Ice Storm 2008

On Friday, 12/19, we had an ice storm. A real doozie. 3/4"-1" of ice on everything all over Fort Wayne. At one point, there were 75,000 people/businesses without power. I lost power at my office around 9:30am and we eventually left work around 11am. I got home around 11:30am and then our power went out at home about 12:30pm. We were taking the kids to the doctor at 1pm, so it wasn't a big deal to not be in the house. When we got back around 2:30, the power was back on. We were fortunate all weekend to have power, as the temps held steady around 0-5 degrees with windchills hovering around -25 degrees. This morning, Christine was taking the kids to daycare and I was going to work. At about 7:00am, our power went out again. I came home from work around 10am and the power was back on. The local power company guys are saying some people won't have power until Wednesday or Thursday. Merry christmas. Oh, and they're calling for another ice storm for Tuesday night. Yippee!

Casa de Ice

Our front yard and the neighbors

Looking out into the backyard

Looking down our street

Visit with Santa

We took the kids to see Santa on Saturday. Both of them were really excited before we got there, but once inside Santa's little shack, Syd froze up. You couldn't have broken her grip around my neck if you wanted too. Spencer, on the other hand, was very eager to tell Santa about the things he wanted most for Christmas....a set of Batman wings and a remote control helicopter (the Airhogs type you see on TV). Santa was in agreement with Mommy and Daddy that the helicoptors are difficult to fly and often break if one is not experienced in operating such toys. As for the Batman wings, it sounds like Santa might come through on that one. Here's a photo we took of Spencer and ole' Kris Kringle. The photos we bought from the gal running the camera for Santa didn't turn out as good as our own personal camera, but what do you expect from a couple of high school kids!

Outside Santa's shack, one of his reindeer was assisting with public relations. It wasn't one of the flying reindeer, but must have been a girlfriend of one of them, probably Blitzen. He is the wild one of course. The reindeer's name was Candy Cane, no kidding. I didn't know if we were talking about the reindeer or the December headliner at the local gentlemen's establishment. Either way, the kids thought it was pretty cool. Here's Christine and Syd posing with Ms. Cane, painted hooves and all. Yeah, the darn thing had painted hooves. Anything for the kids.

Elf Yourself dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Clark strikes again '08

Well, everyone seems to think I have a little problem. A problem with Christmas lights. I don't think I have a problem. I can stop anytime I want. There's nothing you can say to change my mind. The worst part is I figured out this year how to squeeze out a few more amps on a couple of circuits. I've used all the lights I have, but now I'll be going to the after-Christmas sales to pick up more, probably more of the big C9 bulbs (those are the ones I've got on the house and the trees). I think the trees need more lights and I'm thinking of using more to accent some areas. With that said, I'll probably need to get more mini-lights as well. The bushes could always use more too. I actually need to stop talking about it....I'm starting to perspire a little and my heart is racing a tad. Anyway, the video below was shot tonight. If you turn your volume up, you can hear the Christmas music playing. My mom got me this gizmo that you plug lights into and you can set them to blink to the music. That's right, I'm steppin' up my game this year. I'm fairly certain next year will be even better. Let me know what you think.

Fall 2008 Remodel Part II

Now that I've got most of the painting done, I started on the tile this weekend. So far, I've got about 7-8 hours into it. Christine and I think it looks pretty good, considering I'm a novice tile guy. Cutting the door jambs was a bit tricky and the tile cuts to go under the jambs took some practice. Although, I haven't had to scrap any tiles yet due to cutting mishaps (knock wood). The grouting will be done once all the tile is layed out. My goal is to have it done by Christmas. More pictures as progress is made.

Turkey Day '08

Well, another Thanksgiving on the books. We made the drive to Indy to Uncle Tim's house for the festivities this year. You know, all the usual stuff. Eat, then eat and more of....eating. We had a pretty good turnout this year, 28 people if our counting was correct. Although, there were a few of the Kelly clan who were noticeably absent. Several of us were saddened to learn of their absence. Aside from that, it was nice to see everyone again and catch up. I'm sure we'll be at it again next year. For the record, Lori makes a mean green bean casserole and brownies with peanut butter topping! Megan's a cute one too! Thanks to Aunt Karen and Aunt Cathy for lots of the good eats.

