Ring Bearers to Be

Dentist, Etc.

Aidan made his second trip to the dentist today. He was a little trepidacious toward the thought of a teeth cleaning last time around but was cool with the strawberry flavored "toothpaste" and the "'spinny' toothbrush" today. He also donned these fly Spider-Man shades while under the light and got his teeth counted and painted (fluoride).

During our shopping afterwards Kellen pointed at a biker looking guy at the local fast food joint and shouted, "Who's that dude?" He then segued immediately into the chorus of the freecreditreport.com song. Random? He told me earlier this week that he was looking forward to seeing Allison, Steve, Grammie, Papa D and RoboCop this weekend.

Kellen is all into inquiring about strangers. Earlier in the day he pointed at the lawn mowing neighbor and shouted, "Who's that guy?" and earlier in the shopping expedition asked, "Who's that kid?" in regard to a fellow youngster.

We also witnessed another youngster acting up and I said to Aidan, "You're a good kid Aidan." He asked, "Why do you always tell me that when some other kid is being bad?"

Who Said That?

We were navigating the aisles at the local department store last week when someone’s voice came from the overhead speakers. Not knowing who was speaking to him from the heavens, Kellen looked up and shouted, “Who said that?” I tried to explain what it was with some assumed success and we went about our shopping.

I’m not sure if he saw the reaction he got and decided to milk it for more laughs (which would not be atypical) but he’s been doing it again…a lot…over the last two days.

Yesterday Rachel and Aidan ran into a store as Kellen and I waited in the car. Someone used their automatic locks and their car chirped. That elicited another “Who said that?” Then it became anything and everything including minor noises around the house that drew out this response.

As I watching a suspenseful movie in the dark of late last night I couldn’t help but chuckle thinking if Kellen was being cinematically stalked he’d simply spend the 90 minutes constantly shouting “Who said that?” into the dark corners and shadows.

Afternoon on the Water

Kellen’s (Sur)prises

The following scenarios have been occurring on a daily basis during recent weeks.

Kellen (with hands hidden behind his back): Dada…I have a prize for you.

Me: What is it?

Kellen (revealing his cup): I need a drink.

…

Kellen (with hands hidden behind his back): Dada…I have a prize for you.

Me: What is it?

Kellen (revealing a DVD): Let’s watch a movie.

The “prize” is a surprise. Apparently he thinks adding suspense to something he will enjoy thoroughly makes it worth celebrating. I guess that makes it worthy of (sur)prise status.

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Summer Sprinkles

Finally the "is it warm enough?" question got a "yes" answer.

The video highlights

A.J. and Mr. Scott (and Miss Bethany) came over the check things out.

Two of the three kids were instantly willing to challenge the waterpillar.

Guess how much longer the seat of Scott's pants remained dry?

Aidan tames the bug.

Friendly City Days

Last year a friend of ours brought us out to Friendly City Days in his neighboring town. We had a good time and returned to hit the pork chop dinner this evening. I must say the pork chops were mmm mmm mmm good (one mmm for each one I consumed). I will be tracking down some of that seasoning and despite the state troopers guarding the shakers I have some leads.

We hit the midway after eating, Aidan armed with a fistful of tickets compliments of our friend Bob. As we prepared to climb to the top of the Fun Slide, Kellen decided he wanted to make the ascent with us. I eyed the protector of the slide having already paid our entry and asked if I could take the tot with me. He agreed. That's a free ride people! Kellen was not as anxious to share the experience once we reached the summit. After three fluttering hearts reached the bottom Kellen was not thrilled, Aidan (I was told) had a look of great concern on his face and I was just happy we all maintained some level of contact with the slide as Kellen rode on my lap and I guided Aidan (in the lane next to me) with one arm

Our next stop was the Dizzy Dragons. As the other three dragons spun whimsically around ours revolved but did not rotate. Despite an effort that earned me strains in both arms ours would not budge. As the keeper of the dragons came around I commented that ours would not spin. He mumbled something about the brake sticking and the need to get the maintenance man over. As much as I appreciated him sharing his to-do list with us I was seeking a second round in a new reptile. He looked at me and said, "the ride has ended". I looked back and told him, "I paid to spin" and won that battle. Our second ride was lengthy, filled with squeals and semi-nauseating. Perfection!

Rachel then took the boys for a more casual and less drama filled ride on the carousel. It was the perfect ride for Kellen because an accompanying adult was permitted to stand guard and make sure he did not escape.

