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!

2012 Blogging

Haven't really mentioned any goals or anything for the new year. I have personal goals for the mountain bike season that I will likely get into at a later date, and a few other personal goals. I do have a goal for the blog however, and that is to hit 200+ posts for the year. We started the blog when we moved to Colorado in 2008 and had 65 posts that year. In 2009 we hit 60 posts. 2010 we did much better with 119 posts, and then last year in 2011 even much better than that with 180 posts! The summer months have traditionally killed us. Seems weird since we have time off that we should be able to use to blog. I think it's the change of routine that messes us up the most. If I can increase the blogging in the summer and keep all the other months consistent 200 should definitely be reachable! This blogging thing has just taken a bit of time to get the hang of I guess. In the amount of time we have had this blog going, I have personally seen so many others start up and die off. It's just really hard maintaining a consistently and consistently interesting blog! It takes a certain amount of dedication for sure!

In other news Natalie got the bug that Cayle and I had on New Year's eve. She had it yesterday and had to leave school early. It seemed to last 1 day with her just as it did with us. Now her brother Patrick has it. Wonder who else it may affect? Hopefully no one, as it's just not much fun!

Looking forward to many more blogs about Cayle and his baby brother/sister ?????, biking, hiking, school, and just in general life in the high rocky mountains where we live. Excited for 2012 and all the writing opportunities it brings! Here's to year 5 of our blog!

Time Management....

Obviously never learned much about time management growing up (the time before I graduated high school.) I mean, for the most of my life during that time period, I woke up, went to school, sports practice, and then came home and did homework. During High School, the only change in that was going to work some days after school, and on Saturdays, and summers. But even with all that routine, I always had as much time as I ever could have wanted to do the things I wanted to do. I honestly believe this was partly because my parents didn't have T.V. (cable), so I was able to spend TONS of time outside! I spent countless hours just exploring in the woods, riding my motorcycle, or hunting.

Obviously, not much time management is learned in college, or not by me anyway... I went to class (most days) did most of my homework, and worked 10-15 hours a week at Jimmy Johns. Despite all this, and this is why college life is so great, I rarely had to manage my time wisely in order to get what I wanted. I still had TONS of time to sleep, party, workout, play video games, play intramurals, and lay on the couch.

Fast forward to today... The ability to manage my time wisely to get what I want, and still help my family function properly is my greatest challenge. Now time management has much greater implications on my daily routines. If I manage my time wisely, I usually am able to work out with Cayle in the mornings before school. Go for a run or a bike ride, or x-country skiing, or something of the sort for an hour or so. If I don't manage my time wisely, the physical activity is the first thing that gets lost in favor of the daily chores. If I manage my time wisely, I easily have plenty of time to get things done, and still have time for myself.

Basically I think it comes down to motivation as I wrote about in an earlier post. If I really want something on any given day, I am more likely to get the chores done, if I don't really care, then things don't get done as quickly.

I am trying to be more like my wife in this aspect. As far as chores and professional responsibilities go, she is one of the best time managers I know. :-) She is a good role model for me!

Goings On

12 days till my race in Missouri. The Berryman Epic 56 miler. I'm almost ready. Sounds like my bike is coming together nicely. That would be 11 days till Cayle and I's 2nd time on an airplane together.

Parent teacher conferences are finished. Finally. That's nice to have over for sure.

So much fun watching the Cardinals in the post season. Hope they continue to play as good as they have. This could be a 2006 flashback. That would be fun!

Going to head to Denver this weekend for a bit to visit with Natalie's brother Ronnie and his wife Michelle. Looking forward to that, and getting some good food (Olive Garden) and seeing a shopping mall... some of the things we miss out on living in the mountains... not that I'd trade by any stretch of the imagination. :)


Some of my favorite pics from our trip up on Hardscrabble a couple of weeks ago...I love the contrast of the solitary pine against the bright yellows of the aspens. The yellow leave covered dirt road surrounded by the changing Aspens.

My wife and son enjoying the beautiful scenery and time together sitting on a log in the grass with the mountains in the background.

Thank You!!!!

