Thursday September 1, 2011 - The View From Section EE

OK, its been way too long. This summer has to have gone by the fastest of any summer on record. Last I checked it was the beginning of May and now its September 1st! All in all, it was a good summer, minus how fast it went. Here is a recap of the summer.

In May Brianna graduated pre-school. Her ceremony was comical, because she is obviously not ours. She was placed in the middle of all the kids during songs, and we could hear her in the back the whole time. Then she was the last on to get her diploma in her class. What does she do when she receives her diploma? She walks up the platform and raises her arms like in celebration. No other kid did any thing like that. Just another sign she was a mix up in the hospital.

Then the month of June hit. Emily turned one and we took a trip to the zoo. She enjoyed it, but would much rather chase Brianna in the yard or the house. We made the mistake and bought her a little cake. The mistake was not necessarily the cake, but the frosting. She made a mess that basically stained her face, hands, and chest as she attempted to eat the cake. It wasnt a pretty scene changing the next couple days worth of diapers either.

Later on in June, we conducted our annual Kielly vacation to Okoboji. Lets just say, we walked into a bar full of former Iowa Hawkeye football players and we are so very lucky we, (I), do not have a permanent fist imprint in my face. Memory is fuzzy, but we had some unfavorable gestures and words thrown at us. We tried as hard as we could to get some good pictures, but nothing turned out.

After Okoboji, July came into the picture. Last year we went to Katie's neighborhood to participate in a 4th of July kiddie parade. Last year it rained, so fitting, this year was very hot and uncomfortable. We decorated Bri and Evan's bikes so they could ride the 5 or 6 blocks. This turned out to be a disaster. When either of these kids came to a slight decline in the sidewalk or road, they would freak out and stop their bikes. Then when they got to the straightaway part of the hill, they would pedal, very poorly, and not get very far. Then, of course, we had to push them up the hill. The general consensus is this was the last parade for these kids until they can pedal their own bikes!

Later on in July was the Baxter Fun Days Celebration. They have a really good set up for activities for the kids. The first thing they were setting up was a pie eating contest. Kristy's cousin Ashley asked if any of us wanted to be in it, and Brianna jumped right it. I had no idea she even knew what she was doing, but she enjoyed it.

One last comment before I get into some college football stuff, how in the hell do you keep a one year old out of the dog's water dish? Poor Reagan. The only time he gets to eat or drink is when the kids are in bed. Most of the time the dishes are on the counter, but Emily finds every chance to get a quick drink. At least she's not dipping her cup into the toilet. I guess time will tell.

To prepare for some football that starts in two days, we went to the Cyclone Tailgate Tour that made a stop at the Omaha Zoo. Last year Bri and I went just after Emma was born. She has a fascination with mascots, but freaks out every time she is close to one. Finally, times have changed! This year, she walked right up to Cy, put her hand on his knee and posed for a picture. Emily was cranky, so she is partially cropped out of the picture.

The college football season has begun and its time to leave all this talk of universities leaving sports conferences to the professionals that run the schools and the NCAA. At least we can watch live games and talk about what coaches did right or wrong from our ivory couches after each game.

This season is about as unpredictable for Iowa State as I can recall. Mainly because they have some decent players, but there are so many unknowns out there that prognosticators are not very kind to the Cyclones. Last year they were one feeble two point conversion pass against Nebraska to participating in a bowl game again. For us who follow Iowa State, we will take a couple bowl games and be happy. From my perspective 19 rows into the end zone, is the quarterback and wide receiver play was the key to a 5 win season. A lot of over and under thrown passes, dropped passes, and no one stepping up to make any big plays.

The reason for people to think it could be an awful year is those two positions have so much to prove. First, the quarterback has been in Iowa for 9 months and is a Junior College transfer who has not played at this type of level. Us Cyclone fans can only hope he turns out to be as good as the last Junior College quarterback, Seneca Wallace in 2001. I recall going to the season opener that year and Wallace jumped all over UNI to a 41-0 win. If Steele Jantz can produce anything similar to what Wallace did, then there is reason to be excited in Ames. Jantz cant throw the ball to himself, so hopefully the wide receivers step up and make a few plays. There is reason for hope due to Jantzs' teammate in Junior College, Aaron Horne, is now ISU's number one wide receiver. A lot depends on these two positions is the Cyclones will be in a bowl game or not.

