The Good Times Four

Rollerblading

2010-02-28T19:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the video size,

kidz are cruising

Olivia Ice Skating Skills

2010-02-28T18:16:00.000-08:00

Enjoy....

2010-02-28T17:50:00.001-08:00

I snapped a cute picture of Olivia wearing a coat that Khriss made.

Fall Soccer and New School Year

2009-08-16T09:28:00.001-07:00

School is already back in session. The girls started last week and everything has gone very well. Hannah did very well and surprisingly enjoyed class. So far, no upset stomachs or other ills.

Olivia was exciting and also did very well. Khriss had a little harder time letting Olivia get on the bus this time.

Fall soccer season also started and I have the fun of coaching both teams. Hannah's team of six won their first game. Hannah played outstanding scoring her very first goal and being one of the few to come back on defense. Olivia was a little rougher. She also scored a goal but didn't have the energy of last year.

We're Expecting

2009-05-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

Say hello to my little friends!

Khriss received her Mother's Day wish with the commitment of two pretty little kittens only a few weeks old. We still have to wait a few weeks until they are weened off of their mother but they are going to be ours.

The grey one is named Bella and the other one is named MotherLove. I originally wanted to name them "Mother Love" and "Bone", or "Pearl" and "Jam", or even "U" and "2".

Girls are excited but Olivia is a little scared still.

Crazy Olivia

2009-04-14T06:13:00.001-07:00

Olivia proudly sings a HSM3 song but is quickly distracted by something rather disgusting. You must see to believe - I hope you enjoy the laugh.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

Spring Break 2009

2009-04-12T07:50:00.000-07:00

The family departed Huntsville for four fun-filled days in Sandestin, Florida. The weather was absolutely perfect with highs in the mid 70's everyday. We arrived on a Wednesday and immediately went to the white-sand beaches with clear blue water. By Friday, the beaches were starting to get packed so we instead went swimming at the waterfall pool.

The hotel and surrounding few was perfect and we couldn't have asked for a better time.

Christmas Pictures

2009-02-22T08:20:00.001-08:00

Below is a great picture of the girls we took around Christmas time.

Danielle's Wedding

2009-02-22T08:08:00.001-08:00

This Holiday Season saw my oldest sister get married. Parents flew our family into Denver and put us up in a beautiful hotel downtown. With the exception of some very, very cold weather, and the rotating stomach bug, the trip went perfectly. Below are a couple of pictures we took of the beautiful scenery and the beautiful bride.

Unfortunately, due to sickness Khriss and Olivia missed the wedding.

Basketball Season

2009-02-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

I know I'm a few weeks late on this but it has been a busy year so far. Both girls are playing in a local church's Upward basketball program. Olivia hasn't been too involved in the games until the last two. Something has clicked on she is out there with the boys. She is the only girl on the team.

Hannah was so excited to play basketball but her enthusiasm has been curbed. I think it is probably me providing too much critique instead of letting her have fun. Needless to say, she hasn't enjoyed it as much as we had hoped. She does play good defense but doesn't want to chase rebounds. She does very well when she does play. She scored her team's first basket of the season.

62RDSTR's 46th, err 47th Birthday

2008-12-14T12:08:00.001-08:00

Today's the build date for the Corvette. Built on December 14, 1961.

The year ends on a high note as lots of work was done on the Corvette. Year started off with installing new coil springs replacing the original springs. The original springs were shot and had several spacers installed. Installed new pivot shaft bolts and did some basic cleanup scraping some surface rust off. While underneath the car, did a complete lube job.

The middle of the year was fixing a head gasket problem. I have never done work like this but with some guidance from my neighbor I was able to take the heads off, clean the block, have the original heads decked and re-installed them. Since I had the car apart, I installed some long-tube headers, place new intake manifold on, and re-tuned the carburetor. It needed it!

Towards the end of the year, work focused on a complete brake overhaul to include new rubber brake lines (replaced the ones from 1982). I had to hand build some brake lines since the brake setup is not original. Replaced the drum shoes, springs, and all other hardware kit.

Upcoming projects include rewiring the entire electrical system and hopefully getting the tachometer to work. Need to due a little adjusting on the clutch and call it quits for a little bit!

Olivia scores four

2008-11-09T06:09:00.000-08:00

Olivia tears apart the other team by scoring four, and missing on another one. This girl when she tries is fast and coordinated. The team didn't fair so well as Hannah's but Olivia enjoys the sport.

