Oct 14 2009
Megan and my mom are walking this weekend to raise money for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, and Megan is looking for donations for the fund raiser. They are walking in memory of my father who lost his battle with the disease on march 6, 2008. Please consider donating so she can reach her goal!
Sep 18 2009
Over labor day weekend, my brother, mom, sister and my sister’s boyfriend all came down to visit. We surprised them with a Saturday morning photo shoot with Steph Carson. A week later we had the photos back. I got them uploaded to our Gallery earlier this week. Click the photo for more:
Aug 13 2009
I’ve been really busy lately with work, travel, being a dad, husband, etc and haven’t really posted anything significant in a while. So what have I been up to?
Last month, I took a long weekend trip and flew to Seattle to visit Sean and Tim and Bridgette’s family, and go to a Mighty Mighty Bosstone’s concert (YAH!). While in Seattle, Sean and I visited one of my co-workers, Debbie, at her parent’s cafe – Chelan Cafe. Its a great place with AWESOME food. On our way out to the cafe, we drove by an import dealership and saw this parked on the street:
Its a VERY rare BMW M1 and it was in awesome shape. In the sun, you could see the carbon fiber reflecting back under the pearlescent paint.
So after our brunch at Chelan Cafe, Sean and I got on the road for our drive to Portland, OR, to visit Corey, Aija, and their newborn daughter Zora. I haven’t seen Corey and Aija since Stephen’s wedding, and have never been to Portland. on the way up, we passed this weird sculpture:
Its a very pretty city. We had some good meals there (especially lunch the next day!) and hanging out with old friends made the weekend worthwhile.
While in Seattle, I got to hang out with Tim, Bridgette, Rylee and Tyler. Turns out Rylee and Brig are big fans of So You Think You Can Dance, which is my anti-masculine guilty pleasure TV Show that Emily got me addicted to. Rylee LOVES the show. She knows every name, dance style, choreographer, etc of every person on the show. The three of us watch the show while Sean and Tim played some PS3 game 🙂
I got to swim in the Snohomish (?) river. The river was VERY high and the curretn was so strong that sean and I couldn’t get more than 10 or 15 feet from the bank without getting a chance of us getting swept away. A great public park..things you just don’t see in this area. Another thing that was great? I actually got to see the sun shine in the Pac NW. The three or four times I’ve been up there, its always rained (surprise!).
So the last night there, Sean, Tim, and I went to see my all time favorite band, The Might Mighty Bosstones. They got back together and this was the main purpose of my trip – to see them again. Of all the concerts I have been to, I”ve seen them the most. I think this was my 5th or 6th time seeing them. This show did not let me down. I’ll post some video and photos (ala cell phone so not great…) at a later time.
So fast forward to a week or so ago. For Father’s day, Emily got me a gift cert for Boi na Braza (sp?), a Brazillian steakhouse in Cincinnati. For those not familiar, these places charge a flat rate and you get a pretty decent salad bar. Also, they have waiters walking around with 15 different cuts of meat – sirloin, lamb chops, chicken breasts, filet mignon, and plenty of others. It was amazing. While NOT cheap, one of the things Emily and I enjoyed the most was the personal time. The wait staff doesn’t bother you. Because you let them know when you want more food, they basically stay away from your table unless you need a refill on your beverage. We had a great time talking all night without some person interrupting us to see if we wanted to buy something else. And MANY thanks to Aunt SheShe for watching Sean so we could have some time out. Oh..and the deserts are freaking great too! I love a perfectly cooked flan. Their wine list is pretty decent also. We had a nice pinot grigio.
Coming soon – my twin brother Sean is flying in from Seattle for a visit over Labor Day weekend. When he is here, my mom, Megan, and Megan’s boyfriend Matt, plan on coming down and we are hoping to see Stephen and Amy as well. (Little) Sean is going to have a BLAST!
Tonight, I gave Sean one of my die-cast cars. Its a Porsche that I got when I was in the 8th or 9th grade as a Christmas present from (I think) my grandmother’s brother, my Uncle Jack McNaughton (the Scottish side!). Sean LOVED it. Its bright orange. When Emily picked him up to take him to bed he cried. He wanted his car! So she gave it to him and carried him upstairs. Up in his room, she tried to get him to put it down on his dresser so they could get ready for bed. He wanted nothing to do with that. He was hugging and snuggling her…while hugging and snuggling his new car!! I knew I loved this kid for a reason!!