This week is a huge game and one that I am partially neutral towards. I will wear UNI clothing, because I still owe them a boatload of money. I kind of have no choice, but I know this could be a very good game for both schools. UNI has a ton of returning talent, and if they lose to ISU, this could be their only loss all year. There is a very good possibility UNI finally brings back a football National Championship this year.

My gut tells me Iowa State wins this one, but it will be very close. Something like 24-21. The season prediction can be determined by this game alone. If ISU wins big, scores a lot of offense and shuts UNI down to less than 10 points, then they could win 6 or 7 games, if not more this year. If they win by a small margin, or even lose, then it could be a 3 win year in Ames.

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Monday May 2, 2011

Its hard to believe that its been two months since the last entry. Its been a very busy two months, with a few more busy months to go. Here is a quick recap of the past few months.

Brianna is about to graduate from pre-school. Its really hard to believe. She has been practicing for her graduation ceremony and she wont tell us what songs they will be singing. Then a few minutes later, she is singing away all the songs at the ceremony. She is pretty excited, especially to start kindergarten. Unless she fails her finals next week!

Emily is beginning the walking stage, at 11 months! She started around Easter weekend, but this weekend she was barricaded into the basement where she has been, all on her own, walking from the tables to the couch and back. About two days after she had been doing this, Brianna finally noticed. That shows how much she pays attention while watching TV.

As for me, I took the plunge and got Lasik done to my eyes. The first 30 minutes after were awful. My eyes felt so itchy and dry I wanted to scratch them out. It didnt help Kristy took forever in a Walgreens picking up the correct eye drops for me. Then she ridicules me the rest of the way home and when I had to put the goggles on to go to bed. I guess thats what I get for never having to wear glasses or contacts again and she is stuck with them! That night I was able to watch a movie that night. Definitely worth every penny, even with the ridicule.

Last weekend we went to the housewarming party of our friends Kiel and Gene in Indianola. They have a Nerf gun that Bri wanted to play with. It has sports for three darts. Brianna has some work to do on gun control. All she wanted to do was point it at people and shoot. Who better to use for a target than her 11 month old sister right?

Then we have this next picture. Thankfully, Brianna is a horrible shot and this picture was staged. She was lucky to even hit her from that distance. I guess we better start working on proper gun etiquette.

During Katie's sale we seem to always find a million things to buy, just to keep her in business. This time we found a motorized Barbie Jeep. My parents have been looking for one of these things for quite a while. After two trips to a battery store, we have this thing operational. Bri is still a terrible driver, but in an open, empty parking lot, she manages. We decided to give Emily a shot in the passenger seat. Turns out, she loved it. Even when Bri happens to slam on the breaks and Emily's head slams back and forth. Here is a picture of these two. It will definitely make for some interesting times in ten years or so.

Then we have Emily getting into everything in the house now. I guess its time to re-apply the childlocks to all the cabinets. We also need to find a solution to Reagan's food and water bowls. He may never eat or drink while we are in this stage. Emily will not drink out of a sippy cup yet, but she has no issues using a Reagan's dirty water bowl.

And I will end the pictures with an Easter one. We went to my Parents for Easter this year and Katie brought her two boys over. This was probably best picture we could manage with these four on one couch. We were lucky they even had their good Easter clothes on, and this was five minutes after they walked into the door.

Emily, Bri, Drew, and Evan.

I thought I would end with a couple videos, if they work. One is Brianna when she was surprised with the Barbie Jeep. It was a little difficult to get her to follow some directions to go outside, but thats the way she is. The second video is a short one of Emily walking. Enjoy!

Thursday February 3, 2011

By the looks of it, I am way behind. Got a little busy with a side of laziness. Here is a recap of the past two months.

Football season ended, and I was wrong once again on my prediction, that was a common theme this year. The Missouri game was far from being mild in temperature. I guess I should have expected it since it was the end of November.