Spencer and Syd 2007 - Video collection

I was searching through some old files on the laptop tonight and came across this little gem that I made last year. I've done a few of these videos since Spencer was born, but this one turned out the best. I'm probably due to make another one. The hardest part is picking the right music. Thanks to Dave Kelly (Mmmmmm-Dave) for getting me the mp3 of the song.

Fall 2008 Remodel Part 1

It's been 7-1/2 years since we moved into our house and we haven't done any major projects inside the house, aside from finishing the basement right before Spencer was born. So, we've decided to tackle some painting and flooring, all on the first floor. In the half bath, we just finished painting and installing a new light fixture (see before and after photos below). There's still a little paint touchup and we plan to install a new towel bar and toilet paper holder that match the light fixture. Tonight, I started preparing the hallway from the front door to the kitchen. Painting will probably start tomorrow. Then I need to put some paint in the laundry room. After all the walls are done, we'll start on the floor. We're putting down porcelain tile throughout the bathroom, laundry room, hallway and kitchen. The tile product is pretty unique...it's called SnapStone. It's real porcelain tile that snaps together like laminate flooring. They're 12"x12" tiles in a medium brown color called camel. Thanks to a couple of customers of mine who've lent me tools to do the work...Troy at Horner Electric provided the wetsaw and Dick at Windamatic provided a door jam saw and tile cutter. Hopefully I can get the tools back in a somewhat timely fashion! As the remodel progresses, I'll try to update the blog with photos.





Before



After


Here's a picture of Syd. She's been my little helper so far. She wants to hold the tools and bang on things with the screwdriver, hammer, paint can opener, etc. Thanks Syd!

Halloween '08

Well, another Halloween is in the books. It was a hectic day once I arrived home from work. Spencer's kindergarten teacher had invited all her kids to come to her house for trick-or-treating that night. I left work a little early on Friday and we headed out to Ms. Boyer's house around 5pm....Spencer, Sydney, Christine, Grandma Sandy and me. After going to Spencer's teacher's house, we stopped by Mickey D's for some quick dinner. Once home, the kids ate and we waited for our friends, the Colglazier's, to arrive. Their kids, Mya and Brandt, were going to go with us through our neighborhood. We got on the road to trick-or-treating around 6:30pm. Grandma Sandy stayed behind to dish out the candy while the four adults and four kids went out to collect the goods. I think Spencer has gotten the hang of Halloween. He was consistently 3-4 houses ahead of us the whole night. Christine and I were yelling for him to slow down and wait for the rest of us. His hard work paid off.....his Halloween bucket was full at the end of the night! We've got enough candy to last to (at least) Christmas.



Here are Spencer and Syd after a long night (well, an hour and a half or so) of trick-or-treating. The kids played and made themselves sick on candy, while the adults ordered Chinese takeout and relaxed a bit. All in all, a good night!

Pumpkin Train

Today, we took the kids to New Haven for a ride on the New Haven Lake Erie train and visit the pumkin patch. We did it last year and it was a lot of fun. As long as the train continues to operate, we'll probably make this an October tradition. We got there around 2pm and waited about 45 minutes for our turn on the train. The train takes you around a short layout (about a 10 minute ride) and then drops you at the pumpkin patch. You can then walk on trails, pick out pumpkins and the kids can play games and color. Then you get back on the train and it takes you back around the layout to the "station." The kids really like riding on the train!

Here's a photo of the actual train as it was heading off toward the pumpkin patch. It's actually a small locomotive, but quite powerful. It's a real train...read about it at the site I linked above. It's got quite a history.

Here are a couple pics of Christine with the kids.

The kids liked running through the trails they had set up in the pumpkin patch. There were pumpkins scattered among the trails, as well as lots of Halloween decorations.

There's Syd, trying to maneuver the wagon with our two pumpkings. We don't usually get pumpkins this big, but what the heck! We only buy pumpkins once a year! Despite being a little cool, we had a great time. We'll definitely be back next year. Next up.....photos from Halloween (unless something comes up in the next few days worth blogging!)

