Evelyn's AWESOMENESS

So I just wanted to share a bit on how AWESOME our daughter Evelyn is.


Things she has recently started to do that makes her AWESOME:

- She can give high fives... yep come over and ask for one, she will give you one! :)

- Her favorite word is not "NO", she actually likes to say yes a lot, well she doesn't say it yet, she nods her head.

- She can say 'Hi' and 'Bye' and wave to you... she likes to do this a lot.

- She says 'mom-mom' and 'da-da' and knows who we are, and is still working on saying the right one to the right parent consistently, but she is getting really good at this.

- She is really really good at communicating with us now... pretty much she signals something and we can ask her what she wants and she will nod or shake her head... pretty awesome!

- She will give us kisses (or tease us) when we ask for them.

- She loves her dog and loves to play with him, and always needs to know where he is, as well as give him hugs and kisses regularly (more than her mom and dad *jealous*).


OK that is what I have at the moment, I had a 'wow our daughter is amazing and awesome and the best thing in the world moment' this morning and I wanted to share! :) And I miss her and can't wait to see her when I get home! :)  are you feeling the love? Come on over for a visit, she loves visitors who play with her! :) Yeah I need some pictures up... I will work on some pictures soon! :)

Week 3 Trivia - Science

Hello all, sorry for the delay in the trivia this week... sick baby and trying to catch up on sleep puts the trivia on the back burner. We chose a science theme this week. These questions, as all our trivia questions, are designed to be a little challenging... we want to work your brain! :)  But these are also designed to be more general knowledge. Mike even came up with a few and I made sure he could answer or at least have a good guess at the ones I came up with (he also made me take out a couple that he "didn't like"). So here goes. Good luck, and try to answer on your own, but hey we don't grade you so whatever! :)


1) What lies within (almost) every cell in your body and determines (mostly) who you are? DNA

2) Proteins are important molecules in your body that perform specific functions, what are they made up of? Amino Acids

3) The heart is the first functional organ during development, how soon after conception does a human heart beat? 21 days

4) What do vaccines stimulate the production of (these help to fight off the infection of the disease)? Antibodies

5) A "cold" is what kind of infection? Bonus: What is the scientific name of most common form of cold? Colds are caused by viruses and the most common cold virus is called the rhinovirus

6) A genetic trait can be dominant, meaning shows up in the offspring if at least one parent has the trait, what is the term for the opposite of dominant (meaning you have to have two copies of the trait for the trait to be seen)? Hint: starts with "R" recessive is what I was looking for. Rare genetic disorders are usually recessive meaning the mom and dad both pass on a variant (mutaion) that causes the disease.


7) How many chromosomes do humans have? Bonus: What combination makes a female and what combo makes a male? Humans have 46 chromosomes 23 pairs. 22 pairs are autosomes and 1 pair is the sex chromosomes if you are a female you have XX chromosome pair and males have XY chromosome pair. And gender is ALWAYS determined by the father... they pass either X or Y to the child determining the gender (it is sad there are cultures out there still that will kill a woman cause she did not provide the man with a son!).

8) These structures attach muscle to bone? tendons

9) The largest artery in the body is the? aorta

10) What is the positively charged particle in the nucleus of an atom called? proton

Parenting Woes

I have decided that the most difficult part of parenting, for me, and probably for most people, is when your child is sick. Evelyn has had her fair share of sicknesses, and this is increased most likely by the fact that she goes to a daycare with other children and they are really good incubators that love to share germs! :)  I know that this is good in the long run because she is building up a really good, strong immune system, but this doesn't help make the baby, or the mommy and daddy feel any better when the baby feels so crummy.

The last few days have been some of the hardest for me as mommy (daddy is better at this, he has better patience and is not as much of a perfectionist). What really bothers me in particular is my feeling of helplessness, most of the time there is not much you can do but hold them and cuddle them, don't get me wrong, I love this, but when they have a stuffy nose and can't breathe, or want to only drink milk which will cause them to throw up, this just breaks the mommy's heart.

