guns. It also builds knowledge and self-confidence. I help teach the archery discipline of the program. Brother-in-law Chad teaches the shotgun discipline and the program also has an air rifle/rifle portion. His two boys also participate in the program. The kids can choose which discipline they want to or do all three. When we started, Colin was all about it but Kendra was reluctant to try it. After she tried archery and air rifle, she loves it. Colin does them both and last time tried out the shotgun so I think he is hooked. The best thing I like about the program is that we teach safety foremost. I know that if the kids happen to be exposed to a bow or gun they will be responsible around them. Since I am teaching archery I only got pictures of them shooting the bow. I am quite proud of how well they do shooting and they are happy to be shooting also.

.
Look at that form!


He's ready for a deer!!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Music Playlist

As you readers will find out; that I will change my music playlist quite often.  Being an occasional DJ for parties for over 15 years made me that way.  I love all kinds of music as you will see in my choices.  It's not that I absolutely love a certain song but it maybe a song I have not heard in a while and it's got a good beat.  Playing and listening to music has always been a part of my life.  It always seems that whatever is going on in your life that there is a song being played on the radio that relates to that issue.  Songs can turn your frown upside down or remind you of someone who has passed on.  Music has help mold me into the person I am.  Teaching my kids about different kinds of music is important to me also.  I am blown away when Colin can pick out a Queen song on the radio without me telling him, Caden can sing "Sexy and I Know It" word for word, and Kendra wants to listen to Ray Stevens' songs.  Brenda and I are always turning up the radio in the van for the kids to hear (they are tired of listening to the parents talk??).  I think teaching the kids to have an open mind to music is important.    

Hope you enjoy the playlists that I pick!!!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Card Shark

Friday evening, we went to our neighbors,the Belcher's, for some socializing time.  The kids got to play the Wii and do what kids do best, whatever they wanted to do.  The rest of us, who are too old to keep up with the kids, played cards.  Now since Brenda and I only know how to play rummy; that's what we played.  The surprise was that Kendra,being still new to the game, wanted to play with us also.  So we dealt her in and she played like she has been doing it all month long(we taught her how to play new year's eve).  She has played a few times before and has even played the game by herself taking on three hands.  You could tell she was excited, getting to play with the adults, and cautious not wanting to lay down a card to be rummyed.  She did very well keeping track of her own points and she even went out first a couple of round.  Not bad for an amateur card shark. This was also the first time she was in a game where we kept score.  I think she still ended up in last place but I don't think that will stop her from playing the next time.  I think with a few more games under her belt; she will be ready to beat Grandpa Kocher or maybe even Great-Grandma Klingler. They better get ready!

BK Romp

Tonight, my little man, Caden, wanted to skate, but didn't get to.  Kidzone set up a skating party for the kids and the owners of the rink forgot to show up.  Caden was upset because he waited all day to go to HIS party.  The other two and I were looking forward to skating also.  After rushing at home to get there on time and waiting around for 20 minutes for the owners to not show up; we were all pretty bummed out.  Brenda said let's take the party elsewhere.  BK had the playroom and the ice cream; so it was an easy decision.  We talk to a couple of other disappointed families and told them of our plan.  Soon enough we had a group going .  BK or Bust!!  We got there and ordered ice cream and kids started utilizing the playroom.  I think some kids didn't want to stop to eat ice cream.  It is quite a site to watch pre-k kids struggle to climb up to the top of the slide and come down the slide like it the best thing ever and then do it again.  All the kids played together well and no parents had to pull any kids aside to TALK to them.  Kudos to Kidzone for working with and teaching my son and his classmates.  Even though the evening did not start out like we may have planned; it still ended like we wanted it to.  There's nothing like going to the BK playroom!!!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Confirmation sponsor

