The All-Knowing Jon, the Lyrical Gangster and Comment Master

Keeping Up

2009-01-13T17:28:00.004-06:00

My Dad is one to always want to keep up with the younger generations. So last week he went to Radio Shack to buy himself an iPod. This is what he came home with. The guy who sold it to him promised that it was exactly like an iPod except:

It doesn't play mp3's
It is about 3 times as thick and twice as heavy
It takes 6 C batteries that need to be changed every 45-50 minutes

No one can say my Dad isn't hip anymore.

New Stroller

2009-01-12T17:59:00.001-06:00

Not to be outdone by the Hoekzemas. We bought Reagan a new stroller also. It is nice and compact and will fit almost anywhere.

New Pictures

2009-01-11T14:07:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we took the girls to get their 3 year and 18 month pictures taken. We were only 5 months off for Libby and a month off for Reagan. Libby was a such a great girl she listened well and loved to smile. Reagan on the other hand was a holy terror. She screamed and cried whenever she didn't get her way and wanted to only do her own thing. Amazingly the people at Portrait Innovations where still able to get quite a few pictures of her. As usual we left spending way more money then I originally wanted to. If you interested, you can view all 91 photos here.

Family, if you want any of the pictures we bought copies of #12, 22, 36, 48, 56, 64, 79, 82 and 85. Let us know which ones you would like and what sizes.

2008-10-31T22:55:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago the local Fox station came to our house around 7 a.m. to record some video of Beth's morning routine. They woke Libby up, showed her getting her pigtails in and eating breakfast. Both Libby and Reagan were so good for the camera, not shy at all. Later in the day they followed Beth to work and showed a little bit of what her typical day is like. Today the video aired. The story was about working mom's and if they can have it all. It was a flattering piece and Beth is hopeful that she won't be mocked to much at work on Monday.

Halloween Preview

2008-10-26T17:49:00.002-05:00

Today Libby wanted to practice trick-or-treating. So while she got dressed, we decided to put Reagan in her outfit also. We attempted to get some pictures of them together, did not work out well.

Finally we just took individual pictures and they turned out somewhat better.

Reagan the monkey

Libby the butterfly.

Grandpa Pudding

2008-10-21T15:31:00.003-05:00

After visiting Beth's Grandma's in Swartz Creek this weekend, we swung by Beth's parents house in Dimondale for dinner. For dessert, we had pudding, of which Libby helped make. Reagan got to sit with Grandpa and ate all of her pudding, plus some of his.

Tickle Toes

2008-10-21T15:28:00.003-05:00

Since my brother Dave didn't find that last Reagan video amusing, I thought I would try again.

Reagan loves playing with peoples feet. She tried to tickle Libby's toes by hitting them and laughing. We kept having to tell Libby to pretend to laugh play along. Reagan found it hilarious.

Brown Squirrel

2008-10-15T19:11:00.003-05:00

Last week in preschool Libby learned all about squirrels. For the past few days she has been serenading us with this song. It goes:

Brown squirrel, brown squirrel
Bushy bushy tail
Wrinkle up your funny nose
Hold an acorn in your toes
Gray squirrel, Gray squirrel

Raving Reagan

2008-10-15T18:25:00.001-05:00

Brush with W

2008-10-15T14:13:00.003-05:00

The President was in Ada today for a fund raiser. He was at the DeVos's house which is about a mile from where we live. I figured he would be driving down Ada Dr, of which our house backs up to. So when I noticed a lot of helicopters circling overhead and then saw the cops pulling everyone over on the street I ran outside (while the girls were sleeping) and got to the street just in time to see W drive by. There were about 15 of us at our corner and he waved to us. That is his hand you can see.

Dress Up

2008-09-28T21:25:00.002-05:00

Libby and Beth played dress up today, and Libby wanted to be a purple princess, so she got her Ariel dress on along with her charms, her shoes, her purse and her purple flower hat.

Reagan then wanted to try on the fancy Nancy hat to fit in.

Stretch didn't want to feel left out, so we put the hat on him also. He loved it.

Hug

2008-09-28T21:23:00.000-05:00

DIrty Baby

2008-09-28T20:34:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went to Carino's Italian Grill, formally known as Johnny Carion's for dinner. As usual Libby ordered mac n' cheese, Reagan realy got into it and ate more then Libby did.

By the time she was done, she was a huge mess. She had it on her shirt, her face, her hands, and her hair. These pictures barely do the mess justice. We had to take her out back and hose her off afterward.

2008-09-26T16:07:00.001-05:00

Reagan wakes up from her naps sweating like a pig. Her hair is a big mess of curls and sweat.

But she always wakes up in a good mood.

Christmas Present

2008-09-16T19:35:00.003-05:00

This is what I'm getting for my brother Dave for Christmas.

Pre-School

2008-09-11T21:49:00.002-05:00

Libby started pre-school on Monday and absolutely loved it. We were lucky to get the last morning spot at our choice school because some kid had potty training issues. She will be going Monday and Wednesday from 9 until 11:15 a.m.

Libby has her own "locker" that she hangs her bag and jacket up at. She thinks it is pretty cool.

Libby walked in and started playing with the play-doh and never even noticed I left. The teachers said what a great job she did and loved playing with all the other kids.

A Deaf Latvian

2008-09-11T19:49:00.002-05:00

I finally got some of the pictures emailed to me from the photo shoot Beth, Libby, Reagan and I were in last month.

Here is Beth pretending to give Libby an exam.

I'm doing an amazing job of being a deaf Latvian parent, making Libby a Latvian patient.

I am giving the sign for "third question", at least that is what I was told.

This one is Beth doing an okay job of looking like a doctor.

