Pics of the boys

Thought I'd put some new pics out there for everyone. Enjoy!

Top 37?

So I thought I'd release a top 25 movies list of my favorite flicks of all time. Whittling a list that started at 130+ titles was way more difficult than I thought it would be. I tried to pick movies that weren't only well put together with solid acting, a great plot, and wonderful imagery, but movies that left an impression on my soul. That trimmed quite a few comedies off the list! I got the list down to 37. Here is what I have (and feel free to comment! Remember that all comments are moderated so it might take a few hours before I approve/publish your comments):

Amadeus (1984)
Bird (1988)
Braveheart (1995)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
The Dark Crystal (1982)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Dune (1984)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
The Fifth Element (1997)
Fight Club (1999)
Gladiator (2000)
The Goonies (1985)
Hook (1991)
House of Flying Daggers (2004)
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Into the Wild (2007)
Jaws (1975)
Jurassic Park (1993)
The Last Samurai (2003)
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe (2005)
LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Ed. (2001)
The Matrix (1999)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Poltergeist (1982)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Rudy (1993)
Schindler's List (1993)
Secondhand Lions (2003)
Seven (1995)
Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
The Shawshank Redemption: Special Edition (1994)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
Three Kings (1999)
Tombstone (1993)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
V for Vendetta (2005)

Another ear infection...SERIOUSLY!?!?!

K-man has landed himself yet another ear infection, so now we are back on anti-biotics. He has tube surgery scheduled in a couple of weeks, so that will be nice. Poor guy couldn't sleep for anything and was in a lot of pain, so I slept with him on my chest on the living room chair last night. Needless to say, Penny got the best sleep in the house (at least I hope she did).

Nice weather, don't you think?

If I were to lament about nonsensical Kansas City weather is, it would fall on deaf ears. I used to think that KC got extra special crappy weather, but then I started watching the regional forecasts, and it seems that God has put a meteorological curse (or whatever God does) on the area roughly between Denver and Cleveland, and from Minneapolis to Dallas. KC just happens to be in the groin of that area.

This all being said, July hasn't been too bad. It's probably been about 15 degrees cooler in July than it was in June, which was the hottest June since the Great Meteor came and wiped out the dinosaurs. My new sod is finally starting to green up, but I don't know if that's because of all the godforsaken nutgrass or if there is real grass growing there. Looks like I'm in for about $200 worth of fescue seed for this fall, which I'm sure the CPA is dancing about after reading that.

Speaking of dancing about, we actually finished most of our painting, and it went pretty smoothly. I held my tongue (much gentler than biting it) and just put my head down, and almost 20 hours later most of the first floor was a darker shade of Johnson County beige than before. Sometimes I complain about some of our neighbors with GREEN or CAROLINA BLUE houses, but secretly, I admire them for painting something other than beige, tan, yellowish-brown, brown, tawny, or skin-colored.

I wanted to mention too, that our fellow blogger Heather Armstrong, of dooce.com, just got ranked #26 on Forbes for most influential women in the media. Heather's site has gotten huge, but I still recommend going out there and reading it. I recommended it to all of you probably 3-4 years ago, so I think that puts me on the leading edge of something. Maybe I can get a merit badge for that.

Cancer dedication to our dear friend, Allie.

I wanted to put this up on my blog so that everyone who was been touched by cancer in some way and see this page and perhaps sign the dedication page. Thanks from the bottom of my heart... Chris

Hi,

I just dedicated a page to Allie Marshall at LIVESTRONG Action.

This page is a part of the world's largest dedication book that LIVESTRONG Action will use to pressure world leaders to do more to fight cancer. Can you add your name to my dedication page? It'll only take a second, and you can help me reach my target of 25 dedications.

Please click here, it only takes a second:

http://www.livestrongaction.org/node/20305

Right now, Lance Armstrong is dedicating his ride in the Tour de France to the fight against cancer. And after the race, he'll send this dedication book - with your signature - to world leaders and pressure them to make cancer a priority in their own countries. It's our best chance to push for better treatment, more funding for cancer research and access to care for everyone around the world.