This year my nephew, Blayne, will go through Confirmation and he has chosen me as his sponsor!  My role is to help guide and teach him the Catholic faith and prepare him for the sacrament.  I feel that my Catholic upbringing would qualify me to help him in his journey but I know I am not a very good teacher of anything.  Tonight he came over to work on his worksheets with me (part of my job).  I tried to explain answers with my life experiances and what my past teachers has taught me.  I just prayed that the spirit allowed me to give answers that he understood and that he develop a sense of what being a Catholic is all about.  He is a smart young man and he gets more of it than it seems.
  This experiance has brought back memories of the people that has shaped and still shaping my faith.  From a priest or two giving me the confidence to read in church, a couple who taught high school religion, a future wife who asked so many question when she converted to the Catholic faith, and a set of parents who taught me practices that I would teach my kids.  Maybe this sponsorship is just another way to shape my faith while I try and shape his.  I know deep down that I won't lead him astray. Thank you, God, for everything you have given me!!!

Tree Down

Yes, the Christmas tree is officially put away along with the ornaments.  We are maybe the last ones to get the tree down.  I hate taking the tree down worse than putting the tree together.  A least there is a sense of accomplishment when you get the tree up and decorated.  There is nothing except an empty room when it is removed.  Also getting the tree into the box it came out of is an impossibility unless you are lucky.  I love Christmas and the time with the family decorating but taking down the tree is the worst!!! Just can't wait for next year!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Goddaughter's Birthday Party

Last night we attended Mallory and her sisters' birthday parties.  Mallory is Brenda and I's godchild and we know she would miss us if we didn't attend!!  After the supper, the girls were allowed to open their gifts and they had plenty of gifts.
                                           Waiting patiently!!
Mallory, being the youngest at 2 years old, started opening gifts first.

                                           So Cute!!!


After all the girl's opened all the gifts, then the cakes were brought out.

                                           Looks like a group of troublemakers.

Backpack, Backpack!!


After all the swapping around of cakes and kids for the pictures and singing happy birthday to each of them; everybody got cake and ice cream to eat.  All three girls were happy with all their gifts and probably ready for the next party!  Happy 2nd birthday Mallory!  Happy 4th birthday, Kylie! Happy 6th birthday, Josie!

On a side note, during cleanup of the party, I guess the birthday girl was still hungry.
Sneaking a piece of cake!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Kids Health Update

   Starting out with Caden, he's been keeping us on our toes.  He is been complaining about his stomach hurting almost everyday but not all day long.  We think it is the Gluten in his body because we have not been really watching that part of the diet.  We have since been detoxing gluten out of his body which means not feeding any gluten to him.  If you don't think it's hard just look up the foods you can't have with that diet.  He has been doing good with it and it seems to have helped.  Hopefully in a month or so we can slowly introduce gluten back into his diet.
   Colin just had tubes put in his ears as I wrote about before.  He seems to have no issues with it so far and his checkup is tomorrow with Dr. Dejti.  Fingers crossed.
   Kendra and Bren went to Evansville to Dr. Kalayla for her asthma checkup.  He said she was doing very well and he wants her to stay that way.  He didn't change much with her meds and would see her again in April.  I think they did a little shopping and ate at the Olive Garden.  The two boys got Angry Birds shirts and the girl got and OmNom doll(Don't feel bad; I don't know what it is either).  Nothing like happy kids!!!

The Mask

Monday night, about 8:30 PM, I am out at mom and dad's place.  We had just finished cutting pork off the bone for the night and I was trying to teach mom how to record DVDs with her recorder. I get a call from Kendra, who I thought should be in bed, she was wanting paint from grandma for a project.  When I get home with the paint I saw she was working on a paper plate.  She said she was painting a mask.
She worked on it till about 9:30 PM that evening (I think it was due the next day)then went to bed.  The next morning Bren took some pictures of her with it because she was not up yet when I left for work.
Later that evening we asked her what the mask was all about and she said it was an African mask for Social Studies.  I just they had masks for plays, parties, and funerals for representing someone.  Sounds kinda cool.  She did a good job on her and she said hers was for a party(Of course).
Good Job, Kendra!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Volleyball!!