And finally here is Libby looking cute as a button playing with some of the toys in the waiting room.

Hopefully in the next month or so the final product will be coming out and I will share it with all, except for the tasteful nudes Anne took of me afterwards.

Brush Teeth

2008-09-11T19:45:00.002-05:00

After bathtime, Reagan would love to sit and watch Libby brush her teeth. So we got her her own toothbrush. She now sits on the counter next to Libby and brushes her teeth for as long as we let her.

Birthday Present

2008-09-05T22:10:00.002-05:00

For Libby's third birthday, we went back and forth about what to get her. We could not decide between a wagon and a power wheel jeep. After thinking about it we decided that since neither of us had a power wheel growing up, and our childhoods were lacking because of it, we got her the jeep.

She woke up on Tuesday and the first thing she said was, Mama, it's my birthday. We took her downstairs and she noticed this in the hearth room.

She was very excited to say the least. She spent the entire first day just playing with it inside the house. She explored every nook and crany on the jeep, putting "gas" in it, looking under the hood, changing tires, and playing with the working FM radio. It wasn't until later that evening when Beth got home from work did we take it out side and let her drive it around.

Bun on Your Nose

2008-09-05T22:09:00.002-05:00

For those of you who wondered what Libby would look like with a plastic hotdog bun on your nose, you can stop wondering.

Peds Hem/Onc Picnic

2008-09-03T20:09:00.002-05:00

Two weeks ago we went to the annual DeVos Children's Hospital Peds Hem/Onc Picnic. As soon as we got there Beth had to get in the dunk tank.

After all the poking and prodding that the doctors do to these kids, nothing do the kids love more then to be able to dunk them.

The theme of the party was pirates. Libby loved her sword, eye patch and hook hand. This picture was put on tee-shirts for Libby and Reagan to bring home.

Reagan seemed more interested in the bottle then her eye patch.
The highlight for Libby was when the fire truck and helicopter came. The kids got to climb in them and explore.

Even Reagan got to climb up onto the firetruck.

Crazy Bed-Head

2008-08-29T13:43:00.001-05:00

Futures so bright

2008-08-24T18:26:00.001-05:00

Gotta wear shades.

That's What She Said

2008-08-23T21:02:00.002-05:00

This evening Beth, the girls and I went to the mall, while there we went to Pottery Barn to look for some new floor lamps. Here is a conversation I had with the saleswoman.

Saleswoman: "Do you know where the back door is?"
Me: "Ummm yes. (me giggling quietly) I think you guys should think of a better name for the pick up area."
Saleswoman: "You mean like the instant gratification door?"
Me: "I don't think that is much better."
Saleswoman: "Well you can pick you lamps up at the backdoor near Dick's"
Me: "You said dicks."

Print Work

2008-08-20T22:56:00.006-05:00

On Wednesday, Libby, Reagan and I met Beth at the hospital to participate in a photo shoot that would help new patients coming into the hospital. Libby played a patient, I was a deaf parent, Reagan played a sibling of a patient and Beth played a doctor. I had to do the most acting. Libby did a great job, we were very proud of her. She can sometimes be very shy, but she did an amazing job of interacting with the photographer and nurse. They got tons of great pictures. We look forward to seeing the final product sometime in October.

Face-plant

2008-08-17T19:25:00.001-05:00

Libby went down the slide face first, it didn't work out real well for
her.

2008-08-16T13:51:00.000-05:00

It's huge...that's what she said.

2008-08-16T08:53:00.001-05:00

My Dad and Mr T with Dale Jr.

2008-08-16T08:51:00.000-05:00

I love Hummers.

NASCAR

2008-08-16T08:48:00.000-05:00

New door mat

2008-08-11T13:42:00.000-05:00

I think the new door mat is to small, Beth disagrees. What do you
think?

From the Mouths of Babes

2008-08-03T21:59:00.002-05:00

For the past few weeks we have been letting Libby watch a few music videos from "On Demand" before she goes to bed. Today I chose Micheal Jackson's Bad.

She asked Beth

"Momma, who is that lady?"

Millennium Park

2008-08-03T19:58:00.004-05:00

This afternoon we took the girls to a new park in Grand Rapids called Millennium Park. There is a great beach area and sprinkler park for the kids.

Both girls had so much fun playing in the sand and wading in the water, which was as warm as bathwater, or maybe a lot of people were peeing in it at the time we were there.
The sprinkler park was great fun also.

Reagan looks sad in the is picture, but I think the sun was just in her eyes because she was having a so much playing in the sprinklers, she didn't even mind when she got sprayed in her face.

Here is Libby collecting water in her bucket with a cheesey smile on her face.

Last but not least, here I am with my littlest princess

Here are a few things we learned while at the park:
1) Getting a lot of tattoos may seem like a great idea, but it really isn't. There seemed to be many people there who have gotten "drunk" tattoos.
2) I may not be in great shape, but am in better shape then most.
3) When finished the park will be twice as large as Central Park in NYC.

Eating a cupcake

2008-08-02T21:51:00.001-05:00

How Appropriate

2008-07-29T20:19:00.002-05:00

The caption over Reagan could not be more appropriate. About 5 weeks ago Reagan decided that she didn't need to eat anymore. She went from being a great eater who would try anything to eating only crackers, yogurt, frozen waffles (toasted), and miscellaneous pieces of bread. Not only would she not eat anything, she would take whatever you put on her tray and immediately throw in onto the floor with a look that said "screw you". And since we took her off the bottle cold turkey two weeks ago, she would barely drink anything out of her sippy cup.

All of the sudden on Sunday, she decided she was hungry again. Now she is eating and drinking like a champ. Hopefully now she will start to gain some weight and people will stop mistaking her for an 8 month old, or as my sister thinks, my grandma.