Aidan took a final turn on the wheelie-popping, vroom-vroom sounding motorcycles. I smiled politely at the guardian of the two-wheelers when he suggested all the driver seats were filled but Aidan could jump in the passenger seat of another kid's cycle. I knew Aidan had his eye on the Spider-Man cycle so we waited.

The boys and Bob then spent some time playing games earning a plush four-legged duck (trust me), two Nemo-like fish and a sweet stuffed tiger. We did not attempt to score the amazing Travelocity looking gnome below but I deemed it picture worthy.

We had a great evening. Rachel and the boys are likely headed back for the parade on Sunday while I tend to previously scheduled business. They will undoubtedly return with a metric ton of candy after enduring 83 small town parade princesses and homemade floats constructed around pulled trailers. Enduring the barrage of local royalty is worth the haul of freebies.

VIDEO: Night Vision

Kellen was playing with the flashlight this morning and it gave me and excuse to play with the night vision on the video camera.

Whaddya Mean…?

Most kids go through the “Why?” stage driving parents to the brink by challenging their every word and instruction. They’ll spin you in circles until you finally throw a “because I said so” their way or finally submit with an “I don’t know”. Aidan’s been doing a little something like that recently but it’s a product of what I’ve been encouraging him to do.

Even when we’re just lounging around I like to ask the boys a lot of questions. Some of our most stimulating conversations have been in odd places like the car shop waiting area. I’m constantly quizzing Aidan asking him a lot of questions and I’ve told him he should do the same. I’m confident that getting him in the habit of seeking out answers and new knowledge will serve him well when he hits school in the Fall and in his quest to be “smart like Dada" (and Mama too).

Lately he’s been hitting me pretty hard with the vocabulary questions. I never dumb down the words or phrases I use when I talk to him hoping he’ll ask for clarification if he hears something new or unfamiliar and he takes the bait every time. The kid’s doing well at everything we throw at him I figure I’ll make him my little walking, talking lexicon.

He’s got a memory like his father’s and correlates things in the same round about ways I do. Yesterday he heard the word “survive” and wanted to know what it meant. Problem was we didn’t hear the word when he did. After 30 minutes of him racking his brain for clues as to what he heard and how to get us to figure it out we recognized some reference to the show “Survivor” (which we rarely watch). He somehow deemed the show to be Mama’s game show…the one where people try to hit targets. Must have been a game they were playing on one of the few occasions it was actually on. Nothing beats a half hour lesson on one word when it takes that long just to get there!

He’ll press you into minute clarifications too and I always try my best not to simply throw my hands up in surrender. I do sometimes need to breathe deeply before continuing on after a string of five or six “whaddya mean’s?”. It sometimes forces me to go research better ways to explain things.

Let’s hope he remains forever curious about the many subjects he wishes to master at this early age and that his kindergarten teacher will survive his inquisitions and not boot him off the island.

Whaddya mean "the tribe has spoken"?

RETRO VIDEO: History Revisited

In seventh grade history class we were told to divide ourselves into groups and put together a written report on the Great Depression. Two of my best friends and I decided it would be much more fun to do something more elaborate. Anything to get out of writing a boring paper.

I had been messing around with my grandparent's video camera and we decided we should produce a short movie on the subject. It was my first foray into film making.

Of course writing the script (also known as the report we were avoiding), coming up with visual ideas and filming the whole thing took much longer than writing a paper would have. However it was indeed more fun than the alternative.

When the time came to study the World Wars, Mr. Hartman suggested we grab the video camera and work together again. We were happy to do so. The second video report was an epic 25 minute production including an explosive recreation of Pearl Harbor.

The following is my modern day trailer for the two films we put together two decades ago.

Kellen's First Movie

We hit the matinee showing of "Up" today. It was Kellen's first trip to the theater.

When the lights dimmed he fell completely silent. After being entranced by the previews and the standard Pixar short film he announced that the movie was all done. He saw credits and figured it was time to split.

The first half of the movie kept him pretty transfixed and we were able to manage him fairly well during the second half. He would at times throw a hand out palm up without letting his eyes leave the screen. It was an indication that he needed more popcorn (it was his first time for that as well).

Suds Buddies

Aidan helped me wash the vehicles by acting as rinse man with his water wand.

He got tired of it before both were complete and decided to ride his bike around in the garage.  His pedals have a way of unscrewing themselves as he learns to keep his feet on them rather than spinning them out while motoring around.  

Apparently he's discussed this with Rachel as well.  I stood perplexed as he told me his mother suggested an acorn would prevent his pedal from falling off.  Did she say "a nut" and he interpreted it as something more specific?

