Kindergarten / First Grade Humor

We've heard this joke about a hundred times over the past week. Thought I'd share. He's the life of the party around here...and Megan, too.

Colin says "Hey, look under there!"

Mom/Dad/Megan/Grandpa/Grandma/etc. says "Under where?"

Colin says "Ha ha - you said underwear!!"

Jury Duty

Let me start out by saying I am thankful. I am thankful for America. Thankful that we live in a country with a justice system where you are innocent until proven guilty. And thankful that we are free to do and say and be whatever or whoever we want.


And I am thankful that my 10 day jury service is complete!!!!


I sat on a 9 member jury from November 12 to 24. It was a civil case and lasted 10 days. It was so difficult to sit still and pay attention that long. By the end of each day, I was just mentally exhausted (and crabby). The hardest part, for me, was not being able to talk about it with anyone - not even the other jury members.


The bright side is that the court house is essentially across the street from my work, so my daily routine didn't even change. AND we got paid a small amount each day which I get to keep, just in time for Christmas! AND ITS OVER!!

Soccer Awards Night

Tonight was Soccer Awards Night for Colin & Megan's Team, the Tarheels. Shown in this picture was their coach, Derek. The Tarheels got second place in theh tournament, so they got pretty large trophys. The kids are pretty proud!

Flu Shots

I told the kids this morning that we were going to go get flu shots. Here's how the conversation went.

Jen said: "Hey kids, you need to get dressed because in
a little bit we're going to go get flu shots."

Colin & Megan cried: "No...I don't want to...it
will hurt..." [fake cry, fake cry]

Jen said: "Will you do it for $1?"

Colin said: "I'll do if for $10.25."

Megan said: "yeah, $10.25."

Jen said: "OK, but if you throw a fit at the place, you
get no money."

And it all went well. I'm out $20.50, but it was totally worth it. :) Isn't that funny? $10.25? I don't know where they come up with this stuff.

Halloween 2008

We hope everyone had a nice halloween. Colin and Megan had a great time as a Vampire and a Princess. Both were decked out in lots of make-up. Nate took them around to bunches of houses while I handed out treats at home.

We went back to basics on the jack-o-lanterns this time. No fancy, intricate designs like the last couple years...

1st Grade Homework

Colin wrote the attached story about Magical Boots in his first grade class in September. Enjoy!

Translation: My magical boots help me fly away from booby traps and I like it because they were super fast like a race car and they can go invisible and can go straight through peoples bodies and jump up very high but I am not doing that right now.

I'm looking forward to more creative writing assignments from Colin and to when Megan starts bringing these gems home!

Mammoth Cave

Last week was fall break for the kids, so my dad and I took Colin and Megan to Mammoth Cave. It was pretty fun. It would have been more fun if it hadn't rained all morning...

On the drive down there, Megan told us she was not going into the cave - that she would just wait for us by the door. Which is hilarious. Her reasoning - she thought there would be bears in the cave. :) But when she saw our tour group of ~100 people, she decided it must be safe. She actually was very brave and enjoyed herself. Colin enjoyed himself too - so did Dad and I.

The tour was about 2 hours in length. I think kids smaller than 5 would probably be a real pain. The cave is absolutley not handicap accessible. There are spaces in which a clausterphobic person would be miserable. So no strollers. The tour we went on started with the decent of 280 wet, slippery, metal stairs - which is what convinced me that toddlers would be a pain in the cave.

But kids 5+ would just love it. And the tour guides catered very well to the kids answering their questions and talking in a way that the kids enjoyed the schpeels too.

Bank Accounts

Colin and Megan opened savings accounts last week. Colin was pretty excited about it, but Megan had decided she wasn't going to give any of her money to the bank. But when she saw that she would get a green booklet out of the deal, she changed her mind and agreed to put in $3. She was concerned that then money wouldn't be safe. In the end we convinced her to put all $15 of her dollars in.

