Raven vs Blast

Simon's team had their first game last weekend. Here is a little clip of the game.

Technorati Tags: Soccer

Locks of Love

Abby has finally gotten her hair cut. Some lucky child somewhere will have a wig made from her golden locks. We are very proud of Abby, and she is equally thrilled with her decision and her new look. She chose to wear this t-shirt today with the heart on it because the organization she donated to is called Locks of Love. Abby is six and a half years old.

Before:

After:


Here she is holding what has been cut off:

Technorati Tags: Locks of Love, family

4th of July celebration

We did things a little differently this year for the 4th of July. Usually, we go to the Wake Forest Fireworks Spectacular on July 3rd which is an incredible show. However, we received free tickets to the Carolina Railhawks with a fireworks show after the game. We figured that this would be a win/win for us since we were already going to be in the area close to the time of the game and we would still get to see fireworks.

Since Evan, Simon and Abby all play soccer, this was perfect for them to see how professionals play the game. The game was exciting and the kids loved every minute of it. Celeste was happy to see Swoops, the team Mascot. The game ended in a tie but that was alright because everyone had fun. The fireworks were very short, only about 5 minutes but what do you expect for free! We will be back o Wake Forest next year for the fireworks.


On July 4th, Wake Forest has its annual Children's parade down Main St. This year we took both dogs with us. It was loads of fun with our dog Bandit walking most of the way. After being diagnosed with a spinal disease and thinking Bandit was going to die, this was truly amazing.

Technorati Tags: July 4th, fireworks, Railhawks, Soccer

Homeschooling

July 7th will official start the beginning of our homeschooling calendar. The decision to homeschool our children was not an easy one. We have been thinking about it for some time and the time finally seemed right. We feel that the school system is failing in teaching the basics and our children are paying the price. They spend as much time moving between classes all day as they do learning reading, writing and arithmetic. There is a lot involved with homeschooling your children but there is also a lot of support for this. Not only will we be able to provide specialized teaching for each child, we will be able to give them Biblical teaching as well. The curriculum Tapestry of Grace is wonderful in how it explores more than just the Bible, it also reviews the other religions and cultures through history.

Technorati Tags: homeschool, education, curriculum

National September 11 Memorial & Museum

For Father's Day, we got Kim's father a special gift. We sponsered a cobblestone to be placed on the paths of the Memorial Plaza. This was a great idea since it is very hard to find something for him. Kim's dad was in the South Tower just below where the 2nd plane hit. He managed to make it out safely that day. For all of us, we will never forget what happened. This was a nice way to help continue the memory of those who were affected by that day.

If you would like to learn about being a sponser, click here.

Technorati Tags: September 11, Memorial Plaza, New York

Goodby Guppy!

Last night, Simon's Beta fish, Guppy, died. Understandably, Simon was very upset this morning when I found Guppy floating at the top of the tank. Guppy has been around for about 5 months so this was not expected. We buried Guppy outside. Kim took Simon out in the morning and he got a new fish. Right now he has not named him yet.

Technorati Tags: pets,
fish

End of the season

Well, the end of the season has come. The RiverDogs put up a good fight but could not put enough runs on the board to continue in the playoffs. Because of the time of the game, Evan was a little late in getting to the game because of his orchestra pratice but made up for it right away with good plays in the outfield and a base hit in his first at bat. He has come a long way from the beginning of the season. What is really funny about this loss is that Simon was more upset that they lost than Evan and Simon isn't on the team!

Anyway it was a great season. Go RIVERDOGS!!!!

Technorati Tags: Evan, Baseball, Sports

The Riverdogs win!!!

Evan started playing baseball this year. It has been a lot of fun for him and a chance for me to get back to throwing around a baseball. I was never a great hitter but it was a decent fielder. Evan's team, the Riverdogs, struggled at the beginning of the season but really started coming together at the end.
Tonight started the playoffs in a single elimination format. The game went back and forth as each team responded each time the other scored. Evan had a great fielding day as he did not let anything past him in right field. He also got to play catcher which is turning out to be his favorite position. He hit the ball well puttting it into play both times he was at the plate and did advance the runner to third his first time up. In the end the Riverdogs won 15-14 with some last minute heroics. Next game tomorrow night. Go RIVERDOGS!!!!

Technorati Tags: Evan, Baseball, Sports

Happy Easter

It was a beautiful Easter day with clear skies and temperatures that reached about 68 degrees.

Evan, Simon, Abby and Celeste pose in front of the flower covered cross in front of Hope Lutheran Church. We went to the 9:30am service and it was so crowded that we were sitting in the Narthex. It is good that we will be starting construction on the new building this fall.






Kim could not resist taking a few pictures of the kids dressed up. Especially on such a beautiful day. Once the kids changed it was time for the Easter egg hunt.

Technorati Tags: Easter, North Carolina, family

American Idol Top 12

Well, we now have 12 left. I was 3 for 4 in my picks, with the only miss being that I picked Remiele and it was Asia'h that was going home. I am a little disappointed because I think that Asia'h is the better performer. Now the fun really begins as the pressure will increase. I think that the people that will need to step it up next week are Chikizie, Remiele, David Hernandez, and Kristy. If not, it will be one of these that will go home. David Archuleta is still on top for the men but the gap is closing quickly as others are stepping up to the challenge. On the women's side I think that Brooke is the front runner but Carly, Amanda and Syesha are very strong.

Technorati Tags: American Idol, entertainment, Singing

Idol Women March 5th

The women in general did step it up with better performances this week. I felt that there was only 1 poor performance which was by Kady Malloy and a song that I did not recognize at all. Amanda, Carly and Brooke held the top spots this week for me. They selected songs that suited their styles and were different enough from the originals to make them enjoyable. Carly really showed off her strong voice this time with wonderful control. Kristy and Remiele did not impress me with their songs so I think that they are on the edge and either one could be gone tomorrow. Asia'h sang very well but I did not think the song was very original. I did not think that Syesha was very good but I think that she did well enough to survive another week.