The last few days, Evelyn has been throwing up at night, no other real symptoms, she would be sleeping and wake up crying (not completely unusual for her, but we can usually get her back to sleep in a minute or two) but the past few nights it was a really upset cry and we could calm her but she would cry again in like 10-15 minutes and then the third time crying hard she would cough and then empty her tummy! :(  I think what bothered me most here is that I am a pretty logical thinking, there is a cause to an effect, and I could not find out the cause to this effect, and when I cannot determine that, that is when my temper and frustration escalates! Dealing with a baby that throws up on everything is quite the process. To get them back to sleep, striping the whole bed and trying to wash out things all while cleaning, comforting, and changing the baby... and on top of it you all lose sleep! I have decided that vomiting in the middle of the night is the worst thing for a sick baby... that and probably when they won't sleep cause that is just bad news for everyone too!

So in these times of desperation, parents must do what they can to keep everyone safe, sane, and happy. For us this meant letting Evelyn get comfy cozy in bed with us! Boy, Mike and I are really happy we decided to get a king size bed. All three off us in there can get a bit crowded (and add Indy who is a bed hog), but somehow still I seem to be the one with the least amount of space (but I get the most cuddle time! :) ) Then my mommy worries kick in (and I hope I am not the only one that does this) and I am thinking oh darn we are creating a monster that will only sleep in mommy and daddy's bed... Sometimes I feel like I have to make myself a switch to turn off those nagging mommy worries and say, you have to make choices in life and when a choice creates a different problem, you deal with it when you get there. Right now I need to love the choice we have made and love the extra cuddle time I have gained! :)

Thoughts of a Dad

Being a dad is great. Evelyn's first year has flown by, along with my first year of being a dad. It is interesting to think back, before Evelyn, at how I thought I would be as a dad; and how it really is now that I am a dad.

At first, I thought I would be really hands on and helping out as much as possible, so Kala would be able to count on me and rely on me whenever she needed me. I thought I would be able to comfort Evelyn when no one else could. Or make her stop crying just by holding her close. Changing her diaper would be a breeze (I had only ever changed one diaper before Evie and I put that one on backwards). I had all of these ideas on how I should be or what I should be doing. And I think Kala had some ideas on how she thought I would be too. So I didn't want to let her down.

When Evelyn came into the world I was right there by Kala's side (well actually her head because she had a C-section) and I was a little nervous that I couldn't handle being a dad. Was I ready? Were we ready? Can we do this? Can I do this? All of this went through my mind as I was standing there, but then I saw Evelyn for the first time and I was instantly hers, forever. She had stolen my heart with her beautiful blue eyes and I wasn't getting it back.

In the hospital I did as much as I could to try and give Kala time to recover. Evelyn was so alert and aware of what was going on that it seemed like we had a two week old, instead of a 2 day old. I stayed home with Kala the first two days we were at home. It was wonderful. Evelyn was sleeping good and eating pretty well. We had decided that breast feeding would be the route we would go, so Kala was handling all of the feedings. This is the first thing that really didn't go as I thought it would. I really thought I would be able to help out more with night feedings and pretty much do it whenever I could. But that was not how things went. In order for Kala to keep up her production, and so everyone got the most sleep, she feed Evelyn at night. Along with the feedings, Kala was the one that got that precious bonding time with Evelyn. So I missed out on it. But it was something we couldn't really avoid when you are breastfeeding.

When Kala went back to work the first week in March and Evelyn started going by her sitter; the days, weeks and months started to fly by. Evelyn was slowly becoming her own little person, with her own personality. She was a big mama’s girl during these months. I would play with her as much as I could, help with baths and bed time. But when push came to shove she wanted to go by her mom. Another thing that didn’t go as I thought it would. I took it a little personal at first. Why was Kala getting all the attention? What did I do wrong? But Kala kept telling me that it was just a phase and she would be a daddy’s girl soon enough.

As the summer months past in a blur, Evelyn began crawling, pulling up on things (in early August), walking (Labor day weekend) and eating solid foods. Another change that we started seeing was Evelyn would want to come by me a little more than in the past. I took over meal time when we started doing more solid foods (I have a little more patience then my lovely wife does) and was also able to help out more at bedtime. I think these changes really gave me more of a connection with Evelyn that I was missing in the early months.

