Last day of July

Hello all,

Jennifer and I are both off today. We did some back to schools shopping at Wal-Mart for the kids and just had a fun day playing in the Summer sun. I hope everyone is enjoying this great weather!

-Andy

Thursday...

Hello all,

Today is my Friday!!! Ali comes home from camp today!! I can't wait to see you tonight Boo!

-Andy

More BP

Hello all,

I should get a rub down on my shoulder after nights like tonight. I will need to over seed my lawn for sure this fall for all of the wear and tear it is getting this summer! At least there is a reason to have a yard, right? Zac hit well tonight from both the right and left side of the plate. I'm very impressed with his ability to square the bat head up and drive the ball.

-Andy

Batting Practice

Hello all,

I threw another 100 pitches tonight in batting practice behind our house for Zac. I think 100 pitches is a fair amount of hitting don't you? We played until it was dark and then came inside for the night. It was a great night to be outside. It was only in the mid 70's today so it was very cool by 9:00 o'clock.

-Andy

Uhh... Monday

Hello all,

At least the Royals won tonight. That was a nice change of pace. Zac and I played in the backyard for a while before he had to come in and take a bath and get ready for bed. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the summer almost being over. Where did it all go? August 1st is Saturday. School starts on the 18th. When I was a kid, the summer was filled with endless days of fun and sun. I hope the kids have the same feeling.

-Andy

Ali to Girl Scout Camp

Hello all,

This afternoon we took Ali to her first overnight girl scout camp. I can't wait to hear all about her adventures. I hope you have a good time Boo.

-Andy

Tractor Pull

Hello all,

Now tonight's fun was the tractor pull. Growing up on the farm, I repeatedly asked dad to turn one of our tractors into a "pulling" tractor. I wanted to be on the infield with all of the other kids who's family had a big tractor. I love the smell of the diesel. I love the roar of the crowd as the machines fly down the track.

Tonight I went back in time for a brief moment. Thanks to the Platte County Fair I could see my dad again. He was sitting in on a bleacher wearing his tan cowboy hat. It was 1987 for only a moment, but a moment I will cherish.

-Andy

Royals vs. Rangers

Hello all,

Another game, another loss. I think Jen and I have six games left in the season. Most of the people we met at the beginning of the year have either stopped coming or sold their tickets to other people. I was hoping for a better summer in the sun. Maybe they can rebuild or retool for next year.

-Andy

Demolition Derby

Hello all,

Tonight I took Ali and Zac to the Platte County Fair to watch the Demolition Derby. Ali thought it was too loud, but Zac loved it! Next year I'll remember to bring ear protection for the kids. Zac yelled to encourage his favorite drivers to smash each other up. Ali looked at me with a weird smile not knowing what to think about this "clearly" guy sport.

-Andy

We've been in our house for 5 years... today

Hello all,

Can you believe that our family has lived in our house for 5 years? Amazing... Zac was two and Ali four when we moved from the house on Rhode to 78th Street. The neighborhood has grown with us as well. We have made a lot of good friends. I think the Kings and Harris family are great people. I wish they weren't MU Tiger fans, but not everyone can be honored to be a Husker fan. That takes true dedication and wisdom.

Yes, we have been living in our home for five years. We still want to put siding on it and a new roof. All of that will come in time. I can't wait to see where the next five years will take me.

-Andy

Not a lot going on...

Hello all,

I wish I had more to write about, but I don't today. We went to a Royals vs. Angels game, but our team lost. The kids had fun. It is hard to watch a team play as poorly as the Royals night after night. Summer is winding down. There is less than a month of it left before the kids go back to school!

-Andy

Simple Night At Home

Hello all,

I went grocery shopping with Ali tonight after work. We picked up supplies for the week's lunches and evening meals. She was a great helper at the store. Ali enjoys pushing the cart behind me and does a good job. She just needs to pay closer attention to me when I stop. The cart tends to bump into my ankle at a high rate of speed!

Thanks for your help tonight Boo!

-Andy

LONG NIGHT, EARLY MORNING

Hello all,

I'm very sleepy. I was paged out at 4:00 AM for an application outage. Actually, the pager has been going off non-stop since 6:00 PM yesterday. Random errors are happening and I didn't know what was causing them. Finally at 5:15 this morning I had the JVMs cycled and that seamed to clear the issue. It has been a long day. I'm tired and WANT to sleep but can't sleep during the day...

-Andy

Up and At 'Em

Hello all,

The morning sure did pass quickly. We took Ali to bowling and then came back home to watch the British Open. Hometown favorite Tom Watson is leading the tournament after two rounds! Keep it up Tom. We are all pulling for you.

-Andy

Great Night at the Ball Park

Hello all,

Tonight Jennifer and I treated ourselves to a night out without the kids. We went on a date to the ball park to watch the Royals play some baseball without having to think about taking one of the kids to the restroom or getting a snack at the 5th inning. It was nice to just go and enjoy each others company. Thank you for the great night out Jennifer. We needed it!

-Andy

Happy Birthday Nicole!

Hello all,

Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday NICOLE..... Happy Birthday to you.....

And many more.......

That is as well as I can sing these days. American Idol is not in my future...

I hope you had a good birthday sis.

-Andy

Raining Again

Hello all,

Well, the rain is coming down again. Is this July or April? I can't tell anymore. My yard needs mowed for sure. I mowed it on Saturday and here it is Wednesday and it is already screaming for me to cut it.

-Andy

Lunch with Jeff

Hello all,

I had lunch with Jeff Rogers today. It had been a while since we had lunch. We talked about his fishing trip to Canada as well as recent events in the world. It is always a good discussion when Jeff and I get together. Thanks for getting me out of the office today Jeff. I needed it.

