Monster Mash 2010

Looks like this might become a new tradition.  No people were hurt in the production of this short film.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Busy Saturday

It was a very busy Saturday for us, although most of them are anyway.  Today started off with Spencer and I heading out to the store around 8am to find him a costume for trick-r-treating since we were going to the zoo with some friends and their kids.  The kids got to wear their costumes and get treats while looking at the zoo animals.  After that excursion, we were back to have some breakfast and get ready for football and soccer games.  Spencer's team, the Irish, was taking on his good friend Collin's team, the Gophers.  It seems that Collin's parents want to start a bit of a rivalry, as they planted some propaganda in our bushes Friday night.  Although I'm not too concerned, seeing as how R is a U-M fan, and we all know how that turned out last weekend (GO GREEN!!)

In the end, things didn't quite go the Irish's way, as the Gophers ended up winning 21-16.  Oh well, there's always next year.

Syd's soccer game was another 3-on-3 thriller with 3-4-5 year olds.  Syd had a special audience, as our neighbors Mr. Doug and Miss Lyla came out to watch both kids.  They were excited about that, and the fact that they brought the greatest neighbor dog ever, Skylar.

After all that fun and excitement, it was back home to grab some lunch and watch a little of the Spartans beat up on Illinois (which MSU ended up winning and going to 7-0, baby!!!)  Then we had to get ready to head up to the zoo for Halloween at the Zoo.  Syd donned her witch costume and Spencer was sporting his newest Boba Fett costume.  While waiting for our friends and their kids to show up, we saw an adult in costume coming out of the zoo.  It was a life-size Boba Fett.  Unknown to us beforehand, the zoo was having a Star Wars costume parade just finishing up as we got there.  Here's the two Boba Fetts posing (in case you get confused, Spencer is on the right)

Spencer was really excited about that whole experience!  Soon after, our friends showed up and we made our way through the zoo.  Here's a couple of photos from the day:

Once all that was done, we headed to B-dubs for some wings and drinks for dinner.  By this time, everyone was pretty much wiped out from the long day.  All headed home and early to bed.  What party-ers we are on a Saturday night!!

Our little hockey player (we wish...)

As those of you who either see Spencer or talk to him on a regular basis know, he had been hanging on to his two front baby teeth for what seemed like an eternity.  Those things held on for-ev-er.  The first one came out while he was at a sleepover at one of his friend's house a couple of weeks ago.  The second one finally fell out Sunday night while he was sleeping.  Luckily, he didn't swallow it; it was laying in his bed.  All I know is that the Tooth Fairy had been circling our house for about 2 months, waiting on those things to fall out!

Last Friday was my birthday, so Syd decided to get creative and make daddy a birthday hat.  She spent a really long time on it, putting on lots of personal touches and even adding a chin strap.  We were outside by the fire with some of our neighbors when Syd came out of the house with my hat.  She was excited and I thought it looked great....

...until I put it on.  All in attendance that night came to a general consensus that I looked a bit like - the grand dragon of the Fort Wayne Klu Klux Klan chapter.  Can you see my excitement?

Thanks, Syd.  I love ya anyway!

Who's the little brother now?

34-17  MSU beats U-M and goes to 6-0!  Gotta love those Spartans!!

Week 4 of soccer and football

Everyone won today...Syd's soccer team, Spencer's football team (well, actually they lost...more on that later), and the Spartans were victorious. Syd's team was no match for the other team, with a final score of 8-2. Syd scored 4 goals and assisted on 1. The final of Spencer's game was 14-7, but it should have been a 14-14 tie. Spencer's pass and resulting TD were called back due to the receiver stepping out of bounds. Considering it was raining so hard this morning that there was no paint left on the sidelines, I don't see how the ref could've seen where the out of bounds was. Oh well, it was still a great pass and play by Spencer (he's the QB, #10, in the video below). And the #24 Spartans beat up on the #11 Wisconsin Badgers in Big Ten opening play. This victory will go a long way in helping the Spartans prepare for next week's epic battle against another 5-0 team, the Michigan Wolverines. Since we put down one rodent this week, I don't see us having issues with a wolverine next week! Go Green!!

Be afraid.....

.....Wolverines, be afraid. We'll see you in a few weeks and we'll bring a bigger army!





(click for full size)

Let the Fall Sports begin....

Both Spencer and Sydney started their fall sports last weekend. Spencer is playing flag football again and Syndey is playing soccer. Both seem to be very excited. Since the games are at 11:30am and noon respectively, Jason and I are splitting up and alternating each weekend. Last week Syd and I were at soccer where her team blew out their competitors. Jason was with Spencer, who lost his first game. It was a cold rainy day, but they both had fun. Here is a video clip from Sydney's first game and a couple of pictures.

This weekend the weather was incredible. The sun was shining and Spencer posted a win. The final score was 3-1 (they only count the touchdowns as 1 point, no field goals or conversions). Spencer was the quarterback for the first quarter. He threw a touchdown pass and then handed off to the running back for a second touchdown. I managed to get both touchdowns on video.