This change continued into the holiday season and you could say that the tables have turn in the past year. Evelyn is a pretty big daddy’s girl right now. She will come to me when she is hungry, sleepy, wants me to read her a book or just wants to hang out for a few minutes. Mommy can still get hugs and bath time is still their special time but Evelyn now comes to me when she needs to be rescued. I remind Kala that it is just a phase and she will again be a mommy’s girl soon enough but secretly I am hoping that she stays a daddy’s girl forever.

Week 2 Trivia - Food and Drink

This week's theme/category for our trivia questions is food and drink. Some questions have multiple parts to them so please pay attention to that. A few of the questions we would not expect you to know off the top of your head so feel free to try and find them online.

We have posted the answers to last week's trivia question. They are included, in red, in the previous post. We hope you enjoyed the movie theme because it will probably be making a comeback in a few weeks.

Hopefully you enjoy week two of trivia, now on to the questions. Good luck!

1.) Where was the first pizza made (city and country) and what three ingredients are on a traditional Pizza Marghertia?  Naples, Italy (where uncle Pat is from). On the pizza Margherita there are tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil. These ingredients were chosen to represent the colors of the Italian flag and this was the first pizza to add cheese. (Wikipedia)

2.) What is the term for a popped kernel of popcorn and what is the term for the kernels that did not pop? Popped corn is called a "flake" and unpopped kernels are called "old maids". (Wikipedia)

3.) What was the Snickers candy bar named after? (This is one you will probably have to look up) named after the favorite horse of the Mars family. (Wikipedia)

4.) What animal’s milk is used to make authentic Italian mozzarella cheese? water buffalo

5.) What is the literal meaning of the Italian word linguine? "little tongues"

6.) How may Coca-Colas will be consumed worldwide during the next hour: (a) 17 million; (b) 27 million; or (c) 37 million? The answer is B

7.) What is the oldest know written recipe for? Beer

8.) What brew is known as "The Champagne of Bottled Beers'"? High Life!!

9.) What product was touted as "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous"? Schlitz

10.) Name the drink whose original recipe consist of the following ingredients/directions?  'Old Fashioned' This name came around after the prohibition ended, when the German immegrants would want their whiskey the 'old fashioned' way, meaning they wanted it doctored up with the ingredients below, which they made it like this during prohibition because the illegal booze was so terrible.

• Place sugar cube in a glass and saturate with bitter, add a dash of soda water. Muddle until dissolved. Fill the glass with ice cubes and add whiskey. Garnish with orange slice, lemon twist and two maraschino cherries.

Ode to our Pup

Before Evelyn came along we had our little fur baby Indy.... he ruled the roost since we got him in September of 2009. Indy named after Indiana Jones (not racing) is a shih tzu. He is a spunky fun loving little guy who is a lover! Indy is a snuggler and is always a sweetheart, (sometimes too much of a lover, he gets really excited about visitors, sorry frequent visitors). Sometime he is a little stinker, but hey, aren't we all! :) The day we brought Evelyn home they were instant buddies, I was worried about how he would handle it but he was really good! He wanted to play with baby toys at first but we broke that from him pretty quick. Their friendship progressed so much to the point where Evelyn can now play fetch with him, they play tug-of-war, and I think Indy might get the most hugs out of anyone in the family (yeah I am jealous!) Mike and I often talk about how we could not imagine what it would be like without him, and I am pretty sure Evelyn would not have near as much fun at home if he were not here to give her puppy kisses everyday. Oh and his new favorite spot is right next to the high chair at any eating time (we are happy to have a live vacuum)!

This is Indy's first year in a nutshell, top left, Sept '09; top middle, Oct '09; bottom left, Nov '09; bottom middle Dec '09; and big picture to the right is July '10, his first birthday!



First meeting and first few sweat moments where their friendship blossomed!




I find this series funny when put in order, Indy came up to smell Evelyn, and well she farted and he heard it obviously, and then he had to go and sniff it... nothing like solidifying a friendship over poo.




