Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Aimee's Christmas Photos
Aimee got a digital camera for Christmas this year and asked me to post a few pictures that she took.
Christmas 2006 (Photos)
Since Min's not going to do, I guess I will.
We had a low-key Christmas this year with the anticipation of selling the house and a move we didn't want to go overboard and get into more debt. So we set a budget and stayed within it.
The main gifts this year were beds for everyone.
Alex has been in the toddler bed and Aaron has slept on couch cushions (since we sold his bed back in October at our garage sale). Aimee has a day bed and Min and I had the same old 10-year old bed.
So we switched things up... Aimee got our old queen-size bed, Min and I got a new queen pillow top and we go the boys' beds on Craigslist.
Min wanted to get new bedding for the kids, so that was a secondary gift.
The books and toys and clothes came from family and friends (thanks for making it fun for them).
Anyways, here are the pics.
We had a low-key Christmas this year with the anticipation of selling the house and a move we didn't want to go overboard and get into more debt. So we set a budget and stayed within it.
The main gifts this year were beds for everyone.
Alex has been in the toddler bed and Aaron has slept on couch cushions (since we sold his bed back in October at our garage sale). Aimee has a day bed and Min and I had the same old 10-year old bed.
So we switched things up... Aimee got our old queen-size bed, Min and I got a new queen pillow top and we go the boys' beds on Craigslist.
Min wanted to get new bedding for the kids, so that was a secondary gift.
The books and toys and clothes came from family and friends (thanks for making it fun for them).
Anyways, here are the pics.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Baby it's cold outside!
We were having very warm, un-Christmas like weather and loving every minute of it. The only drawback was that I was having a difficult time realizing that it is Christmastime.
Well, no more. It is definitely Christmas weather now.
It has been humid with highs around 80 and lows around 60, and this morning we wake up to temps hovering around the freezing mark. We have a freeze warning for tonight when temps are supposed to drop into the 20's. And to top it all off, it's windy and has been sprinkling off and on.
Brrrr!!!!
Well, no more. It is definitely Christmas weather now.
It has been humid with highs around 80 and lows around 60, and this morning we wake up to temps hovering around the freezing mark. We have a freeze warning for tonight when temps are supposed to drop into the 20's. And to top it all off, it's windy and has been sprinkling off and on.
Brrrr!!!!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Thanksgiving Camp
This year we went camping with Betsy and Nate and their kids. We had a great time and the food was good too. I would post pictures, but thanks to a broken camera we had to rely on Betsy's pictures. Thank goodness she is great with the camera. You can check out her post and pictures here: Betsy's blog
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving too!
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving too!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Another One Bites the Dust: The Last Chapter of the Tree
Note: This thread is a continuation of this one.
On Tuesday night we had a wicked wind storm. Winds were up around 60 mph.
Woke up the next morning and the tree was still standing, so I went to work.
The wind was still blowing.
When I got back from work, it had fallen over... but not through the fence. The wind had blown it completely over (away from the fence) and our giant fig tree caught it.
The tree leaning into the giant fig tree.
The rotted, twisted stump.
"Hey kids, don't climb the tree!"
Aimee and Aaron playing in the tree!
On Tuesday night we had a wicked wind storm. Winds were up around 60 mph.
Woke up the next morning and the tree was still standing, so I went to work.
The wind was still blowing.
When I got back from work, it had fallen over... but not through the fence. The wind had blown it completely over (away from the fence) and our giant fig tree caught it.
The tree leaning into the giant fig tree.
The rotted, twisted stump.
"Hey kids, don't climb the tree!"
Aimee and Aaron playing in the tree!
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Halloween 2006!
Here are some pics of the kids this Halloween!
Andee stayed home with me and handed out candy.
Alex is a prancing giraffe.
Aimee's a witch... no really, she's a witch.
The suits still fit. Aaron's is Barney's long lost cousin!
What a group.
Andee stayed home with me and handed out candy.
Alex is a prancing giraffe.
Aimee's a witch... no really, she's a witch.
The suits still fit. Aaron's is Barney's long lost cousin!
What a group.
Raingutter Regata 2006
Aaron got third place at the Raingutter Regata last month.
He was excited.
He had high hopes for his boat design... but he needs to work on his bush technique.
He was excited.
He had high hopes for his boat design... but he needs to work on his bush technique.
Monday, October 16, 2006
My Tenure Book is done and turned in
Thanks to those of you who have been praying for me through this ordeal. Today I dropped a box off at the office of the Chair of the Rank and Tenure Committee. My box ended up being two 2" D-Ring binders stuff full and the two texts that I have co-authored with Alan Hashimoto in the last 5 years.