RETRO VIDEO: Breaking News

The following two videos come from my internship with WHO-TV 13 in Des Moines (Iowa) and my work with ISU-9 television on campus at Iowa State.  Had I taken the advice of a friend, you may know me today as weatherman Flip Spiceland. 

Story Reel

1. Dr. K. -- Former WHO sports anchor Todd Bailey shot the footage on this one and allowed me to use his stuff to create my own version of the story.  My version aired on ISU-9.

2. Roller Hockey -- I shot the footage and did the interviews solo so the on-air guys could use it for WHO.  This is my own version.

3. Marathon Man -- This story was created for ISU-9.  Classmate Steve Gehlbach was my cameraman.

4/5. Game Prep/Cyclone Opener -- More stories for ISU-9.  Mine top to bottom including the video.   

This one is a short montage of my work put together for a class assignment.  Kind of a resume tape lead-in featuring clips of me at the news desk, reporting from the field, etc.

RETRO VIDEO: Cyclone Cinema

The following two videos are a product of some group work I was a part of during one of my college classes.  You'll see we've mastered both the genre of suspense and the action/comedy.  Also quickly evident will be the fact that no one has ever asked me, "Why didn't you get into acting?"

Elusive Prey

Jayne Bond: Braced for Action

RETRO VIDEO: Driveway Dunk-off

In a previous post showcasing Aidan's dunking skills I mentioned my brother Ryan and I had done the same thing as younger lads.  I unearthed some footage of an epic Deur brother dunk-off while sorting through some old VHS tapes.

I believe I have overcome the technical difficulties mentioned in the first Retro Video posting.  Most of the old clips should be surfacing over the course of the next few days.

VIDEOS: Hiccups and the Alpha Boys

I was trying to capture Kellen's fake hiccups and got some extras to go along with it.  The boys always love seeing themselves on the camera and Kellen is especially distracted by himself in those situations.

Aidan informed me that he wanted to make letters with his body emulating a Grover ABCs book that we have (that's where the missing bat comment came from).  We got a few good ones and will have to work on the others.

Random Memory 4

Here goes the fourth installment of the "Completely Random Memory from Out of Nowhere" series with a new, more efficient title.

While in Colorado for a cousin's wedding (travelling with my parents and Rachel) we stopped to check in at our place of lodging for the evening.  Mom ran in to finalize the arrangements and Rachel and I sat in the car with dad...right in front of the main entrance.  Mom and dad's car was fairly new and dad was messing with things.  It was their first vehicle with the fantastically futuristic keyless entry and dad was fiddling with the buttons on the key ring.  He was unaware that locking the vehicle with the key chain while sitting inside said vehicle could be problematic.  We were completely unaware of the horror that was about to ensue.

We found out that locking the car from inside with the keyless entry and then messing with the doors in such a way that the car thinks someone is now trying to break into the locked doors sends the car into a frenzy.   Rachel and I shrunk into the floor of the back seat in embarrassment as the car began whooping and honking.  Dad calmly reached for the owner’s manual and began to casually page through it to find a solution to our problem.  We begged him to hurry his research and get us away from the front door.  Unable to find an answer quickly, he threw the car into drive and tried to relocate us swiftly.  The car, thinking it was being stolen, clinched its breaks and brought us to an abrupt stop.  Rachel and I were still howling and so was the car.

Eventually we learned that the way to end the sound circus is simply to push the unlock button on the key chain.  That would have been nice to know before the barrage of noise, the red faces and the car lurching in such a way that it almost swallowed itself while we tried to speed away from the unavoidable attention.

The story still brings us to tears on occasion.

100 Things About Me (the Trilogy)

We’ve found ourselves at post number 300 so I offer up a new list of 100 things about me.  This time I’ve broken it down into lists.  I settled on this approach before the Pick Five craze hit my social networking site of choice.  That has allowed me to steal a number of categories to work with.

Below are lists of five and ten items totaling 100 responses and here are the links to the original lists. 

“100 Things About Me” (the original list)

“100 Things About Me…the Sequel”

 THE EARLY YEARS

FIVE FILMS RELEASED THE YEAR I WAS BORN: 

• Star Wars
  
• Smokey and the Bandit 
  
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  
• Saturday Night Fever
  
• Annie Hall
  

FIVE SONGS FROM THE YEAR I WAS BORN: 

• Walk This Way (Aerosmith)
  
• Hotel California (Eagles)
  
• Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees)
  
• Margaritaville (Jimmy Buffet)
  
• Gonna Fly Now – Theme from Rocky (Maynard Ferguson)
  

FIVE TOYS THAT MOST REMIND ME OF MY CHILDHOOD: 

• Transformers
  
• GI Joes
  
• Star Wars
  
• He-Man
  
• Big Wheels
  

Lots of action figures and my first set of wheels.  I’m quite certain I rode the Big Wheels around the block (with fellow neighborhood Big Wheelers) on numerous occasions.

