Puppet Show in Bloomington

Miriam and Thaddeus put on a puppet show for The Sister and I. It's fun to see what they'll come up with once they start feeding on each other. In any case, we enjoyed it.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

What a great time of year. Everyone comes together to try to be their best.

My father-in-law was one of Santa's helpers this year (again) and took we took the opportunity while he visited to get some pictures.

Have a great new year!

Santa and my girls

Gwendolyn gets respect!

It seems like it's video week here . .

A friend captured Gwendolyn's entry at the Elm Grove talent show.

The microphone was off for the first half of the performance but she didn't mind too much.

The beautiful woman playing the role of a background singer is my wife, Susan!

It's recital day!

Miriam:


Gwendolyn:

RomanDA Breaks 4 Boards

My friend David sent me a video of him breaking some boards. One MORE reason not to mess with him! Look at the poor guys face when the board hits his hands.

Barenaked Ladies fan video

I haven't posted in forever so we'll just ease into it.

One of those bands I like but never get around to buying had an air-guitar competition: here's a video of the results:

Gene Cole has died

My brother-in-law's father passed away yesterday. Gene seemed a good guy and will be missed.

My thoughts go out to Gene's sons, their wives, and kids.

From an email from my sister:

It is with deep regret that I announce the passing of Gene Cole, Jason’s dad. He died peacefully this morning in the company of some of his family after staying up late watching the Seattle Seahawks win on Monday night football and getting up early to play his computer. For anyone who knew Gene, I don’t know that he could have scripted anything better.

. . . .

Gene always felt like lighting a candle was an excellent way to wish for something or send good thoughts someone’s way. Tonight we talked over a candlelit dinner, reflected on life (Gene’s and ours), and marveled at how truly blessed we are.

Happy Halloween Gwendolyn and Miriam!

Miriam's Storybook parade

She posed the whole way around the parade route. LOL


 

Pumpkin carving

The little girls and I carved some pumkins. They turned out pretty well.

 

Halloween '03 : The last year I dressed up

I know I'm going to regret this.

In 2003 there was a contest at work with basketball tickets on the line. Michelle had wanted to go to a game and this seemed like a good oppertunity to score some tickets.

The night before Susan and I had gone to a Halloween party with her dressed as Leia and me as Luke.

I didn't think either costume would win on its own . . but a combination might.

And it did.

Was it worth it? Yes. And I'd do it again for her. 

Miriam's Tap Class

I think all little girls look cute in tutus but mine especially so.


 

My Sister Sarah

When I started this blog I made a list of things I wanted to talk about. Some of them were lost because they weren't timely. Some faded away because my interests changed. One was too hard every time I started it.

I'm going to try again and this time I think I'll make it. I think it may take more than one post. It may take a lifetime of posts. It's worth the effort. And it might bring my sister Sarah some joy to see me struggle over it. I'm going to kind of creep around it for a while and see where it takes me.

I thought of her the other day. My mom had given my little girls a pile of Sarah's magazines when she was a kid; Zooboks. We were looking for animals that started with the letter 'A' and out fell pin-ups of Antonio Banderas, Liam Neesom, and I don't remember who else. Stuffed into these kids magazines. It cracked me up.

Sarah Elizabeth Klenke was born on my ninth birthday. She was the best gift I ever got. My parents had had foster kids for as long as I could remember. Kids came and went all the time; it was part of life. Sarah (or Princess at the time) was the smallest one I remember, the newest. I remember (or think I remember) that we didn't have all the equipment needed for such a new baby that she slept in a wicker laundry basket at first. She look a little like a monkey.

I miss her.

On July 7th, 2001 she died in a in a car accident. I had just returned from a vacation in New York. My family had driven and camped there and had just gotten to bed when my father called with the news. I have never felt so lost and empty. I slept for a few hours and then drove to San Antonio to help my folks close up her affairs and prepare for her funeral.

