Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Pete at 4 months

The little man turned 4 months old yesterday!  What an awesome little dude he is...

Hangin' out in his chair.  This was taken right at 7:22 a.m., exactly 4 months old.


Monday, March 28, 2011

GT's new hoops coach

After 11 mostly long years, GT finally made a change at head coach, and fired Paul Hewitt a couple of weeks ago.  It's been an interesting couple of weeks, but we have finally hired our coach, Brian Gregory. 

CBG has been at Dayton for 8 years, and seems like a solid, but not spectacular hire.  I wanted to save some articles on him, to look back on at some point -

AJC article

Mark Bradley's article

AP article


I thought it'd also be a good time to post some old photos of a great night at the AMC.  After beating Kansas in St. Louis in 2004 to head to the Final Four, our boys came home to about 1000 fans waiting on them. 
Pollard, Clarence Moore, Levens

Ben, C Mo, Sarah

Sobeck, Levens, Ish, Pollard

Sarah, Jack, Ben

me, Levens, Luuukkkke, Pollard, Ben

Longmire, Taylor Ward, Marvin Lewis, a Shoemaker

Monday, March 21, 2011

Kitchen renovations are finally upon us!

When I bought the house about 6.5 years ago, it was always a goal that I'd be able to renovate the real eyesore of the house, the kitchen, one day.  Certainly when AM and I became married and started having children, we quickly realized that the need for a more open floorplan was not just a goal, but more of a necessity. 

After lots of planning, etc., D-day is finally upon us.  Renovations start tomorrow, and should last about 8 weeks.  Needless to say, we are super fired up. 

We decided to create a list of things that we certainly won't miss about our kitchen, in case there was ever a day where we felt like we might've spent a bit too much money. 

Things we won't miss in our kitchen:


-Dog chewed doorway, coming from the back door into the kitchen

-Faulty lighting in the 1/2 bathroom

-Old toilet that you have to hold down the whole time you flush (assuming we replace this!) -Toilet brush-ew!

-Missing shoe molding-where did it go? Maybe that dog ate it.

-Kitchen table

-Linoleum tile and black crud build up

-being squeezed in to table area / hitting blinds trying to sit down / sucking in to get to far side.

-rando cabinet by table

-uneven countertop that you have to yank up

-utensil drawer that leaves a sawdust gift with each opening

-microwave that burns holes in food because it doesn't rotate

-disposal that always clogs

-oven with no timer, no self cleaner, no preheat

-fart Smell when starting dishwasher...black mold in door of dishwasher...rust in hinges of dushwasher - WE"LL MISS YOU DW!

-scary gap between dishwasher and counter top

-scary gap between floor and cabinets where food runs away and families if rodents must feast

-plastic bag holder that falls down

-dark and scary pantry

-keeping recycling can in pantry

-door that slides closed in laundry closet

-tiny dining room

-dining room table with no chairs

-utility sink (nice purchase Matt)

-drying rack that drips over counter

-noise of washer/dryer

-ducks and stars...nice decorating AM!


We then tried to create a list of things we WILL miss.  We didn't get very far.


Will miss:

-the Den.  We really liked the red room, and had lots of good times in this little room...watching TV, hanging out with our growing kids, talking smack to each other, and enjoying life. 

-our first kitchen.  Yeah, it had plenty of issues (and many more even when I first bought the house), but it was our first kitchen.  It was where AM spent many, many hours preparing meals (quite well I might add) for at first the two of us, and then eventually, our family.

It was where Emilie had her first "meals", where she learned to eat from a spoon, drink from a sippy cup, and sit in a big girl chair.  Where she sat on the counter often and hung out while we made food, where she provided us countless hours of laughter at the dinner table. 

It was also where Pete had his first dinner experiences, where he got promoted to the big leagues (high chair) after being in the minor's for so long (frog swing), where he would babble for minutes on end at dinner-time with us, trying to keep us with his sister.


Change, even when it's certainly for the better, can always be a little tough.  Our kitchen blew, but it was a huge part of our daily life, and for that reason we'll miss it...just a little.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Mary James and her foot

After a long 6 months, it seems that Mary James might finally have an answer to the pain in her foot.  Thanks to some strings being pulled by AME, MJ was able to visit Dr. Schmitz here within Children's last week.  It seems that she has what is called a tarsal coalition. 

MJ's Tarsal Coalition

She's scheduled for surgery on Apr. 10th, and then some therapy time thereafter, but hopefully by July 4th wknd, she'll be chasing our looped selves down the beach with sparklers!