For as long as I can remember one of my fondest memories growing up was playing in the snow and building snow tunnels with my dad. In actuality though, I’m not sure how often this occurred and in fact the only real memory I have is based on a photograph that my mom took of the two of us sitting outside a tunnel. So maybe it only happened one time but the memory that the photo provides is good one and something I’ve always enjoyed.
Its probably just part of being a boy but I’ve always loved to build tunnels whether it was the in the sandbox, the dirt by a pine tree or in the snow. So I was excited (kinda) when we got absolutely dumped on last week here in the MidWest. Supposedly it was the worst single snowstorm in a couple decades. We got almost 2 feet of snow at our house, school was closed for two straight days and the company I work for even closed up shop for a day (which never ever happens…).
After the wind had subsided a bit I took Mia outside and we promptly began work on a giant tunnel that would stretch the length of our driveway, have several chambers, and…well, ended up being about 5 feet long because digging snow is hard work – and it was cold out.
At first Mia didn’t quite comprehend what was going on – she was just excited to be not in school and outside playing with her dad. But when I finally broke through and connected the two ends at which I had been digging her face stretched into a wide look of disbelief – you would have thought we had dug through to China she was so excited she could see me on the other side. So that was pretty cool.
The first tunnel ended up getting somewhat filled in from clearing the massive driveway but a couple days later we dug the tunnel out again and that night received some freezing rain ensuring that it will be there until June. At least we’ll have time to build those other chambers…
King of the Hill – You can see the two entrances for the tunnel here
Mia has reached another milestone in her short life – the ability to listen to a longer book with chapters.
About a year ago we tried to read Charlotte’s Web one chapter a night and while she loved to read it every night she didn’t always remember what had happened the previous night or seemed interested in seeing the story progress. More often than not she wanted to go back and re-read bits that we had already read.
So, while perusing the library a little over a week ago I found myself in the older children’s section and noticed that the library had several books sitting on top of the shelf that were being featured for the week. One of the books was The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. I don’t remember the first time I read this book but I loved it. I always had a fantasy about going out and living on my own, making cool and useful things out of common objects and who wouldn’t want to build their own swimming pool?
I checked the book out and told Mia I had a special story to read her that night. We got home, Mia got ready for bed and we settled into our big comfy recliner and started the book. And from the first page she was enthralled. She was so interested to know where the children had come from, what was going to happen at the bakery, and why they didn’t buy any donuts…
As we neared the end of the first chapter I was very curious to see her reaction when I stopped reading and it was exactly what I had hoped for. She was very disappointed that we had to be done for the night but she was excited that we would get to continue the story the next night. This also served for her as a very good motivator to get ready for bed quickly because we wouldn’t read until everything was done.
Well, Mia loved the book and we ended up finishing it in about a week (Mickie read a couple chapters during the day when Mia couldn’t wait to see what would happen next). So now I am really excited to be able to share some of my favorite stories with her – the only question is what story will be next? I’m thinking of Matilda by Roald Dahl but we’ll have to see.
Summer time is here and it was time to put up the pool. My awesome bargain hunting wife upgraded our pool last fall to a 12′ wide, 36″ deep, 1800 gallon, container of joy. The pool’s original price was over $100 and she got it for $15. Score! Unfortunately it was missing the pump and filter so the good deal has turned into a bit of a hassle but hopefully we’ll get it resolved.
I also wanted to note that the brand name of this pool is “Easy Set” because it is very “easy to set up.” Interestingly enough they felt a need to include a dvd of instructions. Somehow I don’t think it would be “easy” to run back and forth from my living room to the pool… The booklet of instructions that came with it worked just fine.
Update: Not only did we get it resolved but we came out even further ahead then we already were! I took the pool box back to WalMart not expecting much since Mick bought the pool over 8 months ago (note: it was on clearance but not because it was missing parts – it was out of season). But the people in Customer Service were very helpful. When they determined that they did not carry the same model of pool anymore they had me pick up a separate pump that they sold. I was thinking they would give me a discount on it or something because it was a $70 pump but they gave it to me outright! That was very cool and a great customer experience.
We find Mia born circa 2004 enjoying a video game 17 years her senior. Like a good parent I have introduced her to the the finer games like Punch Out (unfortunately not featuring Iron Mike).
