Little Rocket Man

Growing up I have fond memories of building rockets, meticulously painting them and the adding decals, preparing them for launch and watching them scream into the sky and slowly parachute back to earth.  Of course not every attempt was picture perfect.  Some were blown way off course never to be seen again, and  others succumbed to a tragic crash when the parachute failed.

This week I was pleasantly surprised  when I picked the little man up from the Grandparents house that my Dad was now passing the enjoyment on to the next generation.



The Taser kit has almost everything you need to get started.. you just have to buy the engines.  We brought the kit home and between the Wife and I, we helped S. to get it all put together and ready to fly.



It brought back such wonderful memories for me, as the kits haven't changed a whole lot from when I used to do them.


S. was so excited when it was finished... He couldn't wait till Saturday to launch it off!

We went to a local park with wide open space to shoot it off, and met the Grandparents there.

We had 6 engines to burn, and everyone who wanted to push the button got a chance.  We only had one launch where the parachute didn't open up all the way, but all the others were perfect.

1 down...12 to go.

Well, it's finally come. It's the end of the school year! The little man has made it through kindergarten, and while there were a few things I wish he could have mastered a little better; it has been very good for him.  As he's been bringing home a ton of his schoolwork the past few days, we've been able to see more of what he's been doing and how creative he is.

His writing journal was especially is insightful... about 90% of it was drawings of dinosaurs; so much so, that there are several notes from his teacher "Don't do anymore dinosaurs!".   He wrote about when Jack was born and drew a picture of him holding Jack.  He wrote about the caterpillars he'd found and what happened to them, and sister's tadpoles.

 Here's a comparison picture between the first day of school and the last... look at how much he's grown.

 While he's looking forward to his summer break.. I'm looking forward to the reduced traffic in my work commute!!

Matthews Elementary Boosterthon Fun Run

First of all, we would like to say a HUGE "Thank You" to everyone who supported Sean on his run.  He was very motivated to do the best he could to raise support for the school.

The Spring fundraiser for the Sean's school is the Boosterthon FunRun.  The kids are tasked to raise support either by flat donations, or a pledge for a per lap basis.  Sean was able to raise $7 per lap and $60 in flat donations for his school.  He was able to complete all 35 laps in the time limit, so he raised a total of $305 for his school, and his teacher gets 10% of that for the classroom.

The day of the fun run was VERY cold, but they were still SO excited to run the race.  They had a DJ calling out all the class names and encouraging the students along the way with fun music and unique lap themes such as "run with a friend" lap along to the song 'Lean on Me' and "high five" lap where they ran by all the parents/supporters and gave everyone a high five.

Here are some pictures from the race:

Sean's teacher, Ms. Jarvis leading in his class

Sean was carrying his class' banner

Sean's class lined up ready to go

Sean is at the front of the line

Ms. Jarvis

checkered flag leading the kids around the first lap 

They marched the first lap

Sean is behind the student in the red coat in this picture

Marching the first lap

Running the 2nd lap

Sean was having SO much fun running

Turning the corner

Having fun 

The backs of their shirts had a picture of a track with numbers for the teachers to mark off when they completed each lap.  

 You can't tell how cold it was outside, but they warmed themselves up quickly running!

Amber didn't realize how cold it was going to be when she left the house, so she just put the girls in their fleece jackets instead of their heavy coats.  Lilly didn't have a hat and was crying that her ears were cold (even though she was covering them with my hands) so Amber pulled her nursing cover out of the diaper bag and tucked it around her head and into the back of her coat.  You can tell from the look on Brilee's face how miserable she was.  Their poor noses were freezing.  It wouldn't have been so bad if the wind hadn't been so strong.  

 We made a sign to cheer on Sean, but unfortunately it was too cold to keep holding it the whole time.  Lilly's hands were too cold to keep holding it.  But Sean grinned from ear to ear when he saw us holding it :) 

 Amber forgot to take a picture of Jack bundled up in his carseat in the stroller, but he was perfectly quiet the entire time--very happily sleeping away unaware of the events that were taking place.