The powerpoint show below was what we came up with to represent her life. It doesn't come close to showing what an amazing girl she was.

Miriam seventh month status report

Last March Miriam burned her face pulling a cup of hot cocoa onto her face. She had second degree burns from the top of her forehead to the bottom of her chin and a few burns on her chest and arm. (Previous post - We are so very blessed)

Since then, we have kept her in a hat and slathered with sun block to prevent any uneven tanning that could become permanant.

She is doing very well and there is almost no scarring. When she gets hot or cries her face pinks up more than normal where she was burned but that too should pass.

I want to thank everyone who has reminded her to put her hat on. Her teachers at school have been great as well as the other soccer mom and babysitters and freinds.

I also want to thank everyone for all the prayers when she was healing. my friends at Wincustomize.com were a real support. 

Bill and Ann's Wedding

Good Morning!

We are gathered here today to witness Ann and Bill making promises to each other. Promises that they have already made in their hearts. Promises that will bind them through both easy and hard times. We are here to support them in those promises. We are here to celebrate those promises with them.

Bill knew that when he first held Ann's hand that he wanted to hold her hand forever. Since he held her hand he has not had a bad day. And Ann has been happier and more at peace than I have seen her in years. They are here, today, to share their happiness with you and each other. This is a celebration of the good times they've had and the good times they are going to have together. Ann and Bill wanted to thank you all for being here.

Who brings this woman to this man for marriage?

Marriage is an act of faith and personal commitment as well as moral and physical union between two people. Marriage has been described as the best and most important relationship that can exist between two human beings; the construction of their love and trust in one, it is a moral commitment that requires and deserves daily attention. Marriage should be a life-long consecration to the ideal of loving kindness, backed with the will to make it last. Life has been a hard journey and, if asked four years ago, neither one of these people would have thought they would be here today. They would have said you were crazy if you had suggested it. But a friendship that began 30 years ago has become a bond that will last the rest of their lives.

We read in "The Prophet":

True love gives nothing but itself,
and takes nothing but from itself.

Love does not possess, nor would it be possessed.

For love is sufficient unto love.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.

To awake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.

To rest at noon and meditate love’s ecstasy.

To return home at eventide with gratitude.

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips."

May I have the rings?

{get rings}

Let these rings be a constant, daily, reminder of the promises you are about to make. Let them symbolize the unbroken love you two have for each other. May the two of you, wearing these rings, grow in understanding and compassion. May the home you make together be a sanctuary.

Bill, take the ring, place it on Ann's finger, hold her hand, and repeat after
me:
I, Bill, take you Ann, to be my wife, my partner, and my truest friend.
I promise to love, comfort and encourage you.
I promise to be open and honest with you.
I promise to stay with you through the happiness and the pain,
seeing you through the tides of this life.
I will trust and honor you.
From this day forward, your people will be my people.
And as I have given you my hand to hold - so I give you my life to
keep.
{personal vow}

Ann, take the ring, place it on Bill's finger, hold her hand, , and repeat after
me:
I, Ann, take you Bill, to be my husband, my partner, and my truest friend.
I promise to love, comfort and encourage you.
I promise to be open and honest with you.
I promise to stay with you through the happiness and the pain,
seeing you through the tides of this life.
I will trust and honor you.
From this day forward, your people will be my people.
And as I have given you my hand to hold - so I give you my life to
keep.
{personal vow}

Then, by the power vested in me by the Great state of Texas, I now pronounce you husband and wife. What God has joined together, let
no one put asunder.

Bill, please kiss your wife; Ann, your husband.

Friends, family, it pleases me to introduce to you the Englehorns

The (Traditional) birthday unicycle ride

Last Christmas my sister and her husband gave me the 5 foot unicycle that had been on my list for years. I never really expected it but there it was.

It's been eight months and they had not seen me ride it. Either it was too hot or too wet or we were too busy.

