June 2008 Archives

First off, there is this pie recipe that I made 2 weekends ago. Before a whirlwind visit to NoVA, I had made a blueberry ginger ice box pie, which we dug into before we left my parents’ house. They were willing participants in the experimental tasting, and so far as I know, it was a hit. (At least no one came up sick.)

OK, those who tried it actually raved about it. It’s relatively easy to make and tastes oh-so-good, as long as you have a few hours ahead of service time to have it chill.

The headline on the story says it all: Judge agrees: Duke football as bad as it gets. And it was Duke that asked for this ruling. You’re just going to have to read the story to find out why.

I’m knocking on wood as I write this, as I certainly hope it never comes to this for Rice.

OK, one of these days, I’m going to finish cleaning up and organizing my office. In the meantime, I can shoot off this quick tidbit from today.

We took the kids to eat at a restaurant called Noodles & Company. We had one open recently in a nearby shopping center. I don’t know if any of you have eaten at one, but the food is good. I had eaten an one several times (when I traveled to Milwaukee on business), but Kellie and the kids had not eaten at one. We went today because a church parishioner had opened the restaurant and was offering a fundraiser for the church youth program if enough people ate there. It was fairly busy when we were there, so I’m guessing it might have been successful.

The kids all had macaroni and cheese, while Kellie and I tried a couple of different Asian-inspired dishes. Please realize, Sean will eat anything. Seriously, we put it in front of him and he’ll eat it — asparagus tips, squash, Daddy’s Texas-style chili, etc. Daniel isn’t quite as adventerous, but often will try things.

Well, Sean saw the bean sprouts on my dish and started pointing at them. I thought he just wanted my chopsticks, but no, he wanted the bean sprouts. So, I gave him one, and in the mouth it went. Crunch, crunch, and suddenly it was gone. OK, I go back to eating. Except there is this insistent grunt to my right, and Sean wants more. A whole lot more, it turns out. And getting one with a bit too much spicy sauce (from my dish) only temporarily deters him. A quick drink from the sippy cup, and he’s back at the pile. He was shoveling them in.

When Daniel saw Sean trying these out, he decided he too needed it. So he picks up the bean sprout, looks at it, then takes a small bite. Then another, and another bite. He doesn’t eat as much as Sean, nor as quickly, but he does get a second helping.

Don’t worry — Will is still like a normal kid. He wouldn’t try it. (Even said No Thank You.)

We wished we had the camera with us. Watching Sean eat them was just jaw-dropping - eating plain bean sprouts over mac and cheese. Not that you would expect to have a camera-worthy moment when just eating bowls of mac and cheese; hence no camera.

Well now, it’s been a while since something was written. This would have gone up last night, but it took forever and a day for YouTube to upload and process the video. But it’s ready now. As you know, I’ve been promising since May that I’ve pictures and video of Will in his spring soccer games and swimming lessons. Well, the swimming lessons video is now done.

Will is into the swim season much more this year — a whole lot less fear. We still have to work on the actual swim strokes and floating, but I think he really wants to get better at it. And that’s all we can ask. Before too long, I’m sure he’s going to be a bit of a swimming monster. Hopefully, in time so that Kellie and I can focus on getting Sean and Daniel used to the water.

We hope everyone is enjoying their summers and getting a chance to swim. Stay cool - it hit close to 100F the past couple of days here in Richmond.

Well, the Owls may have gone 2 and Q in the College World Series, but there is at least one way they can be proud. In a survey of one, this gentleman has declared that the Rice Fight Song is the 2nd best fight song in all of the USA. (Well, at least that represented by the Division 1-A football schools.) So eat your heart out, all you Ramblin’ Wreck, Aggie, Boomer Sooner, Hokie, and Fighting Irish fans. We bow to no one - well, except for maybe a stinking Wolverine. And they really can be smelly!

Go Owls!

While we celebrate Rice this way, I do want to take a moment to say a prayer for those injured or killed in the collapse of a dorm wall during construction today at Rice. Exact cause is unknown, but I’m sure more will be determined soon.

Well, we’re finally recovered from our extended power outage after a storm briefly blew through the area. Nothing quite like having the sun shining brightly outside (after the storm), but still no power. At least we got the power back before it got dark.

I got some nice gifts from the family yesterday (including a couple of manual crank handheld flashlights with LED lights - they’re really cool). But maybe the best gift was something Will did at school - it caused me to smile a couple of times (and cringe once). You can see the worksheet below.

I’m glad I’m as handsome as a super hero and can build a whole city, but I think you can figure out which made me cringe. So, I guess there are still some things I need to work on. Don’t we all? I think I’m doing better, but thank you for reminding me that I still need to work on reminding you of things in a calmer manner sometimes.

Hope you father’s out there got nice gifts, too.

A quick note on Father’s Day. Yeah, this day is supposedly partially for me (thanks, Kellie, for giving me some time to do some things, including watch Rice in the College World Series this afternoon). But I would be remiss without saying thank you to my own dad.

Whether it’s chasing me around a marathon course (in your car, of course) or spending some time with your grandsons, you’re there for us. I cannot begin to tell you everything you have taught me over the years (other than calculus - I was on my own there), and I’m sure there is still much to learn. But my 39 years so far have been a blessing, and I’m glad that you’ve been my dad for that.

