We have a winner!

It's done, it's done, it's done! After a year of toiling, I've finished tiling the floor. Granted, there were many weekends where no work took place, but it's done nonetheless. With Christine and the kids gone to Canada last week, I felt it was a great time to finish up the work without the pitter-patter of little feet to get in the way. They left Saturday morning and I got to work. I had a little tile cutting/setting to finish before I could start grouting. Once the area under the stove was tiled/grouted, I moved it back into place and began the arduous grouting process. Long story short, I was finished putting all the trim back down around the perimeter literally minutes before they got home the afternoon of the 24th. Here are a couple of pics of the final product.

I think it's safe to say that grouting is one of my very least favorite home improvement activities. It wasn't so bad when I did the bathroom and laundry room. But doing the hallway and entire kitchen was a different story. My shoulders are still sore from it. No pain, no gain.

We're still not done working on the kitchen. We were at Menard's today looking around, and saw some nice countertops we liked. It's either countertops or appliances. Whichever "dies" first I guess. Thanks to all who have given compliments on the floor. I know it's not perfect and there are little blemishes here and there, but I'm pretty sure I saved a fortune by doing it myself. Plus, Christine and I both think it turned out great. I'm done with home improvement for a while. However, we've discussed ripping up the carpet in the living room to put down hardwood. I'll stop now while I'm ahead.

Holiday Fun in the Fort

We've had a busy couple of weekends, as I'm sure everyone has. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas has absolutely flown by. This weekend has been the only weekend we haven't had something on the calendar to do. Still, we were quite busy with last minute shopping and visiting Santa.

Last weekend, the kids made gingerbread houses. Actually, Spencer and I made a gingerbread house and Syd and Christine made a gingerbread train. They both turned out pretty good.









Today, we planned on going out to see Santa at Jefferson Pointe. First, we took a couple of photos in front of the tree (you know, before clothes, hair and faces got dirty!).








So, it was off to see Santa. We were third in line so we didn't have to wait long. The weather was a bit misty and foggy, but otherwise not bad. We were worried about Syd, as it's been crying and clutching my neck for the last 3 years. She made Spencer hold her hand, and a little reluctantly, she made her way to Santa's lap. A note about Santa this year. It might be noticeable from the pictures, but this guy creeped me out. He wasn't really sitting per se, but more like lounging in his chair. Legs were thrown over the one side and he was slouched to the other side. And there were two fans blowing on him, like they have on a model's photo shoot to blow their hair around. The one fan was blowing right in the kids' faces. I was keeping a close eye on him. I didn't want to have to lay Santa out with a right hook, but I wasn't going to let Santa take advantage of anyone. Either way, the kids had a good time and got a sucker out of the deal. Plus, we dropped $20 on a couple of cheezy photos taken by Santa's helpers. The photos we took with our own camera turned out better.







Here's one of the kids outside by the big tree at the mall.










This Saturday, Christine and the kids are off to Canada to visit her family. I'll be home alone, just me and the christmas lights. By the way, I got all my electrical issues figured out (I think). No breakers have tripped, no more smoke, no more burnt GFI outlets. And after seeing lots of LED lights on people's houses, it's convinced me to stick with the old fashion ceramic bulbs. They are brighter, more colorful and just more fun to look at. This means getting an electrician in here next summer to run a couple of 40 amp circuits, dedicated to outdoor lighting. Please save your speeches. I know the old bulbs cost more to run, burn more electricity and are all-around bad for the environment. Call me a traditionalist, call me old fashioned, or call me Clark. All would be compliments in my book. Thanks, Dad, for putting up the big bulbs when we were little. I can only hope Spencer has the chance to do it when he's grown!





Have a great Christmas!!

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I may have gone too far....

Well, I have officially went "Clark Griswold" this year, with a hint of smoke. As some of you know, I'm a bit of a connoisseur of Xmas lights, especially the big C-9 bulbs. My fascination goes back to my childhood and will be permanently fixed in my holiday brain. But I digress. This year, after several calculations and diagrams, I thought I had found a few more amps available on a circuit to plug in a few more strands of lights. See diagrams below.