The nice man who helped us at the bank, Tim, gave Colin and Megan a tour of the vault. They really liked that part and I think it helped them feel safer about leaving thier money in the bank.

They are totally stoked about thier bank accounts, so I'm sure they would love cash gifts at Christmas or Birthdays if that is something you're interested in.

Parent Teacher Conferences

At Megan's Kindergarten Parent Teacher Conference, Ms. D said Megan is doing GREAT! She knows almost everything a kindergartener should know by the END of the year, and its only the beginning. We're very proud of Megan!

At Colin's First Grade Parent Teacher Conference, Mrs. Westerhoff siad Colin is doing GREAT! She said Colin has all A's - in Math, Reading, and Spelling. We're very proud of Colin!

Soccer - Fall 2008

Colin and Megan participated in U-8 soccer this fall. They had lots of fun, learned alot about soccer, and met several new friends. Their team was called the Tarheals and was coached by Coach Derrick. He is a terrific coach - giving them lots of vocal feedback.

This was Megan's first season to play and Colin's 4th. They both had a lot to learn. The first game Coach sent Megan in and told her to go stand by the "Ref", but she had no idea what a "Ref" was. By the end of the season she was getting in there and contributing. In season's past, Colin liked to chase the other players more than the ball, but this season, he was starting to get into the game. Even a glimmer of passing strategy started to shine through by the end of the season.

The Tarheals won every game of the regular season except two - which they tied. In the tournament, they came in second place - first place went to the travel team. So the Tarheals had a terrific season.

This is the picture of the Championship game of the Tournament. The black team was the travel team, who won the game. The blue team was Colin and Megan's team - the Tarheals.

Colin's First Loose Tooth - Fell Out

On September 4, 2008 Colin lost his first tooth. The permanent tooth replacement was halfway up before the baby one finally came out.

The Tooth Fairy came, but she was running late. She came sometime after Colin woke up and before he was done getting ready for school. He thinks she snuck in while he was in the bathroom. She left a dollar. Initially Colin was pretty devastated that she didn't come, but once the dollar was in his hot little hands he was completely happy.

Hopefully next time the Tooth Fairy will come while he's still sleeping. He already has another loose tooth, so time will tell. :)

Colin's 7th Birthday

We celebrated Colin's birthday a few times since we didn't have the traditional family party at our house this year. We started out celebrating with the Smoker side of the family at "Smoker Family Fun Day." Kraig was totally into it and blew out Colin's candles for him. What a little helper :P We all laughed (except Colin, of course) and re-lit the candles so Colin could take a turn.



The week of his birthday, we had a party at Pump-It-Up and invited all his friends. They had a blast. Having the party off-site (i.e. not at our house) was sure easier on us. And we don't have giant bounce houses to goof around in. :)

Lucas Oil Stadium...

...is a beautiful place to see a football game. These pictures are from the first pre-season game. It was a lovely, breezy August evening. Nate still hasn't had the chance to go to a game, even though we have season tickets. Its a real shame. Looks like it will be December before he gets an opportunity.

For those of you who don't follow Colts football, Lucas Oil Stadium is brand new this year. It is the replacement to the RCA dome which can be seen in the picture below. Since the picture was taken the dome part has been deflated as part of the demolition. The new stadium is a prominent part of the ever-changing Indianapolis skyline. As you approach downtown from the west (from the airport) the stadium looks like it could swallow the rest of downtown - its so big!

Pump It Up!

This new place called "Pump It Up" just opened right near Children's Village a couple weeks ago. It is a giant bounce house place. Sarah and I took the kids tonight to check it out. The kids cost $7 each and the parents jump for free. And it was a blast. Its a franchise type outfit, so if you live near one, you should pay them a visit.

First Day of Kindergarten

My baby started Kindergarten today. :(

Like I told Nate, I think I have this fantasy that I'm tougher than I am because I was pretty beside myself all day today. Anyway, she did great. Her teacher's name is Ms. D. So far, so good.