The memory stick on the camera became full after this picture, so I couldn't take any of the end, but he was still going strong at the end!  They played "Eye of the Tiger" for the last lap and everyone was cheering them to go as fast as they could.  He ended up running 36 laps, but only 35 count towards his amount pledged.

We are so proud of Sean's great attitude during the race and for being so diligent to the end.  Thank you so much for supporting him on his very first fun run!  Sean sends his sincerest thanks!

Learning to Ride

At the end of the summer last year I'd worked with Sean a little on riding his bike without his training wheels. We have a small hill in the back yard and he was able to get some good speed going down the hill, but quickly had trouble trying to peddle through the grass around the playset.

Our neighborhood has a lot of hills which isn't an easy environment for a new learner.  A neighbor who has 2 boys a little older than Sean, told me he always uses the bus parking lot behind the school.  DUH, why didn't I think of that.. it's perfect!

So, this past weekend I took the training wheels back off and we loaded up the family to go over to the school.  While Amber and the girls played on the playgrounds, Sean and I tackled the bike riding.  He was very timid at first, having not tried this in several months and nervous of the hard asphalt beneath him.  After one excruciating lap, I decided to transition to the flat, somewhat grassy field besides the parking lot.  Immediately his attitude changed from self doubt, to I think I can do this.  Within no time he was riding around getting the feel of the bike, learning to keep his balance, even successfully navigating turns.

His confidence soared and he ventured a trip over to where the girls were playing.  After that success, he pushed himself more and decided to try a lap around the running track.  This is where he had his first major spill of the day... you gotta remember those brakes buddy!  Even after the crash, I was so proud of him that he wanted to keep trying.

A couple more sessions like this one and I think he'll be training wheels free.

Hanging Pot Rack

This project was spurred on by several things;

1) Amber got a new set of Stainless Steel pots and pans for Christmas and we didn't have the storage space for them all.
2) We never really liked the harsh florescent lights that were chosen as the main lighting in our kitchen.

After doing some research on pot racks I came across some that had a wooden boxed frame, so that's where the idea came from to repurpose the harsh florescent light box into a lighten hanging pot rack.

I removed the plastic diffuser and started analyzing the boxes structure, and what kind of lights I wanted to use.  I won't kid you, it took a lot of time to figure out which lights would work the best, how I was going to mount them, and how it was all going to fit together since the pieces would have to be angled in through the lip around the bottom of the box.

The first thing I did was to create the metal rack.  I drew up my layout in AutoCAD and went to work with the welder.  Thanks to a friend I was able to get them powder coated so they have a nice durable finish.





After a month of debating different options I finally settled on what I needed to do.  I purchased a set of 3" recessed light fixtures from Lowe's to go up inside the box, and since I was concerned that switch from florescent to the more focused recessed lighting I got a few more fixtures for additional light.









I added lag bolts to the existing box frame mounting so it wouldn't pull out of the ceiling with the additional weight.
I then added a new frame to support the new light base.

I used some 1/4" bead board plywood to dress up the interior of the box.  The lights I'd selected came with a mounting bracket that is designed for 1/2" sheetrock, so I had to add a spacer block on top to get the thickness I needed.

Since there is an air gap between the new mounting base for the lights and the ceiling, I had to cut a larger opening in the ceiling for the upper portion of the lights to have clearance.

I installed the bead board, then added 11/16 cove molding and a 1-1/2" x 1/8" strip to conceal the screws.  Then it was time for some paint.

I fished the electrical wire all around to the different opening and installed all the fixtures.

Placed the grates up inside the frame, and then stand back and admire… Tada!

Baby Jack

I'm proud to announce the newest addition to our family... Jack!

It has been a journey for Amber and I for over a year to add a fourth arrow to our quiver, and the Lord has blessed us.  He is eagerly adored by his 3 older siblings who will do anything, everything, and then some to be helpful and close by.  For those who track the stats; he was 7lb. 10oz, and 21" long.

 

The First of Many

After debating back and forth (with myself) over blogging for the past year, I've decided to give it a try.   I've on occasion jumped onto Amber's blog that she uses for our family and posted a couple things, but now I think it's time for my own.

I wouldn't consider my life to be exciting or interesting by any means, but I think it would be nice to document a few things that happen and share.

Let's see what happens.