Well, I think I finally went too far. Last night, I couldn't figure out why a few strands weren't coming on. I checked and double checked all the connections and extension cord runs, only to find all was well. Then I went to the outdoor timer (I mean, who leaves lights on all night). The settings were good, the plug was good and the GFI seemed okay, operative word "seemed". I finally decided to just leave one cord unplugged for the night and try to fix the issue on Sunday. About a half hour later, I see the kitchen lights flicker ever so slightly, then a soft, barley audible "pop". With a hint of mystery, I went outside, turned on the lights and saw something I didn't want to see. The GFI outlet was slightly blackened. I went to unplug one of the extension cords and couldn't get it to go initially. You see, it had began to melt to the outlet. A little panic set in at that point. I immediately went to the circuit box to find two breakers had tripped. I killed the power and went back outside to assess the situation. With screwdriver in hand, I was getting the effervescent aroma of burning electrical components. Once I removed the outside cover on the GFI, I proceeded to remove the receptacle. It was then that I saw the potential disaster I had averted. Here's what the GFI receptacle looked like after I took it out:

So, my first call Monday morning will be to a qualified electrician to fix my GFI. I'd do it myself, but some of the wires feeding the receptacle were a little crispy. Maybe this is my opportunity to switch to the new LED lights that are all the rage. Or I could have the electrician just install a couple of 30amp circuits. Yeah, that should do the trick! No comments needed. I'm sure I'll be the butt of all jokes down at the electrician's shop after he sees what I did.

Merry Christmas to all,

Your friend "Clark"

Halloween '09

The pumpkins are starting to rot and the candy is slowly disappearing. Another Halloween in the bag. It was a cold one this year, only around 40 deg during trick or treating 6-8pm on Saturday. We had another get-together with our friends, the Colglazier's, along with my little buddy, Bobby, and his daughter Jane. Christine and Janet were kind enough to take all 5 kids trick or treating, while Wade, Bob and I stayed back to hand out candy. We barely made it that night. Luckily the fire pit was raging hot and the beer was cold. Rough, I know, but somebody's got to do it.





Spencer, the evil Canadian hockey vampire







Sydney, the spooky Croc-wearin' witch who needs a winter coat to stay scary

The big kids hanging out in the driveway (thanks to our photojournalist Bob)

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All things football

Well, it was a great weekend for football...especially if you bleed Green & White like we do here in The Fort! What a fan-frickin-tastic win by our Spartans over the Univ of Michigan Wolverines (or skunk bears, as we like to call 'em!). It came down to the wire and the Spartans eeked out a 26-20 win over U-M in overtime. Ah, the sweet taste of victory! Two words:

GO STATE!!

On another related football note, Spencer is halfway through his flag football season. Saturday was perfect weather for football...50 degrees, stiff west wind, light rain. Memories of my high school days flooded in. Then Spencer ran over to me and broke me from my dream. He said, "Dad, my stomach hurts." I said (like I do everytime..thanks Mom), "Do you need to go poop?" Spencer replied, "No, my stomach hurts cuz it's raining." Duh, I should've known. Anyway, once the game got under way, all was well. He actually enjoys playing. For a bunch of 6-8 year olds, it's amazing how much athletism abounds with these little guys. I think our local high school will do pretty well in another 10-12 years.

So far, Spencer seems to be relegated to the offensive and defensive lines, center and nosetackle respectively. I guess he comes by it honestly...the old man was a two way starter on the lines back in the day. That's me, circa 1991, putting a vicious block on some punk from Comstock I think (actually looks like an illegal block in the back, but who's keeping score).

Here's a short video of Spencer playing center on offense. I love the way he goes down field for a pass after hiking the ball. Listen for me cheering on the QB for a "wide open Spencer". Proud dad, I guess, despite the slight rule violation!

And here's the team photo from Saturday. By the way, his team is the Irish. Seeing as how that's the Notre Dame brand and we only pray to Michigan State in this household, I gotta let it go for this flag football season. It could've been worse I suppose. Spencer's in the back row on the far right in case you couldn't find him.

Drum roll please......