They who cry (and/or yawn) together stay together! :)




In these he assumed the role of puppy protector.




Indy's love of attention did not go down, if anything it got stronger!




Baby kisses, foot tugs, or smacks in the face never deterred Indy.



Indy is always by her side as a partner in crime, there to give kisses, and always available for hugs! :)




Indy lets Evelyn walk him/follow the string, play tug of war, and help get into anything she is getting into! :) Best of Friends!



Week 1 Trivia - Movie Quotes - With Answers In Red

This is our first weekly trivia post. Once a week we will be posting 5-10 trivia questions for your enjoyment. If you would like to participate please leave your answers in the comment section and check back later in the week for the "official" answers. 

A quick note: Google is an amazing tool, but because this is for fun and not a competition try and answer the question with your own knowledge first. Then if you want to look up the answers later feel free.

Each week Kala and I will try to have a theme/category to our questions. This week; Movie quotes. We will give you the movie quote and the year of the movie (a few quotes have bonus questions) and you try and come up with what movie it is from. We will start out with a few easy ones but they will get harder. Good luck! On to the questions....

1.) In which 2003 movie, does the main character refer to himself as a "cotton-headed ninny-muggins"? Who plays the title character? The movie is Elf and Will Ferrel plays Buddy.

2.) Which 1991 movie (which Kala is seeing this weekend in theaters in 3D) had a fun-loving character say while giving a tour "If it's not Baroque, don't fix it!"? What is that characters name? The movie is Beauty and the Beast and the character who said this is Cogsworth.

3.) "And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!" is from what 1995 movie? Braveheart!

4.) In which 1992 movie does the character Joseph Donnelly say "You're a corker, Shannon. What a corker you are." and which actor plays Joseph and which actress plays Shannon? Far and Away is the the movie. Tom Cruise plays Joesph, while Nicole Kidman plays Shannon.

5.) "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends" comes from what 2001 film which was the beginning of this huge franchise? Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone.

6.) "I shall call him Squishy. And he shall be mine. And he shall be MY Squishy" is from what 2003 animated film? Finding Nemo.

7.) In which 1987 film does the main character say "I'm scared of everything. I'm scared of what I saw. I'm scared of what I did, of who I am. And most of all... I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life, the way I feel when I'm with you." What is the main characters nickname? The movie is one of Kala's favorites, Dirty Dancing and the main character is Frances "Baby" Houseman.

8.) "He is the cheese to my macaroni." is from what 2007 comedy? Juno.

9.) "I'm gonna punch you in the ovary, that's what I'm gonna do. A straight shot, right to the babymaker." is from what 2004 comedy/cult hit? One of Mike's favorite movies to quote; Anchorman.

10.) And probably the hardest quote and I feel the most true comes from this brilliant 1994 movie "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." The great movie and an all time favorite of ours is Shawshank Redemption!

Games

Hopefully everyone is enjoying Kala's family blog project. I know I enjoy reading them even though, for the most part, I am right in the middle of what she is writing about.

I have been wanting to put up another post but have been busy with things and really have not known what to write about. But I have come up with two ideas this afternoon. One I will be writing about now and the other I will save for a later date.

On to today's post, games!  If you know Kala and I and have hung out with either of us you have probably played a game of some sort with us. We both love games (and want Evie to be big enough where she can play games with us too) and have fun playing any type of game. Our love for games has allowed us to play a wide variety of games and I would like to share a few of our favorites.

Board Games:

Settlers of Catan: A relative new game to us, in Settlers players assume the roles of settlers, each attempting to build and develop their settlement while trading and acquiring resources. Players are rewarded points as their settlements grow; the first to reach a set number of points is the winner. It is a little like Monopoly but with a faster pace and probably more fun for most people.  The basic game is for 2-4 players but there is an expansion pack making it a 2-6 player game. Kala and I even bought the App for our Ipad and now are able to play it anytime or place we want.

Hoopla: Kala and I have had Hoopla since around the end of our high school life. But today it is quite hard to find due to the company not producing the game anymore. The best part about Hoopla is everyone is on the same team, and to win, your team has to guess all of the cards that were distributed at the start of the game before the timer goes off. Each player receives four cards to start out with and you go around in a circle trying to either draw, act or use different words to try and get your teammates to guess what card you have. It is extremely fun, doesn't take that long to play and can have 2 or more players.

