Donuts for Dads

This morning was "Donuts for Dads" at my two sons' school. They do it every year and there is a good turn-out. I think it should be "Donuts with Dad" or, actually, "Donut with Dad" as everyone gets one donut (but the latter doesn't sound very good). I enjoyed sitting with my two sons eating a donut - to watch them and talk with them. Its hard to believe Cyrus will be going to Middle School next year and how much Alonzo is growing. Cyrus is a good kid when he isn't complaining about only getting one donut (and other things ;) ). Alonzo can be a good kid but succeeds less often than Cyrus but it is quite special when he is.

I would prefer muffins, especially chocolate ones, but the moms get that later in the school year (Muffins for Moms).

2006 Tri-State Fair

My wife has out-done herself, again. Out of 20 entries this year she got 14 first place ribbons, 3 seconds and 2 thirds. Some ask how she has time to do it all. She just sews for our daughter (and occasionally for herself) and submits those items (there are other items as well, but most of the items are what my wife has sewn for our daughter). She started smocking a year or so ago and has been doing a lot of that in addition to her regular sewing, embroidery (of different kinds) and crafts (this year she made some dinosaur "hats" for our son's birthday party from paper mache (for some dinosaur relays) - of course, I couldn't enter my dinosaur pinata because...well, you know).

We're looking into ways she might be able to sell some of her work. It is hard to get a fair price for the work involved but the end product should be worth it to those looking for quality and detail.

More Work by Christophe Carlier

Here is some more paintings by my cousin in Belgium, Christophe Carlier:

Le voyage à Caer Sidi ou La chute

The Voyage of Caer Sidi or The Fall is the translation I get. From what little I understand Caer Sidi is associated with Welsh legend and Camelot. I'll welcome any additional information or input on Caer Sidi as the internet sources mention it but don't explain it well.

Trilythe

Again, I believe this is associated with Welsh legend from what I gather from this article by Colette Bertot regarding these pieces and the overall gallery showing of Christophe's works (The Call of the Forest: Myths and Mysteries) in Brussells.

Christophe is teaching at Académie Constantin Meunier d'Etterbeek (the Constantin Meunier Academy in Etterbeek)

Obadiah Parker - Hey Yeah (Outkast Cover)

Here's a unique play of Outkast's "Hey Ya" by Mat Weddle of Obadiah Parker [obadiahparker.com] performed at a Studio Open Mic at Xtreme Bean in Tempe, Arizona. I was surprised about the lyrics, which you can actually understand in this version. Half the song is actually pretty good but the last part degenerates (for the most part) as far as the lyrics go. Mat Weddle has got an excellent voice and you can hear more from Obadiah Parker at MySpace. Hint for those with slower internet connections: Click on the link the Google Video which will take you to the video there. Instead of playing while the video loads, hit the pause button and wait until the video complete loads before playing it.

Gosselies, Belgium

I just read an account of an American GI during World War II (Tiger Joe; A Photographic Diary of a World War II Aerial Reconnaisance Pilot by Joe Thompson and Tom Delvaux). For a time he was in Gosselies, Belgium. During that time, the locals mentioned how several residents of the village had disappeared during the German occupation. They requested to dig up a spot where they suspected they would make a grissly discovery and, sure enough, they exhumed 190 bodies, many of which were of married couples with children then orphaned. What a sad discovery and another example of Nazi atrocities.

I mention this because I have family in Charleroi that is just south of Gosselies. My mother was born in the area as well and her mother was living in the area during the war. I can imagine the fear that existed during World War II of what the Nazis might do.

Careography

Here is a 80's commercial for the Isuzu Gemini. These days it would be done with CGI but this was not.

Working Out

I have determined to get myself healthier. My biggest problem has been the lack of excercise and the biggest reason for that lack is when to fit it in. I was thinking about joining a health club but there are none conveniently close to our house and I would hate to have to get up at 5:00am to get my excercise done before getting ready for the day and taking my son to school. Of course, the biggest problem with 5:00am is actually succeeding at getting up that early!

When I was working out on my mission while serving in the mission office, we would go to the Deseret Gymn in Ogden every morning. It was helpful to have the group support to get out of bed early enough to go. I would alternate the stair climber with some circuit training. By the time I returned home I was the fittest I had ever been up to that point. At Ricks with all the biking I did back and forth to campus, I became even more fit. Ah...those were the days.

Well, I bought a elliptical machine. I have only been using it a week but it sure feels good to get in some excercise in the morning. I think it was well worth the expense and is definitely less expensive than a health club. I got an elliptical machine because it is more like a stair climber, which I favor. I have never liked running or jogging due to the impact it has on my knees and ankles and thus a treadmill was never attractive but an elliptical machine really has a low impact.

Now, I have to be patient in order to see the benefits of working out again. It takes a little while to get the metabolism going again and reap those benefits.

Still Here

I really should post more often. We had a great holiday season but it lacked snow! Now it is a new year and time seems to be going too fast. It seems like the kids have a grown a couple inches each time I look at them. There's so much to accomplish and so little headway.

It is hard to keep upbeat. My job hunt continues and the desire to move increases. At the same time I dread moving after being in a place for over seven years. By seven years, I mean in our house. I've been here in this town for over 20 years. I'm comfortable but yearn for change.

