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Gymnastics, Courtney, and Who’s Kid is This?

Today is father’s day, and I have to start out with just saying how thankful I am to have such an amazing family.  I believe my new favorite picture has to be the one above, somewhat because it’s the first posed family shot we have taken in awhile, but mostly because it really says to me – “pay attention, love is everywhere you look, but it’s most dear in the ones near you.”

This summer has been a complete blast at our house.  Chloe loves being out of school, Ade loves Chloe being out of school, and we are really enjoying spending time together as a family.  Yeah work is slow, we have no idea what path we are on, and what the future holds for us, but we will not be able to say that we didn’t enjoy the time that God has given us together this year.  In my entire career, I have never not traveled away from the family for this long of a time period, and I truly did not know what I was missing.  Probably the most interesting and enlightening change in our house lately is that our girls really enjoy playing together.  It’s been a long time coming now, but I finally feel that I can stop put down the referee uniform and really watch my girls play together.

Chloe has begun taking Gymnastics again this spring and a few weeks back we were able to go watch a performance.  I believe that the trampoline is still her favorite event in the circuit, mostly because this is the only event that no matter what the instruction is, she does what she wants to do.  It’s  a real joy to watch her enjoy the sport, and it comes with medals!

The most entertaining portion of the last couple months was a costume party that Sheryl and I went to for a friend’s birthday party.  It was a fun party because it was split between hipsters and those of us in the over 30 crowd.  Sheryl and I went as Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love and it was very interesting seeing the different rock stars and entertainers that folks dressed up as.  I found that it really wasn’t that difficult for me to dress up as Kurt, as I believe my past wardrobe would have been an exact match.  I needed a little help with the hair, and when I went to the thrift store, I purchased more things to wear when not dressing up then I did for the party.  This picture of us doesn’t really do Sheryl justice.  If you know the right people (or a simple search of Facebook) will show you a side of my wife few folks have had the pleasure to meet.  We really had a great time at the party, but the best time of the night was when our friend Rob won the costume contest as DJ Lance Rock.  It was a vote by applause contest and those hipsters didn’t have a shot at out voting or even knowing DJ Lance Rock.

Finally I’ll end this post with a review.  Our kids are getting older and we enjoy that so many people have started to tell us that a certain one of our daughters is really starting to look more and more like one of us.  The amusing part is that rarely are these comments consistent.  To only help the confusion I’ve pulled out a few photos from my photo album, from Sheryl’s shoe box, and some current pictures of our girls.  What do you think?

Jason - 3 Years Jason - 5 Years Sheryl - 2 Years Chloe - 5 Years Ade - 2 years

I hope that all the dad’s enjoyed father’s day this year.  Give your dad an extra hug for me this year.

~*hugs*~

Looking Forward to Flowers

It seems that summer has finally made it to Central Florida.  Seems like it took a bit longer then normal to arrive this year.  My approach to beating the heat this year is a mix of reverse acclimation in addition to zen hypnosis.  In case you want to try the same approach, this accomplished by sitting in a very hot office and repeating to your self “I love the heat” repetitiously.  Your milege may vary.

At the beginning of April our little Chloe turned 5.  I know it’s not news to any other parent out there, but it really is amazing how fast the time goes by.  Chloe is of course a sweetheart, and I feel so blessed to have her as a daughter.  Chloe ended up having more of a birthday week then a an actual birthday.  The humorous side affect was that she lost track of when she actually did turn 5.  Once her birthday had actually passed, it took me a few days to actually convince her that she was finally 5.

In the middle of April we marked the first year of my dad’s passing.  Here is a great photo that was taken of him and our Chloe at my brothers wedding.  We have quite a few photos, but I think this is my favorite one with him and Chloe.

Around this same time we went down to West Palm beach to celebrate my grandfather’s 80th birthday.  His goal was to ride his bike for 20 miles on his 80th birthday.  I was happy that he let us leave at 9 in the morning instead of his usual start time of 4 am.  It was an honor to be a part of the ride and we had a wonderful time celebrating.

