Here is Allison's preschool picture this year. I love how her eyes look so blue! I plan to distribute the kids' school pictures when we come down to Indiana for Thanksgiving, which is coming up quick!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Isaac's First Grade Picture, 2008
A handsome young man! He got new frames last month. They're more expensive, durable (I hope) and have a two-year warranty. I'm hoping he gets two years out of them, but he's growing fast! You might have noticed his new teeth and lack of same. :) Soon his smile will make him look even older than he already does.More later, I hope. We're in the middle of a crazy busy week. It's all such a blur I have to look at the calendar to remember what I did yesterday. :) Now it's 7:30 am and time to feed the kids and then put Isaac on the bus!
Monday, September 8, 2008
A Summer of Accomplishments and Good Times
As school starts, I reflect on the events of this past summer and quickly realize that we had a pretty good one.
Summer Intern -- For most of the summer, we had the privilege of home and lives with Sarah Thompson, an InterVarsity summer intern. She bonded well with the kids, especially Allison. It was certainly nice to get a little extra income over the summer, but the true rewards we received were a newfound friendship and a small glimpse into the not-so-distant future when the ability for our children to be independent will have caught up to their desire to be.
Good-Bye Diapers! -- Yes, Allison is finally potty-trained and our pocketbooks are feeling the relief. She was motivated this summer by a combination of threats and bribery. Through this process, I've learned that it's amazing what people (in this case, my own child) will do when properly motivated. It was a difficult learning process for her, but, to be honest, I think I learned more than she did when all was said and done.
Camping Trip -- Unlike many friends with young kids, I was pretty reluctant to take our kids camping when they were young, but now that they are six and four, I felt safe about it. We had the privilege of camping at Willow River State Park, located just a couple miles inside the Wisconsin state line across from Minneapolis, with our close friends and neighbors. The kids had a great time and, as always with everything they enjoy, they didn't want to leave. The highlight for me during the trip was taking the kids out in a canoe for a while and then it started to rain. The kids hated it and wanted to go in, but they were stuck. They were forced to sit through something that they did not enjoy, but was not punishing them, not hurting them, not doing anything wrong to them. They got through the situation unharmed and better for it. After we got back to shore, Cindy and I took one kid each out in a kayak. Not a lot of room for two people, but it was great. The kids enjoyed that as well.
Noah's Ark -- No, we didn't travel to the Middle East in search for a boat. We did however travel just an hour north of Madison, Wisconsin to what is claimed to be America's largest waterpark. For those who know our children, you will already know that they had a great time and did NOT want to leave. We will likely make a trip to Noah's Ark (or some other waterpark) an annual event because our children just LOVE to be in the water. I am pretty sure we were the last people to leave the waterpark. And I can't forget to say a big THANK-YOU to our great friends, Arun and Caroline, who paid for our tickets into the waterpark. What a blessing you are to us in many ways.
Drive-In Theatre -- The last weekend before school started, we took the kids to a double-feature drive-in movie theatre. It was great. The first movie was Wall-E, a movie the kids had already seen before, but Cindy and I hadn't. There is really nothing like robot love. Two words: Kleenex. The second feature was the new Batman movie, which we had no intention of our children watching, so they watched a DVD in the back of Steve while Cindy and I (for the third time) watched Batman. Cindy was unaware of how long the Batman movie was. It was 2am before we set foot in our house afterwards. What a great time.
There are likely more "good times and accomplishments" I could write about, but I just can't think of them now. The new school year has started, so we look forward to good times and accomplishments this fall as our children continue to grow and learn new things.
Summer Intern -- For most of the summer, we had the privilege of home and lives with Sarah Thompson, an InterVarsity summer intern. She bonded well with the kids, especially Allison. It was certainly nice to get a little extra income over the summer, but the true rewards we received were a newfound friendship and a small glimpse into the not-so-distant future when the ability for our children to be independent will have caught up to their desire to be.
Good-Bye Diapers! -- Yes, Allison is finally potty-trained and our pocketbooks are feeling the relief. She was motivated this summer by a combination of threats and bribery. Through this process, I've learned that it's amazing what people (in this case, my own child) will do when properly motivated. It was a difficult learning process for her, but, to be honest, I think I learned more than she did when all was said and done.