Wizard: Wizard is a card game we were introduce to by our friends Gary and Chuck. The game play is a little like sheepshead if you have ever played that but if you are not a fan of sheepshead don't let that deter you. There are a set amount of rounds depending on how many players there are (only 3-6 players can play at a time) and you bid at the beginning of a specific round how many tricks you are going to take. The deck is a standard 52 card deck with eight additions: 4 Wizard cards which are the highest card in the game. (the first wizard played in a trick wins the trick automatically) and 4 Jester cards which are the lowest card in the game (it is pretty much a throw away card but can be used to save yourself from getting an unwanted trick). A player then gets points for correctly getting the amount of tricks you bid at the beginning of the round and lose points for incorrect bids. It is a highly competitive game but a lot of fun.

Balderdash: Balderdash is a board game of bluffing and trivia where you rarely know the correct answer but are rewarded for clever and creative answers. Play moves around in a circle and each player takes turns being the "dasher" or the person who chooses the category the question is read from. The categories that are offered are obscure acronyms, dates, names, and movie titles, for which the players have to provide full names, major events, major accomplishments, and plot summaries, respectively. The die is used for choosing what category will be chosen from the card. Points are rewarded for various things. Another extremely fun and witty game for 2 or more players.

Some other games we enjoy playing on either the Ipad or with a game board are: Life, Trivial Pursuit (the older edition is a little hard for us young folks), Family Feud, Monopoly, Pictionary, Scrabble, Scene It (any edition), Scategories, Clue, Boggle and Risk, among many others.

If anyone is interested in playing any of these games or others please let us know and we would be happy to host a game night or two. If anyone has a suggestion of a new fun game out there please post in the comments section for all to enjoy.

Because we love games and trivia so much, Kala and I will be doing a weekly Trivia game as a blog post. Each week either Sunday, Monday or Tuesday we will post 5-10 trivia type questions, if you would like to participate just post your answers to the questions in the comment section and at the end of the week we will post the correct answers. Hopefully people will enjoy our little game and find the questions challenging and fun.

Until next time!

Birthday weekend

SO this weekend was great! They always seem too fast these days, but that is life I guess! Yesterday it was my birthday and I turned 27! exciting right! :) Well I never make too much of a deal of my birthday, but yesterday it happened to be my Father's side of the family's big Christmas party (about 60 people attend!). It was a great way to spend my birthday I could not have done anything better! :) I am truly blessed with such amazing family members, my immediate family, extended families, and my family in law, we have such great family ties it is truly wonderful!!

This weekend also brought me a feeling of a little sadness because my baby is getting so big and so much smarter, she amazes me. For example, she started to play with her little baby dolls in a really "grown up" way, she was cradling them, hugging them, walking them in her stroller, giving the dolly her pacifier, and putting the baby in a blanket. I was so amazed and asked Mike where the heck she learned that from, he thought it was from us and just the way we care for her. I don't know, but the fact that she is really really starting to put things together and make sense of her little world amazes me. She is definitely getting older which makes me a little sad. However, I still got to take a nap with her today on our lazy Sunday, those moments are so precious to me! I love my life and my wonderful little family. SO I thought I would share some family pictures we took over the last year. Enjoy! :)

This was our very first family picture right after Evelyn was born and our first professional family picture, Evelyn was just 3 weeks old.

I know the pictures to the left are not really a whole picture, but we took them when the Packers were making their playoff run for their super bowl winning season last year, we were so happy that Evelyn was alive when there was a super bowl winning Packer team, and now they will repeat this year (my prediction). The picture to the right is a nice self portrait, we tried to get Indy in too but it didn't work, this was from mid March.

Picture on the left is our 6 month photo shoot with McManigal, I really love this one and we have a big canvas of it! On the right is another family picture here it is 4th of July and we are out on Donna & Bruce's pontoon, enjoying the lake!