Spartans are 1-0

Christine and I traveled to East Lansing this past weekend to watch the Spartan football team on Saturday. Coincidentally, they were playing Western Michigan University, which is where I spent my first year of college before transferring to MSU. We dropped the kids off with Grandma Sandy on Friday afternoon and continued on to E.L. There, we met up with our friends Bob and Jackie. After dinner and some drinks, we made it back to the hotel for some zzzz's before a long day on Saturday.

We were up and ready to tailgate at 8am. It's been roughly 90 degrees every day all summer, yet somehow, the weather forecasters decided to throw a curve ball on Saturday. It was only about 45 degrees and VERY windy on Saturday morning. We took our spot atop one of the campus parking structures, ready to have some fun before the game.

A couple of party animals!

Gotta love the JumboTron

Good times on a chilly day

Even though it was cool, cloudy and rather fall-like, Christine managed to find a little sunshine and happiness in East Lansing when we got to her favorite Canadian indulgence, Tim Horton's . She promptly ordered up a large double double (that's double cream, double sugar for you novices). Along with her to-go drink, she purchased a couple of large tins of Timmy's to hold her over until her next trip to Canada. Somehow I don't think they'll last til Halloween at best!

Green and White pull one out

On Sunday, we attended Soccerpalooza, a soccer festival that featured several Big 10 schools, local college teams and high school teams playing at the local university, IPFW. MSU men's soccer was playing the Duke Blue Devils at 10:30am. We packed a cooler of lunch food and cold drinks, as it was gonna hit 90+ degrees that day. Luckily, the game was early enough that we weren't going to be in the real heat of the day. When we got there, the crowd was pretty much split in half for both teams. We initially took seats in the bleachers, but the sun was too intense. So we moved to one end of the field where some tall trees were providing shade. From there, we sat in the grass, ate our lunch and watched the Spartans pull out 1-0 victory over Duke, who coincidentally is a top 10 preseason favorite. So much for ratings! Way to go Spartans!!

After the game, we hung around to see the players come off the field. Syd had washed her soccer ball the night before and brought a Sharpie to get some signatures. The players who signed her ball were very nice and obliging to a little future Spartan. We even got the legendary coach Joe Baum to sign the ball!

Next up is our trip up to East Lansing on Sept 4th to watch the Spartan football team take on Western Michigan.

Another one bites the dust...

Well, not really. But I did play in a lot of dust this weekend...sawdust! As the previous post states, I took on another DIY project...laminate flooring. We've been tossing around the idea of ripping up the carpet in the living room and dining room and replacing it with wood flooring. Last weekend, Menard's was having a Crazy Days sale and they had a very good deal on laminate flooring. Rather than buying for the living/dining room like we originally planned, we decided to get enough to do the kids' rooms. So much for plans! Plus, Spencer's allergies are in full force right now and taking the carpet out can only help with that.

On Wednesday night, we started clearing out his room, filling the hallway, Syd's room and our room with all his stuff. It was amazing how much stuff a 7-year old can collect.




This is our room with his toy box, dresser, and mattress on the floor, and various other odds and ends.





This is the hallway, seen from Spencer's room. His bookshelf, extra bedding, clothes and various odds and ends are here.





Syd's room got his box spring, bedside table, lamp, and various odds and ends. It's all the "various odds and ends" that killed us!





Here's my blank pallette, sans carpet. The carpet only took about 10 minutes to pull up. I vacuumed and cleaned up some old drywall mud from when the house was built. All in all, the subfloor was in excellent condition.


As of Friday night, the room was ready for work. Saturday morning rolled around and I got started around 7:30am. My goal was to get the project done on Saturday, as Sunday was gonna be busy with an MSU Alumni picnic and Christine getting last minute things ready for school starting on Monday. While she kept the kids entertained without losing her sanity, I progressed all day at laying flooring. I wished I would have kept a little handheld counter to count the number of times I went up and down the stairs that day. All I know is my legs are still feeling it at nearly 10pm Sunday night. I'd measure, come downstairs into the garage and make my cuts. Then back upstairs to put the floor down. I think I finally laid the last piece around 5pm. Then I cut the quarter round trim to go around the perimeter. That only took about 45 minutes to put down and nail in place. At that point, every muscle in my body was telling me to stop. My knees were shot, my back was shot and I think I had inhaled too much sawdust. On Sunday, we got everything back into his room except the old bookshelf and toy box. We're going to get a smaller bookshelf and put the toy box in the basement. Just trying to de-clutter a little bit. I'm sure it won't take long for Spencer to start collecting new stuff!




Looking into his room from the hallway












In his room, looking toward the hallway and into the closet. The closet was the area that took the most time, getting the planks cut to fit around the stub wall that framed the closet door. I think I trimmed and cut one plank about 5 times, shaving a little off each cut to make it fit snug around the wall.






Another angle, looking toward the window and bed.