Camping Trip -- Unlike many friends with young kids, I was pretty reluctant to take our kids camping when they were young, but now that they are six and four, I felt safe about it. We had the privilege of camping at Willow River State Park, located just a couple miles inside the Wisconsin state line across from Minneapolis, with our close friends and neighbors. The kids had a great time and, as always with everything they enjoy, they didn't want to leave. The highlight for me during the trip was taking the kids out in a canoe for a while and then it started to rain. The kids hated it and wanted to go in, but they were stuck. They were forced to sit through something that they did not enjoy, but was not punishing them, not hurting them, not doing anything wrong to them. They got through the situation unharmed and better for it. After we got back to shore, Cindy and I took one kid each out in a kayak. Not a lot of room for two people, but it was great. The kids enjoyed that as well.
Noah's Ark -- No, we didn't travel to the Middle East in search for a boat. We did however travel just an hour north of Madison, Wisconsin to what is claimed to be America's largest waterpark. For those who know our children, you will already know that they had a great time and did NOT want to leave. We will likely make a trip to Noah's Ark (or some other waterpark) an annual event because our children just LOVE to be in the water. I am pretty sure we were the last people to leave the waterpark. And I can't forget to say a big THANK-YOU to our great friends, Arun and Caroline, who paid for our tickets into the waterpark. What a blessing you are to us in many ways.
Drive-In Theatre -- The last weekend before school started, we took the kids to a double-feature drive-in movie theatre. It was great. The first movie was Wall-E, a movie the kids had already seen before, but Cindy and I hadn't. There is really nothing like robot love. Two words: Kleenex. The second feature was the new Batman movie, which we had no intention of our children watching, so they watched a DVD in the back of Steve while Cindy and I (for the third time) watched Batman. Cindy was unaware of how long the Batman movie was. It was 2am before we set foot in our house afterwards. What a great time.
There are likely more "good times and accomplishments" I could write about, but I just can't think of them now. The new school year has started, so we look forward to good times and accomplishments this fall as our children continue to grow and learn new things.
Monday, August 18, 2008
All in All, A Good Day
About two months ago, I received an bulk email from the North Central Oracle Applications User Group (NCOAUG for you geeky people; "a bunch of local smart geeks" for you non-geeky people) saying that the deadline for submitting presentations for their annual training day was approaching. The training day was scheduled for Friday, August 15th in Chicago. I figured... "what have I got to lose?" I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen? Sure, I dislike rejection just as much as the next fellow, but it doesn't hurt so much when it comes from someone you don't know. So I submitted a presentation that I gave in June 2007 at another conference, and wouldn't you know it... they accepted it. How exciting!
I'd go into the topic of my presentation, but I know that would bore you all. If you truly want to know more about it, email me and I'll give you more details.
After a short while and some email communication between myself and the officials of the training day, my presentation was scheduled for 8.30am and for 40 minutes. My original presentation was about an hour, so I had to either cut some stuff out or talk really fast. I decided to do a bit of both. Since the presentation was scheduled so early so far away, I decided it would be best to rent a car for the day and stay in Chicago the night before and then I'd have plenty of time in the morning to get ready.
I arrived at the car rental place just after work to pick up the vehicle. I had a coupon for a free rental so I thought peruse the vehicles before going in. That's when I saw it. It sat there, so angelic. I swear there was a beam of sunlight shining down from heaven above on it so I knew it must be a sign that I must have that car for my trip. I walked in and asked which car I was entitled to with a coupon for a free day. He told me he only had a couple of cars that qualified and then I looked at him with that same look my children give me when they really want something and are scared to ask.
I asked, "You think I might be able to take that beautiful red Ford Mustang out there?" He thought for a second and said, "Sure, why not." You should have seen my face. I was about to drive to Chicago in the newest and likely fastest car I've ever ridden in. I was so stoked. We got all the paperwork together and walked out to the beast that I was about to tame. I knew the pain that I was causing our Santa Fe. I could hear him wimpering from across the parking lot. I reassured him that I would in fact return -- that I would not leave him there forever. I think our little pep talk helped, but there were some shed tears -- or perhaps it was just a little rain.
I got home with it and it just purred into our driveway -- like it belonged there. Luckily for our Fe, I put a picture of it on the dashboard of the Mustang so I would remember to pick it up the next day. I went inside and started packing.
