A Night Out

Rachel went to St. Louis yesterday to spend time with her St. Louis girls and left me alone in the house to my crazy games. After work a buddy of mine were going to go to Vinnies, a nice little pub here in Ft. Madison, to check out a band that was playing down there. The band was pretty good but the bar was packed. My Dad, Cory, and his girlfriend Deborah met us down there and Amos showed up a little bit later. We stayed down there for a few beers then headed for Captain Kirks. Another band was playing and they were pretty good also. Leaving there we went to the Old E, now known as Kinnik South. Fatina called while we were on our way down there and she met us there for a drink. We didn't stay down there long before we ended back up at Kirks, drinking and telling jokes. Deborah peed her pants, not really I spilled a beer on her, and she was pretty stoked about that. We closed the bar down at about 2 a.m. and all went our separate ways. Amos came over to my house for an intense game on the Wii. After destroying him in tennis and in bowling, and after killing a bottle of wine, I figured it was time to go to bed before I couldn't walk anymore. A good time was had by all but I'm a little slow going today.

Aiden's Room Complete

A few months back I painted Aiden's room and never got around to putting up his shelves and hanging his Fat Head that he got from Grandma Sandy last year at his birthday. Rachel told me that was the next thing she wanted done so here are the pictures of the finished product.

A week of Choas!

This week was crazy. I have been trying to get tons of things done before my sister and her husband got here and I actually made it happen. I got the entryway, the stairway and the hallway at the top of the stairs all painted and some pictures hung up. I also completed the library which, in case you haven't figure it out, is what the pictures are of. My brother Cory arrived on Wednesday and Adam and Kate came in early Friday morning. It was a great week with everyone spending time together. Kate was back for her baby shower that was held here on Saturday. Everything went great and now today I go back to work. I can't tell you how excited I am about that.

Rachel's Birthday!

As the title implies, today was Rachel's birthday, the big 31, yeah she's stoked. Today was another fun filled day of staining and varnishing the shelves. I just finished up with the second coat of varnish to some of the wood, I'm officially high. Aiden and Rachel are asleep and the smell is so overwhelming I'm praying they wake up :P I did put a fan in the window and am blowing some of it out. How desperate is that, it's January, like 25 degrees and I have the window open, now that's dedication.

Tonight Rachel, Aiden, and I went to Amigo's for dinner. We met Dave and Jean, Rachel's parents, there and they treated for Rach's birthday. Of course I ate way to much as usual. After that we came back to the house for a bit before we took a jaunt over to Tim and Kriisti's house were the kids played and everyone made fun of my parenting skills. Listen up...Wednesday and Thursdays are Aiden and Daddy days. The problem being, by Thursday night, I'm pretty much ready to kill him. I don't know what it is, but lately that kid has been wound for sound. It's like he goes to school and does crack, then I go pick him up. For instance, yesterday I put him down for a nap, not 3 minutes later, he comes walking down the stairs saying "Dad I had a good nap." I had to convince him that he didn't sleep and that he needed to return to his bed. It's been like that for the last 2 days. Perhaps I bring it out in him.

Tomorrow I will continue the work on the shelves and there will be pictures to follow shortly after. If anyone wants to come help me paint feel free, that's my next project.

A Busy Day!

Today was a very busy day. This morning Aiden and I went and got our hair cuts because we are getting ready for Aiden's 3 year pictures, translation, family photo. On our way there we got a phone call from my Dad saying that the bowling alley in town was burning down. After our hair cuts, I took Aiden out to school. I went and loaded up about 5 truck loads of what was left over from the Christmas shop that the CVB put on.

I came home and started taking down all the Christmas decorations around the house. I went out and picked up the bookshelves that Jeff and I built and brought them home. I still have to stain them and varnish them and they will be done. Dad helped me carry all that in, oh and the room has been painted. Rachel came home and we enjoyed some Casey's Taco Pizza. I know I capitalized it but if you have ever eaten this pizza you would understand that it needs to be capitalized.

After our wonderful dinner we set out to take down the tree. Aiden was a huge help constantly getting in the way and every now and again taking down an ornament and handing it to Rachel. So now the Christmas has been taken out of our house and it's time to get down to work. I need to finish the shelves and then get some books on those. After that is all done I'm going to paint the entryway, the stairway, and the hall at the top of the stairs. I want to have all of this done by the time Kate gets here in a week. Yeah....should be a great week.

The Two New Projects!

Yesterday I drove to Burlington and ran some errands. I picked up some pins for the bookshelves I just made for the library, and I picked up the paint for the library and the entryway. I want to have both of these things done by the time my sister gets here in less than two weeks. I plan on starting on them todaybut we'll see what actually gets done. I will try to take some before and after pictures and post them on here. Stay tuned for more.

The Dueling Piano's

Last night they had a dueling piano group from Chicago here in Burlington. Rachel and I along with two of our friends who had never been to a dueling piano bar, ventured out last night to partake in the madness. They were a very good duo, however they couldn't compare to Pete's. Don't get me wrong I wasn't disappointed, we all had a great time. Neil, a buddy of mine that went with us, got put on stage for his "birthday" and they sang the "Itsy bitys teeny weeny" song to him and talked about the size, or lack there of, of his male anatomy. A very good time was had by all.

On another note, I'm almost done with the library shelves that I've been working on for the last two days. Jeff has been helping me every morning before I go to work. We've got all the pieces cut, I just need to sand them all and then assemble. Once that's done it will be staining and then to take them home and get some books on them. It should all be done before Kate gets home in two weeks.

New Years Day

New Years Eve Aiden went and stayed with his Grandma Sandy. Rachel and I ended up in Burlington. We went to dinner and did a little gambling at the casino. I actually won a little bit. After that we ended up at my Dad's house hanging out and playing some games.

New Years Day was spent out at Mom's house for our last Christmas. I know it's late but when you have so much family you have to spread everything out. Aiden and his Grandma had a Spider-Man marathon the night before. Santa was very good to all of us. After we ate, opened gifts and watched some football, Rachel and I went to Burlington to do some shopping. I got all the wood for my next project while she got some stuff for Aiden's birthday. So my next project begins today. I hope to have it done before Kate and Adam get here in 2 weeks but we'll see how it goes. I will post some pictures when it's all done.