Why we homeschool our children...

Butterfly landing

Melinda caught this little butter-fly landing on a flower the other day in her wildflower garden out back. Despite the dry weather, the colors of the garden have been stellar and have attracted bugs of all kind as well as hummingbirds and gold finches.

The Facts Of Life...

Last fall Melinda had the oppor-tunity to go to a Mom's Time Out conference put on by former Facts Of Live star Lisa Whelchel (Blair). She had a blast the 2 days that she was there and even got to talk to Lisa. A Christian, Whelchel gives stay-at-home moms sound spiritual and practical advice on what has worked for her over the years since she retired from acting and began raising her children. She also provided inspiration and plenty of laughs as she told her story about how she and her husband made it through trials that you wouldn't expect from a former actress and her family to face. Needless to say, Melinda came back fully charged. And there you have the facts of life...

Kings Island

Well, I decided to get John out to Kings Island before he starts school next week and it was a blast! Just us guys running from coaster to coaster. And it made me realize one thing: I just don't have the stomach for it anymore! There was hardly anyone there today. Mostly because most kids have already started school and secondly because it was over 100 degrees (104 in the shade at Kings Island). But that didn't deter us. We began the day as the park opened and headed straight for the coasters. Son Of Beast, Adventure Express, The Racer, and then The Beast right out of the gate. Back in the day I would be ready to continue on to the next coaster but I had to put on the breakes today. John went ahead and rode the Vortex and others while I tried to find my stomach and legs... We hit the Eiffel Tower, the train ride, bumper cars, Drop Zone, and others before John went back for more coasters after eating at 3:30 PM. I was not so anxious to get back on. John even rode the insane Sling-Shot and Face-Off rides which I was not about to get on. He did The Beast a second time (without me) and then we finished up both riding the Vortex. I'm still feeling light-headed. We had a ton of fun and that's what counts. I'll never forget today and seeing John all big-eyed running to each coaster was worth the price of admission. Now I think I better go lay down for a while...

Bobble Tower, Y'all

I'm not one to collect bobble heads but there was a local bobble head promotion giveaway that I simply could not stay away from. The Florence Freedom, a rookie-level minor league team, was giving out bobble towers the other day. They are replicas of the rediculous water tower in Florence that people travelling on I-71/75 pass by. Yep, it was so cheesy that I had to have one! You can try to explain to people from Detroit to St. Petersburg where you are from and they will not really know until you mention that Florence Y'all tower. Then they come to life and tell you how they pass that thing on vacation and that they know right where you are from (for better or worse). The tower for years said 'Florence Mall' but they had to change it because you can't advertise on water towers and instead of painting over the letters, they simply touched up the M and turned "Mall" into "Y'all". Perfect. Give them an 'A' for creativity. As for the giveaway, it just may be the first water tower with it's own bobble head in the nation...

FLASHBACK OF THE WEEK: Fall 1986

Everyone remembers their first car. Mine was a 1975 Dodge Dart Swinger. It was gently used by an older couple and taken care of beautifully. The paint job was as bright of a yellow as you can get! It was referred to as "The Taxi" or "Yellow Submarine" but that's ok; I wasn't in it for style points. It was my ticket to not having to take the dreaded school bus my senior year of high school. I'd go pick up Melinda on the way to school every morning (saving her the same daily school bus misery). We'd go cruising on Barg Salt Run Road or on the big dip on Aicholtz Lane. There was the time I did a spin and a half on an overpass during icy conditions only to end up facing the direction I was coming from. It wasn't pretty (or maybe it was TOO pretty) but it was my first ride and if I had the chance to get a refurbished Swinger I'd do it in a heartbeat.

John's birthday party

John got to have 4 friends (Keegan, Kaiden, Clay, and Garrett) over for a birthday party on Saturday. They all had a blast. They played a PS2 NASCAR game where they took turns driving the cars the wrong way during the race and causing the most spectacular pile-ups in racing history! Then there was the mound of Star Wars figures and Lego pieces in John's room that they built stuff with. A round of Wiffle Ball out back was topped off with Oreo cookies and ice cream! An all-around great day!

Caterpillar

Slow news day so here's a photo of a cool caterpillar John found in the yard. We put it in the garden hoping to see where it makes its cocoon. I'm sure a colorful butterfly or moth is in that thing somewhere.

20-year high school reunion - part 3

A few more photos from the reunion on Saturday evening.

Todd and I discussing the time when we played baseball against each other and he beaned me in the helmet giving me a concussion. I don't look like I'm in a forgiving mood do I? Our teams used to battle every year for 1st place in the local little league in Mt. Carmel.


Me and Melinda taking a break before leaving the reunion.


Sam and Rick. Rick is one of the funniest guys I have ever known. He used to have me in stitches on the school bus growing up. He's a sculptor now believe it or not! Sam...well, not sure about that dude...


Here's me and Robin who played piano for the chorus. My senior year I played bass guitar with her for a Gershwin medley which the show choir performed in Canada and at the Spring Concert at Clermont College. She's a music teacher these days.

20-year high school reunion - part 2

More photos from the reunion. There's Matt and me; Renee & Eric; and group shots of the guys and gals from the Class of '87.

Being a short history of Paid 4...