I thought to myself... "self? what should I wear to give my presentation tomorrow? casual or dressed up? khakis or shorts? tie or no tie?" Then, as if the largest Christmas tree in Times Square had just turned on, it came to me. I knew exactly what to wear. So, I packed up a little suitcase ('cause I'm a guy) and headed out with Dave, a co-worker, to Chicago. It rode well -- even if it didn't. Did I mention it was a beautiful car?
The next morning, we got up and got ready for the day. I was so excited to wear my brand new, only worn once before, Milwaukee Brewers jersey to an Oracle training day in the heart of Chicago Cubs land -- and the fact that I was going to be presenting was just a bonus! Just think.... I was wearing the jersey of the enemy and they were forced to look at me! :)
Well, this blog is already a bit long... I like to be verbose and story-telling-ish, as you can tell. I'll wrap up with the fact that I gave the forty-minute presentation without a hitch or any problems. I had about thirty people attend my presentation and 1/3 of them came up afterwards requesting a copy of my presentation, so that was a great sign.
At the end of the day, there were several drawings for door prizes and I won a set of Bose speakers -- so sweet! So... when all was said and done, at the end of the day, I drove home away from Chicago in a new Ford Mustang wearing my (somewhat) new Milwaukee Brewers jersey and new set of Bose speakers. All in all, a good day.
I'd go into the topic of my presentation, but I know that would bore you all. If you truly want to know more about it, email me and I'll give you more details.
After a short while and some email communication between myself and the officials of the training day, my presentation was scheduled for 8.30am and for 40 minutes. My original presentation was about an hour, so I had to either cut some stuff out or talk really fast. I decided to do a bit of both. Since the presentation was scheduled so early so far away, I decided it would be best to rent a car for the day and stay in Chicago the night before and then I'd have plenty of time in the morning to get ready.
I arrived at the car rental place just after work to pick up the vehicle. I had a coupon for a free rental so I thought peruse the vehicles before going in. That's when I saw it. It sat there, so angelic. I swear there was a beam of sunlight shining down from heaven above on it so I knew it must be a sign that I must have that car for my trip. I walked in and asked which car I was entitled to with a coupon for a free day. He told me he only had a couple of cars that qualified and then I looked at him with that same look my children give me when they really want something and are scared to ask.
I asked, "You think I might be able to take that beautiful red Ford Mustang out there?" He thought for a second and said, "Sure, why not." You should have seen my face. I was about to drive to Chicago in the newest and likely fastest car I've ever ridden in. I was so stoked. We got all the paperwork together and walked out to the beast that I was about to tame. I knew the pain that I was causing our Santa Fe. I could hear him wimpering from across the parking lot. I reassured him that I would in fact return -- that I would not leave him there forever. I think our little pep talk helped, but there were some shed tears -- or perhaps it was just a little rain.
I got home with it and it just purred into our driveway -- like it belonged there. Luckily for our Fe, I put a picture of it on the dashboard of the Mustang so I would remember to pick it up the next day. I went inside and started packing.
I thought to myself... "self? what should I wear to give my presentation tomorrow? casual or dressed up? khakis or shorts? tie or no tie?" Then, as if the largest Christmas tree in Times Square had just turned on, it came to me. I knew exactly what to wear. So, I packed up a little suitcase ('cause I'm a guy) and headed out with Dave, a co-worker, to Chicago. It rode well -- even if it didn't. Did I mention it was a beautiful car?
The next morning, we got up and got ready for the day. I was so excited to wear my brand new, only worn once before, Milwaukee Brewers jersey to an Oracle training day in the heart of Chicago Cubs land -- and the fact that I was going to be presenting was just a bonus! Just think.... I was wearing the jersey of the enemy and they were forced to look at me! :)
Well, this blog is already a bit long... I like to be verbose and story-telling-ish, as you can tell. I'll wrap up with the fact that I gave the forty-minute presentation without a hitch or any problems. I had about thirty people attend my presentation and 1/3 of them came up afterwards requesting a copy of my presentation, so that was a great sign.
At the end of the day, there were several drawings for door prizes and I won a set of Bose speakers -- so sweet! So... when all was said and done, at the end of the day, I drove home away from Chicago in a new Ford Mustang wearing my (somewhat) new Milwaukee Brewers jersey and new set of Bose speakers. All in all, a good day.
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