What was I thinking?

My parents decided to get a new bed, and asked if we would like their old bed. Considering how often one of us ends up sleeping with Bryce lately, we gladly took it. The only problem was that the blue plaid bedding did not match the paint color in his room. I looked for bedding online and stumbled upon a paint scheme that we really liked. I spent the day buying new bedding and painting one wall in his room.

The room before- a nice clean slate.


After an hour and a half of measuring, the taping for the argyle pattern begins.

It really looks confusing, but after I hit my groove it was quite simple.

Paint color #1 Kaffee from Sherwin Williams. It matches the top side of Bryce's new comforter.

Color #2- Sanderling, from Sherwin Williams. It matches the inside of Bryce's comforter and his bedskirt.

It came out very nice. All I have left is to touch-up some small edges, erase some pencil marks on the blue and add the dashed lines in the argyle.

Not bad for a guy who cannot stand painting, and hates taping even more.

I will add more photos when it is entirely complete.

National Night Out/Vacation

I apparently have not been posting as frequently as I should, but my summers always seem to be more action packed than the school year. Please forgive me.

We spent a week on vacation with my wife's family in the Brainerd/Nisswa area. We had wonderful weather...for two days. The other days were nothing terrible, just not the 85 and sunny that is perfect for boating, tubing and playing on the beach.

Bryce and Uncle E floating on their tubes.

Bryce caught his first bass off the dock...but was too excited to keep his eyes open.

After close to 6 inches of rain, the beach was washed out and two loads of sand was hauled in...instant playground.

We celebrated National Night Out in our neighborhood. It was held at the new park down the street that I helped build last summer. I never knew there were so many kids in our area.

Funny Story/Proud Moment: Bryce wanted to be like the other boys and ride his bike on the new basketball court. As he was making laps a boy (4 or 5) started chasing him and wanted to take/ride Bryce's bike. Bryce biked away from him and the boy followed closely, trying to kick the rear tire. When he finally caught up to the bike, Bryce got off his bike. I could not see very well from where I was standing, but I could see Bryce's jungle themed helmet and his right fist flying repeatedly at the other child. Emily was closer and handled the situation, while I beamed with pride knowing that my child would defend himself against a much larger child/attacker/bully. Nothing joins a neighborhood together like beating someone up.

Bryce trying on the Assistant Fire Chief's helmet. Does every little boy love fire trucks?

Como Zoo- 2009

Today we went to the Como Zoo. It was hot, kinda crowded and Bryce got a bit cranky...but we had a great time. As soon as we arrived, we visited the fish pond that skirts the main building. Bryce wanted to get a close look at the fish but was more amused by his reflection. It was there that I took one of my favorite photos of all time. Enjoy.

June's Events

Bryce's 3rd Birthday

Swimming Lessons

Picking strawberries on Father's Day

Fishing in the swimming pool

Much needed family time

I returned from a week away from home and was able to spend some much needed time with my family. We did several things together, including going for a bike ride, planting trees and taking family photos.


I can't believe he turns 3 next week.

Bryce helping me plant a tree...yes, he has a pink shovel.

We biked down the the Crow River to a walking bridge that has been there since 1885. (can you tell that I am a History Nerd?) I was really glad that I had my camera along for the ride.

When karma comes back around

Most days before work I stop at the little gas station down the street from school to buy a newspaper. Each time I stop I encounter an elderly guy who buys a Pioneer Press and digs out his coin purse to pay for it. While I was checking out last week I told the cashier to add his paper to my total...a nice gesture that he really appreciated.
Today I stopped in at the same gas station for a newspaper and happened to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket. I scratched it in my car and was glad to go in to the store to redeem it for $100. It was a nice, unexpected surprise.

Day 1 is in the books

Since November I have been working out a lot and eating healthier. In doing so, I have lost a significant amount of weight (enough to need all new shorts for summer and my wedding ring resized so it doesn't fall off my newly skinny finger). I actually have been going to the gym less, but easily maintaining my weight loss. A few of my coworkers have been doing very well in the same regard and recently started a new workout program. I got a set of DVDs to follow and started as well. I did my first P90X workout last night and today I can barely lift my arm to write on the whiteboard in my classroom. Not kidding, the back and chest workout nearly made me vomit. I am looking forward to adding these to my fitness routine, but don't think I will be able to make it for 90 straight days without losing my mind in the process. We'll see if the soreness subsides or if I am just not cut out for this kind of strenuous physical activity.