Once upon a time, in a land across the globe, a not-so-ordinary man was born. Some 2,000 years later, His effect is still being felt on this planet (although some places require a closer look than others). Then suddenly, almost without warning, 4 individuals decided on a 4th of July (1998) to stop being independent and instead combine their talents in order to worship that man born in Bethlehem. They found a time or two to rehearse numerous original tunes paying tribute to the Savior. After discarding several ideas, the band decided on the name 'Paid 4' since they all admitted that, despite their own sins, they were indeed paid for...plus, there were 4 of them. After too many rehearsals to count, the band decided on playing live gigs. They played in front of crowds big and small; saved and lost. Lyrics were sung (or sang) and words were heard. Eventually, the band decided to record their noise onto tape in a recording studio in Florence, Kentucky. After several sessions during which the engineer sometimes arrived on time and with a headache, the band released their first CD and spread it around. Even a few radio stations played their tunes over the airwaves. After some more gigs, the band had a member quit and thus became 25% off. Still, the Paid 3 rocked on as they recorded a few more tunes in the basement and tweaked the sound on their home computers until it seemed alright. They played out a few more times during the summer of 2001 before life got in the way of the practices and they played no more. However, the sound they made was etched forever on a couple of CDs and continues to be given away. Ah, the memories: rehearsals in the basement; playing gigs where Mama’s Prayers seemed to bring down the house; performing in day care centers, lawn mower shops, gazebos, and on back porches between July 1998 and September 2001.”

Sincerely,

Si Liebenthal (Fictitious Manager)

Happy Birthday, John!

Well, our son has just turned 12 today. I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. I was at work preparing for what was going to be a brutal night meeting where I would be the target of angry residents. Sometime in the mid-morning Melinda called me at work and said it was time! I thought she was joking because she knew I wasn't looking forward to the evening's beatdown but she was serious. So I left work and left the dirty work of the evening to a poor co-worker who has yet to forgive me:-) Anyway, around 4:30 PM we had our first child and the world has never been the same! Thanx John and happy birthday!

20-year high school reunion - part 1

Well, our 20-year high school reunion was a blast! I worried that I would have trouble identifying everyone but once Melinda and I got there we had no trouble at all. It was just like we were passing these folks again in the halls. A few changed hairlines and wastelines but everyone pretty much looked the same. Here are some highlights:

Sherri, Mel, me, Tony and his wife Hope.

Doug, me, and Ora...

Mario who became (and still is) a Navy SEAL!

Robin Angie & April, with Mel.

20-year high school reunion tonight

Well, it's been 20 years since Melinda and I graduated from high school and tonight we are going to our 20-year reunion! Looking forward to seeing some faces from long ago. A lot has changed since 1987; especially hairlines and wastelines, but the bond of friends going thru the high school years together can never be broken. I will be sure to Bobserve and post photos from the reunion so check back later. Here is a photo of us with Andrea back in June of '87.

Canadian Geese

No, they're not flying south for the winter...yet. Just a cool photo I took on a hillside of some Canadian geese flying through a valley. I was at their elevation and rarely do you see them flying in 'V' formation from the same height.

Happy Birthday Aunt Jeannie!

FLASHBACK OF THE WEEK: Summer 1983

Ah, the summers of our youth! When I was growing up, my sister Mary and I would always look forward to spending time with our cousins Gary & Donna. Me and Gary would spend the whole day going creekin' or trying to come up with new ways to sabotage anything Mary and Donna were doing. I remember one time when Gary & Donna spent the night at our place when me and Gary stayed up all night playing Atari and waiting for the sun to come up so we could go outside and play Nerf football! What were we thinking??? Judging from this photo, it may have been the previous night that we stayed up...Gary looks like he's sleeping standing up and I have this blank smile on my face as if my brain activity is at an all-time low. Then again, it may have just been our normal state of mind... Tons of fun and memories to fill a warehouse!

Praying Mantis

I have always loved to watch a praying mantis in action. They blend in (usually) with their surrounding vegetation; sway with the wind as they slowly creep closer to their prey; then, with lightening-quick speed, they strike and grab their lunch. This guy is not doing too well blending in but a few moments later he was back in the bright green ivy on the hunt for a stray moth or fly. It's very cool how they swivel their heads and follow you as you walk around them. And they are probably all over the place and we just don't see 'em.

Grandma & Grandpa visit

Had a very nice visit from my mom & step-dad today. They brought over lots of school supplies so now everyone is ready to go whether they want to or not... They also brought Katie Grace some coloring books and she got some help coloring from Grandma. Lunch was a bunch of hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and other goodies as well. The deserts are still slowing me down... It was very hot but that didn't keep us inside the whole time. Katie Grace wanted to have them swing with her on the swing set and John had some watermelons and tomatoes in his garden to show them. Nothing better than a hot summer day cookout with Grandma & Grandpa!

Hey, it's Ringo Starr!

I'm a huge Beatle fan and so saying hi to Ringo Starr was pretty cool. I was in San Diego back in 2000 for a conference and stayed at this great little hotel called Humphrey's Half Moon Inn. It had 2-stories with an outdoor commons area in the middle that included a heated swimming pool, hot tub, ping pong table, putting area, and an outdoor concert venue that seats about 2,000 (just a guess). Anyway, whenever anyone performs there in the evening you are likely to see them around the pool during the day or just passing by from their room to the parking lot. Well, Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band was to perform one evening so I tucked my camera in my pocket and sat down at a table by the pool. Then he just came walking by with no fanfare (unlike he faced in the 60's). I snapped my photo and exchanged hellos as he walked by. The nice part about that hotel is that you can just go out to the pool area and take in a free concert which is what I did with my friend Dave and his 2 co-workers who were also staying at the Humphrey's.

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At work with "Dr. Bob"

So here I am at work, pausing only for a moment (of course) to have this photo taken and then back to cranking on maps and committee reports for a special sign district. Sounds exciting doesn't it!!! I didn't think so. Well, it gets the bills paid. Anyway, I also decided to take a photo of my pop can lamp that John made me from an empty can of Dr. Bob cola. I love it. This Dr. Pepper rip-off brand can be found in Tennessee near Knoxville. My boss saw it and bought me a case a few years ago. Too bad the stuff tasted like gutter syrup. Yuk. But I love the can and the lamp! OK, now back to saving the county...

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