The Great Mustache Race of '08

2008-07-26T21:31:00.002-05:00

Last week my entire family went up to Higgins Lake for a week of fun in the sun. My Dad rented two cabins for us and we all had a ball, even though the weather didn't always cooperate. You can read more about the week here. But the most important thing that happened was my brother Dave and I decided to grow mustaches. It was dubbed the "Dirty, Dirty, Mustache Race".

My brother connected his mustache to his sideburns while I went for more of an old fashion "zapata".

Here are a few things I learned about having a mustache:

It never hurts to ask for a mustache discount. We got extra laps while go-carting and 2-for-1 miniature golfing.
I tend to wear more denim when sporting a 'stache.
My wife was sorta able to fulfill her teenage dream of making out with Burt Reynolds by kissing me.
Women don't like it when you offer them free mustache rides.

All in all having a mustache was a great experience. I look forward to next years race, we are considering doing it for charity.

The mustache is now history as Beth made me shave it before our 12th wedding anniversary on Sunday.

We're moving!

2008-07-15T19:51:00.002-05:00

We had hoped that we would be spending the next 15-20 years in this house, but it looks like that won't be the case. We will be putting the house on the market soon.

On Sunday I looked out the window and saw a wild turkey. For those of you who don't know I have a completely irrational fear of all birds and won't live near such a wild beast.

In this picture you can better see it's beady eyes and it's razor sharp beak.

The Jon is right dance

2008-07-15T19:44:00.002-05:00

Monday was Beth's first day at work. All day Sunday I bugged her about picking out her outfit to make a great first impression. I thought she should either wear a suit or slacks and a nice blouse. I told her that you never know when you might get a picture taken or who you might meet on the first day. She said no, all she will be doing is Human Resources orientation, so jeans and a shirt will be ok.
The first thing they told her is that they are going to have to send her home because she was in violation of the dress code. After informing them that she was never told about a dress code and that the physician recruiter, who was Beth's main connect, didn't know about it either, they let her stay.
Other then that her first day went great. The second day Beth wore a suit.

Outages

2008-07-07T21:36:00.003-05:00

Last Wednesday during heavy storms we lost our cable and internet. We now know how the Amish must feel. After five days of total isolation Comcast got everything back up and running on Sunday afternoon.

All things Aussie

2008-07-07T20:45:00.003-05:00

My brother-in-law Rudi and his wife Erwin came to visit us on Thursday for their bi-annual 6 hour visit. While they were here Rudi mentioned how much he appreciates it when I call him anytime I see anything even remotely related to the Australia. Things like:

Going to his favorite restaurant Outback Steakhouse
Seeing a grill at the store called the "Aussie"
Any sort of show on television at all related to Australia or Koala bears
A man on a motorcycle with two stuffed kangaroos on the back
An article on the web about how Australians create more green house gases per capita then any country

So next time you see a dingo or an Aborigine, be sure to give Rudi a ring.

Freebies

2008-06-17T22:40:00.002-05:00

Being around my mother for about 32 years really rubbed off. She taught me that nothing makes you feel better then getting a good deal on something, it is even better if it is free. Two of my favorite bargain websites are Cheap Stingy Bargains (especially their freebie section) and Totally Free Crap. At least twice a week I get free stuff in the mail, it might be a sample of soap, cereal, or a flashlight.

Last week I got a sample of a new product. It is a single use container of caulk. Whenever I see this tiny white caulk sample on my counter I always think of my brother-in-law Rudi.

1 Year Pictures

2008-06-17T22:28:00.003-05:00

On Saturday we took Reagan to Portrait Innovations to get her 1 year pictures taken. The appointment was scheduled for 11 am which should have been the perfect time, right after nap and before she can mess herself at lunch. Reagan was full of grins and giggles on the car ride there. As soon as the camera came out she clammed up and would barely crack a smile.

Usually we sort through 80 to 100 pictures and have a difficult time choosing which ones we should get as most of them are pretty good. This time we had about 50 to choose from and of those 4 or 5 were worth buying. Neither of the ones above were ones we purchased. At times I think she was channeling her cousin Julia. If you want to see the rest of the pictures feel free to look here.

Help Please

2008-06-13T10:44:00.002-05:00

As the old saying goes "Many hands make light work". Next Sunday, June 22nd, we will be unloading the truck and trailer at the new house. So all of you in the greater Grand Rapids area who would like to help, please feel free to come by around 1 pm. Pizza, beer and sodas (or pop as you Michigananders call it) will be served. Email me if you need directions.

Dirty Baby

2008-06-10T20:25:00.002-05:00

As you can tell from this picture, Reagan loves beans. We had to change her outfit and wash the bib before heading up to visit Beth at work for her 2nd to last call.

Libby on the other hand is quite fond of "orange chips", more commonly known as Cheeto's. While she is eating them she will chose one or two random chips and say that she doesn't like the looks of it and won't eat it. What an odd child, she must take after her mother.

1 Year Well Check Visit

2008-06-10T20:21:00.002-05:00

Reagan went for her 1 year well check visit today. She weighed in at a feather like 2o lbs 2 oz (30th percentile), she is a vertically challenged 28 inches (25th percentile), but her head is a Mayes like 46 cm (75th percentile). She is now old enough and weighs enough to have her car seat facing the front now. This will make for a much easier trip to Michigan next week as she will be able to see the TV. During Reagan's examination the doctor found she had an ear infection, this would explain her screaming mimi fits the past couple of days before bed times.