Let's all put our hands together to congratulate Christine on being named....are you ready.....State of Indiana Biology Teacher of the Year! She was honored this past Monday evening at the Fort Wayne Community Schools monthly board meeting. Even if she is modest about the whole affair, I'm absolutely proud that she was awarded the honor. It's more proof that she is an incredible educator (even though most of her friends, coworkers and family already knew that!). This award definitely emphasizes the hard work and dedication she puts in for those kids at her school.

Here's a picture from the award presentation. Christine in the middle with her principal Chad Hissong on one side and the FWCS Superintendant Wendy Robinson on the other side.

By the way, the board meetings are broadcast on a local cable channel. It will be re-broadcast this Thursday at 7pm on Comcast Ch. 54 for those that live here in The Fort. I'm gonna attempt to record it to DVD and add the video to the blog if possible. Stay tuned!

Great job, CK!!!

Sing with me: "Go right through for MSU...."

"....Spartan teams are here to win, they're fighting with a vim, rah, rah, rah!" The boys in green and white are coming with a vengeance. With a win over Montana State today (44-3), the Spartys showed what they're made of today. Way to go Spartans!





We'll be cheering the Spartans on next week against Central Michigan, as we're going to the game. Should be a great time with great friends (Wade, Janet and Bob). I'll be sure to post any appropriate pictures! Go Green! Go White!

First day of school - 1st Grade

On Wednesday, Spencer had his first day of school as a 1st grader. He was really excited to go back, mostly to see some of his friends from kindergarten. Christine and I took the morning off to get him on the bus the first day. The photos below were taken at the bus stop. We went to Back to School Night tonight to meet his teacher, Mrs. Uhey (pronounced "you-ee"). She has a very positive attitude and sounds like the kids are going to have a great year.

Here's the result of a long day at school. He was wiped out when he got home. He had a great day and is very excited about 1st grade!!

Canada Summer '09

We made another successful pilgrimmage up to Canada a few weeks ago (sorry for the posting delay....I do have a life you know!). We didn't do too much exciting, especially since it was so darn hot and humid most of the days we were there. We spent some time at the splashpad in Ian's (Christine's brother) neighborhood park. It was also nice to see Beckie, Bill and the kids for a couple of days too. One afternoon was spent watching Mikaela riding horses at an equestrian stable. She's quite good and actually did some jumping. Then we spent another afternoon at the Stewart kids' school, as it was Ryan's kindergarten graduation. The kids in his class were split up into teams and participated in a variety of games: egg race, waterballoon toss, sidewalk art and tattooing. Thanks to Ryan's teacher for allowing both Spencer and Syd to take part too. Funny story from that day. When Ryan's teacher asked him if he wanted his friend Spencer to be on his team, Ryan quickly snapped back, "He's not my friend, he's my cousin!!" This was followed up by a huge hug between Spencer and Ryan. Here are a few photos from our week up north.




Mikaela and Syd with Cashew





Syd and Grandma Marilyn at putt-putt golf




Ryan, Spencer and Adam concentrating on the egg race




Syd enjoying her ice cream and gummi bears at the kindergarten graduation




Mikaela taking a break from the slip-n-slide




View from the Blue Water Bridge, coming back into the US




This is the scene on every trip back to Fort Wayne from Canada, completely wiped out from a week's worth of fun at grandma's house in Markham.

My roses

Much to Jason's chagrin, I like roses. I have several rose bushes which we've planted next to the garage. I took a picture of one of the plants about a month ago (before the heat wave). Jason admitted that he thought it was a pretty good picture, so I thought that I would post it.

Back to the zoo

We decided to take the kids to the zoo today since we hadn't been yet this year. We were excited to go, as this year was the opening of the new African exhibit. It included lions, zebras, hyenas and other African animals. They even let you handfeed the giraffes. The kids were pretty excited with all the sights and we ended up spending about 3-1/2 hours at the zoo (I think that's a record!).






The new lions, Bill and Ina (yeah, Bill. You would've thought it was Mufasa or some other cool African name, but no, it was Bill)

Hand feeding the giraffes

The obligatory carousel ride

After looking at all the photos from today, I remembered a similar photo taken back in 2007 when Syd was a year old. How quickly they grow up!! Maybe we should make it an annual thing.