Now, if I had only listened to you during your attempts to get me interested in different sports, I might have a modicum of talent somewhere. But don’t be too down about that. I still enjoy it, even with my athletic limitations. (I’m thinking I’m really geeked about the baseball today.) Thank you for caring and doing all that you do, and know that a part of you always goes with me.

And your turn with this day is coming soon, Uncle Dennis…

Will had a great time passing on from kindergarten. But what he really liked was the watch that he got from Nana and Grampa. He really wanted to wear it to day care on Friday and doesn’t like taking it off. Kellie swears he looks at it every 15 minutes or so. And because he can read time to the exact minute on it, we can no longer fool him into thinking that it’s a few minutes later than it really is (and thus time to go home/go do something).

Today was a busy morning. The kids got out and got new shoes (everyone was pretty much outgrowing what they had). And we hit the new Chick-Fil-A that opened up at the nearby shopping center. This is a “big” deal - now there’s one only 5 minutes away instead of 15 minutes away. And being brand new (today was day 3), everything was still clean (not that I’ve ever seen a Chick-Fil-A that wasn’t clean) and they were giving things away (like brownie samples and balloons with their little cows at the end as an anchor). It made for a nice treat for the kids.

I’m also going to throw up a bunch of images and a quick movie of the boys. Lots of stuff to share. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

Congratulations, Will. You are now done with kindergarten. I know you had a blast, learning about all sorts of new stuff. Some things didn’t change (like getting on the bus). But your art skills have grown tremendously over the last year. You are an excellent reader and writer. You learned about patterns. You learned basic addition and subtraction. You did lots of singing and music. You tried lots of new things in PE. You got a book out of the school library each week. You learned about science, geography, and weather.

You’re growing up. sniff, sniff

I hope you take lots of fond memories from your school this year (like from your first experience with Field Day, as shown below, from two weeks ago today). Your teacher and aide were excellent, and they wish you the best in first grade. We know you will continue to grow and learn, and Mommy and Daddy are really proud of you. Hugs and kisses…

Hard to believe that Will’s first year of elementary school is almost over. It ends tomorrow, and then he’ll no longer be a kindergartener. The transition is going to be a little more interesting next year, as a new elementary school is opening nearby. While Will will still be going to Pole Green ES, about 25% of the school population is going to different schools (largely the new one). So some of the kids he’s made friends with this year won’t be in the new school. At least it relieves the pretty significant overcrowding in the school, which has been there almost since the day it first opened 8 years ago.

Two Wednesdays ago, Will and his class had their school musical. Kellie was able to attend and took a bunch of video of Will. It was all kindergarteners performing for the crowd. Kellie said that she could hear Will’s singing stand out at times, though it does not appear to be that way on any of this video. But we’ve always known Will likes to sing, so maybe this is where it starts. Enjoy!

Un poco.

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but just found it again recently. Apparently, some consumer database somewhere thinks I’m a low-income Spanish-speaking immigrant, because just over a year ago, I received this credit card offer. That’s right — in Spanish. At my current home address.

Luckily for them (and me), it does say at the bottom that there is an English version on the back. But the Spanish version was facing out in the mailer. And how many of you receive your junk mail with a Spanish translation on the back?

My name isn’t even right. At least I haven’t received any more Spanish-language junk mail since then. Somebody messed up in segmenting this mailing.

Needless to say, I didn’t need this card.

OK, maybe not me (at least, I don’t think so). But the Rice Owls have done it again, winning the Super Regional against Texas A&M. This is their third straight trip to the College World Series, where they finished tied for 3rd the last 2 times. They have been 7 times overall (all in the last 12 years), including the 2003 National Championship.

So, congrats and good luck, guys. They plugged along and made the plays when they needed to. Keep this streak going in Omaha. Here’s one of the guys you should be rooting for - I know I will!

This tape thing might be an even easier test for lack of sobriety.

That’s gotta hurt.

I’m up a little late, watching the Rice Owls play Texas on Owlvision in the regional college baseball playoffs. I don’t have time to throw together a bunch of video or anything, but wanted to post an update on Will’s day. (And that’s a picture of Will with his “girlfriend” in kindergarten.)

The best part is that our strategy for introducing new foods seems to be working. Last week, his choice was diced peaches. He had his second serving on Saturday and got his Brusters. Then, this morning, he decided (while watching Elmo’s World talking about bananas) that he was going to eat a banana for breakfast. Well, now, we hadn’t even talked about his food of the week yet. But a banana it was, and he did a great job finishing it off. (Sean and Daniel aren’t problems with bananas — if Sean sees a banana, he wants it, and Daniel will eat it if you put it in front of him.)

Even better, tonight, Will decided that he wanted spaghetti AND diced peaches with his meatballs. No significant prompting. So, I think it worked.

Today was a pool day, as well. Had lunch at the pool, too. He enjoyed jumping in and playing in the water, and I think he made a couple of new friends with kids near his age that he was playing with. So, overall, a good day (and weekend). Hope your weekend was good, too.

GAME UPDATE: As I finished up this entry, Rice won the game, 7-4. They will host the super-regional (best of 3) next weekend at Reckling Park. This is the fourth straight time they’ve made the super-regionals. Go Owls!