Our youth group had our annual Final Four Frenzy activity this past Saturday. Most of the time the students really don’t care about watching the games, its mostly just a time to hang our with their friends. But this year we introduced a new game that got everyone watching and totally into the game – even the girls.
Its called Scoreboard Bingo and this is how it works.
Every person has a 5×5 bingo sheet with random numbers in each square. Our numbers only went up to 40 but you could do it as high as you want. I found a site that generates these bingo sheets for free which saved us a ton of time.
You pick a team to follow and if that team’s score lands exactly on one of the numbers at any time on your sheet you get to color it in. Get five in any row and you have a bingo.
It was really cool because everyone was following every basket hoping that their team would hit a three, get fouled, or any other combination to get points. It worked very well.
Some people however were knocked out very quickly so you might want to do a free space in the middle or have more squares. You could really modify it to suit you any way you want:
First person with 3 in a row
First person with 10 squares colored in
First person not able to have a bingo anymore and so on…
In the first game on Saturday I picked Michigan State and somehow got three different bingos on my sheet – it was incredibly lucky!
If you have any ideas for modifications post them in the comments below.
Mia and I were watching Hannah Montana this morning and a commercial came on for a show on Disney’s new network (XD) which is primarily aimed at boys.
Before the commercial was over Mia turned to me and said with disdain in her voice, “Dad, would you watch that movie?”
I said, “Sure.”
“Well, I wouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because its for boys.” And she emphasized the word boys like the evil disgusting creatures we are.
I love Valentines day and I really dislike Valentines day.
First, why do I dislike it? I really can’t stand the fact that we (guys – and to some extent girls) are pressured into expressing some sort of mega-love and affection on one particular day. I always feel that if we don’t do something spectacular or if I don’t come up with the world’s most creative date then somehow I have failed. I guess I also feel a little guilty because I know I should be expressing the mega kind of love on a regular basis.
But I also love it because it does lend itself to more creative outlets. Its also a blast if you have a daughter. As Mia grows older I want her daddy to always be her valentine. There is not a lot of things cooler than being able to buy your daughter a flower.
This year I got Mia a couple of small presents and a flower of course but the last couple years have been all about the Valentine card that I give her. This year I made her a card with some of her favorite people: Diego and Boots. I happened to have a picture of her in an explorer hat so she got to be Dora.
Mickie and I had a great time as well. We started the afternoon out by going to see the movie “He’s Just Not That Into You” which was cute and fun and a pretty good date movie. Though I was thinking during the movie how awkward some of the scenes would be if you really were just dating and watching that movie. There are so many awkward stages in dating and while fun at the time I really wouldn’t want to go back and re-enact them…
After the movie we hopped in the car and drove back to Polk City to Lakeside’s building on the Polk City square. All the guys from our small group decided to put on a dinner for our wives (we had originally just tried to get reservations at a nice resturaunt but couldn’t get them – this ended up being waaaay better.) Each couple had their own table draped in a vintage table cloth, a set of candles and some pre-meal entertainment in the form of a Valentine word search. All of the girls had special heart filled name cards at their place as well.
The romantic atmosphere was enhanced by quiet music in the background with songs including Valentine Girl by the New Kids on the Block and Elvis’ Love Me Tender among others. We also had a looping fireplace video, with crackling and popping sound effects, on the wall.
For dinner we paid one of the guys in my small group to serve us. He went all out and wore black pants, white shirt and tie and was really awesome – he even provided us with some Andes after dinner mints. (Ethan, you rock!!) We catered in Chicken Spedini from Latin King and a cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory. Despite the pasta being a bit cool the meal was really very good.
After the meal we played the Newlywed game which Mick and I came back to tie for the win.
It was a great night and a lot of fun. Now I need to start working on what we will be doing next year.
So, while perusing the library a little over a week ago I found myself in the older children’s section and noticed that the library had several books sitting on top of the shelf that were being featured for the week. One of the books was The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner. I don’t remember the first time I read this book but I loved it. I always had a fantasy about going out and living on my own, making cool and useful things out of common objects and who wouldn’t want to build their own swimming pool?
But I also love it because it does lend itself to more creative outlets. Its also a blast if you have a daughter. As Mia grows older I want her daddy to always be her valentine. There is not a lot of things cooler than being able to buy your daughter a flower.