 I have to say... I am looking forward to going to school tomorrow!  I am so excited to go to school and teach health/nutrition, media productions, and debate! I am so pumped! I can't remember the last time I have been this excited to go work with the students! I love my new job, and love my life SO much right now. I get to hang out at home with my baby boy for the first half of each day, then go to school and teach subjects that I love teaching, and are tons of fun!!! My time in the mornings with Cayle is so precious to me, and we have so much fun, it's just a bonus that when I have to drop him off at the sitter, I get to go to school and teach subjects that are super fun and interesting!!!!!

How have I gotten so lucky??? I really owe it all to my fantastic best friend in the whole world... my wife! Thank you so much Natalie for working harder and taking on more responsibility (teacher, mentor, and athletic director) to help support our family so that I can live my dream of being a stay at home dad, and only working part time teaching classes that are so much fun to teach.

To the mother of our amazing son and to my lovely bride of 3 years 3 months and 4 days. THANK YOU! I am so appreciative of this opportunity!

1/2 way

Finished with my parents in central, IL. Had some wonderful days out at the lake. Stopped by the State Capital to say hi to a few friends. Not much time to hang out though... :( Now in the north of IL to spend a few days with Natalie's parents :-)

A few pics to share from the lake:

First day of the First week

Today is the first day of the first week of summer school. Meaning it is the first day that I will stay at home with Cayle in the morning while Natalie goes to work. This is how it will be during summer school, but also during the school year next year, as I have switched jobs w/in the school and will work part time afternoons. I am excited to get to spend daily time with Cayle! Yesterday we went for a family bike ride up Valley road to Leed Reservoir. It was super nice! Blue skies and great temps!



This was Cayle playing in the grass post-ride. He had a great time!
Leed Reservoir.

The scenery was so beautiful, and we had a little snack at the top. Pita chips, hummus, and wine. Cayle got some yogurt and pita chips. What a gorgeous ride and day!

Mommy's Home

Cayle and I were excited to welcome Natalie home from Denver today! He had a big smile on his face when she picked him up today! It went smooth with her gone, but everything is just much easier when Mommy's home!

Tennis Star!

Good article from the WIU website about Natalie's brother Patrick. Good thing she taught him how to play tennis. I believe she takes full credit for his success.... :-)

ELMHURST, Ill. – Western Illinois sophomore Patrick Hammers (Peru/LaSalle-Peru) has been named as The Summit League Men's Tennis "Player of the Week" after helping the Fighting Leathernecks to a 3-0 start in league play.

Hammers finished last week's action with a record of 4-0 while playing at No. 3 singles and was 2-1 with fellow Leatherneck Ben Yue at No. 3 doubles.

He helped the Leathernecks secure wins over Centenary, IPFW and South Dakota State over the weekend. Hammers dropped just one set in four matches last week, including a non-league match at Bradley.

Western Illinois currently sits along atop The Summit League standings and is off to its best start in league play since the 2008 season, when the Leathernecks finished a perfect 6-0 and won the league's regular-season title.

Hammers is currently riding a five-match winning streak at No. 3 singles and has won four of his last five doubles matches while playing at No. 3 with Yue.

His performance over the weekend improved his overall record to 6-11 in singles and 9-7 in doubles play. The "Player of the Week" honors mark the second time that Hammers has won the award in his two seasons at Western.

Pics from the Superbowl Party

Cayle got to play with his buddy Macklin during the Superbowl. He enjoyed his time with Mack!

Natalie relaxing a bit with her favorite Doritos in the reading chair before people showed up to watch the big game!

Crooked Creek Pass

Woke up this morning and headed back up to Sylvan Lake (ya... if you jump in it makes you a better reader.....) for a 5 mile climb up a rocky dirt road to the top of crooked creek pass from the Sylvan Lake Campground. We drove up to the campground which is 15 miles from Eagle. It was a nice steady climb that required some good power output. Natalie did an awesome job. Not sure how long it took us, but I would guess a little over an hour. Prolly about 10 minutes to get back down. While we were up there we saw lots of wild flowers and a couple of mule deer.