Can’t wait to see what happens when he finds out I have 20 or 30 diecast cars in storage 😉 He likes that orange Porsche 959 so much he may go into overdrive if sees the others! 🙂
Last night Uncle Phillip and Gramma got back from their trip to the Cabin and NYC and Phillip brought Sean back a present! Sean is now the proud owner of some Air Jordans!
He thought they were so cool. He is wearing them to “school” today. Phillip has a matching pair so we’ll have to get a photo of them wearing them together. He is in size sixes now, and when he gets to size sevens he gets to wear his Chucks that Megan and Matt got him 🙂
Links for the various galleries related to the posts above:
Jul 14 2009
Back from my quick trip to Seattle. Crammed a whole lot of stuff into the 4 days I was there. Will post more details and some photos tonight.
Emily and Sean get back from New York tonight. Can’t wait to see them! Its been a long time since I have been away from Emily this long and I’ve never been away from Sean this long! Hope he remembers me!
Jul 07 2009
Sean and I have been in New York visiting my family since Thursday. We are having a really good time, despite the rainy weather that never seems to take a break. Colleen and Cate picked us up at the airport on Thursday and we headed out to Great Sacandaga Lake, where we have a camp. We spent Thurs – Monday there, hanging out, boating, fishing, making smores, hanging out with neighbors and family. Sean, who hates to walk in the grass, and heaven forbid, touch it with his hands, was running around in the woods barefoot by Monday. He loves pine needles, pine cones, little sticks and all the trees! He got to swim in the lake and throw rocks, and take lots of long walks up and down the camp road. We headed back home on Monday, getting ice cream on the way.
Dad, Colleen and Cate spent a lot of time redoing the playhouse that Dad built for Brian and me when we were younger. They put nice walls on the inside (it was always just 2x4s and plywood) and fixed it up so cute with a table and chair set, and Cate’s old Little Tykes kitchen set. Sean has a blast playing in there, cooking us meals and microwaving the fake food in the little microwave.
We are planning on heading back to the camp for this weekend, and then Sean and I return home to KY on Tuesday. It’s been a lot of fun so far and we have some great pictures! Click on the picture below to see.
Also, Sean sat in the little chair outside of the playhouse, where he sat when he came last fall. Look how much he’s grown up!
Jun 04 2009
I really need to update on the cute new stuff Sean is doing more often. Here’s what he’s been doing in the last few days/weeks:
-Sean got a new tooth this past weekend, his 5th, it’s the top left one next to the front teeth.
-Sean is clearly saying Hi (eyeee) and Bye (BuhBuh) while waving to people. He’s always waved, but now has put together saying hi or bye at the appropriate time.
-He’s starting to put an “S” on the end of his yes. He used to say “ayah” for yes, now he says “ayah…..s” so cute.
-He’s really like cars now, he’ll drive them all over the floor going “MmmmMMmmm” 🙂 His daddy loves this one
-Whenever he passes by a picture of me or paul he points to us and says “Mama” or “Dada” He is so proud that he knows who people are 🙂
-Sean is eating really well with a fork/spoon now. He can get food on them and most of the time make it to his mouth.
-Sean’s legs are finally long enough to propel himself on his ride-on toys!
-Sean’s Oma and Opa got him a puzzle for 2 year olds and up. It’s a wooden one with animal pieces. He’s mastered it and can complete it in about 2 minutes.
-Sean’s current obsessions are books and dancing. Loves both. Today we danced for about 10 minutes in the kitchen; he loves to hold my hand while he turns underneath it in a circle. We also read about 10 books about 4 times each when he got home. He likes to read every book he has downstairs, every day.
-My mom got Sean one of those old fashioned “popper” toys that you pull/push along. He will go around and around the rooms of the downstairs running with that thing. He loves it.
-Last but not least, Sean has taken after his “UmBye” with his adoration of ketchup. Sean will eat just about anything if it has ketchup on it. He goes nuts when he sees it in the fridge. So cute.