TRAVEL 

TOP FIVE VACATION SPOTS I’VE BEEN TO: With apologies to extended family members who I’ve travelled with on family affairs (and enjoyed the experience tremendously) most of these were just Rachel and me.

• Caribbean Cruise (Honeymoon): Six islands in seven days
  
• Atlantis/Paradise Island (Bahamas): Work reward trip
  
• Riviera Maya (Mexico): Two words…All inclusive
  
• Maui (Hawaii): Our 10^th anniversary/second honeymoon trip
  
• Colorado: Love the mountains, loved white water rafting

FAMOUS LANDMARKS I’VE SEEN AND WANT TO SEE: There are many more than these on both sides of the list.

Seen: 

• Mount Rushmore
  
• The Statue of Liberty
  
• The Gateway Arch
  
• The Alamo
  
• The Sears Tower
  

Want to see:  

• The Pyramids of Giza
  
• The Roman Coliseum
  
• The Great Wall of China
  
• The Taj Mahal
  
• Christ the Redeemer
  

MUSIC 

MY FAVORITE MUSICAL ARTISTS:

• U2: I’ve got everything they’ve ever released…and much more that they haven’t.
  
• Third Day: “Found” them before they were big in Christian music and have everything but their Christmas album.
  
• Stevie Ray Vaughan: His guitarsmanship amazes me.
  
• Alter Bridge: Thought I loved Creed.  Turns out it was mostly Mark Tremonti.
  
• Dave Matthews Band: Swore them off in college but can’t resist their unique style and their live extemporaneous stuff…even if Dave sounds like Adam Sandler talking gibberish at times.
  
• Muse: Interesting mix of hard stuff and classical elements.  Would love to see their live show.
  
• MercyMe and Needtobreathe: Two Christian bands that grab me for different reasons.
  
• The Diviner’s: My buddy’s in the band and I am a long distance groupie.  I may be biased but I find them tremendously listenable.
  
• 38^th Parallel: Knew a guy in this now defunct band.  I lament their breakup and wish to have heard more.

BANDS I’VE SEEN LIVE IN CONCERT: Not an exhaustive list but includes my first (Van Halen) and the most well known and popular of the bunch.  Who could resist seeing Tone Loc (for free) when he came to town?  Good thing he saved the only two songs anyone knew for the end or the place would have cleared out very early. 

• Van Halen
  
• Aerosmith
  
• Creed
  
• Lenny Kravitz
  
• Tone Loc

My next concert will be U2 at Soldier Field (Chicago) in September.  I’ve been waiting a mere 22 years for that one.

SPORTS 

MY FAVORITE SPORTS MOVIES: My favorites, not necessarily the ones I think are the best or Academy Award worthy.  I enjoy these ten most of all for a variety of reasons.

• Field of Dreams
  
• Caddyshack
  
• Rocky 
  
• Hoosiers
  
• Major League
  
• Any Given Sunday
  
• Happy Gilmore
  
• The Rookie
  
• Hoop Dreams
  
• Radio 
  

MY LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAMS: 

• Reds (twice)
  
• Athletics
  
• Tigers
  
• Indians
  
• Cubs
  

Of course I remember them all without looking it up.  Nothing beat the year everyone wore the same red shirt (as in every single kid on every team) in someone’s stroke of unifying genius.  Nothing makes learning the game easier than having no clue who’s on which team in the middle of a game.

MY FAVORITE ATHLETES OF ALL TIME

• Walter Payton (Chicago Bears)
  
• Mike Singletary (Chicago Bears)
  
• Randall Cunningham (Philadelphia Eagles)
  
• Shaquille O’Neal (Los Angeles Lakers, etc)
  
• “Dr. J.” Julius Erving (Philadelphia 76ers)

FIVE FAMOUS PEOPLE I’VE MET: It fits under “Sports” because they are all sports figures.  I left Olympic Hurdler Lolo Jones off the list as I met her before she was famous (she was in high school, I was in college).