Right before Christmas, Emily gave us quite the scare. A few days after her shots, she had a very crabby night. We took her in to the doctor and they couldn't find anything wrong. After we got home, the called us back in. Still, they couldn't find anything. Then after a few hours at home, and while we were all napping, Kristy went to change Emily and she had a minor seizure. So, an ambulance ride from Irvington Volunteer Fire Department ensued. (Now we will have to visit their annual street dance fundraiser this summer) After a number of hours in the ER that included a test of her spinal fluid, still no real results of why this all happened. Turns out the seizure was caused by her rapid rise in her body temperature. Now what caused that rapid rise still went undetermined. It could have been her vaccine shots a few days prior or the lingering colds that we all had for weeks. After a week or so, she slowly started to get back to normal.

Christmas came and went about as fast as I can ever remember. Both Bri and Emma made out like bandits. We went to the Portable North Pole website and created a good video from Santa Claus to Bri. Once again her face was priceless once he started to talk to her. It was so much fun listening her talk about Santa. She also got a call from him, or her Uncle Bruce, and after she became sad. We asked her what's the matter and she became sad because she was thinking of how naughty she was and was basically afraid she would get left out.
Not long after Christmas I turned the big 3-0. Had a pretty calm weekend. We went ice skating after Bri finished school. I thought for sure it was going to be my turn for an ER visit. Surprisingly, we all made out without injury. We then road tripped to Lincoln for the Iowa State vs Nebraska basketball game. Thank God Nebraska is off to the Big Ten. I can stand loses to Nebraska, especially another one point loss.

As we move on I have a common theme, doctor visits. This week Bri decides to take her chances on jumping off the steps. In her words, she jumped after the fifth step. I assumed it was fifth from the top, but she counts from the bottom. Took her to the doctor and its just a sprain. She got x-rays and everything, but after two days, she still can't walk on it. Nothing like carrying around a four year old all over the house. She is going to milk this for as long as she can.

And for a final note, my sister-in-law Alyssa and her boyfriend, Shawn should be sitting in warm and sunny South Africa right about now. They had quite the adventure just leaving the middle of our great country just to get on their flight to Port Elizabeth. Check out their blog on my list to your right to see how their semester is going. It sounds like a fun trip and we wish them the best of luck!

Thursday November 18, 2010 - The View From Section EE

For the last month our computer was on life support. I thought I was going to be on life support as well since it was our hard drive that was going bad. Thankfully, it was not bad enough that we were able to save all of our pictures for the year 2010. I guess that would result in serious injuries for myself, since I did not take the time to back up any pictures. I love how we have transitioned from cameras with film that we had to print out pictures to digital cameras where we download them to a computer. The funny thing is, computers and hard drives do not last very long. So my advice for the day, back up as much as possible all pictures and files you wish to keep.

Now that the computer is back, here are some pictures from the past few weeks.

These five are from when my sister Teresa and her husband Juan Luis came to Omaha to visit. When people come to visit Omaha, what is the main attraction? The zoo. So of course, we spent a day at the zoo with them. Brianna loves the Skyfari, the new ski lift that takes us across the zoo and back. I cant believe she loves it. She is terrified of sharks in the aquarium that have no possible way of getting her but she loves being up on a lift with no secure seat belt. The last picture is of what should be another Omaha staple. Riviera's Mexican Restaurant. It was fantastic, as usual. The margarita's definitely made the night go well. Including when Kristy realized her license had expired, five months prior.

These four are from Halloween, obviously. Brianna went as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Emily went as the Cowardly Lion. Brianna made out like a bandit for trick or treating. One in Baxter and another in Omaha.

Now to the last week of football. Its hard to believe its been 12 weeks of college football. At the beginning of the year a lot of people counted off Iowa State. They had some ugly losses and some good wins. Now it all boils down to this weekend against a Top 15 ranked Missouri game. If ISU wins, they finish with 6 wins and 6 losses. Not too good for a lot of other schools, but with a program that has not had a lot of success in its history and playing the toughest schedule in the country this year, 6-6 is a good way to end the regular season and get to a bowl game.

Things got worse when ISU's quarterback had his knee destroyed at Colorado. An ugly game by the way. A kid that had three football coaches stuck around and played the game the way its suppose to be. Its too bad his record didn't show a lot of success.