But with them moving away soon and a party being thrown for my 34th birthday . . there was no better time. (especially since I had a number of beers by the time the unicycle was mentioned.)

So . . here is me, on the celebration of my 34th birthday . . acting as if I were younger than I am:

Dear Miriam [20060816]

Dear Miriam,

Today you were the cutest little thing. You are a little over three years old and most of the time you are a terror you know. You have wit and sarcasm and stubbornness already. These are things that I will enjoy when you are an adult but I dread as a teen-ager.

You play well by yourself. Today I was working out of the house and you were playing with your dolls and puppies and other toys. I loved listening to your conversations with yourself. You were sweet and firm and fun.

I love holding you. You often climb into my lap and curl up and give great snuggles.

Last night when we were tucking you and your sister Gwendolyn into bed Gwen was telling us how she still felt badly. [She was running a fever and throwing up.]So you chime in that you felt bad. Then you said, "I'm going to throw up too" followed by "My leg is broken." Your mom and I smiled and we continued to tuck you in. You started cracking up and then we had to laugh too.

Thanks for being such a good little girl.

I love you with all my heart.

Good night.

Wisconson Vacation

On Sunday, July 23rd the family and I went on vacation to Wisconson. Click on the link below to see the photo log.

Wisconson Vacation

Jun 21, 2006 - 80 Photos

New favorite applications

I'm constantly playing with this and that app. Some stay a day and some last for years.

One's that have stood the test of time are Windowblinds (for changing the look of Windows) and Multiplicity (for sharing keyboard and mouse across computers).

Some that are still being evaluated are ObjectDock and ObjectBar that replace the Windows start button and taskbar and SketchUp (a CAD-type app). I think SketchUp is OK, but I have no real use for it and it's on it's way out.

The new favorites are meebo.com and Pandora.

Meebo.com acts as a chat client that uses the GAIM engine on their servers. This allows me to chat to whomever I like at work where they block the popular chat client ports and servers. It might not be long before the company blocks the meebo.com domain but it's still an interesting use of AJAX and open source to fill a niche.

Pandora is a music service that lets you set up stations based on artists or song and then plays music that is similar. You can refine your stations by rating the songs that play or adding other songs and /or artists. If you want to hear any of my stations you can hit one of the links in the sidebar here. They have 400,000 songs in their library now and appear to be constantly adding more. A friend of mine, David Roman, has built a DesktopX interface instead of a full browser; very nice, very cool.

I was playing with ArtRage2 trial about a month ago. It's a very nice painting application that I'll try to purchase if I don't win it in the contest I entered (not looking good there).

Adria Warren Benefit

Sunday was the culmination of weeks of organizing for Susan as she put together a benefit for a friend's 15 year old daughter whose going through radiation treatments for a tumor.

Susan called in volunteers from as far away as San Antonio to help out.

We raised a ton of money, and maybe some hope too.

If you want to donate to the fund Susan set up, holler at me and I can get you the bank info.

Thaddeus plays T-ball

My nephew is very serrious about sports in general and is very into baseball.

Luckily enough, the local YMCA has a summer T-ball program.

So twice a week (or more) the Coles come up to Kingwood after work and we all catch a game. 

Gwendolyn's First Parade

Gwendolyn rode her bike in the local Independence day parade and won second place.
On getting the trophey, Gwen turned to her mom and told her that Susan should have it, "Since you did all the work."

The parade was fun and even though there was a light rain we went to Town Center to be part of the celebration. The band was pretty good and played mucic that the kids (and Susan and I) could dance to.

The fireworks were uninspiring but you can't ask for too much I guess. 

And I will call him Woody

After the rain the past week we noticed a HUGE woodpecker outside in the back yard.

The kids thought it was pretty cool and so did Susan and I.

This morning was the first chance to go outside and look at the yard.

Imagine Susan's surprise when she sees the new mulch around a dead tree we had.

