Snowball fight

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Tree trimming

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Slacker

I am such a slacker on blogging. I have not been very faithful and if you are still around checking in God Bless you for sticking it out with me waiting so long between posts. It has been kind of a rough time lately.

Amber and I were going back and forth on whether or not to try to have another baby or not. Finally we decided we would try for just one month and see what happens. Lo and behold after just one month we were going to add a third child to the family.

Unfortuantely when we went home for Thanksgiving we had a miscarriage the Sunday after Thanksgiving. While no miscarriage is ever "good" we were thankful for the conditions in which it happened. We were home with family who were able to watch the girls as things happened and Amber's sister works for an OB/Gyn who came in to the ER on a Sunday to meet with us. It was good to not have to rely on the inexperience of ER personal with said situation and we were able to leave knowing for sure answers and not more questions.

The first question most people ask is are we going to try again. So in case you are wondering the answer is we are not sure. The doctor suggested waiting at least 3 months to even try. So we have time to think about it in any case.

On top of that Amber had the last part of her root canal scheduled for when we got back but now it appears she has gotten an infection in her tooth and has been in miserable pain and getting very little sleep. So our life has been hectic to say the least.

We do have some more cute pictures of the girls I will try to post soon. Things are changing again at work for me as well. It seems I may be coming a full time computer tech soon. I'll keep you updated, I promise.

Thanks for dropping by. Please leave a comment so I know you guys are still out there. Thanks again.

Ella on a zip line

Finally got the video to upload to YouTube. Here is Ella's like 8th run on the zip line.

Fall Fun

Okay the next one to catch up on is we went to Garden Gate this last weekend while my mother in law and my sister were here. We had fun going through the straw maze and picking out a pumpkin.

Pirates' Game

Okay, I have some blogging to catch up on. First the oldest one I meant to post was our make up game for the Pirates. (We missed our first game we were suppose to go to for snow) We went a couple of weeks ago and had a great time. Here are few pics including my usual me in front of the scoreboard. My 5th ballgame in my 5th new ballpark this year. I was honestly having a better time than my face lets on to. :-)

The Day

Well Sunday was the day that I lost my best friend 18 years ago. It was a very busy day Sunday which was kind of good. I really did not have much time to think and dwell on it too much. Even after 18 years it is still painful at times to relive the whole day in my head. Tonight was a the first real quiet night I have had at home and so I took the time to remember Tim with some of our old favorites: ice tea, Doritos and jalapeno and cheddar dip. All that was missing was a Jean-Claude VanDamme movie.

On another note, I think I have a big decision coming up at work. I think they are moving the repair department to another building. I need to decide if I want to become a full time tech or to stay and take on different duties. I will find out tomorrow about more of my options. So just remember me in your prayers for now as I try to make the best decision.

Anna's 1st day of school

We are such over zealous parents. We actually took 37 pictures of this one day including still asleep the morning of the first day, getting hair done, pictures with mom, and with sis, and with dad (which I included). I decided to not bore you with all the pictures and just give you the highlights.

She is all ready to go with her new Dora backpack.


Picture with dad at the front door.


At the parking lot where over zealous mom and dad both took time off work to drive there and take pictures.


Mom shows her the way to her room.


Ms. Jeni greets her at the door and shows her wear her stuff goes.


All ready forgetting about mom and dad at the door taking pictures she is off and anxious to start her first day.


After a long day of school (1 - 3:30) she is worn out on the ride home. By the way, her favorite part was getting to ride the bus 5 blocks from her school to Mommy's school where she teaches.

A Red Bull

This is another item on display in my office that not many people get to see. It belonged to my grandmother who had it on her top shelf for as long as I can remember when we would visit. Over top of the shelf was a picture of a brass bull with a red background that my brother inherited. It is a little out of place amongst much of my stuff. But I always loved it at my grandmother's house and I still think of her everytime I see it. How about you? Do you have anything in your house that doesn't really make sense to others, but is there as a reminder for you?

Seth's Birthday

Saturday was my nephew's birthday. He turned 18. I was almost a horrible uncle and almost forgot to call him. He is by far my favorite teenager in the world. He is a really great kid (well I guess adult now) and one of the hardest workers you'll ever find. He is going to school in October to learn auto maintenance. He goes by Tim these days instead of Seth which is his middle name. His father's name was Tim and was probably the best friend I will ever have. If you want to know more about him I have a separate blog about my Tim Stories.