The left picture is from a family wedding we attended in September, we had such a great time. On the right is our most recent family picture from early December. I love our family! :)

Miss Evelyn Rose Christmas

Well it is now a whole week past our baby girl's first birthday... she is such a joy! :) Don't get me wrong, she is a handful... wow walking at 8 months was fun at first, but now after chasing her for 4 months and her endless curiosity and strange affinity for anything "bad for her" I am down right tired! :)  It is a good tired, Mike and I could not imagine our lives without her.  We often joke we have no friends (yes our family is our friends, don't get offended guys) but we really don't do much, but at the same time we are so busy and have like no time... how does that work?!?  I guess it is all perspective. I have been thinking of this a lot lately, perspective. When we were in college we were busy, but it is a totally different kind of busy compared to now, hence the feeling of no friends. Before we did a lot with our friends, now not so much. But now we do a lot with our Evelyn, and we love it.

Mike and I both feel sad after long weekends like the last two holiday weekends, because we get these 4 whole days (twice) with Evelyn, we get to do everything with her and then when it is time to go to work again we are sad because we have to leave her... she is our gravitational pull, we want to be with her and want to watch her and be there with every little thing she does different everyday! It is so fun! Sometimes I tease Mike that I could not handle another child, because Evelyn is a handful herself, but that is a lie, we will have at least one more (not right now, don't jump off a cliff) but we have to see where my future career path takes us.

I often try to think of the best way to describe Evelyn to people who don't know her that well, and often I think CRAZY!  Not a bad crazy, but one of those super active busy kind of crazy people! Since the day she was born she has been alert and active, seriously, the nurses in the hospital commented many times on how alert and active she was for a newborn! :) Those couple of days in the hospital should have given me better warning (now thinking in retrospect) that this little person we created would keep us busy! Well she did follow this pattern by having very strong head and neck support right away, not sleeping long stretches, and needing to eat often (since she burned all her calories). Then she rolled over pretty early, and almost skipped crawling and went straight to pulling up on things and then barely even scooted along furniture and went straight to full walking just a few days after she turned 8 months old. I feel like our life has been a whirlwind this first year of her life, and part of that is probably due to her go, go, go personality. I really don't think she sits ever, the places she likes to sit is in rockers where she can still move! :) She is silly, funny, and curious. I love her curiosity right now, she has become an excellent pointer, and wow if you hold her, get ready to explain everything within her visual field! Mike and I also joke that she is a 1 year old who thinks she is like 5-7 (or 16)... she thinks she can do everything, especially when following her cousins around! :) She is a lover, she will tease you lots, but she is a lover. She loves to hug Indy our dog, I think he gets the most hugs out of anyone! But she will always give me her little love pats when I pick her up, like she is comforting me or something. She has learned to give kisses when asked for them, but she will tease you for a while first, like give mommy two kisses before she gives daddy one! :) She is just the light of our life and we can not wait to watch her grow everyday for years to come! :) Pictures will be added later when I am at home, it is hard for me to choose which ones to share, I love them all!

The first picture on the left is the day Evelyn was born, followed by (left ot right) 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months old.



(left to right) 4 months, 5 months, and 6 months old.



(left to right) 7 months, 8 months, and 9 months old.

(left to right) 10 months, 11 months, birthday party, and 12 months old.

The Geek in us all!

So I was thinking, that most people will find the title to this blog amusing, and you should. I meant for it to be funny, but also because it is true. As most of you know I am a science geek... well you could even be more specific as to say a DNA geek. I love Genetics (specifically medical genetics) and everything about it... that is why it is the career I am in! Brilliant! :) But as I was watching one of my favorite shows, BONES, last night, I was thinking about how so many of us (even you who pretend to not like science) have little geeks inside! :) Bones is a pretty popular show and the main character is a huge, I mean I am not even anywhere close to, huge geek, but ultra brilliant (I know it is a show, but it is based off a real forensic anthropologist). Lots of people like Bones, but 2 other popular shows that I love, and I know many others do too, are Big Band Theory and House.... both full of BRILLIANT science geeks thank you very much!  I am not a stones throw close to any of these individuals, but I love that they are on TV and there are many "normal" people out there who enjoy them! This makes me happy. I have been toying with the idea of teaching in my future, because one thing I love, is to be excited about science and to share and pass that excitement on to others. Therefore I believe there is a little geek inside us all, granted I know there are some out there that genuinely hate science (tear) but they probably have another geeky quality, lets face it there are lots of options! :) 