Now I sit and and wait.
I'll know the R&T Committee's recommendation at the end of the November, but will not receive final word (in the form of a contract) until the last week of March (after the Board of Directors has voted to approve the candidates).
Now I can move on to more important matters... like my classes, my family, and, oh yeah,... the yard.
Now I sit and and wait.
I'll know the R&T Committee's recommendation at the end of the November, but will not receive final word (in the form of a contract) until the last week of March (after the Board of Directors has voted to approve the candidates).
Now I can move on to more important matters... like my classes, my family, and, oh yeah,... the yard.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Ain't She Sweet...
Yup, that's our little Andee. She's growing up.
A few weeks ago we started to sit her up and then one day Min plopped her down and she stayed sitting.
She just sits and goofs and follows us around the room without falling over. She's doing really well.
Then she started to get on her hands and knees and rock back and forth.
We all know what's going to happen next...
... man your battle stations, she's almost mobile!
Sunday, October 01, 2006
What do Kojak, Daddy Warbucks, Yul Brenner, Mr. Clean and Alex have in common?
... yup, they're all bald.
I was upstairs listening to conference when all of a sudden Min walked in with Alex. His hair was gray and matted to his head.
He's had a habit of getting into the handsoap and "washing his hair" with it. But this wasn't handsoap.
It was a grease based A+D Ointment. He had emptied a good 5 oz into his hair.
5 hair washings with his shampoo and 2 with mine couldn't get it out. It was thick, greasy, and matted.
So I pulled out the scissors and the clippers and took it all off.
He got a little bit of it in Andee's hair, but we didn't shave her head. Min was about to work most of it out with baby wipes.
So now Alex has no hair.
Thank heavens he has a beautiful round head.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Two Down, One To Go: A Story About Three Trees
We have a young willow oak in the backyard that started out with three trees growing from the same trunk system.
In May, I was mowing the lawn the and northern most extension of the tree was hanging really low, so I grabbed it, pulled lightly and there was a crack and the whole side came out and fell down. There were white spots all up the trunk and I figured that it had oak rot. We hacked it up and tossed it with the brush collection a few weeks later.
Fast forward to last night. We had a whopper of a storm come through and drop a few inches of rain in about 20 minutes. The storm started out just after dark and it began to blow and hail a bit. The power went out and stayed out for nearly four hours.
This morning as we were getting up, I went to look out the back window and see how much water collected in the pond. Then I looked to my left out the other windows and saw that the southern most tree and had fallen down. Luckily it was parallel with the fence and hit just shy of the patio cover.
It was pretty close, but I'm glad that nothing serious happened.
You can see on the right where the other tree used to be, and how this one is still attached a bit.
We are going to find someone who will lend us a chainsaw and we will take the standing tree as well. If it were to fall, it would go right through a seection of fence. Part of me is saying let it fall, but I'd hate to pay the deductible for an 8" section of new fence.
In May, I was mowing the lawn the and northern most extension of the tree was hanging really low, so I grabbed it, pulled lightly and there was a crack and the whole side came out and fell down. There were white spots all up the trunk and I figured that it had oak rot. We hacked it up and tossed it with the brush collection a few weeks later.
Fast forward to last night. We had a whopper of a storm come through and drop a few inches of rain in about 20 minutes. The storm started out just after dark and it began to blow and hail a bit. The power went out and stayed out for nearly four hours.
This morning as we were getting up, I went to look out the back window and see how much water collected in the pond. Then I looked to my left out the other windows and saw that the southern most tree and had fallen down. Luckily it was parallel with the fence and hit just shy of the patio cover.
It was pretty close, but I'm glad that nothing serious happened.
You can see on the right where the other tree used to be, and how this one is still attached a bit.
We are going to find someone who will lend us a chainsaw and we will take the standing tree as well. If it were to fall, it would go right through a seection of fence. Part of me is saying let it fall, but I'd hate to pay the deductible for an 8" section of new fence.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Two down... a few more to go...
Aimee lost another tooth today.
Alex hit her in the mouth with a PokéBall and it came out. It had been loose for quite a few weeks.
Alex hit her in the mouth with a PokéBall and it came out. It had been loose for quite a few weeks.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Decisions! Decisions!
I went and picked up Mindy's Coral Pink DS Lite this afternoon. She's busted her you-know-what for the past few days making sure the house was clean, so that she could devote her attention to the new console.
As some of you know, we canceled our DirecTV a few weeks ago so that we could save some money every month, and the cable company hasn't been out yet (they are coming Thursday), so she was disappointed that she wasn't going to be able to watch "Dancing With The Stars."
So I jury-rigged the little office TV with an antenna and got ABC to come in perfectly.