-Andy

Uhh… Monday

Hello all,

It is Monday. This week will be a long week of paperwork and emails for the 13/7 release at work. There is always one week of every month that is like this. It is no fun at all for release management.

-Andy

Sunday??

Hello all,

The storms rolled through the area early this morning and Jennifer and I didn’t get out of bed until after 10:00. The family ate breakfast and then headed to the 11:00 o’clock service at Good Shepherd. Ali was looking forward to seeing the slide show from VBS this week. She was pleased to see so many of her friends on the big screen. The congregation sang many of the VBS songs during the service. Of course, many of the kids didn’t need to read the words on the screen. They already knew the songs by heart.

After the service, Jen and I spend the afternoon with the kids just having fun at the house. We were going to go to the swimming pool, but the rain from the morning had did not clear out until late in the afternoon. Maybe next weekend we will go swimming…

-Andy

Mowing 2 yards

Hello all,

I mowed Jeff King’s yard today as well as my own. He has been on vacation all week and I didn’t want him to have to mow his yard after being away for seven days. Who wants to come back from vacation to mow anyway? I thought it would be a nice welcome home gesture, and Jeff really appreciated it.

-Andy

VBS Day #5

Hello all,

Tonight was the final night of Vacation Bible School and what a treat it was to have so many spirited young boys and girls singing (screaming) the words to the songs of the week. My kids did great! Nice job Nate, Zac, Laken, Aiden and Benit! You are the founding members of “Ice Cream Team”. You made me very proud. You did great this week in crafts and always listened at Bible Adventures. It was great to see you guys learn about Moses and having you demand that the pharaoh “Let My People Go!” As a class, you were one of the best at getting into a straight line and following directions from not only me, but the other leaders in our group. Way to Go!

After the final session was over, the family went to 54th Street for dinner. It was the first “real” dinner I had had all week. I treated myself to a steak and baked potato. I must have looked like I had not eaten in days. The steak never had a chance. It was gone before the server returned to refill my glass of water.

We were all home by 9:30 and the kids in bed soon after a quick shower. Tomorrow will come soon enough. It is time to rest now.

-Andy

VBS Day #4

Hello all,

Ufff Daaa... I'm very tired. VBS day four is in the books. Only one more day to go. Tomorrow is suppose to be the big water fight. I can't wait to see how many people actually get wet.

-Andy

Day #3 of VBS

Hello all,

Tonight was a good night to be at VBS. At games, we had the kids crossing the Red Sea with Moses. Of course this involved water! The kids got a little wet, but the crew leaders REALLY got wet! Buckets of water were thrown by the adults. I agree, we did get a little out of control at times, but it was all in the spirit of fun.

After games, we went into the AC.... Yep, that was cold. I must say, many of us were rethinking our decision to get completely soaking wet.

I was almost dry by closing songs.

After VBS, I picked up a pizza and headed home to feed the family.

Good night,

-Andy

VBS Day #2

Hello all,

What a great night to be at Good Shepherd UMC! The music was great and the group is really starting to learn the songs for Crocodile Dock. I have given my group of kids the team name of "Ice Cream Team". This makes it easy for them to know when I am addressing them directly. Other teams have to say "My Red Team..." All I have to say is "Ice Cream Team, stand-up. Get into a straight line..." It is great. I'm one of a handful of men that are team leaders. I must say that the guys have a strategic advantage. Our voices are louder and the kids can hear us over the other noise in the church.

The day was over at 8:30. I had to run to Price Chopper to get some stuff for Jen's office's food day tomorrow. After that, I made it home to eat dinner and watch The Deadliest Catch on Discovery.

It's getting late. I'm heading to bed.

-Andy

VBS Day #1

Hello all,

VBS is officially started. I am Zac's group leader this year. I have nine spirited youngsters who are eager to have some fun. I just hope they are still having fun come Friday.

-Andy

Resting...

Resting… Today is all about resting before Vacation Bible School starts on Monday.

-Andy

Happy 4th of July

Bang, Boom, Crackle… That is what we heard all night long at our house. The weather did not cooperate today for many firework displays. The rains have been falling on and off for most of the day. However, there are some diehard pyromaniacs that are determined to blow stuff up tonight.

-Andy

Day Off

I spent most of my morning playing Tiger Woods golf while the family slept. It is nice to be able to get an escape for a while and just pretend to be a good as my animated character is at the game. I would love to be able to hit the ball 300 yards on a line and always be in the fairway. Unfortunately, my real golf game is NOTHING like the game I have online.

-Andy

Golf Day

Hello all,

Today our hallways were converted into 18 holes of a miniature golf course. Each hole was designed by a row of the floor. Some holes were elaborate; others were simply a cup at the end of the row. I will say our row had the most moving parts. It was a Par 3. The hole was laid out with Hot Wheels racetrack that elevated to go through Batman’s cave and finally fall into the cup. The player had to stand at one of three tee boxes. The first was two feet away from the start of the track. The second was four feet. The final tee was eight feet away from the mouth of the race track. The track had a small funnel that would help guide the ball onto the track if hit close enough. Any other shot would ricochet off and the player would be in a bad position for their second shot.

Once on the track, the ball had to have enough momentum to travel 30 feet of track. There was one section of the hole were the ball had to travel two feet on it own and then return to the track. This was the second place where golfers could get into trouble. From this location, the ball had to elevate and make it into Batman’s cave and finally drop into the cup. It was a great hole. Jarrod, Sugi and I enjoyed making it.

-Andy

Year Half Over

Hello all,

The year is half over! Can you believe it? Where has six months gone? The kids summer school is over after today. Now they can sleep in for a good month before they have to think about going to school again. I wonder what they will do with all of their time at home?

-Andy