Happy Birthday Reagan

2008-06-08T06:45:00.000-05:00

Today Reagan turns one year old! It is hard to believe that she is no longer a baby, but is now officially a toddler. Here are ten things you might not know about her.
1. She didn't' fall on her face, that is a little patch of exzema that we have had a hard time getting rid of. Hopefully the third visit to the doctors this week will take care of it.
2. Reagan now has 6 teeth, as the top 4 came in all at the same time about 2 weeks ago.
3. Reagan hated baby food so we never fed it to her. We discovered that she would rather just have normal people food (thanks to her Grandma who figured this out for us). Now we can't get Reagan to stop eating. We have to set a limit or else she would continue to eat until she popped.
4. Reagan is hot or cold when it comes to sleeping through the night. She will either sleep from 8 pm until 7 am with out waking, or she will get up 3-4 times a night when her pacifier falls out of her mouth.
5. Beth has trained Reagan to only poop when she is at work. I have to change 2-3 poppy diapers a day, all between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm.
6. Reagan hardly ever plays with typical baby toys. She would much rather play with Libby's toys. Reagan can usually be found standing at Libby's doll house, kitchen, or nursery set.
7. Reagan's nicknames include Reggie, Reggie-Reggie-Roo-Roo (Libby's name for her), Raisin, Reginald, and Little Stink (see item #5).
8. Reagan has never spent a night in her crib. She has only slept in her bassinet, our bed, and her pack-n-play, where she sleeps now. She is looking forward to having her own room at our new house where she will be able to sleep in her crib finally.
9. Nothing does Reagan hate more then having her diaper changed. She is so wiggly that Beth can't change her by herself. It is like trying to hold down a greased pig.
10. In her first year of life, Reagan has flown to Michigan 8 times and has been well behaved each time.

Next American Idol?

2008-06-07T23:42:00.002-05:00

This year at the annual Kurt Family Fourth of July Bash, my Dad and Judy have decided that there will be a karaoke contest. In preparation for this Libby has been practicing her singing talents. As you can tell, Libby gets her vocal abilities from me.

Inspections

2008-06-02T19:48:00.002-05:00

We had two separate inspections today. The first was an FHA inspection and that took about 20 minutes and mainly consisted of measuring the square footage of the house and making sure each bedroom had two exits (a door and an operable window). We passed with flying colors. The second inspection was to make sure the home was structurally sound from repairs that had occurred 5-15 years ago from some termite damage. The structural engineer spent 15 minutes crawling around under the house and said everything looked great. He then charged us $250 for his time, not a bad gig if you can get it.

Purging

2008-06-02T09:23:00.002-05:00

Beth and I are in the process of packing everything up and are amazed at how many boxes we never unpacked when we moved down here. So we are getting rid of a lot of things that we never thought we would throw out. We pitched an entire box of stuff animals from our childhoods. Beth saved her bear "Bruce", but allowed "Koala" to be thrown out if a picture was taken of him.
One of the great things about living in the city of Memphis is that if you don't want something all you have to do is put it out on the curb. People drive by daily looking for stuff. I have thrown out tires, tables, chairs, pieces of wood, plastic pipes and other assorted things and 99% of them are gone within 4 hours. So I actually get hurt feelings when people don't take something I've thrown out.

Housing Update

2008-06-01T16:28:00.002-05:00

New House: Grass is growing as the Parade of Homes ends today.

Old House: The home inspection went really well. There were very few things that needed to be fixed and even fewer that the buyer asked to be fixed. She wanted a few of the windows unstuck, an electrical breaker upgraded, a few popped nails on the roof pounded in, and a HVAC professional to come look at the furnace to make sure none of the heat exchangers were cracked. Luckily they weren't. The termite inspection was fine, which is required down here, but since the guy doing the inspection worded his letter poorly, we think we need a structural engineer to come out on Tuesday to say that all the repairs done many years ago are fine. Not a big deal, but more of a $250 pain in the butt. The FHA inspection happens tomorrow and we are keeping our fingers crossed that it will just be a formality. So other then that we are getting ready for the big move coming up on the weekend of June 21st.

Swimming Party

2008-06-01T16:25:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we were invited over to Damon and Jen's house for a refreshing swim in their pool. It was the perfect way to spend a 91 degree day.

All four girls spent most of the time out of the water playing with their Dollar Tree fishing poles, while the adults were in the pool making sure none of the girls fell in.

Dirty

2008-06-01T16:23:00.001-05:00

Yesterday while cleaning out and packing up the garage, Libby came up to me to ask for a drink. She couldn't hide the fact that she had been into something.

She's Walking

2008-05-31T22:03:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday Reagan took her first steps. And since then she has been walking around like a crazy woman. She can now make it across most rooms and can stand up without hanging on to anything. Go Reagan Go!

Eating a Pickle

2008-05-22T19:39:00.002-05:00

Reagan is pretty good about trying most things, but when she doesn't like something, there is no way to get her to eat the rest of it. At most meals she eats what we are eating and then finishes up with part of a jar of "fruity" baby food. The other day we gave her a pickle and she just loved sucking on it. She ate the end of it off and didn't know what to think of it.

She's Beautiful...

2008-05-22T19:09:00.003-05:00

My new TV was installed today and I got the installer to take a few pictures of it when he was done. I actually got tears in my eyes when I received the email, Beth got tears in her eyes when she received the bill.

Bad Idea

2008-05-21T22:33:00.002-05:00

If the name of your church is Christ United Methodist Chuch, it is a bad idea to use the initials for the web address.

Home Inspection

2008-05-16T23:51:00.005-05:00

On Saturday the buyer is having the home inspected in the morning. The girls and I are going over to Isabelle's house to hang out there while it is going down. I have been getting all sorts of little projects down around the house in preparation for it. I have trimmed all the bushes from around the house (boy does it make the house look bigger), cleaned out the gutters and last but not least, I finished installing the faucet in the back bathroom.