Olivia is #4

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4955164391600874283

Hannah Soccer Highlights

2008-11-09T06:03:00.000-08:00

Below are some soccer highlights from Hannah's season. The finished a perfect season off by destroying another girls team. The best game of the year was against the 6-7 year old boys.

The boys got a quick goal in the first quarter and a second goal in the second quarter. The third quarter was scoreless leaving Hannah's team trailing 2-0 entering the fourth.

Ashley scored a quick goal bringing the girls within a point of tying it. About 5 minutes later, the team got a second goal tying the game up. Parents were ecstatic jumping up and down like they won the World Cup. However, the team wasn't finished. With literally a second left, Ashley snuck the third goal of the quarter in bringing the girls victory.

Parents crowded the field and the girls couldn't believe they just scored 3 goals and beat the boys. By far the coolest part of the year!

Sorry about the video quality; anything larger seems to stink. Hannah is #6.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3278832597253079443

Tate Farms

2008-10-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

The whole family spent the day at Tate Farms where the girls enjoyed a corn bath, a cotton bowl, a few slides, and a tractor ride to pick up our new pumpkins. Both girls seemed to enjoy the corn bath the best. The bath was about 20' by 10' filled to the rim with corn.

The cotton bowl was pretty neat but they didn't enjoy that too much. In addition to the bowl, there was also a large corn maze that kept the girls busy for 20 minutes.

The highlight of the day was taking a tractor ride to go pick out a couple of pumpkins. There were acres of pumpkins just waiting to be picked. Why hire folks when you can charge and have the kids pick them?

Cathedral Caverns

2008-10-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

Grandma Staves, Dad, Mom, Hannah, and Olivia all went to Cathedral Caverns near Grant, AL. The caverns were nearly 1 mile long and while completely underground, some of the caves were 200ft high. Our tour guide Gizmo, straight from The Deliverance, kept everyone entertained.

Olivia's First Strike

2008-09-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

Watch out for # 4.

We were lucky enough to catch Olivia's first goal but it is marred with Khriss yelling at Hannah. Second part of video shows how fast Olivia is. She would have surely scored if the girls didn't grab the ball.

Trail of Tears runs through Madison

2008-09-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

The girls and I watched for about 30 minutes hundreds, maybe thousands, of motorcyclists traveling through Madison commemorating the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears was the relocation of Indian tribes from their land to areas the US government wanted them in. These trails criss-cross the Southeast. This bike ride was from Chattanooga, TN to Waterloo, AL.

I have a video of it; however, this website is giving me problems uploading any videos. Sorry folks.

Chicago Trip

2008-09-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

I spent a few days a few weeks ago in the windy city of Chicago. Unfortunately, there were no sporting events going on so several days were spent eating, doing a few tourist things, and and of course a little work - afterall, this was a work event.

My favorite part of the trip was having a few drinks in the Hancock Observation Tower which stands over 1000' above ground. There is an elevator that gives you the choice of going to the 94th or 95th floor. First step at that height gives you a little vertigo since the City of Chicago is below you.

Drinks were not cheap - $14-$16 for anything but seeing the sunset from above the horizon was awesome.

School starting

2008-09-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

Schools in Madison start in early August which makes the summer go by too fast. This year, Hannah has Ms Large as a first grade teach and Olivia is attending a pre-school at a local church. Olivia gets mad when she can't go to school - I hope that attitude remains the same the next twenty or so years. This past week Hannah had school pictures and the picture to the left is what she wore. Notice her sporting several missing teeth.

Hannah Soccer Picture

2008-09-21T06:28:00.000-07:00

Hannah's soccer team is off to a good start. Even though they do not keep score at this age bracket, the team knows they have been beating everyone pretty bad. The closest game was 4-2 while the last game was 7-0.

Hannah is looking for the first elusive goal but she has saved several goals playing on defense. She almost had her first goal but in typical kid fashion, two players on the same team were competing for the same ball.

Hannah and Olivia Soccer

2008-09-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

Hannah and Olivia have been playing soccer for about three weeks now. Olivia is the wild one of her team with amazing speed and already scoring two goals.

Hannah is getting into the swing of thing. Her last game she did outstanding almost scoring two goals.

Dad is coaching Hannah's team; while I'm enjoying it - it does bring its own set of challenges.