The New Hopefuls

Soccer season is now over. It actually has been over for a couple of weeks, I have been so slow on getting it on the computer!!! I know T-man had fun, as for the Princess, well, I have to believe that she had more fun playing ring-around-the-rosies in the middle of the game. It was quite entertaining to watch, but a little embarrassing as a parent. T-man absolutely loves the game and has quite the competitive edge. He averaged well over 1 goal per game and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. As for the other child, we were so excited when she finally kicked the ball during the last game!! She did pretty good prancing along following the crowd around the ball but wasn't very good about getting in there. I just don't think she cared, surprise. The Little One seemed to even enjoy kicking the ball more than she did and could even dribble it (by default, the ball just seemed to stay right in front of her every little step she took) for a good ten feet. Brett informed me that I am now an official Soccer Mom and he is even ever more grateful that we made the jump to the minivan this year so we could fit the mold.

For Those Who Asked

It really isn't that great, but good enough for a PARTY!!!

'If you were a fly living in the * Neighborhood, you would quickly learn what makes this neighborhood so special. Going from house to house, wall to wall, you see the sorts of things going on that brought you here in the first place. Landing on the circle of * Way you might observe a movie being projected on the garage of the O'Very's as they host their annual back to school block party. Flying upward and onward, next you might come to the Bigler's house to see everyone pitch in laying sod so their kids will have a yard to play in. Soaring high above the streets, you will see a number of people out walking, but none getting very far because there are so many people out to stop and chat with. Then the smells of delicious food might lure you to the Jamieson's house, they just had a new baby, and the neighbors have brought in meal after meal to keep them fed for weeks. Afterall, there were only 16 babies born within one year, a small undertaking for the women of the neighborhood to provide meals for others. But the most amazing and surprising fact would be that this neighborhood has only been in existence for less than two years. It surprises you the way everyone has learned to show each other love, service and hospitality so quickly and willingly. There must be something special about this neighborhood especially since they have let you, the fly, be a part of it for so long. This is truly a neighborhood who looks out for each other, who cares for each other and who delight in the moments of getting to know each other. This is why the * neighborhood deserves an ice cream party. To give us one more reason to celebrate the joys of being neighbors.

Weekend Family Fun

This past weekend we headed to Idaho for a few days and had a family reunion. We went to the reservoir on Saturday, had a picnic at the Park on Sunday, had a Fondue and Chocolate Fountain party on Monday, and left on Tuesday, but not before we had homemade potstickers from my sister-in-law who is from Taiwan. This is my kids favorite trip, and the absolutely hate coming home. I think it has something to do with the fact that we don't see them for a few days and they can do whatever they want. They literally disappear outside or to a toy room and entertain themselves with all of their cousins. After all, there were only 20 there, plenty to choose from.

Slow Churned Neigborhood Salute

"Dear Winner,
Congratulations! After reading thousands of letters from people coast to coast telling us why their neighborhood deserves a memorable ice cream block party this summer, we are delighted to announce that your Dryer's Slow Churned Neighborhood Salute contest entry has been selected as a grand-prize winner!
Now, it's time to spread the word to your neighbors and plan your summer block party!"

That's right. I won this on-line contest and I am so excited. Brett was making fun of me for even trying but it is going to be worth it!!! I get 12 cartons of ice cream and 4 boxes of ice cream bars all courtesy of Dryer's. I also get A Party in a Box that includes everything to have the party-invitations, marker, scoops, bowls, spoons, disposable camera...you get the drift.

I know all of you are wondering how I won. I am just an amazing writer, what can I say, after all, what keeps bringing you back to my blog (ha, ha)? NO, really, it was a writing contest as to why you think your neighborhood deserves a party. My neighborhood is awesome and my neighbors make it what it is so it was easy to write about. In return to winning, I must thank all my neighbors for giving me the desire to write, and as a result, we will celebrate in September by eating ICE CREAM.

Tie for the Guy

Kid 2 brought home a paper tie for Father's Day on Sunday from church. Brett was laughing as he handed it to me to read.
The tie said:
The thing I like most about my daddy is that he: "Pops out from behind bushes and scares me".
I'm not quite sure what Brett has been up to lately, but he claims he isn't popping out from any bushes. I tried to ask her about it but she ignored me. Maybe some day I will understand.