Soon after she's got me out there looking.

I take the kids out when they wake from naps.
We look. We gape. I envision the work involved in cutting it down before it falls on the play house.

I love being a home-owner.

Miriam's Birthday party

I was emailing with a friend who mentioned that she liked the family bent of this wee bit of space on the web.

It was interesting that I hadn't expected it to be so familial. But the truth is that the family is the center of my life. My work schedule works around it. It's what I do with my free time. It's pretty dang cool!

So Miriam turned three Tuesday. She's not a baby anymore, she's a immature teen-ager.

We had a big party for her friends last Saturday between storms but Tuesday had a little something for the family. Pictures in the album on clicky.

The Astros Lose . . but we all win

About two weeks ago we all went to the Astros game. They lost but we all had a great time.

Today I got an invite to Picassa Web Album by Google. It allows me to upload 250MB of photos to a gallery frome Picassa.

Seems like nice enough app. We'll see. 

At the Brazilian Festival

 

Festival Movie time!!

The day started off with a water fight:



And then the dancing began:

It's Festival time!

It's been a busy-ish weekend. Today was the church festival. Here, Michelle and Gwen get in a splashing match near the booth Susan and I were working.

Proof that I was there. I might not be working, but I was there.

One of the little girls' highlights; smaching confetti eggs on me.

It's not a festival without a moon-walk.

Miriam gets a tattoo. Grandma and Grandpa would be so proud.

Miri - healed and goofy looking.

Michelle and Giselle. G is in a YMCA exchange program and is staying with us for two weeks.

The whole gang.

Miriam and Gwen go for a spin.

More spinning.

The End

'Sup with Miriam?

I've had a few people ask how Miriam is doing. It's been a while since I last took any pictures and when I do it's often times a blur because she's almost three and never stops moving. Here's a shot I took a whiel back.

You can see she still has some redness and it gets worse if she gets hot or cries.

Still, she's good. We're good. It's all good. Today is a good day.

It takes an immigrant

Michelle called me up from her boyfriend's house to ask me what I thought of the current immigration confabulation. I told her what I thought and let her go. I need to ask her later why she asked. I may or may not be flattered that she cared about my opinion.

I told her that this country was made of immigrants. People crossed the land bridge over the Bering sea. They came in canoes over the Pacific and longboat from Iceland. Immigrants came in schooners and steamships and airplanes. This country would not be without them.

The difference is that those people came to be a part of America. They wanted the part of the dream that is freedom. They sacrificed to be part of the dream though. They gave up property and history and family and language. They waited in lines. They took the worst jobs for the worst pay.

They assimilated into America at a trade. And it seems that they were happy with that trade.

The new immigrants don't strike me as having the same mind-set. The new immigrants want America to be less America and more like where they came from (mostly Mexico these days). America is a country of rules first and foremost. It's what gives us our freedom. And these immigrants are breaking a rule to even get in this country. It's a crappy way to start a relationship.

I think INS should put a fence around each rally and check for green cards and ship out everyone that's illegal. I think there should be fines and jail time for business that hire illegals. If they need the worker so badly, sponsor them and bring them in through the legal channels.

I think that if the Iraqis were to our south then we wouldn't have this issue. We'd have Americans screaming to enforce the border laws. But there is no difference. It's a law.
How is it different if every illegal was able to commit any crime, break any law with impunity?

At the arboretum

Yesterday, Sunday, was a great day. The weather was cool and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Susan and I took the kids to the Mercer Arboretum. There's lots of flowers, and birds, and bugs, and fish. There's also a really nice playground for the kids and myself.

Miriam wanted a picture of this lily.

My beautiful wife. I couldn't count the ways I love her, numbers don't go high enough.

A flutter-by

Gwendolyn at the playground.

Susan took this picture . . . such a serious little girl sometimes.

Miriam moved too fast most of the time to get a good picture, but she found this turtle and we'll let that represent her today.