Now she's playing Animal Crossing: Wild World during commercials.
Here's proof:
As some of you know, we canceled our DirecTV a few weeks ago so that we could save some money every month, and the cable company hasn't been out yet (they are coming Thursday), so she was disappointed that she wasn't going to be able to watch "Dancing With The Stars."
So I jury-rigged the little office TV with an antenna and got ABC to come in perfectly.
Now she's playing Animal Crossing: Wild World during commercials.
Here's proof:
Friday, September 08, 2006
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Holy Cow... 10 years!
Can you believe that this was 10 years ago today? It doesn't seem like we have been married this long, but here we are 10 years, 4 kids and many pounds later.
Thanks for 10 great years Mike! I love you!
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Aaron's a sCrUB Scout!
We went to Aaron's first (of many) Pack Meeting today.
He got his Bobcat this evening.
He got a cub scout shirt from him Grandma Jeanette for his baptism and Min and I got his badges and belt. We got him a neckerchief and a slide, but he got one from the Pack tonight (so now he has two).
He's a member of the Alamo Area Council. I'm still use to the Great Salt Lake Council patches, so this is cool.
Alex wants to be a scout.
At the Pack Meeting they welcomed in the six boys who turned 8 this summer... plus a few new move-ins.
This should be a fun ride!!!!!
He got his Bobcat this evening.
He got a cub scout shirt from him Grandma Jeanette for his baptism and Min and I got his badges and belt. We got him a neckerchief and a slide, but he got one from the Pack tonight (so now he has two).
He's a member of the Alamo Area Council. I'm still use to the Great Salt Lake Council patches, so this is cool.
Alex wants to be a scout.
At the Pack Meeting they welcomed in the six boys who turned 8 this summer... plus a few new move-ins.
This should be a fun ride!!!!!
WHAP!!!!!
Yup, Aimee ran full boar into a door jamb Monday morning before school after Aaron snagged her blanket out from under her (she fell asleep on the couch and she needed to eat breakfast) and she chased after him in the dark and half asleep.
Anyway, here's the damage.
I'll let Mindy post about the rest of the week's activities as far as the school nurse goes.
Anyway, here's the damage.
I'll let Mindy post about the rest of the week's activities as far as the school nurse goes.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
The book is done... and in my hands!
A year ago, when I was in L.A. at the SIGGRAPH Conference, I met up with the publisher of the book that my graduate advisor at USU (Alan Hashimoto) and I wrote back in 2003.
I asked Jenifer if we could do a second edition of the book, and she told me that the project was actually on the schedule and she was going to contact us after the conference, but since I was there she made it official.
So Alan and I had to retool the book and make alot of changes. The book had to have 60% new or updated content.
We turned the first half of the book in February and the rest of it before I left for London/Paris and Alan left for NYC (each of our schools take a group of students somewhere in the world for a summer trip).
We went through a few rewrites in early July and then passed it off to the production folks...
... and today, the UPS truck pulled up and handed me a copy of the final book.
Here it is.
It is done.
And this time my name is on the cover!
Visual Design Fundamentals: A Digital Approach (2nd Edition)
by Alan Hashimoto with Mike Clayton
ISBN: 1-58450-493-5
Charles River Media; 2006; 381 pp
I asked Jenifer if we could do a second edition of the book, and she told me that the project was actually on the schedule and she was going to contact us after the conference, but since I was there she made it official.
So Alan and I had to retool the book and make alot of changes. The book had to have 60% new or updated content.
We turned the first half of the book in February and the rest of it before I left for London/Paris and Alan left for NYC (each of our schools take a group of students somewhere in the world for a summer trip).
We went through a few rewrites in early July and then passed it off to the production folks...
... and today, the UPS truck pulled up and handed me a copy of the final book.
Here it is.
It is done.
And this time my name is on the cover!
Visual Design Fundamentals: A Digital Approach (2nd Edition)
by Alan Hashimoto with Mike Clayton
ISBN: 1-58450-493-5
Charles River Media; 2006; 381 pp
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Alex at 9 months old...
... well, classes start tomorrow and I was digging around for an old lecture (that I still can't find) and I found this image.
It's from January 2005 when Alex was about 9 months old.
Ain't he cute.
It's from January 2005 when Alex was about 9 months old.
Ain't he cute.
Friday, August 18, 2006
She's getting so big!
Andee has just started eating baby cereal this last week. I can't believe she is that old already. She started rolling over while we were in UT, but as of yet hasn't discovered that she can travel that way. Thank goodness! Sitting up and scooting/crawling are next. Where does the time go?
Andee eating cereal for the first time.
Andee eating cereal for the first time.
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