Happy B-day Daddy

As some of you may know, today is my birthday. Nothing special for today....just work and then swimming lessons for the kids tonight at the YMCA. I think Christine and I are going out with some friends this weekend (minus the kids!)

Here's Syd playing with the card they gave me today. It plays "Come On Feel the Noise" by Quiet Riot. Once Syd heard the tune, all she wanted to do was dance. As you can see, its apparent she's got her old man's dance moves! Go Syd!

Spencer had Career Day at school last Friday. They were to dress up as "community helpers", i.e. doctors, police officers, firefighters, etc. Here's Spence in his best construction worker outfit. He even took the shovel on the bus! Coincidentally, he's going as another "community helper" for Halloween....Spiderman! Pictures will be posted after trick-or-treating of course.

A Trip to the Apple Orchard

We took the kids to Cook's Apple Orchard today, seeing as how the weather was perfect for the middle of September. Joining us were a friend of ours, Janet, and her two kids, Mya and Brandt. The only person missing was Wade, Janet's husband, who was participating in an archery (bow hunting) competition today. We grabbed a couple of bags and headed for the orchard. The kids had a great time running around picking apples from the trees. Spencer's kindergarten class usually takes a trip to this orchard every year, but they've cancelled the trip this year due to budgetary constraints. Because of this and since we had never taken the kids to an orchard before, we thought this would be a fun trip for them.

Here's Spencer grabbing a Red Delicious. I guess Spencer thought we were heading to the beach this morning, as he donned his best Hawaiin shirt. With the weather being sunny and around 80 today, it seemed appropriate apple-picking apparel.

Syd and Brandt must've picked more apples than we actually kept, as there were many apples that were hanging at just their height. When Brandt found this apple, he carried it most of the time we were there and nearly ate the whole thing!

Bags full, we're headed back to the barn to pay up. Along with our apples, we picked up a gallon of their fresh apple cider. As of 10pm tonight, it was already over half gone....good stuff! Janet purchased a few gourds and a pumpkin to go with her apples too. We had fun and plan on trying our hand at some apple crisp and apple dumplings!

MSU beats on Irish

MSU put another win under their belt today with a victory over Notre Dame in East Lansing. Of course, another great performance by Javon Ringer helped the Spartans' cause today. Way to go guys!!

Way to go Spartans!

Thanks to the workhorse Jevon Ringer, MSU came out victorious today against Florida Atlantic. Actually, it was a pretty boring game in the rain, but anyone who bleeds green and white stays until the end. (By the way, Notre Dame beat U-M 35-17. Ha-ha! Maize and blue is off-limits in The Fort!!)

Here's one of my couch buddies for the game. I'm guessing Syd and I will be making treks to East Lansing for games in the not-so-distant future.

Spencer's been supporting the Spartans since he was a baby, and he still gets excited whenever they score a touchdown.

Growing up fast

Oh, how they grow up so fast. Spencer has been questioning me lately about shaving so I thought I'd let him have a go at it. I figure we've got about 9-10 years before we have to actually let him use a real razor. For now, the green/purple SpongeBob razor does the trick!

Here he is checking out his handy work in the mirror.

The First Full Week

It seems even superheroes get exhausted once in a while too. After baths tonight, Spencer decided to don his Robin costume (he was going as Spiderman earlier in the evening, however, no camera was at hand). We came downstairs to watch Lady and the Tramp and he barely made it through the opening scene before crashing.

For those of you wondering, Spencer had a great first full week of school (he went Wed-Fri of last week too). He likes riding the bus and going out for recess. Since Christine leaves around 7am and I'm off shortly after, we needed someone to look after Spencer before the bus comes at 8:45am. We've "hired" our next door neighbor, Miss Lyla, for the job. Spencer goes over to her house and gets to play with their dog Skylar before school. We are very fortunate to have great neighbors like Doug and Lyla!! (by the way, they're Canadian too!!) Thanks Bruce's for being great neighbors!!

Couldn't forget to add a picture of Syd too.

First Day of School!!