It seems you can't get a job in another state without being transferred by a current employer or by having some good connections. I feel there is something out there for me that I just haven't run into but I am growing impatient. I don't want to take much longer if we are going to relocate because I don't want to bounce around my kids too much and would like to avoid doing it in the teenage years. I do like to settle and get comfortable.

My move from Idaho to Texas took me a good while to get over. The culture was different and I didn't merge "into traffic" until midway through Junior High though we moved here when I was in 4th grade. My son is now the age I was when my family moved to Texas. He is a lot like me and I don't want to put him through too much of what I went through.

So, here we are. While it feels like a rut, I know we are blessed to have what we have and even to be where we are. I do want more but I want it for my kids. I want to provide them with a great youth and point them in the right direction for a great future. I'll be thrilled just to give them more than I had. I think I'm succeeding to an extent namely in providing them with love and support.

This is a display that consisted mostly of Amy's Tri-State Fair and Rodeo entries (but only a small portion of her total submissions this year). The top row is entirely hers as well as the sailboat dress on the second row and a scripture case on the bottom. Out of her entries she received 9 first place ribbons, 7 seconds and 2 thirds. There's about nothing she can't do!















This picture is of a doll dress Amy did that won a first place ribbon. The doll is belongs to a lady in our church ward and the dress is one of two she won first place ribbons for (the second was also for a doll owned by the same lady).

As usual, the judging was interesting. Some items Amy entered received only an honorable mention though they were the only entries in their categories. A couple of the items were understandable but a couple were not. One example is the scripture case she made from scratch. The problem with that one is, the scripture case looks so good they probably thought it was just embroidered (which it was - with our son's name). A couple of other pieces were very well done with patterns she put together herself but for some reason didn't even warrant a third place in an uncontested contest. It is puzzling but typical.

The best in show for textiles was a poorly done jacket. It would be nice to know justifications for the judges' decisions but that will probably never happen. One just has to be grateful for what did receive proper recognition.

13 Years

Last weekend Amy and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. Sometimes it just doesn't seem like it has been that long. Sometimes it seems like it has been much longer.

We went to dinner at Joe's Crabshack (the first time there for Amy). We both decided we don't need to eat there again, having eaten stale fries and my meal being an overpriced disappointment (lobster and steak). My steak was undercooked and undersized and my lobster was overcooked and undersized. We should have just stuck to one of our usuals but we were brave that day. Going out to eat is not something we do often and when we do it is usually the econo-Chinese food place or, once in a great while, Applebee's. I don't count fast food as eating out but we also do that rarerly.

We went to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith which was an interesting movie to see on an anniversary date and, upon our reflection afterwords, decided it went well with the occasion. It was a good, funny movie. We were planning on seeing War of the Worlds but the day before we went they took it out of the local theaters. So it is in the period between being shown in the regular theaters and the $1.50 theater (which is where Mr. and Mrs. Smith was being shown). It was nice to have a few hours with no kids. It had been a while since we last did that (probably last year for our 12th anniversary). Amy's mom stayed with the kids. When we got home they weren't missing us so we wished we had stayed out longer.

As a husband I still have a lot to work on. We need to be married a long time to get this thing down better. It is quite a ride but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

The First Day of School

Well, the first day of school has come and gone. Cyrus was not looking forward to it as he doesn't like the tests. He stressed about the TAKS (the Texas assessment) test last year and is already dreading it this year. He did just fine in 3rd grade and I'm sure he'll do just fine this year but it is ashame a child, especially his age, has to go through that each year. He said his first day was good but the work has yet to begin!

Alonzo started Pre-K with many wondering if we would get a call the first day regarding his behavior. Thankfully, that call was not received! However, when Amy went to pick him up at the door, he had a name tag on that had Michael written on it. When asked how his day was he said he was not going back as he toted his full backpack and then said he was bringing home all his stuff. When asked why, he said they kept calling him Michael but wouldn't reveal anything more. Amy was quite upset that they couldn't get Alonzo's name right, so she went into the school to straighten things out. Upon getting there she found the boy who was now dubbed "Alphonso" (should be Alonzo). Amy got even more upset that not only had our son been "mis-labelled" but his name was misspelled.

Well, after some coaxing, Alonzo said he would go back to school again. We will see how it goes today. It would help if the teacher had made a better effort to get to know the children and not call Alonzo a name he is not. She said she had asked the children what their names were but apparently didn't listen closely enough when Alonzo said what his was (he says it clear enough to understand). Now, can she redeem herself? Time will tell.

Garden of the Gods

The day we arrived in Colorado Springs we had some time to check out Garden of the Gods. We will have to spend some more time there hiking and enjoying the scenery some time in the future.

The North Pole

We took a long weekend trip to the North Pole near Colorado Springs. The North Pole is an excellent amusement park for the younger children. Cyrus (the oldest at 9) was able to ride every ride (by himself, if he wanted to). Deveny and Alonzo had a lot of fun with so many rides they could go on. This is our second visit there and I am sure we will go again to enjoy the highest Ferris Wheel in the world (altitude) and the great mountain scenery.

Christophe Carlier

Christophe Carlier is my cousin in Belgium. This is one of his paintings. Here is a link to the site with information regarding Christophe and his work. Note the site is in French.

From what I gather, as my French is not too good, his paintings are an exploration of his own questions and contemplations. He describes them as a mirror. The state of his heart at the moment.

Maybe at some point I can get some more information directly from him about his work to post here.

Christophe teaches painting at the à l’académie des Beaux Arts d’Etterbeek in Belgium.