The prediction:

I want to say ISU wins this game, obviously. I am not sure they will have the strength to pull off the upset. So far this year, I picked 5 games right, and missed on 6 games. That is the same record as ISU right now. Therefore, I have to say they will pull it off. It will be a close one, and most likely an ugly one, but they pull off the win and 45,000 people try to tear the goal posts down once again.

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Saturday November 13, 2012 - The View From Section EE

This will be short.

1. I'm still not over the Nebraska game. It was so close, and they made the right call. The only problem was the pass was awful. Franklin was wide open and if the pass was thrown anywhere but 5 yards short, he would have caught it. Franklin will make a lot of money playing on Sundays.

2. Our computer has been saved! Thankfully it was just a hard drive and I was able to save all our pictures. The lesson learned: back your crap up!

3. Since the computer is back I was going to post some pictures. I get home and our neighborhood is out of power. Long story short, I realized I had a key to the house on my key ring that I completely forgot about. This lesson learned: Reagan is a good watch dog. If I broke in he may have killed me. Therefore, this is done on the last minute on my phone, again.

This weeks ISU game looks like it should be a guarantee win. There is no such thing for ISU football on the road. I honestly thought they could be Nebraska and the same goes for a road game at Colorado.

My prediction:
Iowa State: 31
Colorado: 17

Friday November 5, 2010 - The View From Section EE

Still computer issues, so no pictures. But I do have a four year old for sale. All I ask is a good cup of coffee. The dark roast is preferred, but I will take a decaf that tastes like water. She is to the point it takes us 30 times to tell her to stop doing things. Then when she gets sent to time out, she laughs at us. Even if we take things away, she still acts like everything is fine and she will get what she wants anyway. Its definitely a whole new level of frustration.

As for Emily, she is finally sleeping longer, even for me. Too bad I am not home until midnight and when she wakes up at 5:00 AM I am still tired, but something we will deal with. She is not rolling over from her back to her stomach. She will do this immediately if she is placed on her back. I can see it now, she will have a fun tumble off her changing table one of these days, and I am sure it will be under my watch.

Last week was Trick-or-Treating, and we were able to go back to Baxter so Brianna could go around town there. She was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She looked pretty cute, but once again, pictures are not available. Emily was the Cowardly Lion. She looked cute as well, but no pictures to prove it. Brianna made out well with her candy, and even a second night of Trick-or Treating in Omaha.

Now last weeks game was a good win, but not a blowout I thought could happen. This week is one of the weeks we have been waiting for all year. A year ago, ISU pulled off the miracle courtesy of 8 turnovers, and I have been living that up ever since. Its even better now that ISU beat Texas. Now when all these Husker fans ask how bad ISU will lose I just ask them how many touchdowns have they scored against Texas the past two years? The answer is 0, and two losses.

My gut feeing is they can win. I have said that since last year. I think the defense will force a few turnovers, but the offense will keep the ball long enough and put a few scores on the board. But, realistically I don't think ISU can win. So far they have played 3 top 10 teams in the country, and they have been destroyed by them all.

My prediction:

I have to stay with my guy feeling. It will be a close one, and yes, turnovers will be what wins the game for ISU.

Iowa State 17

Nebraska 10

Friday October 29, 2010 - The View From Section EE

Ok, I lied. No pictures yet. We are having major issues with our computer. We are waiting on word to see if our last back up of January 2010 will be necessary. That would be a lot of information/pictures we could lose. Just hoping one of my old co-workers can work some magic!

Last week was a blast with my sister and her husband. Once we get our computer back I will post some pictures. Its not very easy doing this from a cell phone.

Now to football, thankfully my sisters husband loves sports and football. It was a football day all last week and to top it off, we were able to watch Iowa State shock Texas in Texas. I never imagined I would see that happen this season! I thought for sure we would be witnessing true Iowa State heartbreak, but the football gods were on their side for once. Or I need to start predicting huge blowouts, see Texas Tech and Texas predictions.

This week, I could pick a prediction and be right. Kansas looks awful, and they are playing the third string quarterback. Then again, anyone to predict an ISU team to win by more that 14 could be a fool, but I'm going to do it!

My prediction:

Iowa State - 42
Kansas - 10