But if people like us don't stand up, these leaders won't pay attention.

Will you check out my dedication page? Allie Marshall inspired me to take action - hopefully they'll inspire you to do the same:

http://www.livestrongaction.org/node/20305

Whooped

I am whooped. So is Penny. We did tons of landscaping this weekend, and while it looks nice, I'm tired. That is what a desk job will do to ya. We still have a bit more to do, and I have some hostas I need to get in the ground before the wind tips them over for the 30th time.

AB had an exciting day yesterday, first waking up at Grandpa D and GJ's house, then going to a birthday party, followed by Sunday school, and finally wrapping up the day with a little baseball. I nearly had to use the cattle prod to get him out of bed this morning.

I am starting to get a tickle in my throat, so I have to gargle some hot salt water to try and minimize any infection. I hate colds, especially in the summer time.

Kieran turned 10 months old yesterday, and his 2nd tooth erupted last night too. I'm glad he's not a biter, since he loves to gouge people with his razor sharp fingernails (I have one such gouge on my eyelid). He really wants to walk, but I think he's a solid month away from that. He's still pretty wobbly but I can certainly see some progress.

He was having a tough time sleeping yesterday, so I took him upstairs and through a blanket over him and rocked him for a bit and he finally konked out on me. I just had to hold him for awhile because I know these days are soon coming to an end. Sweet little baby!

To carry on the soppy tone of this post, Penny and I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button this weekend. That was the best movie either of us had seen for a very long time. I really enjoyed the plot and all of the little life lesson's that were revealed throughout the film. Two big thumbs up!

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I can get rested up to finish the egress window fence tonight or tomorrow, because we're going to start painting on Thursday. I'm pretty sure you can't hear my cheering because I'm not doing anything of the sort.

This is pretty cool!

The new 103rd floor glass balcony on the Sears Tower...

It's not like tubes sticking out of his ears!

K-man is heading to the ENT today to get his ears checked out and possibly arrange to get tubes put in. These are little flanged pieces of rubber, a little larger than the diameter of a pencil lead, that are inserted into the ear drum. This allows all the fluid to drain out of the middle ear, and allows the little one to start hearing a LOT better. Which should be good, since Kieran loves to scream in the house. He thinks it's pretty neat.

Speaking of pretty neat, I had a particularly neat morning today. Penny got back from her morning run and was pounding some Gatorade to try and rehydrate a bit. Aiden happened to be watching her, and thought that seemed pretty cool, so he went to his sink and drank probably a liter or so of water. I didn't know he did that, so I didn't think much of it when we were downstairs, and he is sitting on the floor looking like he wants to rattle off a big belch. No big surprise there, the kid has obviously been raised by wolves. I go into the pantry just in time to hear water hitting the floor. I turn around just to see AB dumping his water on the floor, and then I tell him to go to the toilet. He then barfs again, so I cup my hands over my mouth and yell "GET TO THE TOILET". Sometimes I think he needs tubes in his ears again. By that time, he's fully purged and I get to spend the next 10 minutes cleaning up puke. At least it was only water, I guess.

So then we all proceed with our mornings and eat breakfast, yadda yadda yadda, and then I go upstairs to put on my socks and shoes. Penny and Kieran follow me up there, and Kieran gets all excited, crawls over to me, and I let him stand on the floor in front of me and then he pukes all over the place too.

I should have just called it a day and gone back to bed.

short and sweet...

Coffee is one of the top 5 inventions/discoveries by mankind. Air Conditioning is up there too. So glad I wasn't born in the 1700's. I'd have to lay around on ice blocks all summer. Or move to San Diego, which I probably would have gotten scalped.

/rambling

AB and I played golf at the par 3 course yesterday. It was a lot of fun, and he played every hole. He hit the ball pretty decently. If I could just get him to hold still, he'd probably pound the ball, just like his old man.