Whoa!

As I sat at my desk, wondering how long its been since the Makarena destroyed society's collective mental capacity - I couldn't help but think that it's been a whole week since my last post.

The other night - against all reason - I told Jodie to go check out Kohl's "sweet 90% off sales" because a friend at work had raved so much about it. On a normal day I can't stand 'that store' but this was no normal day. Who passes up a 90% off sale anyway? So, I sent her off on this witch hunt of a shopping trip, only to get a phone call 15 minutes later informing me that there was only 'granny' stuff left. (Chalk it up Kohls! Keep proving my theory! Anyway...) So, in a ditch effort to salvage a poorly thought out shopping trip, I told Jodie to stop by WalMart and pick up a few sundries :-)

She TOTALLY scored! You see, when a store has a sale for 10 cents a pound on bananas - you pony up and buy as many as your ego will let you. Why? Because there's freezers, baby!

26 Pounds - Read em and weep. We're havin' shakes for weeks!

Little Ryan Man

Little 'bout us

We’ve had an awesome year as a family. Indulge me for a moment while I partake in a bit of shameless family promotion – instead of the traditional shameless self-promotion you're all used to reading.

      Ryan (1) – our little man – is getting bigger and bigger every day.  His new-found hobby is climbing.  He pretty much climbs anything in the house.  I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that he’ll probably be doing most of the things I did as a kid.  For instance, he likes to plug “stuff” into electrical outlets.  His favorite thing to plug in is the Christmas tree.  The other day he noticed that we had covered the outlet, so he grabbed the lights and proceeded to walk into the front entryway where another outlet was located.  It took some quick thinking on Jodie’s part to keep the tree from meeting its early demise.  Let's hope that Ryan doesn't figure out that knives fit easily into outlets.  I don't want to find out if he's as lucky as his old man.

      Megan (3) – our Megaroo – is learning her ABC’s better and better every day.  She’s becoming quite the resident expert on the letters and their sounds.  She is the sweetest little girl a dad could ask for.  She’s at the stage in her life where sleeping on a hard floor next to mom and dad is better than a soft, warm, cozy bed.  She just started Sunbeams and is pretty excited – but all the excitement is stirring up the emotions.  Change is always rough.  Megan loves to color and do crafts with her older sister. 

      Kalli (16 or 4 – take your pick) – our Kallibug – is turning into quite the young woman.  I swear I heard her ask me for the car keys the other day.  I think she even said something about brining it home with a full tank.  Kalli is very independent.  She isn’t a fan of taking any sort of direction.  Not sure where she got THAT from.  She loves pre-school up at Hannah Holbrook Elementary.  I think it’s the independent side of her that loves just getting out of the house and onto doing stuff at the big-kid school; although she’s still at the stage where she loves to have mom come and volunteer at class.  That should end soon J.  Before we know it we’ll be dropping her off a block away from the door just so we don’t cramp her style.  Kalli is reading – yes, reading.  And no, it isn’t anything I’ve done, nor is it my amazing edumacational skills contained somewhere in my DNA.  She just has that gift, and it’s a load of fun to watch her teach Megan the sounds of all the letters as she reads to her at night. 

      Jodie (??) – Mommo! – is completely awesome in every way.  Somehow she manages to manage all of our kids, and me.  Jodie loves to run and even competed in her first 10K this past summer!  She did awesome!   It was pretty neat stuff to see her after the race and take pictures at the end.  She does such an amazing job with the young women in our ward as the Beehive advisor.  They love her.  Jodie thinks that she’ll get released soon.  I say that 2 years is just enough time to get warmed up!   

      Mike (??) – Daddo! – is working hard to finish up his MBA.  He’s been whittling away at that thing for about 2 years now and will be all finished in February.  Woo Hoo!  When he’s finished with his formal education, he’ll actually have to think about what he wants to do with his life; but before that, he’s going to Disneyland!  Why not?  Isn’t that what all people do after they do stuff?  We would write about Mike’s hobbies, but he doesn’t have any.  Why? re-read this letter, starting at “Mike (??)….” and the answer will come.  Stay tuned for next years letter when you get to see what he decided to do with his career. Should be exciting! 

Stay tuned for more shameless self promotion and mindless dribble in the coming weeks ahead!

Happy New Year!

I caved in. Yup, my will power only took me so far. I decided to go along with the rest of the lemmings and set some goals for 2009. I usually shy away from setting any goals on January 1st, because I don't like doing things just because others are doing them. It's not cool if everyone does it. I think that's why Paris Hilton has a pink Bentley. It's just not the same as a white Civic.

So, here you have it. Ladies and Gentlemen, these are my goals for 2009:

Make Kalli feel like the most important 5 year old that there ever was
Finish my MBA without senioritis
Go on a trip with Jodie to celebrate being done with school
Put sod in our backyard
Lay sprinkler pipe before I lay sod
Enjoy feeling the newly adopted blades of grass as they brush through my toes
Plant a garden, and water it this time
Plant a few more peach trees
Give Jodie the coolest birthday party she's ever had
Have a party to celebrate being done with school
Enjoy the sights and sounds of the 4th of July, as I remember my freedom and all those that have sacrificed so much to preserve it
Enjoy the 24th of July celebrations as I remember all those who gave up so much so that we all might have so much
Enjoy central air on a hot August afternoon
4-wheel up to Lily Lake from the cabin as fast as I can
Throw a party just because
Play my drums with the band
Play my trumpet again
Give Megan a party worthy enough for a 4 year old, cuz 4 years is HUGE
Have fun throwing Ryan his 2nd birthday party. Teach him how to blow out candles this time.
Have friends over for a fire, and have a football game on our new grass
Listen to the crunch of freshly fallen leaves under my feet as I hike up Mueller Park with my sweetheart
Scare the pants of a couple teenagers when they beg for candy on Halloween
Enjoy good company and good food on Thanksgiving
Have a snowball fight
Build a sledding hill and jump combo in our backyard worthy enough to be called Thunder and Lightning
Invite friends and neighbors over to celebrate the Holidays
Be around to celebrate New Years 2010 with my wife and kids (all of em)