My First Kiss!

Nick and I always ask Cayle for a kiss, and he never really agrees. He'll oblige and let us kiss his cheek or head, and sometimes he'll even blow a kiss, but he has never actually kissed us. Tonight though, things changed! We were spending some "quality" time together, the three of us watching the Illinois/Michigan State game. Toward the end of the game, Cayle was starting to get tired and telling us he was ready for "night night." Nick and I were holding him off a bit from bed, trying to watch the end of the close game. At one point I asked Cayle for a kiss, and he walked over to me and gave me a kiss on the lips! Then, he wanted to kiss daddy. And he gave daddy a kiss on the lips. Back and forth he went, giving each of us 3 kisses before he grew tired of the fun. What a fun little boy he is! We are having a great time watching him grow :)

Drama

Work has recently been filled with all kinds of drama. There was a big situation with some 8th graders bringing alcohol onto the basketball bus. I got to deal with that because of my athletic director position. There's been more drama with colleagues over planning school events. I hate the drama. I think life is so much more enjoyable when people don't deal in drama and just take care of their own business. I seem to have an especially difficult time dealing with drama ever since we've had Cayle. I just wish people would not cause drama or be so caught up in drama because there are so many more important things in life. I find myself at work each day, counting the minutes until I can get home and spend time with Nick and Cayle. I don't know why people want to spend so much of their day complaining and causing drama. I try focus on spending my time at work doing what needs to be done so that at the earliest possible moment I can leave school and spend time with my favorite boys in the whole world...
*Disclaimer from the author:
1) I am not perfect at being drama-free!
2) I am not sure this post even makes sense! But I do feel slightly better after getting some things off my chest!

Sunday

As I sit here watching the last event of the 2012 X games, I kind of begin wondering why I have never gone and they are only 30 minutes away in Aspen. Just seems like it should be something to go see. Maybe next year?

Bought some new paint for Cayle's/guests bathroom today from Lowe's. Right now it's dark green and light yellow. Soon to be a new color matching up with the dark green to make it more "kid" friendly. Natalie hopes to be done with it soon, then I will put up a pic and show the new color.

This is Pretty Cool!!!

LeBron James Rode His Bike To Work Today (Photo)

LeBron James rode his bike to American Airlines Arena Sunday morning for the Miami Heat's game against the Chicago Bulls.

James led all scorers in the game with 35 points, along with 11 rebounds and 5 assists, to lead the Heat to a 97-93 win. Maybe LeBron should ride his bike to work all the time.

Smiley Face Pancakes

Natalie made smiley face pancakes this morning using the pancake maker that her parents got me for Christmas. They were tasty and Cayle really enjoyed them!

Learning Experiences

Natalie had a super rough day at school, only spending a very brief amount of time in her classroom. The rest of the time was spent doing AD work investigating an incident from a basketball game last night. Apparently a few of the girls decided it would be a good idea to have some "cocktails" on the bus ride home, mixed with gatorade.... Not much thought (intelligent thought) anyway was put into that decision.... Made for a long day for my wife, so when we got home I told her to go out for some appetizers with a bunch of other teachers from school at The Grand Avenue Grill. I think the Italian Nachos may have helped her unwind a bit. Weather was pretty nice earlier today. About 32 and sunny, so I took Cayle out for a little bike ride. My first ride on the "new" bike. We rode the golf course, with about an inch of snow on the ground from last night. I had my first crash of the year as well, and it happened before we were even out of the subdivision. Getting ready to turn a corner, I didn't realize that there was a sheet of ice under the snow I was riding on, and just went down, and went for a little slide... no harm done, was the least painful crash ever! Doesn't feel too bad sliding on ice. Startled myself and Cayle more than anything else. No harm done to the new bike parts though!!! Rest of the ride was great! We got first tracks on the cart path!

Done! Ready to Ride!

Done! That was quite a bit of effort, and money. But in the end, I think it looks fantastic! It also took almost 4 lbs off the total weight, which is really awesome! More than I had expected. Weight came in at 26.5 lbs, and it will be fairly easy to take it down into the 25 lb range in the future (next year) with a few more minor upgrades. This coupled with good training should help me be competitive my first year racing expert category!
Cayle wanted his bike in the pictures. He was practicing turning his bike today in the living room. He is beginning to get it.
Above it the view I have while riding, and below is the view from the front.
Pretty excited for the weather to warm up and the days to get longer so I can get out and ride some dirt! May have to head down to Fruita sometime soon!!!

Impromptu Photo Shoot

Cayle's experience with the "baby" so far has been pointing at Natalie's belly and saying baby, and poking her protruding belly button. Tonight, he saw me watching the baby kick, and came over to investigate. So we put him on Natalie's lap and let him feel the baby kick and move. He got a huge kick out of it! Some of the time he was very serious about it, and some of the time he just wanted to poke her belly and then laugh about it. It was pretty cute, and we were able to get some good pics out of it.
Love this one with both of their hands together!
He looks so focused and intense!
His ornery face (above and below,) as he points at Natalie's belly....