Almost two years ago to the day, my father-in-law installed this faucet on a visit down here. Some how a plastic washer got mangled and a new one had to be ordered. He explained exactly how to install it when it did arrive. I figured it was going to be a pain in the butt, so I never installed it. The sink never leaked because it was hardly ever used and the only way it could leak is if the sink stopper was down and the sink filled with water, then drained. This never happened. But I figured that the inspector might try this, so I went to work on installing the plastic washer on the pop-up ball rod (yes Rudi, I know I just said "ball rod"). Literally 18 seconds later it was installed and is working perfectly.

Now I just have to figure out how to make a 12 year water heater and a 20 year old furnace look brand new.

Paul Harvey

2008-05-15T17:08:00.002-05:00

Last week my brother-in-law Rudi got his panties in a bundle about an experience he had at his local branch of Wells Fargo. He blogged this:

I immediately deposited the cashier's check the buyer paid me with to buy my car. At the (very crowded) bank, the teller announces, "Wow, that's a NICE check!" after I hand it to her. She proceeds to ask how I came about this much money. I told her that I sold my car, to which she responded, "Well it must have been a real nice car!".

I'm slightly annoyed by this but decide to shrug it off. The teller then tells me that the bank will have to 'put a hold' on the check due to the amount. I found this to be odd considering the check was a cashier's check -- the funds are already secured. Fine, whatever... I ask how long it will be held and she tells me that it depends on what the computer thinks. WHAT?

After a few minutes of fiddling around with her computer, she asks a colleague to come over for assistance and hands her my check. The second teller looks at me and asks, "WHAT DID YOU DO?". The first teller explains that I just sold my car. Then she asked, "What kind of car was it?"

Wondering why I am suddenly being interrogated for depositing a relatively large sum of money, I told her what kind of car it was. "And you got this much for that?", she continued.

Are you kidding me? What the French Toast difference does it make how much I got for the car? And why are you insulting me to my face (save that for when I leave)? Sure, maybe the guy paid too much, but that is in my favor and since I am putting my money in YOUR bank, it is in YOUR favor too. I could maybe understand the questions and holding the check if it were a personal check, and/or if I were a new customer - but I've banked there for 5 yrs and it was a CASHIER'S check!

This can't be the norm - anyone have a perfectly reasonable explanation?

Rudi got much sympathy from others in the blog world, but he didn't tell the whole story.

As Paul Harvey would say "Here is the rest of the story":

Rudi looked liked this when he walked into the bank.

Would you cash this man's check without asking lots of questions? Thank you Wells Fargo for protecting all of us.

Happy 30th Birthday Rudi!

Interesting

2008-05-15T10:34:00.001-05:00

This article says that Grand Rapids, MI is the 8th fastest growing real-estate market in the country.

Housing Update

2008-05-14T20:20:00.002-05:00

Old House: The lady who had put in the rudiculous offer on our house came back with a much more reasonable offer on Monday. After going back and forth on a few minor details, we came to an agreement on Tuesday. She dropped all the "special stipulations" as her real estate agent had called them. So in the next 7 days she will have a home inspection done and we should know more about what is going on. The only slight catch is that she is doing an FHA loan. This isn't as big of a deal as it has once been since last year the HUD totally revamped the program to make it much more user friendly for the seller of a house. The big thing is they eliminated the requirements to make unnecessary minor repairs. So we are quite optimistic about it, but know that the sale isn't complete until the close.

New House: All the landscaping and sprinklers have been put in and look great. On Friday they hydro-seeded the lawn. Later this week my new TV should be installed in the family room above the fireplace just in time for the Parade of Home. She is a 52 inch, 1080p, LCD television with a hint of red around her black casing, she is beautiful. I was able to get the TV at cost since I allowed it to be installed for the Parade.

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T16:39:00.002-05:00

This was the first Mother's Day that Beth hasn't had to work. She had actually scheduled herself to be on call this day, but then I reminded her that it was Mother's Day, so she was able to change it. Libby made Beth a picture in pre-school and could hardly wait the 4 days to give it to her. Reagan went to the local chocolatier, Dinshtul's and picked out a 1 lb assortment box to give to Beth.

Beth got me nothing for Mother's Day saying that Mr. Mom's don't count.

Worst Hiding Place Ever

2008-05-12T16:38:00.000-05:00

Libby is still getting the hang of playing hide-n-go-seek.

Princess Reagan

2008-05-12T16:36:00.000-05:00

Reagan got into Libby's dress up clothes and went to town.

Stop Thief

2008-05-08T18:57:00.002-05:00

Around 5:30 this evening we got a call from our credit card company's fraud division. I assumed it was because I had just purchased an airline ticket online going in the opposite direction that we usually fly. While I was on hold, Beth went to look in her purse and discovered that her driver's license, credit card and two bank cards had been stolen out of her purse. Now I don't want to blame a child with cancer, but it was stolen at St Jude Children's Research Hospital. The thief had gone to Macy's and spent over $1200 so far. All banks have been notified and accounts have been closed. I am glad she doesn't keep her social security card in her purse like Rudi had suggested she do.
Beth is now going to follow her mother's advice and wear a fanny pack everywhere she goes.

These Boots are Made for Walking...

2008-05-07T00:35:00.002-05:00

Libby tried on Beth's boots yesterday and was actually able to walk around pretty well in them. And yes...Reagan is playing with a syringe in the background (sans needle of course).