Of course, part of moving on to Kindergarten means that she has to leave her Pre-K class behind. We have been SO fortunate to have Colin and then Megan under the care of Ms. Rachelle at Children's Village for the past couple of years. Ms. Rachelle has made Nate and I so comfortable about where the kids have been. And she has taught them so much - academically and socially. She is a special teacher and we have been completely blessed that she has been part of our kids lives - and ours. Thank you Ms. Rachelle!!!

1st Day of 1st Grade

Monday was Colin's first day of first grade. His teacher's name is Mrs. Scott. And everything seems to be going along smoothly so far. No lost kids on the bus this year, thank goodness. Looks a heck of a lot less nervous here than he did last year, huh?

State Fair 2008

As we do each summer, Lindsey and I took the kids to the Indiana State Fair. This year we added a new member to our tradition - Sarah.

So we ate till we all had stomach aches, watched the kids ride the rides in the midway, saw some animals, and went home exhausted. The weather was terrific. All in all, a successful trip. Next year, Lindsey will be have a 6 month old in-tow. We're hoping she'll still be up for it...

San Francisco

My parents and I took a trip last month to San Francisco - just the three of us (no Nate, no kids). It was terrific. Here are few of the hilites of our trip.

Day 1 - We rented bicycles in downtown S.F. and biked across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito, had lunch, then took a ferry back to downtown S.F. to return the bikes. Then we went back to the hotel and collapsed.

There were 2 "Emergency Phone and Crisis Counseling" spots on the bridge. I found the smaller sign down below a bit startling. In case you can't read it, it says...

Crisis Counseling

There is hope.

Make the call.

The consequences of jumping from this bridge are fatal and tragic.

Besides that the bridge was absolutley stunning. We were there on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in July. I think most anyone with half a brain would expect there to be a significant number of tourists on hand. However, there were also many "Lance Armstrong" types who wanted to ride as fast as they could across the thing. These arrogant riders acted all put out and inconvenienced if they were slowed in any way. They were pretty rude. I still cautiously took my time crossing the bridge. Careful not to get run over by the crazy "Lance Armstrong" types. My parents were way ahead of me and when I finally caught up with them, they were about ready to turn back and search. But as I told them - they sent me to Purdue to be a CIVIL ENGINEER! I wanted to check it out in detail. Not just a drive by. To all my bridge engineer friends...eat your heart out. :)

This is picture is taken from where we crossed underneath the structure south of the big spans. Lots of utilites were along for the ride.

This picture shows what all the cables are attached too. It amounts to sections of approx 36" pipes connected together.

At a pier looking up.

At a pier looking down.

If you are in civil engineering - you've got to put this on your "Life's To-Do" list.

Day 2 - We drove down south down the pacific coast to Carmel. Then back north to Saratoga where we went to a Marc Cohn concert at a venue called the Mountain Winery. The drive was spectacular. The concert was awesome. We liked the concert so much that the next day we purchased tickets to his Indy show and went again in August.

The drive down the pacific coast was great too. There are lots of places where you can pull off the roadway and go down to the beach. Another striking thing about the drive to me was the amount of agriculture going on.

Day 3 - Alcatraz & Fisherman's Wharf

We did the US Park Service Alcatraz trip. It was ok. I guess in comparision with all the other amazing things we did, a tour of a super old prison just doesn't take the cake for me. But I'm glad we did it.

Fisherman's wharf - I guess I feel the same about Pier 39. Kind of a low point for me. A crowded over commercialized tourist trap. We did see the actor who played the Hulk on the original series there signing autographs.

Day 4 - Muir Woods & Chinatown

Muir woods is a majestic, breath-taking place. I LOVED it. Its hard to describe the beauty of these trees. They are ~1,000 years old. They are huge.