So my picks this week to go are Kady and Remiele.

Technorati Tags: American Idol, entertainment, Singing

Idol Men March 4th

Overall it was a good night for the men. The strongest performances go to Michael Johns and David Cook. Michael did a nice job on the song "Don't You Forget About Me" which you will remember from the movie The Breakfast Club. David had the top performance of the night with all of the judges saying he could cut a single right now for his version of "Hello" by Lionel Richie. Jason Castro had a good performance and David Archuleta did a suprizing rendition of "Paradise" by Phil Collins. David Hernandez showed his vocal strength by singing the Celine Dion song "All Coming Back To Me". The weak performances of the night go to Luke Menard and Danny Noriega which are the 2 that I pick to be gone this week. Luke should go just because he picked a WHAM song and Danny did a terrible version of "Tainted Love".

Technorati Tags: American Idol, entertainment, Singing

Are the Primary elections fair?

The way we conduct the primary elections today is not fair. When the idea behind these primary elections is to find the best candidate for your particular political party based on the popular vote, how can you achieve this when all the possible candidates are not going to be voted on by everyone in your political party?

It is upsetting to me that I will not have a true chance to choose who I would like for a presidential candidate because by the time the primaries come to North Carolina, the Republican nominee will be decided. Also, many of those that started in the primaries are no longer in the race. How do I truly get to voice my opinion when the choices have now been reduced and the person that I might have chosen is no longer running? It is true that you could write in the name of the person you would like, but we all know that most people will not do so and not get to vote for the person they believe to be the best candidate.
One could conclude that it also ends up lowering the turn out of voters when the election is run in your particular state this late in the primaries. At least on the Democratic side, it is still such a close race that every state counts and should keep the turnout higher. The only time the current system is "fair" is when it is a close race and even then it is not because there are only 2 or 3 people left in the running.

Technorati Tags: Politics, primaries, republican, democrat

World's Largest Snowwoman

My wife's cousin lives in New Hampshire and took a drive over to Bethel, Maine to see the snowwoman. She took a few pictures which show just how huge this thing is.


As you can see, when you add some people into the picture, you see just how tall it is. When we went up to visit my wife's cousin, we stayed in Bethel. It is a beautiful little town. It is a wonderful place to visit.

Technorati Tags: Bethel, Maine, snowwoman

Celeste's 2nd Birthday

It took me a while to get to this but I have a few PICs from Celeste's 2nd birthday. She had a joint birthday party with her friend Clara who turned 3.

Here you see Clara on the right and Celeste on the left. They had on matching Little Einstein shirts.




It was a Kindermusic party which was great for all of her friends and siblings. The theme was Little Einsteins which is her favorite show in the world. They had so much fun doing all of the activities and just running around.





Click here to see a few more PICs from her birthday party.

What now Roger?

From the time the Mitchell report came out, I really wanted to give Roger Clemens the benefit of the doubt. And even when we heard about the needles and other evidence that McNamee kept for years, I was very skeptical. But after the hearings and the subsequent information that has come out, I really have a hard time believing him. I could believe that McNamee is lying but not the trainers and staff from several teams. It is very sad because we know that famous athletes have admitted to things in the past and have been fogiven by the public. In Roger's case, it may have still let a bad taste in everyone's mouth and might have influenced how fast he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame but I think he ultimately would have been inducted. Now it is becoming probable that he will never make the Hall of Fame and instead of being any type of roll model for young baseball players, he becomes the example of what not to do and could face jail time. The worst part of this is the example that he sets for his own children if he is indeed guilty. This is where you have to admire Andy Pettite who came out and admitted to what he did! It is about time people started owning up to what they did rather than hiding it or blaming someone else.

Technorati Tags: Baseball, Mitchell Report, Roger Clemens, Steroids

Idol recap Feb 29th

There were no big suprizes on who left the show this week. I was right about Jason Yeager who definitely had a weak performance. I was disappointed that Robbie Carrico is gone because he is a good singer and I would have liked to see him get another chance to prove himself with the right song. As always, it is about song selection and getting the fans on your side. I will tip my hat to Alaina who pulled herself together after hearing the bad news and sang better than she did on Wednesday. It shows true guts to compose yourself and perform like that. And I was not suprized to see Alexandrea go either, although I think that it could have easily have been Amanda.

Here are the ones I think really need to come up big next week or they will find themselves at the bottom:
Luke Menard
Kady Malloy
Danny Noriega
Ramiele Malubay
Amanda Overmyer

Technorati Tags: American Idol, entertainment, Singing

20 left on IDOL

American Idol is back on my TV almost every evening. My wife loves it and I enjoy it at times. I love to sing and enjoy listening to good music. I can hear very quickly when someone is off and usually I find that the judges pick up on it to. However, when Michael Johns started things off, I was squirming through the performance as he was straining to hit some of those notes and I was very suprized when they thgouht that he sung it OK. In the end I did agree with them that David Archuleta was the best so far. That was a great rendition of a classic song and he did it justice. Mark my words, if he makes it into the final rounds, do not be suprized if he pulls this one out again for a repeat performance. I think that in general the men did better than the women. My favorites right now are Chikezie, Brooke White, Carly Smithson, David Cook, David Archuleta, and Kristy Lee Cook. I think that tonight we will be seeing Jason Yeager and Ramiele Malubay going home. I think that Danny Noriege will make it through this week but not by much.


Check out this clip of David Archuleta on youtube.

Technorati Tags: American Idol, entertainment, Singing, David Archuleta