One for you, one for me

Kate continues to be a trooper, and is always wanting to help out however she can.  Here is her latest endeavor (which I’m pretty sure is her crafty way of getting to have some yogurt too). 

One for me…

One for you…

And speaking of eating…Jacob has been getting alot better at actually feeding himself, though it sure is messy.  Apparently it is very exhausting as well.

The Beer Fridge is Dead…

Earlier this year I had been searching through Craig’s List, looking for a new Beer Fridge.  The old one was small, and would hold beer, or soda, or water, but wasn’t any good at holding multiple things.  I came across a full fridge (no freezer) for $50, and my father helped me go pick it up and bring it home.  The old Beer Fridge is dead…long live the new Beer Fridge!

Kate’s Flower Art Project

Kate got to have a sleep over at Auntie Tricia’s house this weekend and the two of them spent a little too much time cooking up their next craft project. And thus began the expedition to craft the perfect flower. A trip to Target + a trip to JoAnn’s + two days of creation and drying time = then rendered the beautiful creations below.

Kate wanted to tell Auntie Tricia thank you for your creativity and drive. And for letting me borrow the cool nightshirt!

 

To Walk or to Crawl, that is the question

It’s official…the boy is now walking.  He’s got a good ten to fifteen steps in him at a time, and the balance is still a bit shaky, but he’s definitely moving around.

 

In memory of William Rockhold

William Rockhold: March 27, 1920 – February 19, 2003

It has been over five years since my grandfather passed away, and it is rare that a day goes by that I don’t think about him for one reason or another.  I shared many good times with him throughout my childhood and adult years. 

I still own (and use) the set of golf clubs he taught me to play with over 20 years ago.  I’ve swapped out the driver for something a little more modern, but the rest of the set does the job for me.  I know he watches over me when I’m playing…how else would I have been able to hole in from 120 yards out to save par!

The shop in the basement of his house was full of tools, and he was always building something.  I haven’t taken it as far, but many of the tools I have are from his collection and I use them to do the fix-up jobs needed around the house.

I always remember him whistling.  While he was working, walking around, sitting and relaxing, it didn’t matter, he would always whistle.  Every time I catch myself whistling (which is fairly often), it always reminds me of him.

When he passed away, there was one thing above all that I wanted, and that was the Grandfather clock that he built in 1974.  To me there is something extra special about having a Grandfather clock that was built by your Grandfather.  It sits in a small alcove in the hallway between the front door and our kitchen/living room, almost as if the spot was put into our house for the clock.

I miss you Grandpa.

Another trek up Mount Si

Saturday morning I got up at 6:00 a.m. to make another trek up Mount Si in preparation for Mount Adams in June.  It was a beautiful morning, and the trail was much less congested than the last time we went.  The majority of the snow that we ran into from mile 3 to 4 on the trail was gone, and there were only little patches at the very top that we had to deal with.  It took about 2 hours to get up to the top, and an hour and 15 minutes to get back down.  Overall a faster ascent and descent than the last time, which is good progress.

It was much clearer once we arrived at the top, so there was a beautiful view of Mount Ranier.

Looking down over the valley below.

Kate’s Ballet Recital

Kate has been taking ballet classes at school and today the class culminated in a dance recital.  All the parents were invited and we got to see what they had been learning.  The funnest part was when all the dancers in the class got to show off their favorite ballet move.  Kate’s is the jeté, which is a long horizontal jump, starting from one leg and landing on the other. It is most often done forward and usually involves doing full leg splits in mid-air.

Kate with her ballet class (standing in the back right).

The Achievement Whore Odometer spins…

As many of you know, I enjoy gaming…a lot. My X-Box 360 keeps me very busy, as I continue to pursue a larger gamerscore by obtaining more and more achievements. I am not the only one with this addiction, as many of the guys I play with also love the sound of “Achievement Unlocked”.

As my buddy Aaron so eloquently put it, “These achievements are essentially meaningless, but the point total appears next to your gamer tag on Xbox Live and on the Xbox web site. At a high level, they are things we can collect, we’ve tended to try to collect them just because we can.” Tonight, with careful planning, I got my gamerscore to exactly 25,000.

Random Jake-ing, Part Deux

Ours is not to ponder why–but to appreciate.

 

Mother’s Day 2008

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mothers reading the blog! This year centered on capturing Kate and Jake memorabilia for the Grandmas–we decided to make handprint mosaics. Here is Kate showing off her and Jake’s handy work.

Kate with the Grandmas.

Bapa and Jake lounging while all the craziness ensues.

And finally, Mom and the kids–the aftermath.