Megan's New Haircut

Megan got her back to school haircut - a bob. She loves it. And I love it. But I think Nate is still recovering from shock.

She has a lot easier time taking care of it and keeping it out of her food. :) In this picture she is sporting her new Disney Princesses backpack too.

Colin's First Loose Tooth - Update

As of today - the new tooth has erupted...but the old tooth is still hanging on.

Going Green

Nate and I have been going green lately. We signed up for the curbside recycling (about $5 per month). We replaced most of the lightbulbs in our house with those compact flourescent kind. We signed up with our power company to purchase 100% green power (adds about $3 per month to our bill). We started turning off the computer at night. We are growing a garden as I posted back in May. And we installed a rain barrel so we can use rain water to water the garden.

Our garden is really doing great. These pictures were taken on June 17. The plants are even bigger now. We might have 100 tomatos growing (we have 2 cherry tomato plants and one regular) - none ripe yet.

Camping at Ouabache State Park

One weekend in late June, Nate, Colin, and I went camping at Ouabache State Park (pronounced Wabash). The park is near Bluffton and Fort Wayne, Indiana. For an Indiana State park, it is on the small side - but super nice. There weren't too many people there and the weather wasn't too hot. Just the way we like it.

After we first arrived and got checked in to our camp site we had to hit the playground. We het the playground about 94 times in the two days we were there.

But while we were at the playground that first time, Nate and I started to notice there was a storm blowing in. So Nate checked the radar on the Blackberry. How did we used to function without cell phones? There was one of those storms with the blinking red blobs headed right towards the park.
So I did the smart thing and climbed the 100' fire tower. Megan and Colin pressured me into it - but Colin bailed out after the first flight of stairs. Megan pressed on all the way to the top. The fire tower is pretty flexible at the top. It was really moving around in the wind (what a shocker). I think I asked Megan if she wanted to turn around and go back down every 4th step, but she was determined to get to the top. So when we got to the top I lifter her up so she could see out. We could make out those storm clouds quite nicely from up there. After about a 5 second stay, we headed back down. By the time we got back to the bottom, I was shaking like a leaf. She wasn't even phased. Maybe next time we go it will be better weather.We almost threw in the towel and headed out while the storm was going on, but it moved out in about an hour. So did the heat and most of the people. So it was perfect for us.

We had brought our bikes, so we decided to try out the park's bike trail before we set up our camp site. We figure we rode about 4 miles in all, which is pretty good considering we had a 5-year old with us and I hadn't ridden a bike in maybe seven years?? The bike trail there is very nice. The grades are pretty flat. Not much traffic. Shady and sunny spots.

The most challenging part was riding with Megan. She was going a snails pace at first and as an adult bike rider, there is a certian minimum speed you have to go to stay upright. We were definitely riding right about that speed for the first mile or so. Then she got a bit braver and sped up. Colin crashed a few times, but as a rookie rider without training wheels, we kind of expected that. So Nate and I just took turns switching between riding with each kid. It was fun.

After the bike ride we headed back to camp and set up the tent and stuff.
In the picture below, you can see the kids and Nate in our tent. After this picture the air mattress you see below got thrown away. It deflated in the middle of the night. We're going to try cots next time.
First thing in the morning we went on a short trail around the wildlife exhibit there at the park. They have a herd of about 5 or so buffalo.

All in all the camping trip was a success. I ended up with very sore leg muscles for the next couple of days. I don't know if it was climbing the fire tower, riding bikes, or sleeping on the ground that did it, but I was really sore. We're planning another trip this fall when the weather cools back down.

Colin's First Loose Tooth

Colin is proud to announce the he has his first loose tooth! He can't eat corn on the cob or apples right now, but that's ok. I think a loose tooth is some kind of right of passage for kindergarteners/first graders. And most of his friends already have a couple big kid teeth...

Below he's displaying the tooth in question. It is the lower front left tooth. What a ham. Just wait till he actually loses it.