Day at Tippy Lake

Our friends, the Colglazier's, invited us to their summer house on Tippecanoe Lake. We drove up on Friday morning and stayed over, returning on Saturday. Friday was the best day of the weekend and we had a great time. As soon as we got there, the kids wanted to go for a boat ride so Wade fired up the pontoon. We had a nice cruise around the lake and the kids even swam a bit when we stopped on the ride. The water was a little chilly but the kids didn't seem to mind. We got back, had a snack and a beverage, then went back out on the ski boat. We brought along the Hot Dog to go for rides. It was Spencer's first time doing anything like this and he was a natural! He even rode by himself for quite a while. Then he tried the tube, but ended up falling off and that was the end of the watersports for the day. I think he was a little freaked out falling into that big lake and being out there by himself. Christine jumped in and swam out to him and all was good. We came back to the house, had a terrific steak dinner (thanks Janet!), then relaxed on the deck. Once it got dark, we had the firepit going and the kids roasted some marshmellows. However, as soon as Christine broke out the sparklers we bought, the s'mores were quickly forgotten. All in all, we had a great time and hope to head back up again!

Christine, Spencer, & Syd on the Hot Dog

Brandt having a good time on the boat

Syd, Mya and Brandt after a long day of fun

Jason and Syd playing with sparklers

Weekend in Michigan

This past weekend, we headed to Michigan to attend our friends Bob and Virg's daughter Jane's 4th birthday party. We hadn't been to their place in Holland for a while and it was good to catch up. Here's a picture of Spencer and Syd at the party.





After enjoying breakfast at the local IHOP, we headed to Plainwell to visit with the grandparents. We got to my dad's house around 11:30am and the kids were eager to take a dip in Poppa's pool. They got changed and jumped right in. Spencer was jumping off the diving board and going down the slide. Syd even started going down the slide after making it up the ladder.










Here's Syd getting some nail polish applied by Aunt Kelly.






Around 1pm, we headed out to Camp Merriewood where my mom works. It's a Girl Scout camp that hosts campers most weeks during the summer. Sandra picked up a pizza from Doster Store and we had lunch with her at camp. After that, she took the kids for a ride on the camp golfcart. We're going to see if we can teach Spencer how to drive the tractor this summer so he can earn some money cutting grass at camp!

Salad Box

I was reading an article recently and came across a "salad box." It's a wooden structure used to grow salad-type vegetables...lettuce, sprouts, beans, etc. You can modify it to grow deeper root items such as tomatoes. We've been wanting to plant some vegetables with the kids for a couple of years, but never could really find a spot in the yard to do it. So we jumped at this idea. It's nice and compact and, more importantly, it's mobile. I found some plans online and modified it with a deeper bed (2x8's versus 2x4's) and put some old jogging stroller wheels on it to move it around. We've put in some strawberry and tomato plants. Christine started some cucumbers, beans and carrots in starter planters, but the little guys didn't make it. I think I left them outside too long one day. Oops. Anyway, we'll see what happens. We've actually pulled about a dozen strawberries off already and they tasted great! Here's the link where I found the plans: http://www.hgic.umd.edu/_media/documents/hg601.pdf

Farm Field Trip

On Friday, I accompanied Spencer and his kindergarten class on a field trip to the 4-H fairgrounds for a Farm Field trip. The kids were learning about farm animals in class and every year, all the kindergarten classes get to visit farm animals for hands on learning. All the kids had a great time. I even learned a thing or two about some of the animals we saw. Here are some photos from the trip.

Spencer and his best friend, Max

Learning about sheep

Here's the dairy cow. The boy talking about the cow asked the kids how much they thought the cow weighed. Spencer was the first to guess. His guess.....60lbs. Then he corrected himself and said 90lbs. Good try pal! Actually the cow weighed in at 1,600lbs and produces 8 gallons of milk per day.

Spencer and Jordan petting the baby ducks.






Spencer and Max on the hay ride. (Notice Max's sweatshirt. His parents are alums of Michigan State and were actually there the same time as I was....Hey Jason and Mindy!)