We're gonna see how this floor looks after a while and how it holds up before progressing on Syd's room. Plus, my knees need a few days to recover! Now that I've got practice on laying the floor, I suppose it'll be easier to tackle the larger living/dining room areas down the road.

I said I wouldn't do it again for a while....

but I've started another DIY project...and of all things, it's flooring!!! Pictures to follow soon. Hint: it doesn't involve grout

Dale Hollow mini-vacation

Last weekend, we headed to Dale Hollow Lake on the Kentucky-Tennessee border to visit Aunt Karen E. (AKE) and Uncle Glenn. We had never been to their place before and were looking forward to a little fun in the sun on the lake. We drove down to Indianapolis on Thursday night and stayed at Casa de Kelly with Uncle Tim and the dogs (Aunt Karen K. [AKK] was on a trip to Texas). We had a nice meal at the local mexican dive then headed home to rest up for the remaining 4-1/2 hour trip to southern Kentucky. On Friday morning, we got up and picked up Papaw on the way. He was riding with us down and Tim was bringing him back on Sunday.


Once we arrived at AKE's, the kids were dying to go for a boat ride and swim in the lake. Dale Hollow Lake is part of the Tennessee Valley Authority and is roughly 22,000 acres in size with 620 miles of shoreline....that's a big lake! At it's deepest near the dam, I think they said it's about 130-140ft deep. And warm. Water temps while we were there were around 86-90 degrees....much like bath water.


The kids had a fantastic time and I think the adults did too. After spending Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and the first half of Sunday boating, swimming and tubing, everyone was wore out for the ride home Sunday afternoon. But it was all worth it. Much thanks to Aunt Karen E. and Glenn for putting up with the traveling circus that is us on vacation. Also much thanks to Aunt Karen K. and Uncle Tim for bringing their boat down for more fun times. It was good to see everyone and spend some quality time with Papaw too. Hopefully there's an open invitation for next year! Enjoy the pics.





AKE, Papaw and Spencer





Spencer, Papaw, Syd, Christine and Uncle Tim






Syd, the rock star






Spencer giving the thumbs up. He's ready to tube!







Christine and Syd having a great ride





Man down!!

The Grand Slam......

Spencer's last baseball game was yesterday. There were only four kids on his team due to vacations, but they managed to pull out another win.

I want to apologize for the audio on the video, but I am a proud mom. When Spencer saw the clip he told me not to yell for him next time. Oh well, what are you going to do?

Flight over Toronto!

Brent was very generous to take the kids and I for a flight over the city. Here is a picture of Brent and Spencer in the plane. Brent was very patient and explained everything to Spencer. Spencer has loved airplanes and rockets forever. This was the best part of our visit for Spencer.

A picture of Toronto's lakeshore. The CN Tower can be seen in the distance on the right. What a great way to see the city!

Although Sydney was disappointed that she had to sit in the back, she loved the flight.

A picture of Brent with the kids before we took off.

Cousins.....

Ryan and Spencer dancing in the Candy Store at the trailer. They still correct anyone who calls them "friends", they are "COUSINS". It still makes me laugh.


Sydney and Adam playing with Thomas. It is amazing that a little piece of track and some wooden trains can entertain children for hours.


Spencer and my nephew Owen. I'm sorry that I didn't get a picture of "Super Owey" - maybe next visit.

Sydney and Riley at Grandma Marilyn's.

We can't seem to get a decent picture of all four kids at the same time. There is always one who isn't interested. Oh well, here is a picture of Owen, Spencer and Riley.

Cambridge BBQ

Our first stop on our trip home this summer was my Uncle Larry and Aunt Doreen's. We were so fortunate to be able to visit with all three of my cousins, their spouses and children. Thanks Uncle Larry for organizing and hosting a great afternoon. Good food and great company!

...and the bombs bursting in air.....

It seems we have officially started a new tradition for the Fourth of July festivities. Like the last few years, we begin with a cookout with our neighbors Doug and Lyla. If I had to describe what great neighbors are like to someone, I'd tell them about Mr. Doug and Miss Lyla (that's what Spencer and Syd have called them since they were babies). After the cookout, we get the firepit going out front. A healthy dose of bug spray on everyone, cold drinks and S'more stuff is all we need for a good time. Oh, and a few fireworks. Doug and I have been steadily increasing the size of our production each year. This year was our best yet, although not over the top. With so many people in our subdivision doing their own displays, we don't have to do much to get a good show. Once the sun went down, the kids did a few sparklers and had S'mores. We all enjoyed the show from our driveway, even if it was a little hot and humid that night.





Syd made sugar cookies for the evening fun.

Our neighbors' son Tim brought over his new pet chameleon, Zep, over for a visit with the kids. According to Tim, he'll get to be 10-12 inches long when full grown!

Tim and his girlfriend Larrissa enjoying the show.

Daddy taking a break from lighting off fireworks. It was a little muggy that night, as evidence by the sweaty shirt!





Here's what was left of our hard work. There wasn't anything left of the big mortars we set off, just the tubes that we used to shoot them off. All in all, it was a good time and I'm sure we'll do it again next year!