Housing Update

2008-05-07T00:09:00.002-05:00

Old House: The number of showings has started to slow down, we have only had two this week. We had an offer last week but it was a bad offer. The lady was a first time home buyer (with a brand new real estate agent) who basically wanted a brand new house. She must not have noticed that our house is over 60 years old. So not only did she low ball the offer, but then wanted us to:

Replace the chainlink fence with a 6 foot privacey fence
Strip the wall paper in the dining room that the previous owners had painted over
Put new door locks and hardware on the front door
Move the washer and dryer from the built-in nook in the kitchen out to the garage (which isn't heated). This would involve running hot/cold water and a drain out there
Pay all her prepaids
Remove the popcorn ceilings in 4 rooms in the house

We figured that even if we had done all these things she would have found many other things that she would wanted replaced during a home inspection. So we countered her offer with full asking price plus we would give her $6000 towards repairs. She never submitted a counter offer. I feel good about it because I didn't want the house under contract with her and off the market when I knew it would all fall apart anyway.

New House: Things are moving all swimmingly at our house in Michigan. We got a call last week from out real estate agent that he had driven by the house and they were in the process of tearing up all the concrete that had been laid. Apparently the concrete guys didn't like how the drive way, sidewalk and front walk had cured so they were doing it over again.

Our agent also sent us some photos of the yard after they had graded it and the landscape plans. They are putting in the sprinkler system and starting on the landscaping this week.

Desticled...Again

2008-05-06T23:56:00.002-05:00

Last weekend we noticed that one of the Bartlett Pear trees in our front yard had a huge crack in the trunk. So I called Robinson Tree Service to have someone come out and look at it to see if the tree could be saved. The arborist told me that this was a fatal flaw with the Bartlett Pear tree and that after a while they grow to large to support themselves and most all of them end of cracking and need to be removed. So we scheduled to have him come out sometime at the end of the week.

On Wednesday we had some good sized wind storms show up and the front 1/3rd of the tree fell over, luckily it was the side facing the street so no damage was done to the house or the neighbor's cars. I called the tree people up on Thursday morning they send someone out with a chainsaw to make the tree "safe" until they could get out there on Friday with a cherry picker to remove the entire tree. After watching the entire season of Ax Men on History Channel, I thought about trying to use my little electric chainsaw to take the tree down and save about $400, but after talking to the neighbors about it, we all decided that was a bad idea. This turned out to be a wise move as the tree was much bigger then I had anticipated it being when it was taken down.

So on Friday morning they came buy and it only took them about 20 minutes to take the tree down, haul it away, and grind the stump down.

I then hauled away all the waste from the stump grinding, put some topsoil down and planted lots of grass seed in hopes of actually growing something. With all the sun in our front yard hopefully the grass will actually grow.

We have had more tree problems at this house and have spent upwards to $2000 to remove and reduce problems with the existing trees. We are elated that our new house has no mature trees near it (no leaves to rake) and we just saw the landscape plans and there are only about 4 trees total.

Lazy

2008-05-06T23:54:00.002-05:00

The other day I noticed that Reagan never holds her own bottle. I thought this was because I had never taught her how and that I was a bad parent. But today I found out that she is just lazy and is able to do it, but would rather have me to it for her. So now she has to hold the bottle or sippy cup herself if she wants any formula. The free ride ends here.

Like Mother Like Daughter

2008-05-06T23:49:00.002-05:00

During a showing of our house today, I decided to take the girls out to Best Buy to scout out new T.V.s for the new homestead. As were driving there Libby asked where we were going. I told her we were going to the store to look at televisions. I then asked her if she thought I should get a big new t.v. and apparently she has been listening to her mother to much and said "No Daddy, you already have one at home".

New Law

2008-05-01T16:29:00.004-05:00

Unlike my brother's friend Ken, I believe that the government for the most part should stay out of my life. But I do believe that a new law needs to be passed concerning kids toys. It would be something like this:

All children's toys need to have an on/off switch and a volume control switch that is hidden from the child.

Big Girl

2008-05-01T16:02:00.001-05:00

Reagan now has more fun with playing with Libby's toys then she does her own.

Happy Birthday Dave

2008-04-29T15:31:00.002-05:00

So far our house has been on the market for three weeks and we are having our 19th and 20th showings today. One of these is a 2nd showing and the other is a 3rd showing. So we are hoping to get some sort of offer soon.

Rumors

2008-04-28T10:56:00.001-05:00

Here are 17 great rumors that you can start:

If you hiccup and fart at the same time, your stomach will turn inside out.
If you combine turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and one green vegetable, you get the chemicals which make LSD, which is why Thanksgiving always gets so freaky and everyone gets into fights.
AIDS came from people French-kissing their dogs.
The secret ingredient in Taco Bell 7-Layer Burritos is horse blood.
Simon Cowell is actually from Oklahoma, and just talks that way on TV.
If you fold a dollar bill a certain way, you can see Betsy Ross naked.
Daddy Longlegs’ legs taste like spearmint.
The inventor of Elmer’s Glue was born with horns, and that’s his picture on the bottle.
Everyone who has ever beat Ninja Gaiden Black has died the next day.
ABBA stands for “All-father Baal Beats Angels”.
Yu-Gi-Oh! was supposed to have a new season but the FBI stepped in and shut it down under the Patriot Act, and no one knows why.
The phrase “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge” is propaganda created and promoted by the American Fudge Council.
Girls don't wear underwear in Canada.
The film rating XXX is pronounced “kccchhggh”.
If you have ever touched a baked potato without gloves, the government has your fingerprints on file.
There is cocaine at the center of string cheese.
If you play Paper Mario for exactly fifty-five hours, fifty-five minutes, and fifty-five seconds, you’ll get a cheat code that lets you play as Lara Croft...naked.