Lastly this month we (and by we, I mean mostly Sheryl) put on a Road Rally for our friends.  I still need to finish collecting the photos from the teams that participated, but it was a great night.  I’ll see if I can get them up soon.

Tomorrow we head out to the beach for the first time this year to celebrate Mother’s Day.  As I explained to Chloe just a few days back, while most people have a belly button, everyone has a mother.

~Bless

Bond, Mini Golf, and Mancations

What a fun year this has been so far.  I have really been enjoying the time with the kids while Sheryl is working in the mornings, and I have been slowly getting back into work. Work has generally been light as we are working on securing the next projects in the pipeline, it’s been really fun to actually play with some new technologies and prep them for future consulting engagements.

Probably the only thing that hasn’t been fun this year has been the weather.  It know it’s been cold everywhere, and I’m not about to complain about the Florida winter compared to what others have dealt with, however the only reason I can deal with the heat of the summer is for the mild winter.  I sure hope this summer is cooler then last year.

On to the fun…

We’ve been really picking up the party planning this year.  Probably the best one was our James Bond themed Valentine’s day party.  While we do have pictures, I can’t show them to you without a consent form, and even with that, I would have to kill you afterwords.  It’s tough to top the annual Christmas party, but I believe we have tallied the votes, and the Bond Party is definitely at the top of the short list.

The kids have been slowly adjusting to Sheryl working.  I think that it’s getting better, but every once in awhile I think that we start over again.  I’m really grateful that Chloe enjoys school, or we might have more of an issue.  Her recent progress report said that she is a ‘gentle spirit’.  For anyone that knows our Chloe, this is a perfect phrase to describe her.  Ade has also started school recently and seems to really enjoy it.  Somehow she always naps for them, but she doesn’t seem very interested in napping at home.  My guess is that the kids in her class last a little longer at the game ‘chase’ then I do.  The kids latest hobby is mini-golfing.  Most of the time they golf with Sheryl, but I’ve been a few times, and it’s so funny to watch them.  Adaline get’s a hole in one every time, it’s just an eventual hole in one.

My personal highlight of the first quarter of this year has to be the mancation that I took with a group of friends up to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  While it was colder then Florida, the snow on the mountains was breath taking.  We had ton of fun, pitted our wits (and lives) against the side of an iced over mountain, and didn’t get into any lasting trouble with the law or our wives.  If you haven’t had a chance to get away with a few friends lately, I highly encourage you to put a little effort into it and make it happen.  With the right group of friends, and the right environment, your life will be impacted, and you’ll have memories that will last a lifetime.

We are looking forward to the summer, and I’m hoping that it will warm up soon, as I can’t wait to get my bike out of the shed.

Tudalu! — check out our photos from the last few months here.

There is no sunshine without the rain

Well, the holidays are most definitely over, and they were good. It was great to have family in town and not have to travel this Christmas. We certainly have put in our hours (or is it days or weeks) on the road, or in the sky. Don’t get me wrong- I LOVE, LOVE traveling. The season ahead of us seems to grant us a break, and it honestly seems refreshing. February and the cold ‘winter’ weeks in Florida have brought on a slew of sicknesses here at home: Chloe had a sinus infection, Ade- ear infection, Jason is still coughing and I have bronchitis. On a lighter note, we all seem to be on the road to recovery. I find myself sitting here in bed, laptop in place, wondering how familiar this seems (hmm- bedrest while pregnant with Adaline?).
Adaline is running about in her bathing ’soup’. It is pretty funny. You never get over the little English slub-bubs that 2 year olds come up with, until you realize that they don’t say them anymore. I’ve already forgotten most of Chloe’s funny words. She’s going to be 5 in a few months! Grampa used to always say, ‘Time waits for no one’.

I am summoned by her Majesty to play catch now, or is it to go potty?