Glad we didn't get caught

Last night we went to a local small-town eatery. It is one of those places where you see the same people sitting in the same spots as if they are glued to the chairs. This place serves great food, the staff are very friendly and I really enjoy the tight knit atmosphere. My son was checking out the candy machines, jukebox and the ATM when a man went into the bathroom and took note of where they were located (which is something we now do when we arrive at a new place). This establishment has the tiny, one person bathrooms that barely afford you the space to make a full 360 degree turn without slamming your elbows into a wall or fixture.
As we were sitting at our table my son got off his chair and ran straight for the bathrooms announcing that he has to "go potty". Since he is about 98% of the way to becoming potty trained, I quickly followed him...into the women's bathroom. There was barely enough room for my 6'4" frame and a 2 year old to wiggle and struggle. It was the first, and more than likely not the last time that my son and I went into the women's bathroom. I was very thankful that nobody was waiting in line when we walked out.

Future Firefighter?

Since I am off this week for Spring Break, I have been spending a lot of time with my son. Today, as we were running some errands we drove past the Fire Station and there was a firetruck parked outside. My son spotted it from far away and begged me to stop. He is really into firetrucks and firefighters...what 2, almost 3 year old boy isn't? We stopped and looked around the outside of the firetruck and he was in heaven. I am so glad that my cell phone takes decent photos. Can you tell he was excited?

Busy Saturday

Today we all went to a local grocery store to see the Easter Bunny, do an egg hunt and have lunch. It was a lot of fun and it was much better than last year when we had to wait for an hour to get a picture taken. We were there for about 4 minutes when the bunny came up to our son for a photo. He was so excited to see the Easter Bunny that he gave him a huge hug and waved to him everytime he walked by. So cute.

We also took Bryce to his first movie in the theatre. We saw Monsters vs. Aliens. It was pretty good. Along with twizzlers and juice the movie held his attention for an hour and a half. Awesome. He loved it and was a really good boy. I was impressed.

Learning from Daddy

Last night I was getting my son ready for bed and we were just about to brush our teeth in the bathroom when he turned and bumped his head on the door that was partially open. It was nothing severe, but enough for him to get frustrated by it. He turned in my direction and said with a pained look on his face "Ah, dammit." At first I thought I misunderstood him. I looked at him and he repeated his newly acquired phrase. I calmly asked him "Who says that?" to find out the origin of the bad language. I expected to hear Uncle Nic, someone from daycare, the guy at the supermarket. Instead he looked at me and responded, "You do." (not my proudest moment)
I thought I had been extremely careful with my language, but apparently it is time to reexamine my vocabulary.

Finally a photo

Here is a photo of the skateboard that I painted for my son. He loves it and it looks great in his room.


Not bad for a novice, right?

You can't make this stuff up...

Several of the teachers were having lunch in the staff lounge when our klutzy female teacher let out a scream. Assuming that she was somehow burning herself I quickly turned around to lend a hand. I was amazed at what I saw. I helped a coworker who had accidentally zipped her hair in a zip lock bag. This is the same woman who frequently falls off treadmills and escapes major injuries on a daily basis.

A Weekend of New Things

OK, so the first happened at school on Friday, but I am still going to count it as the weekend. I am teaching a class called Healthy Body, Healthy Mind. One of the key components is that every Friday there will some sort of healthy food recipe for the kids to observe and taste. This week I prepared black bean salsa for my students. At first they were a bit afraid of the fresh bell peppers, onions and black beans. I got the students involved in the making of it and taught them how to make it at the same time...I did all the knife work, of course. They all tried it and everyone loved it. I think they were shocked that something that does not come in a jar could be so delicious.
The second new thing is that I reached my weight loss goal on Saturday morning. I have lost 30 pounds and am at the weight that I was when I was 18 or 19. I think that the maintaining of my weight will be much easier than the weight loss.
The third new thing is that I went golfing today for the first time of the season. My second shot of the day went over the green and blended it with the surroundings. During a round of golf, I hit a golf ball into a snow bank. It warmed up and today is more than likely the earliest in the season I have ever played golf in Minnesota.

March Madness

I LOVE the college basketball tournament. I think today and tomorrow should be national holidays. Each and every year I break down the matchups, consider upsets and try to pick the best bracket possible. I even organize the bracket challenge at school and have a gigantic bracket on the bulletin board in my classroom.
Since I never seem to have much luck with selecting the winners I decided to flip a coin for each game and see how I do against my other brackets. By looking at my results, I would say that flipping a coin is not a good way to approach this task. My final four are North Dakota State University, Cornell, Minnesota and Butler with Minnesota winning the National Championship. As much as I would love to see the Golden Gophers win it all, I don't think they will beat Texas in the first round. Lets see what happens.