Recently I have been thinking of the very specific knowledge sets that people have to have in their given careers and I find it fascinating! I have often told Mike, that I don't like being called smart, cause I really don't think that I am, I have perhaps a slightly higher knowledge base in a very very specific field (and I am probably on the "dumb" end of this group of individuals) but I feel like I know near nothing, about frankly, everything else! Therefore I am not "smart"! The people who think they know everything, well that is annoying, because it is impossible... even my favorite shows have that aspect... these individuals who are brilliant lack in other areas (these tend to be social) so even they who are above all the rest, can not say they know it all. What I am getting at is that we should all embrace our inner geek and squash out the "know it all" and if you are around the many "know it alls" out there, I feel sorry for you to have to deal with them, but I also feel very sorry for them, because the fact they think they know everything means they know so little. There is an essay article in the Journal of Cell Science, it is a great article, it is titled "The importance of stupidity in scientific research". It really hits it on the head for me and my field, but I think people can get a lot from it, if you are interested just ask me and I can share it with you! :)  Thanks for sharing in my random thought for the day! :)

Guest Writer

My lovely wife has asked if I would like to add a post or two to her great new blog and I have accepted the challenge. From time to time you will see a post from me (Mike (husband to Kala, dad to Evelyn and all around good guy)). I was thinking of things that I could write about for my first post; our family life, what we are up to or just random thoughts. I decided to make a list (I love lists - probably something you didn't know about me) of things I would like to accomplish/do this year. So here goes!

1. Ice fish more than once this year.
2. Make more money.
3. Loose some weight (isn't this every one's goal, every year).
4. Catch more fish when we are up north.
5. Take a vacation somewhere out of state/country.
6. Play fetch with Indy (our dog) more.
7. Enjoy the weddings we have this year (alcohol may be involved, plus I am standing up in one so what is not to enjoy).
8. Make Italian liquor for when Evelyn gets married.
9. Shoot a deer during gun hunting.
10. Go to the zoo more (we have a zoo pass, so if anyone wants to tag along with us you are more then welcome).
11. Cook more delicious dinners.
12. Go to more Brewer games.
13. Make Kala laugh and smile more then she already does :)
14. Enjoy the holiday season a little more.
15. Make sure Evelyn doesn't grow up to fast (this could be a hard one seeing how she thinks she is a 2 year old already)

There you go, my first post and a little insight into what I would like to do this year.

New Year Goal

Hello all,

Well there is probably no one reading this now, cause only 2 people know of it, Mike of course, he knows every move I ever make, and the wonderful Katie E who set up this awesome place for me!! :) This will be my first post, so it might be read in the future, but I just wanted to say that this is something I have wanted to do for a while. I don't know if people will read it, and that is ok, but I wanted to be able to share things in my life and in my mind with people I care about. One thing I wish for is to have more time in a day, but that will never happen, so this will be an avenue that I can talk to people and update people. Many of you I do not get to see regularly but I have been touched and honored to have so many wonderful people in my life. It is impossible to keep up with all of them(/you), but I do not want to loose them(/you) either, so here is my shot! :)  I hope I do well at this blogging business! Most likely the contents will consist of things about Evelyn, since she is the light of our lives. To get started I will post some pictures of her... if I can learn how (I am a fast learner, usually) :)  Her pictures are done by McManigal Photography, they are wonderful! I recommend them to anyone and can give you their information if you need/want it.

This is our Evelyn, it is a totally "her" kind of picture... she is the most active crazy, fun loving little person on the planet!

This captures her beauty, hard to believe I ever thought that when I was pregnant we were going to have an ugly baby... wow did we luck out with such a beauty, daddy will have lots of gun cleaning parties in the future!

I love this one, another "her" pose. She is such a ham!