That’s about all the new stuff I can think of for now. I’ll try to update more often, as I know that everyone who doesn’t see him on a daily basis loves to know how he’s doing.
Also…I cant’ forget to wish Um-Bye (Brian) and SheShe (Ashley) a happy 2nd anniversary, and Philip (fi) a big congratulations on graduating high school last night!
May 04 2009
Wow, it’s been FOREVER since I posted on here. I’ve been really busy lately, especially with the school year coming to a close soon.
1) Speaking of the school year ending, everyone supposedly hears from the school district if their job is renewed for next year, on May 15th. (Please keep me in your thoughts!) As you probably know, I ventured into the unknown last August and left my job at NorthKey to work as a Transition Coordinator in a local school district. It’s a year-to-year job, and the uncertainty of it was one of the negatives. I think, however, that the position has gotten a very positive response this year, and I hope that it (and I) will be renewed for next year. I’ve been working with the other coordinators on improvements for next year, and I’ve started putting together some data collection tools for the program so that we can track our effectiveness over the next few years. We have a HUGE 3-day transition summit in June in Bardstown, KY and our district (i.e. me and the other 2 coordinators) have to present about the “wonderful” things we’re doing in our district. Woopee! 😉 Add that to the growing stack of items on my plate *sigh*
2) I have some pictures from a few weeks ago that Paul bragged about that are finally edited and ready to go. Click below to see them.
3) I have a new hobby!!! I’m A-D-D-I-C-T-E-D to couponing! I just started about a month ago, and have already learned so much. Who knew that there could be so many complexities in grocery shopping?! LOL
Some of my more recent STEALS: Last week I got the following for FREE (yes, completely free): 2 bags of cat food (which I am donating to a cat shelter), a box of bandaids and 2 toothbrushes. Wow! FREE! My major deal from today was with Schick razors. I have had a few $4 off coupons for Schick Quattro razors (which are very nice disposables if you didn’t know…hehe…I Know, my life is boring) but the razors which usually retail for around $8.99 have never been on sale enough for me to feel like I”m getting enough of a deal. But tonight, thy were on sale at Kroger for $5.49 (unheard of) and I had 2, $4.00 off coupons PLUS 2 Buy One Get One Free coupons. So, I ended up getting 4 packages of the razors which usually retail for $8.99 for a mere $.75 each!!! Holy Crap! 🙂 I know, I’m weird. So, if anyone has some extra time and feels like sending their coupon inserts (SmartSource & Redplum) from the Sunday paper to me, I’d be ecstatic! 🙂 Paul thinks I’m nuts, but likes that I’ve found a hobby that actually saves us money. My trip to the store tonight cost me $45.66, but after my coupons, cost me just $14.28. I kick ass.
Mar 26 2009
Steph Carson’s pictures arrived today! I know everyone’s dying to see them, so I’ll just stop typing and attach them 🙂
Click the picture below to see the rest.
Mar 03 2009
While i did not let Emily edit them yet, i knew people were waiting for them. Emily has a couple of videos to edit and upload as well. Click the pic below to go to the 13 Month gallery with the pics!
Jan 06 2009
Ok ok ok Uncle Sean!!! 🙂
I finally got some time to edit pictures and videos of Sean from December and a little bit of this month so far. Here are three videos:
First, Christmas with Sean. Kind of a boring video, but may be nice for those who couldn’t be with the little one on Christmas day. Notice the cute red PJ’s from Stephen and Allison!
Next, his new fascination with blowing bubbles with his spit…didn’t learn this one from me…
And of course, his attempts at walking. Here are 4 attempts. I’m sure he’ll be running around the house within a few weeks. Our boy is getting way too big. Better turn down the volume or you’ll hear my “ecstatic mommy screams of encouragement” hehe.
Then, our Christmas pictures that we had taken at a local photographer. If you got a Christmas card (sorry if we missed you…I had a 3 year old address list…) you’ll recognize two of the pictures. When I was trying to order some of the pictures for family, Paul surprised me with pictures that he secretly had taken in November by Steph Carson (did Sean’s 1 month pictures and tons for Brian and Ashley). They are amazing and of course, I bawled my eyes out.
First Light:
Steph Carson:
And here are some pictures of Sean and Opa doing manly things in the yard:
And a couple from January (in the 11th month folder):