(Thanks Woot!)

New House

2008-04-21T14:53:00.005-05:00

Last Thursday we flew up to Michigan on a house hunting excursion. My sister Sue was nice enough to watch Libby and Reagan for us so Beth and I were kidless on Friday and Saturday. We stayed at the Amway Grand Hotel and had dinner at Bistro Bella Vita with some of her new colleagues. After narrowing it down to two houses on Friday we revisited them on Saturday with Beth's parents to get a new set of eyes on the situation. We then decided on the above house and put in an offer. The offer was accepted about an hour later after some great negotiating by our Realtor. As long as nothing changes our move in date will be June 22nd. The house will be in the 2008 Grand Rapids Parade of Homes if anyone wants to visit it and pay money to walk through it (all donations will be going to charity). Click here if you would like to see some pictures of the inside.

Stuck

2008-04-17T21:00:00.000-05:00

After taking the pictures I came to Reagan's rescue.

Are Pigs Flying?

2008-04-12T23:26:00.002-05:00

Has hell frozen over and I haven't heard about it? It must have because my sister Susan has taken up running. While visiting us in Memphis she brought her running outfit, including her new shoes, and went running once. I think she when to the edge of our driveway and back.

Rockband

2008-04-12T23:21:00.003-05:00

At least 10 times a day Libby asks to listen to "Apple Bottom" (Low by Flo-Rida). Our music on demand channel has the edited version of the song that Libby loves to sing-a-long to. She gets dressed up and grabs her guitar and jams away. This time she even convinced Beth to put on a skirt and play her own guitar. Reagan just watched the show being put on.

Sarah, I made sure Stretch was in the photo...can you find him???

Housing Update

2008-04-12T23:02:00.002-05:00

So far we have had four showings and have had positive comments from everyone. Today we even had people coming back to see the house for a second time.

House for Sale

2008-04-10T18:22:00.002-05:00

Our house officially went on the market Tuesday. So far we have had two showings. We haven't heard back any feedback yet but hope to hear from our Realtor tomorrow.

Potty Time Update

2008-04-09T16:44:00.003-05:00

Thanks to a visit from my sister Susan and her family, for the most part Libby is now potty trained. She was able to watch Ben and Allie go to the bathroom all by themselves so she started doing the same. Libby now will go potty and then come and tell me afterwards so she can get a jelly bean. Her favorite thing to do is to toot after she tinkles and then announce to who ever is around. She wears big girl underwear all the time now, except when we go out for more then a few hours since she still has a phobia about going potty on other toilets. She also wears diapers to bed but has woken up a few times in the morning with a dry diaper.

We now just have to teach her that underwear go on her bottom, not on her head.

New Friend

2008-04-09T16:41:00.002-05:00

For the past 2 days I babysat one of Beth's co-workers little boy. Jake is almost 3 months younger then Reagan but weighs a good 4 lbs more. He is quite the chunk. All the kids got along really well together and Reagan enjoyed not being the youngest for a change.

Happy Birthday

2008-04-09T16:36:00.002-05:00

Reagan celebrated 10 months on this earth yesterday. Here are a few interesting facts about her:

She has mastered crawling and loves nothing more then pulling herself up onto furniture and toys and "creeping" along the edge. She should be walking in no time.
She has gotten to be a much better eater, but she still hates baby food. She will eat bits and pieces of whatever we are having for dinner. But like her cousin Stevie, her favorite thing is Cheerios.
Both of her bottom teeth arrived within a few days of each other, but she doesn't like to show them off.
For the most part she is sleeping through the night now. She went through a rough patch last week, but is doing great now.
She is the smiliest baby I have ever seen and now races to the door along with Libby when they hear their mom come home from work.

Shorty Got Low

2008-03-31T21:26:00.002-05:00

Libby and Reagan's favorite new song is Low by Flow Rider (featuring T-Pain). While Reagan is dancing to the song Libby can be heard in the background singing. Reagan has been practicing for weeks on getting "low".

Pictures

2008-03-31T18:25:00.002-05:00

For those of you who would like pictures of the girls, here are the ones we actually ordered. Let us know which picture and what size you would like.

1 2 3

4 5

Reagan's 9 month Pictures

2008-03-30T21:22:00.002-05:00

We were suppose to get Reagan's 9 month pictures taken last week, but 3 hours before the appointment we decided that Reagan was being to much of a stink. So we rescheduled them for today. Reagan was her usual smiley self and loved to give big grins for the photographer.

Since we were going to be at the studio anyway we decided to get the girls Easter Pictures taken also. Both girls did great and we had a hard time choosing which pictures to purchase. If you want you can see all 86 pictures taken here.

Splashing Reagan

2008-03-27T23:07:00.001-05:00

Reagan's new favorite thing to do is to splash in the tub. This after we just taught Libby NOT to splash in the tub.

Almost There

2008-03-27T22:11:00.002-05:00

Libby is on the way to being potty trained. Last week we told her that if she went 5 days without any accidents while wearing big girl underwear (panties) she would get a doll house. She has been wanting a doll house ever since she played with one over at her cousin Allie (Allvie as she is called in the South). Libby did amazing and only had one poopie accident because she was to busy coloring to run and go poop (we did catch it half way and got some in the potty). Libby will go to the bathroom on the toilet on demand, but is still not great at telling us when she has to go to the bathroom.

Reagan thought the doll house was pretty cool also.

Walkin' Reagan

2008-03-27T22:07:00.002-05:00

We got Libby's old walker out and Reagan went to town. She grabbed hold and started walking back and forth across the room. Reagan does great for about 5 seconds and then she takes a tumble.