This is the time of year for me to start playing volleyball on Sundays.  I would say that volleyball is the sport that I like to play the most.  Today we had two matches and since I haven't played since spraining my ankle last March, I didn't know how it would go.  Well after some good hits and some bad, I am definitely going to be sore but no ankle pain. WOOHOO!!  I am on a pretty good team of 4 gals and 2 guys; and the gals can outshine me any day, so I have to work hard to keep my status.  This group likes to play for fun and that's the group I want to play with.  I am sure I will get to play several weeks of good volleyball, let's just hope the soreness will dwindle down as them weeks pass!

Last night's Movie night

Of course this is my working weekend so I do get to see the children as much as other weekends.  After work went to church then the family went out to eat at the Country Griddle.  We then came home and found a movie on Netflix.  "Mars needs Moms" was the movie we chose to watch.  It was an animated movie about martians taking a boy's mom and his adventure rescuing her.  Very good movie, it kept the kid's attention throughout the movie.  I recommend the movie to anyone.  After that we watched the 4 Dreamworks Christmas specials.(Shrek,etc.) just for Caden. A full days work and a couple of movies can tucker out this old man so I went to bed.

Friday, January 6, 2012

An Old Hobby

After a pretty good day at work, I came home and did some work that I haven't done in a while.  Tearing apart electronic equipment!! Years back, I worked at Orion as a electronic technician repairing TV's, VCR's, and Camcorders.  I try and mess around with electronics every chance I get.  Tonight I decided to look at a camcorder that the Dorn's may have dropped? or the screen quit working.  I started taking apart piece at a time and tried to keep screws straight.
About the time I got it all apart, the Dorn's show up so I tried to get Maddox to put it back together for me.  He looked at it like I was crazy for taking it apart.(I don't think Larry and Deann was going to jump in and put it back together either).  I looked all over to find the problem with it but had no luck.  I did get it back together with no problem.
At times I do miss working at Orion and the friends that I made there.  All my troubleshooting skills came from that place and it always had some challenges.  Way back when I was working there I thought that would be "work" until I retired; little did I know at the time that building new electronic equipment would get cheaper than repairing old.  A least this allowed me to further my education and now get to repair bigger and more sophisticated equipment.  Life has a funny way of molding a person to become better than they were before.  I will always be caught working on electronics.  It's an old hobby.  Keep to the Beat!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Lights Down!

After Kendra got home; I asked her if she would help me take down outside Christmas lights since it was 50 degrees out and nice.  She jumped on the idea if I would let her on the roof to help with the roof ones.  I did let Colin up there when we put them up so I let Kendra help me take them down.  In the process of taking down lights and decor,  I didn't think Kendra got to talk all day.  Don't get me wrong, I want to have the kids talk to me but I need time to reflect on her thoughts and her thoughts were coming a mile a minute.  That's what I love about her never afraid to express herself. 
We got all the lights down and put away.  Even some of us got an ear full of information! Thank you for helping me, Kendra!!!

Tubes Day

This was the day that Colin's ears received their tubes again.  He has been fighting ear infections for several weeks and Dr. Dejti said it was time for them.  After getting the other 2 kids to their respective schools, we headed for the hospital.
When we got to the room, there was a cool red and black blanket for him to take home after the procedure. 
After the trouble figuring out how the gown goes on; you could tell his nervousness was setting in.  While he waited to be taken into surgery he played the ipod to take his mind off the situation.  When the anesteologist came in she told them that they would be using some funky monkey juice on him and he may come back to the parents with hair on his chest and face.(which he smiled at)
Well no new HAIR.  He came back after about 1/2 hour a little drowsy and grumpy but get some broccoli in him and he is a new man.  He did tell us later he would hope that they would cancel the procedure and that he would rather went to school.  We got outta there about noon and Colin, Caden, and I rested the part of the afternoon.  Colin did get a compliment from one of the surgery staff saying she wished they have more kids like him following instructions and not whining.  We are proud of you Colin.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Caden's first tooth loss

Caden lost his first tooth today (by natural means).  I don't think he knew how to feel about it yet but he was ready to put it under the pillow tonight for the tooth fairy.