Google Reader

Want to check out just updated blogs without having to go into every blog to see if there is a new post? I was somewhat of a doubter of this program at first, but it really does save time. It is called Google reader. You have to have a gmail account. Just log into your gmail account and at the top of the page there are some thumbnails for different options, just choose reader. Unfortunately, you do have to add all the url links, which is why it took me so long to do it, but it really works. I found that if I went in to where are all my links where anyway, under customize, that I could just copy and paste them. Then, google reader just tells you which blogs have new posts, you mark all as read and then you move on. Thanks Dave for the useful info.

Movin' On

It is hard to believe that my baby is going to kindergarten in just a few months. It really dates me. We had his preschool graduation last week and I had a hard time getting the pictures to my computer, but I finally did it!!! The kids pictured with him are the little kids he carpooled with from the neighborhood that he has become really good friends with. We are going to miss the carpool next year-we will just have to get them together to play. He was so happy that Jakers made it back for graduation-which means Jakers is doing so much better. He is in REMISSION-YEAH! The other picture is of him and his cute teacher. She was so kind and caring, but kept great structure in the classroom. We are going to miss her as well.

A Late Tribute

I tried to do this Sunday, but my computer was giving me problems. I really wanted to thank the fathers in my life. You have shown compassion, love, dedication, understanding and wisdom to me and my children. You take a certain pride in watching your children grow. You have an ability to make everyone feel special in their own way. You have taken this world and grasped it with a keen understanding and are willing to pass that on to others. Thanks for always being a role model as the head of the family and making sure your family is taken care of. What a blessing it is to have you in our lives.

Super Heros in Heels

A couple of weeks ago K2 had a little friend over to play. They played house most of the morning and she quite frequently refers to her friend as "honey" while playing house. "Honey, will you come put the baby to sleep?" "Honey, come here, Honey". It really is hiliarious to listen to. This particular day they decided to dress up. Cole Train really was intent upon being Spiderman. He wouldn't dare put the shoes on when he wasn't in costume, they were "GIRL SHOES". But it sure didn't stop him once he was Spidey. So meet the cross between Belle and Spiderman-otherwise known as SpiderBelle and the cross between Leonoardo and Cinderella- Cinderardo.

My Dancin' Queen

We had K2's dance recital on Saturday night. She was so excited...she got to wear make-up. Brett thought it was pretty scary that my 3 year old was wearing make-up. Having grown up with all brothers, he just didn't get much of the girl thing. I tried to explain to him that the lights wash faces out, but that didn't do much to ease his troubled mind. She keeps on asking me when she gets to wear it again. In 12 years sweetie!!! She was a flower and I must say she was pretty cute. I know she didn't do her full routine, but atleast she danced somewhat. I will have to try and get the footage on.

Hooked Already?

Tonight Brett was wondering why no one had made one comment yet. It made me laugh. He then preceeded to tell me how he sees how one could get hooked on blogging, he alreay is hooked. He wants people to read his stuff and rally behind him and vote. SO VOTE ALREADY!!! I don't want him to think he doesn't have any supporters in his death wish.

BRETT'S QUEST - THE REMATCH?

BRETT'S QUEST - THE REMATCH?

Yes, this is Brett and this is my first official Blog Post. I have goose bumps right now. In the last couple of weeks I have had a couple people ask me if there is going to be a Brett's Quest Rematch this summer. For those of you unfamiliar with the original Brett's Quest, here is the scenario (my wife posted the actual You Tube video on here a while back if you want to waste a few minutes of your life).

While watching track and field last summer, I casually mentioned to my wife that the women who ran the 400M hurdles looked pathetically slow. The winner ran it in 54 seconds, with last place taking about a minute. Sarah took no time, as usual, to put me in my place. She let me know that I, as a lazy and worthless husband would be lucky to even make it around the track. We then proceeded to intensely argue for the next 24 hours on whether or not I could run a similar time. To make a long story short.... a challenge was born. I had 60 seconds to run 400 meters, or once around the track. As a testament to Sarah's nurturing and caring spirit, she even decided to let me run without the hurdles. Of course, I had visions of myself flying around the track, barely breaking a sweat, as my wife, kids, and 4 spectators sat amazed at the ease in which I set the 400M record for a married, pasty white guy,who is more than 10 years out of high school. Sarah was also having visions, but visions of giving me CPR as she tried to revive me at the 300 M mark. What actually happened was somewhere in the middle. The following is the transcript of my thoughts as I participated in the inaugural Brett's Quest.


