Reviving the blog... again

As usual my ADD kicked in and enthusiasm for updating this blog waned, but I'm trying to renew the blog and begin updating it again. It's been 8 long months since my last post and a few things have happened since the last post. Here are the highlights.

• I finished the playset.
• I worked a lot.
• The boys started Kindergarten.
• I worked a lot.
• Claire celebrated her third birthday.
• I worked a lot.
• Julie traveled to Calgary, Canada with the Richtones to perform (as outgoing Champions) at the annual Sweet Adelines International Competition.
• I worked a lot.
• For Halloween, Claire was Snow White, Grant was Darth Vader and William was a Ninja.
• I worked a lot.
• We traveled to Oklahoma City in late December to visit our new nephew. We also celebrated the boys' 6th birthday there.
• I worked a lot.
• Christmas at our house.
• I worked a lot.
• Spring sports started with Soccer. I'm coaching William and Grant on the Cavaliers again this season. They continue to excel at soccer.
• I worked even more.
• The boys' school, Lewisville Christian School, held their annual auction and carnival. We came away with some great stuff including a new pet hamster. We named him Munchy. We also got a one night stay at a new hotel in town called the Great Wolf Lodge which has an indoor water park.
• I worked a lot.
• After a lot of energy, effort and prayer the boys have been accepted to and enrolled in Prestonwood Christian Academy for first grade next fall.
• I worked a lot.
• Baseball season has started. I'm not the head coach, but am assisting with the Tigers. William and Grant are both playing. It's coach pitch, but after 3 missed swings, the kids get to hit off of a tee. I'm the pitcher and am feeling the pressure. I haven't yet beaned a kid, but am waiting for the moment when a wild pitch hits a kid in the head and an angry father runs out on to the field unleashing profanities while swing an aluminum bat at my head--not that I've had nightmares about it or anything.
• I worked a lot.

Well that pretty much sums up the last few months for our family. Oh yeah, one other thing...

I was told last Thursday that my job had been discontinued and I would no longer need to show up for work after June 14th. After I got back to my cube, I did the happy dance (No, there is not a YouTube link to see my performance). In case, you couldn't tell, I was working way too much and needed a change. When one door closes, another opens and though I was offered a very nice severance package I've also received an offer for an internal transfer which I'm going to accept. It will offer new challenges and a much better work/life balance.

Anyway, I will try my best to keep my ADD under control and to consistently update this blog. I will try to get some pics up soon of the kids. You won't believe how they've grown (unless you're reading this post in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metropolitan area and see them on a regular basis).

I do appreciate those of you who've consistently checked in on the blog with your fingers crossed, hoping I had posted an update. Hopefully, my extended absence has not completely discouraged my already small audience of readers.

All the best,

Dennis

The Playset is 75% Complete

As of Saturday evening (Aug 4), the playset is approximately 75% complete. I still have a lot of work to do on the roof and I have to build the swing support, but it's almost finished :) I know the pictures are not the best, but it's because I tried to take them at the end of the day when I had the most work finished. Unfortunately that means I was working until it was dark.

A Quick Update

I have made a lot of progress on building the playset/swingset in the backyard. I worked on it for about 6 hours on Saturday, but I haven't had the time to work on it since then. Our VBS started yesterday and I've been busy with that. Hopefully I will get some new pictures by the end of the week. Not a lot of other news at this time.

New Project

A week ago I started a new project; a backyard playset for the children. I found a great deal at Sam's club and thought it would be a weekend project. I was wrong. Some assembly required would be the understatement of the century. What I bought was 200 lbs. of lumber pre-cut and pre-drilled and 50 lbs. of hardware to hold the sticks together and a simple booklet with 100 easy steps to the playset of my children's dreams. Hopefully it'll be ready by next summer:) Here is a picture of what it's supposed to look like when it's finished. Here is what it looks like after the first weekend of working on it. Here is the rest of it.

We're home

We made it back Saturday evening from our enduro drive to the west coast. The trip was great (except for the driving part). We had a great time and were able to see lots of friends and family. Below is a slideshow of our photos from the Disneyland Resort. Clicking on it will take you to the photo album where you can browse more leisurely and see larger pictures. I am working on getting more albums created of our time in San Diego.

Heading West!

Wow, I'm really bad at keeping this site updated. We are off to the west coast. Tomorrow morning we leave (at 4am) for Disneyland. We are driving. The kids should be getting used to this, but I'm sure as soon as they wake up (hopefully at 9 am) they will ask if we're almost to Disneyland. We're hoping to make a lot of progress tomorrow and make it to Tucson so that Sunday will be a pretty easy drive into Anaheim. We're spending 3 days/4 nights in Anaheim then it's down to San Diego where we will be for 8 days. I don't have a laptop so I can't provide updates along the way, but I will take plenty of pictures and video to post once we return.

Climbing Higher

It's been quite some time since I last posted, and yes, the complaining from some of you has finally worked and I'm updating the blog. I have several pictures and some video of the kids that I will post over the next week (if I can figure out the whole technology aspect of it). Here are some pictures from a birthday party last Saturday where the boys tackled a rock wall. There is also a video of each boy climbing the wall. The quality is pretty poor because I had to take it with my cell phone. William is in the blue shirt; Grant is in the white shirt.