It's too bad school doesn't start at 6:30am because Spencer was ready to go that early! According to Christine (I was still asleep), Spencer had gotten out of bed, put his clothes on, came downstairs, proceeded to feed himself breakfast (a fresh package of Brown Sugar-Cinnamon PopTarts) and put his shoes and backpack on. He was ready for the bus at 7:08am. Unfortunately for him, the bus doesn't pick him up until 8:45am! Needless to say, it made for a long hour and 37 minutes. While he waited patiently (and, at times, not so patiently), everyone else got up and dressed and had some breakfast. Despite Spencer's wishes, he had quite the audience for his voyage to kindergarten....mommy, daddy, Syd, Grandma Marilyn and her friend, Dorothy (they drove down from Canada on Tuesday).





Looking cool for school at the bus stop!









Here comes the bus!







See ya later, mom! By the way, the bus driver was great. As Spencer was about to head up the stairs and to a seat, he made Spencer stop and turn around for a photo op. We're pretty sure he has experience with first time kindergarteners (and first time parents looking to capture the moment!)







There's Grandma Marilyn and Syd. It was a perfect day for your first day at kindergarten.

Here's our boy getting off the bus. According to Grandma, he was smiling from ear to ear when he got off. We don't know if he was more excited to go to a new school or just ride the bus with the other big kids! We're pretty sure he had fun either way!

One week and counting

On Wednesday, August 20th, Spencer officially starts kindergarten. He's very excited about a new school, new teacher and new friends. Last night, we attended the kindergarten open house at his school, Covington Elementary. His teacher had us do a scavenger hunt to find things in the classroom and throughout the school. Then Spencer and the rest of the new kindergarten kids were taken to the gym and watched a video and talked to the new principal. While the kids were doing that, the parents stayed in the classroom and his teacher, Ms. Boyer, covered what the kids would be doing, lunch routines, recess, etc. We're sure Spencer's going to have a great time this year! I'll post some pictures next week of his first day.

Another feather for Christine's academic hat....

Today, Christine became an adjunct faculty member for the local university, Indiana-Purdue University @ Fort Wayne (IPFW). In other words, she's now a university professor. She'll be teaching Biology 100 to select students at her high school for college credit. This "promotion" will have a two-fold effect:
1) it'll look great on her resume and gets her closer to a PhD in Education (she already has her Masters in Ed. and her Administration license)
2) it gets me closer to retiring because of all her salary increases!!!

Way to go CK!!!

Zoo

We made it to the zoo this morning. We haven't gone as much as we did last summer; we've just been busier this year than last. It was a nice day and we packed a picnic for afterwards. As is tradition on nearly every trip to the zoo, we had to get a picture on the orangutan statue. This one actually turned out okay....we usually get eyes closed, a frown, someone else's kid in the picture, etc. The seal lions seemed interested in Spencer today, as you can see in the photo. The one would swim right up to the glass and stick almost half its body out of the water and just look at Spencer. We were lucky to snap a few quick shots before it headed off.

Smoke on the water

When I got up this morning to get the paper, I couldn't resist taking a snapshot of the pond across the street from our house. The water was absolutely calm with a little "smoke" on it. I thought it was cool, you?

Over the river and through the woods....

Roller coaster at Wonderland (that's Spencer & Ryan in the second car. Check out the bass player from Def Leppard behind them. Nice hair dude!)

Dinosaurs at the ROM

Spencer and Mikaela

Syd and Christine



....to grandmother's house we go. Here are a few pictures from our most recent bi-annual trip to Christine's mom's house (Grandma Marilyn) who lives in Markham, Ontario (suburb of Toronto). This was the first time we tried to do some actual vacation-y type activities with the kids. We took all of our bikes with us, went to the Royal Ontario Museum and Canada's Wonderland (Canada's version of Six Flags, Cedar Point, etc). We went with Christine's cousin Beckie, her husband Bill and their kids, Mikaela, Ryan and Adam.




The Nickelodeon characters were a big hit with the kids, as were all the rides. The park has a whole section dedicated to kids. Us bigger kids rode some of the rides with the kids and had a good time, but never made it to the 'adult' rides. We'll have to save that for next summer! All in all, it was a great time.