Bad Hair Day

2008-03-27T22:05:00.001-05:00

Reagan woke up from her afternoon nap with the worst hair. The rest of the day we called her "Spike".

No Appreciation

2008-03-27T19:17:00.002-05:00

Today is Doctor Appreciation Day and Beth received no calls from her family letting her know how much they appreciate her. I guess Beth will think twice next time she gets a phone call from them asking for medical advice or a prescription.

Shop til you drop

2008-03-20T20:53:00.003-05:00

Last weekend Beth and her sisters did their best to stimulate the economy. Beth and Laura flew up to Minnie to go clothes shopping with Errin. Thanks to Minnesota's lack of sales tax on clothing, the girls got lots of bargains. This was my Christmas present to Beth. I used my frequent flier miles to send her up there and I stayed with the kids for 5 LONG DAYS. Beth had to use her own money for clothes shopping.
Beth had a great time hanging out with her sisters and Rudi. She was very lucky and did not get bit by Obie (I wish Rudi could say the same thing).

Standing Around

2008-03-14T18:09:00.003-05:00

For the past week or so Reagan has started to stand on her own. She started off standing for a few seconds but now is up to over a minute. She does best when she has two toys in her hands and isn't thinking about it to much.

Stink-Tooth

2008-03-08T15:37:00.002-06:00

About 2 weeks after Libby's fall her front tooth started to turn gray. In the medical community it is known as a "stink-tooth". Her dentist told us that there is nothing wrong with the tooth (other then it looking bad) and that we can either wait until she is 6 and it falls out naturally, or we can have a mini-root canal performed to fix the blood vessel. Beth and I can't stand looking at the tooth so we will probably have the root canal done. Since odds are this will be quite expensive, we are hoping that Libby's GREAT AUNT Gail, who will be going to dental school this fall would take this case on pro bono.

Winter Wonderland

2008-03-08T15:23:00.003-06:00

Since this is our third and final winter in Memphis, it was nice to see what a real winter storm was like down here. It was all that anyone talked about for the past 3 days. I figured as usual we would end up with only some freezing fog and no real accumulation. To my suprise at about 2 p.m. on Thursday the snow started coming down hard and heavy.

Beth came home early around 3 p.m. and by 5 p.m. we had about an 1 1/2 inches. When the snowed stopped falling late in evening we had a total of over 3 inches. Around 6 p.m. our power went out and luckily our neighbors had a generate they were able to hook up for limited power and heat, so we went over there for a few hours.
It is in the mid 40's today, so most of the snow has melted, but it was nice to get a small taste of what it will be like again to live in the snow belt.

Turtle Neck to the Extreme

2008-03-08T09:25:00.003-06:00

What my sister in law Kris wants for her birthday.

Sick Girl

2008-03-07T16:38:00.003-06:00

When I picked Libby up from "school" on Wednesday the "teacher" told me that Libby had woken up from her nap feeling really warm. I didn't think much of it and besides I can never tell when a child has a fever by touching their forehead. Beth was working that night, so we went up to visit her at the hospital. Beth checked her over and found she did have a slight temperature of 101 degrees. Libby laid around the house all day Thursday, hardly playing with any toys, so this morning Beth thought it would be a good idea to bring her in to the doctors. They checked her ears for an infection, her throat for strep, and finally a blood test for a viral illness. Turns out she has a virus. So we are giving her Tylenol (Kroger brand) and plenty of fluids and hopefully in a few days she will be back to her old self.

Past few days have been extra tough since Reagan has started teething. She has one sharp tooth coming through on her bottom gum.

Potty Time Update

2008-03-07T16:34:00.002-06:00

On Monday we finally got Libby to wear her "big girl" underwear without throwing a fit. She went about 4 hours without having an accident. So on Tuesday we told her if she went the whole day (except nap time) without having an accident she could get a special toy.

She made it! She picked out this monkey watering can (watermelon can as she calls it). She is very excited about bringing it to Grandma's house to help her water all her flowers.

Security

2008-02-27T17:07:00.002-06:00

Libby has been going to her "school" one day a week for the past 3 months. Everywhere in Memphis has private security guards (banks, libraries, grocery stores) and I knew her school had them also. But today is the first day I noticed that they are armed. I think I have become jaded living here in Memphis.

Potty Time Update

2008-02-15T20:15:00.002-06:00

Libby has been doing really well with her potty training. When she wants to she will go 4-5 hours without having a wet or dirty diaper. A few weeks ago she pooped on her potty for the first time and boy was she surprised. She stood up and thought she had done something wrong (and let me tell you by the smell of it...it was wrong). Now that Reagan is mobile, her favorite thing to do is hang out on the back of Libby's toilet, and this makes Libby quite angry. In the picture she is not smiling, she is yelling at Reagan to get off, as usual, Reagan is ignoring her.

Libby went tinkle on the big toilet tonight for the first time. She was quite excited about using her Dora the Explorer potty seat.

Too cold

2008-02-15T20:09:00.002-06:00

While in Michigan last week we took advantage of all the snow and decided to take Libby out for some fun. As I was getting all of Libby's layers on, Beth commented that at this age it takes just as long to get Libby dressed as she'll spend out side. Beth was wrong. It took about 10 minutes to get Libby dressed and we spent about 60 seconds outside.
There was about 14-16 inches of snow and the first thing Libby did was lay down and make a snow angel, we then slid down the hill on the side of Papa's yard when Libby's mitten came off. She immediately started crying because she was to cold and wanted to go inside. So we inside and got Libby warmed up. From then on, whenever we asked her if she wanted to go outside and play in the snow, like a true Southern Belle, she would reply, "no, it's too cold".