Just having fun!

Tomorrow is the day.... hopefully...

I have had several posts about the new bike parts that I have aquired, but here is a brief look back at how it all began... Decided I no longer needed my road bike wheels (despite how much I liked them!!!)
Bought them for about $600 at about half price from a buddy several years ago. Sold them for just under $600 on Ebay. Pretty good deal there.
Used that money to buy all new mountain bike parts, since that is where most/all of my racing now occurs. Needed some lighter/better parts.
New/lighter wheels were next on the agenda, along with new/lighter tubeless tires.
The above pic is most of the new parts on my mountain bike along with the wheels, but no rubber. Tomorrow I plan on picking up the bike completed, and can hopefully get out for some good rides. The weather has been pretty great for riding around here lately, and I should be able to take advantage of that! Started with all this bike stuff in the beginning of December, it will be nice to finally have it all done!

The Cycling House

Not sure what it is about getting new water bottles that is so exciting... considering that I have around 20 of them or so in the cabinet. But I got 4 of them in today from The Cycling House and it was pretty exciting! The Cycling House is a destination cycling place in Tucson, AZ that offers a completely supported training experience. All you do is go ride your bike in nice warm Arizona weather, and they take care of everything else, food, ride support, and everything else you could ever think of! So I've heard anyway... You see, I've never actually been there. I live The Cycling House lifestyle vicariously through my pops who happens to frequent the place regularly. It's actually a pretty good motivator for me to get out and ride when it's 30 degrees outside, and I think about the big miles he is getting in while having everything taken care of. Oh well, I am sure I will eventually make it out for a week sometime.

Back to the bottles.... I was reading The Cycling House blog by Andy Schultz about nutrition, and I noticed a wall of bottles in the background. I contacted the Owener of the house and he said he would get me a few straight away. I was expecting maybe one or two bottles, but today when I picked up the mail, there were 4 bottles! And to top it off, the mailing label had a nice personal touch on it as you can see in the pic below... Thanks for the bottles guys! Let me know when you get to Vail, CO and I'll take you out for a ride!

Cross Country Skiing!!! Finally!

We headed up to Maloit Park near Minurn today after church to do some skiing. Vail was reporting 10" and Maloit Park is close, so we thought the chances were good for new snow!
On the picnic table you can see the new snow... Looks like a good amount, and it was super nice! Especially since we were the only ones on the course, and the snow had just been groomed!

Natalie heading down a small roller. The course out there is super nice, and very beginner friendly! You can go as fast as you wish, and it's great for the Chariot as well. The snowcat was out grooming when we got there, so we were able to get first tracks on the fresh snow! It was fantastic. Weather was great as well! About 25 and sunny, and we got a good little workout in, so we warmed up quickly! Snow was still falling softly as we skied. It was great!
As always, Cayle did great in the Chariot! When we got back to the car after, we let him play in the snow a little bit. He was cracking up and loving it! He hasn't seen much snow this year, so this was a real treat! We hit up Smiling Moose on the way home for some Yummy lunch. Even with stopping, we were home about 1. What a great morning!!!!

Basketball

Last night we took Cayle to watch the 7th grade girls basketball game in Eagle. He loves watching basketball, on T.V. and when I was coaching. But I did not expect what happened last night. He sat in the bleachers and watched an entire game. The only time he wanted to get up and move around was at half time. The rest of the time it was like he was in a trance... studying the game and watching the girls play.
I went to help "coach" a bit for the 7th grader girls tonight... to offer my "expertise" in a few areas. Afterward I came to the conclusion that this year's GCMS 7th grade class is one of the most athletic classes I have ever been around. The 7th grade boys won the league football and basketball championships. The girls, at least thru 7 deep are extremely athletic and talented with some height. It's fun to coach and work with athletes that have some talent and are still willing to put in the effort and hard work.

More Bike Parts, Flooding, and a play buddy

Got the final pieces of my bike build in today. Wheels and Tires! Time to get it built up now and ready to ride!
As you can see in the above picture, we are having a bit of an issue with flooding in the back yard and the front drive. The ditch behind the house is overflowing and freezing. It's on a freeze, thaw, freeze cycle, and increases daily. Hopefully it gets taken care of soon!We watched Kennedie for some friends last night for a couple hours. Cayle enjoyed showing her around his house and showing her all of his toys... mostly his balls and his animals. For the most part they played together really well. Cayle is still working on his sharing skills...

Skype, Spaghetti, and Omelets

Cayle has been Skyping with Grandma B on a daily basis. Every time we open our computers he asks for grandma. These are a couple of his "Skyping" positions. Tebow "Tebows," Cayle "Skypes." Below he is in his squat talking to uncle Bob. In the above picture he is on his belly talking to Grandma B.
We don't give Cayle pasta with red sauce very often for fear that it will end up on his clothes, in his hair, or on the walls and floors. This was pretty great of him to keep it on his face this time. (or so we thought... later we found some on the hair on the back of his head while getting him ready for bed...) In the above picture you can see how tired he is from the look in his eyes, in the below pic, I got a good smile out of him.