I wish I could have been there for his 18th birthday this weekend. But I am glad I was able to go and see him graduate from alma mater. He did so on the same football field I had graduated on almost 15 years to the day. Well I just wanted to tell you a little about my wonderful nephew. The picture is of him and one of my other all time favorite people, his sister Rachael. I tell you about her and her wonderful little boy some other day.

Being a parent

When was the first time you realized you were a parent? I mean when your little one is first born you have a sense of pride and awe of the responsiblity you now have. But for me it really hit me about a year and half after Anna was born. We were out picking out pumpkins at a local greenhouse. We were walking through the dirt stone parking lot when a big truck rumbled past and made a loud noise. Anna jumped and grabbed my leg. That was when it truly hit me for the first time that I was now officially a dad. I reminded myself today of that importance...

So if you read yesterday's blog and have seen "Stranger than Fiction" you can understand why I was thinking about life in general last night. Where is life going? Whose story am I part of? Then this morning I am watching my girls on my own while Amber enjoys a full 13 hour (well she left 30 minutes late so 12 and 1/2 hour) day of scrapbooking. I walked them down to the park near our house. It is only 4 or 5 blocks away but there is no sidewalk after 2 or 3 blocks. So we are walking along the road when my girls hold my hand for the last part of the walk. We get to the park and I give them pushes on the swings and help them on the slides. (That's about it, it is a very small park.) Then as we begin our trek home they hold my hands again until we get to the sidewalks again.

As I am holding my girls hands on the way back home I realize whose story I am a big part of. I may not be learning to play the guitar or traveling the world. But I am pushing my girls on swings and keeping them to and from the park. What more important role could one be playing in a story than that?

Stranger than Ficition

Just finished watching this movie. This is such a good movie. If you have not seen it I highly recommend it. If you have share in my experience of watching this movie and only moments later reading this blog entry of a friend of mine.

My collection of cups

I wasn't sure what to name this collection. Cups, mugs, steins? I went with cups, but as you can see it varies. Most of them are used for drinking either ice tea or hot tea. Since I posted my new favorite drink yesterday I thought I would make a series of posts of my favorite things. The next one was going to be my favorite "cup" This first one below. But then I realized I have this collection most of which sit on a shelf in my office and are rarely seen. So I may get back to the series of my favorites, but for now I am going to start a series of things that I display in my office that are rarely seen. Starting with my "cup" collection.


This one I bought at the
Ohio Renaissance Festival last year.


This one if you had really good eyes could see
I bought this one at the
Maryland Renaissance Festival in 1998.


This one was a gift from Lee, one of my best friends,
for being best man in his wedding.

This one was made by another one of my friends Pat.


I received this one and the below in a box set for Christmas one year.




And this one is definitely my favorite for my hot tea.
It was bought for me in England by Lee when he was over there.

New Favorite Drink

Cannot beat it for the money!!

Another Ball Park - Wrigley Field

So my friend Ron calls me on Tuesday and says...what are you doing on Friday? Want to go to Chicago? Of course....to go to my fourth ballpark that i have not been to before...



Me in front of the famous Cubs Marquee.


A beautiful day and ballpark


The old scoreboard with a little update.


As my tradition...me in front of the scoreboard


Jim Belushi showed up to throw the first pitch...


and sing during the 7th inning stretch....it was a great day!!

Father's Day

O.K., so I am a bit behind in blogging. For Father's Day weekend we all went out to Kansas City to visit my college roommate and best friend Bubba. (Real name Roy) I was hoping to see a couple of other friends too, but that just didn't work out. Mainly b/c one of them never got back to me...eh hem..G!!!

So here is my and Bubba's family outside the Royals' and Chiefs' stadium getting ready to go in and watch the Royals and Marlins. Our wives our behind the cameras.



Here are some pictures of around this beautiful ball park.










Me and my girls and Bubba's oldest. It was the first MLB game for all 3 girls.


Ella and Anna both enjoying their first ball park hot dog.






And as my tradition, my picture in front of the score board.
It was a great Father's Day!!

Ella's birthday party