• Mike Singletary (Chicago Bears linebacker)
  
• Tom Osborne (Nebraska football coach)
  
• Jay Williams (Duke University basketball player)
  
• Tony Stewart (NASCAR driver)
  
• Hale Irwin (Professional golfer)

I told the flight attendant on the trip we shared with Tom Osborne that he was Clint Eastwood…and the guy believed me.  I hung out with Jay Williams for a few hours watching hoops on TV before he flew off to be on Oprah…and before he went on to become the nation’s top collegiate player and the second pick in the NBA draft.  I met several golfers (including Chi Chi Rodriguez and Arnold Palmer) while covering a PGA Senior Tour event but actually exchanged words with Irwin.

MISCELLANEOUS 

PEOPLE I WANT ON MY SIDE IN A BAR FIGHT:  Because I spend so much time in the bars and am prone to violent behavior.

• Chuck Norris
  
• Steve Urkel
  
• Spice Girls
  
• The Wiggles
  
• Bill Gates

My rationale here was that having Chuck Norris on my side made needing anyone else unnecessary.  Therefore I chose people and groups that were likely to be of little use to me.

MUST HAVES IN MY DREAM HOME: 

• Theater Room
  
• Swimming pool
  
• Indoor basketball court
  
• Giant deck with built-in grilling station
  
• Game Room
  

SIMPLE THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY: 

• Music
  
• Sunshine
  
• A nap
  
• Hugs
  
• Smiles
  

THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE: 

• Write a book
  
• Skydive
  
• See the Cubs win the World Series
  
• Go on an African safari
  
• Tour Europe
  

“VIEWER” QUESTIONS 

I shot an email to a few friends, family members and faithful blog followers soliciting ideas for questions for me to answer.  Looks like the responses came from a variety of sources and angles.

1. If your parents allowed you to paint anything and everything you wanted on your bedroom walls when you were a child what would you have painted?

My walls were covered in sports posters and Sports Illustrated photos I had cut out and “matted” on construction paper.  I was very sports focused at the time.  Not sure I could have found a spare inch to paint on.

2. What do you think is the happiest place on earth?  Why?

They say it’s Disney World but I’ve been there and the secret sauce on the burgers does not make me happy.  It would be a shame if the happiest place on earth was somewhere you’ve never been or seldom got the chance to visit.  My happiest place is wherever I spend time with my friends and family (immediate and extended) whether it’s on the couch watching cartoons with the boys or at the kitchen table in Sully playing Cranium.

3. If you had one extra hour of free time a day, how would you use it?

I should probably use it to sleep because I don’t sleep enough.  I get wrapped up in something and suddenly it is 1:00 in the morning with just a few hours until my human alarm clocks call for me to rise and shine.

4. Are you sure you don't have any hidden talents?  Perhaps something involving fruit and your nasal cavity?

Yes, I once taught my cousin how to shoot grapes out of her nose.  It’s been a while but I’m sure I could still post an impressive distance.

5. I’ll go Karnac on this one and provide the answers before the questions. 

ANSWERS: The right side, handcuffs and to avoid witnessing any unnecessary jiggling.

QUESTIONS:

• At a movie theater which arm rest is yours?
  
• If you are asked to “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” and you are the main witness, what if you say "no"?
• Why do doctors leave the room when you change? They're going to see you naked anyway. 

6. First thing you wash in the shower?

Funny you should ask.  My buddy mistakenly responded to the same question with “my cheese” (he meant “my chest” and I found it uproarious).  Depends on my mood.  If it’s a top down day it’s my hair.  Otherwise I start with my left arm.

7. If you could be a cartoon cereal box character for 24 hours who would it be and why?

I would rather be little Mikey from the Life cereal commercials.  I would eat Cinnamon Life or breakfast, lunch, dinner and every snack in between.

8. Fondest childhood memories?

Mine has been a pleasant and peaceful existence.  The memory I was smiling about just the other day was my mother being distracted so much by the Cosby Show that she burned through an entire grilled cheese sandwich without flipping it. 

9. What are your dreams for your children?

I hope they share in the beliefs that are most important to me but wish for them to discover themselves and their own unique identity.  When it comes to goals and dreams I hope mine for them and their own are flexible enough that they don’t miss out on anything potentially special because they are so focused on what they think their dream is supposed to be.  I’ve found sometimes you are far from where you thought you’d be and exactly where you belong.

10. When will be the next toy video?!?!

If you want it, we’ll make it. 

 

I love to share and entertain.  If you found this or any of the previous 299 posts to be interesting, amusing, heartwarming, smile inducing or a small bright spot in your day then it has served its purpose.

Thanks for taking an interest in us!