Natalie's uncle Robbie and his wife Rhonda gave us their "Famous" family omelet recipe for Christmas. We got around to making them Monday morning. They were pretty yummy! You can see the ingredients are eggs, classic lays, Velveeta cheese, flour, and milk. The chips are an interesting touch, but add a bit of flavor and crunch. Cayle especially loved them! He ate an entire omelet himself!

That's all she wrote

On the Bronco's season. We are by no means big Bronco's fans or anything, but it was kinda cool for the state while it lasted.

Some big upsets in College basketball today!!! Northwestern got a HUGE upset against a top 10 ranked Michigan State. Iowa scored a big upset against 13th ranked Michigan. What does this mean? The Big Ten has some extremely talented teams. The Big Ten is extremely competitive top to bottom and the bottom teams are going to challenge the top teams all season long. Illinois has beat Iowa and Northwestern and are now tied for FIRST place in the Big 10 with Michigan State! Do I believe they are the best team? Not necessarily, but they are scrappy, and fun to watch!

	|------CONFERENCE-------|		|--------OVERALL--------|
STANDINGS	W-L	Pct	W-L	Pct
1. Michigan State	4-1	.800	15-3	.833
Illinois	4-1	.800	15-3	.833
3. Michigan	4-2	.667	14-4	.778
4. Indiana	3-2	.600	15-2	.882
Ohio State	3-2	.600	15-3	.833
Purdue	3-2	.600	13-5	.722
7. Iowa	3-3	.500	11-8	.579
8. Wisconsin	2-3	.400	13-5	.722
Northwestern	2-3	.400	12-5	.706
10. Minnesota	1-4	.200	13-5	.722
Nebraska	1-4	.200	9-7	.562
Penn State	1-4	.200	9-9	.500

Bonfire Brewery Tebrew

Had it! Great drink! Greatly enjoyed my Tebrew! Don't usually care for barley wines, but this one was very smooth, with a good little kick at the end!

Friday the 13th!!!!

It wasn't actually scary at all :) Today we had a half-day workday since yesterday was the last day of the semester. I worked from 6 am-10 am, and Nick worked 8 am - 10 am. Once we got off work, we picked Cayle up and headed down to Glenwood Springs to run some errands. We have a long list of house chores to do this weekend! So far, we have rearranged Cayle's toys (way too many of them!), and started work on his bathroom. Since he didn't take a nap today, Cayle hit the sack early. Nick headed off to Bonfire Brewing with the neighbor, Rob. And I stayed home, enjoyed the quiet, and watched some tv. Today was a great Friday the 13th!!!

1st Semester

is over... Holy Cow!!! We changed to semesters this year from trimesters, and tomorrow is the last day of the semester. We go in for a few hours to get things finished up with no students. The year is half over, and what a great 1/2 year it has been so far. I have had a ton of fun teaching my classes, Health, Media Productions, and Debate! Compared to my other years of teaching this one is SO much more FUN!!! Not that I didn't enjoy teaching SPED, but there were other things associated with the job that were not so enjoyable.... 1/2 down... 1/2 to go.

Baby B #2 will be here this semester. I think the time will come quickly. Looking forward to new students and new family additions during semester number two!

Random Pics

We've been getting some really good moons the last week. The above picture is at about 430 in the afternoon. The below picture is right at about 600 pm. The moon is trying to get over the mountains. Pretty cool!

The above pic is from Christmas when my dad took Cayle to the John Deere place in Teutopolis. I really like the hat that Cayle has on, and can't believe that I failed to purchase it for him!
This was in Colorado Springs over the last part of Christmas break when we went to visit the Focus on the Family center. Cayle was playing "king" of the log, and was so proud of himself!

National Western Stock Show

Nick had the PLACE test on Saturday. He took this test so he can get certified to teach elementary education in a regular ed classroom. Since the test was in Denver, we got a hotel room and made sure the hotel had a pool, so that I could keep Cayle occupied while Nick took his test. Nick and I had discussed taking Cayle to the aquarium or children's museum after Nick's test was finished, but then when we arrived in Denver, we were reminded the National Western Stock Show was in town. We knew Cayle would love this event, and we were really excited to take him to see the tractors, and horses, and cows. We knew there was a children's area at the stock show, but we weren't sure what to expect that Cayle would really be able to enjoy. We found a petting zoo, which he loved. Cayle also loved looking at all of the cows and horses. Nick and I were so happy to be able to take our little guy to such a fun event :)

Cayle with his friend, the goat

Excited to find some baby potbelly pigs

Trying to milk the pigs!

Cayle loved this duck - but was quite shocked when

the duck went nuts and sprayed water all over Cayle!

Mommy and Cayle in the cow barn

Daddy and Cayle enjoying the ducks