June 15, 2007
6:38 PM (I am at the track and minutes away from my historic performance) "Who cares that I haven't ran for two plus years and that I start to suck wind after going up one flight of stairs. I got this. I will not be denied! I will not be denied!"

6:40 PM "Why is everyone doubting me? I can gut this out for 60 seconds. How quick everyone forgets that I played golf and tennis in high school."

6:45 PM (I'm at the starting line, seconds away from history) "Am I really doing this? Maybe those women weren't slow at all and that they just looked slow on tv."

6:46:00 (Coming off the starting line) "Wow, I hope that didn't look as awkward as it felt."

6:46:04 PM (30 meters into the race) "Yea baby, I am cruising. This will be over in no time."

6:46:14 PM (100 meters into the race) "Was that my hammy? Something doesn't feel right."

6:46:22 PM (150 meters mark) "Oh s#&%! This was not the smartest thing to do."

6:46:30 PM (200 meters, half way point) "There is no way I can keep this up. Should I fake an injury?"

6:46:45 PM (275 meter mark) "I may not have to fake an injury. My heart is beats away from exploding. Just act cool, don't panic. Nobody knows how much pain you are in."

6:47:00 PM (350 meters into the race) "I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS! I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS! At least the hammy doesn't bother me anymore. How can I not be done yet? I swear I have been running for at least 5 minutes. Wait.... is this my first lap or my second lap?"

6:47:15 PM (Crossing the finish Line) "Did I just hear 75 seconds? I am so confused. Should I feel proud of my self or embarrassed? Who cares....I am still alive. Just play it cool and wait a few seconds until you fall uncontrollably to the ground."

6:47:30 PM (As I jog a mini victory lap while carrying a small American flag) "I feel like I just won the Olympic gold medal. If only there was another 60,000 people here and I ran about 30 seconds faster."


There you have it. The details of my first Brett's Quest experience are now out in the open. 75 seconds of pure torture. Of course, I made my wife drive the car home because I was feeling light headed and didn't want to black out on the freeway. But I survived. I am going to say it was a moral victory. So the question now is, do I try it again this summer? If I do, should I increase my life insurance policy before I run? What say ye to Brett's Quest, the Rematch?

I'm no Rachael Ray

The other day I tried a new recipe out on the family. I am always a little hesistant to do so, but I found it on a local tv show and the girl who made it said it was yummy and her kids loved it. I figured it was worth a shot. Afterall, most kids seem to have similar taste. Let's just say it was a disaster with the husband and kids. I didn't think it was that bad. As I was watching my husband slowly and steadily try and finish the thing, with the kids watching his every move to see if they actually had to do the same thing, I was getting a little itchy. I couldn't figure out what was that bad, and besides, I had made a meal for them. Then I started to get offended, but I caught myself. Why should someone else's recipe that my family didn't like make me feel bad? It is a pain to go through the effort of making a meal that isn't scarfed down, but I must admit, they did eat most of it. I have to give props to my husband because he didn't complain once, he wouldn't even rate it for me (a not so winning Nelson tradition-his dad used to rate his mothers meals much to her chagrin and it didn't always go over to well) , and he finished it. I guess I should have known from the get go that it wasn't going to be a hit when the wee little one shoved her plate to the floor after taking one look at it. Better luck next time.

The Truth (According to Me)

So, we have these friends who tell some great stories, if you want to know what I am talking about, click on the Davenport link. Now, the question is, when do we stop believing? I am a believer. I really am, but maybe that has to do with the fact that I like to tell the truth and don't THINK I tend to embellish stories. But all in all, studies have shown that the exact same thing can happen to two people and what one remembers compared to the other, can vary greatly. I don't think that makes one thing true and the other not. We all have been influenced by different things throughout our lives and different events are going to impact us differently. I may remember something better because it meant more to me than to someone else. So, when I recall that story, it will be different than what someone else remembers. The human mind really is an amazing thing. I just can't wait to get to heaven to replay the tapes. My husband and I have this ongoing thing about "the tapes". There have been very few times in our marriage that I have been wrong and my husband just can't wait to get to heaven to prove it to me (he will openly admit that I am seldom wrong, that is why he wants to rub it in). But then again, I can't wait to prove to him all the millions of times I was right, but I won't have to prove it, he already knows it.