Happy Halloween

Who knew Halloween could actually hurt? Guess I'm getting old, but I'm a bit sore from yesterday...maybe because I walked around for a few hours in slippers (since they were part of my costume).

Yesterday was the first time in 3 years we didn't spend the entire day getting ready for the Fall Festival at church (we were only there setting it up for about 4 hours). Since J isn't the Director anymore, we didn't have as much invested in it. Hopefully it went well, we didn't end up going since we were hanging with some friends instead. We were together for dinner and then all the kids went out for trick or treating. It was fun and you can see the pile of candy Tay got below - funny thing is, we'll most likely eat most of that since she doesn't eat much candy. That's why we were pushing them so hard last night - "Keep going, we need more candy!" Just kidding...

After trick or treating for a few hours, we went to another friends house for a Halloween party. It was fun and great to see so many of our friends all dressed up (they are all very creative and spend a lot of time on their costumes). All in all, it was a good night...and I need to take a vacation to recover from it.

Taylor dressed up as one of the "Mario Characters" from a Wii game called Mario Galaxy (she was princess Rosalina - Lake was Princess Peach, and Tate was Shy Guy - also characters from the game). Jaimie went as some one that was sick and I went as some one that was tired - so together we were "sick and tired." Pretty original huh? Funny thing is that at the party, one of our other good friends that are a couple showed up as the same thing - go figure. It was pretty funny.

Taylor as Princess Rosalina - sporting her contacts for additional authenticity.

Lake, Taylor and Elisa
Lake, Taylor, Kate, Tate, and Elisa
Laura the Leprechan
Jaimie and Courtney - don't you feel bad for J? She looks so sick! (Hehe)

What will Kevin be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next few days you ask? Please see picture above...

Rock Wall

Who knew a lot of hard work, some cash and a very wise wife could make the front of your house look better?

For those of you that know me well, I just want to clarify - rock wall does not refer to me, or my lack of opening up to others, or my closed emotions, or any of that so just keep your jokes and cracks to yourself (or e-mail them to me since I like to laugh).

Over the summer we updated the front of our house with a rock wall so I thought I'd throw up some pictures. Jaimie worked really hard to get it completed and it looks amazing. Only problem is that with the new wall, and the front cleaned up, the crumbling steps stand out even more and look terrible. Oh well, guess we know what our first spring project will be!

KG

Who knew I'd still enjoy KG after all this time?

Yup, still my favorite NBA player...I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that he plays with so much passion - as do I.

Found this pic the other day...yeah, I'm pretty much his biggest fan.

Pumpkin Carving

Who knew giving a group of girls sharp objects would be a good thing?

So Laura and Jaimie are doing girls nights for some of the middle school girls at our church - they are planning on meeting twice per month. Last Wednesday was the first meeting of the group and they did pumpkin carving. Pictures below show the wonderful masterpieces the girls came up with. Sounds like they all had fun and no one was injured (which is always a good thing).

Tough Game

Who knew the hardest game of the season on paper would really pull the team together?

We are currently 4-0 this season playing basketball and had a game on Saturday with the other undefeated team in the league. They had 2 scorers in the top 5 in the league (one averaging 30 and the other averaging 22 points per game). We had talked about working to contain their top players and to lock down our defense.

We came out pretty fired up and put together the best game I've ever seen a Vineyard team play in 7 years in the league. We shut them down on defense, kept them off the boards, and played one of the best offensive games ever. With over 13 minutes left in the game, we had a time out and I told the team we needed to start slowing down and stop trying to run up the score. We did slow it down and just made sure our defense was still ok for the last part of the game. Even after not giving it everything we had for that much of the second half (we only play 20 minute halves), it still ended like this. I don't think the other team was quite ready for us (we are the home team in the picture below). I was pretty proud to say the least.


There are still a few games left including playing against Milan Vineyard...so we aren't celebrating too much just yet. Have to close out the season before we really begin to cheer. Just not everyday you put together a game like this one...had to show off my pride just a bit.

Catch up

Who knew life could be crazy busy...and then get worse?

So the last few weeks have been absolutely insane to say the least. Work, home, everything seems to be at a heightened state of being. It's hard to find time to sit and take a break at times (hence no blogging for about a month). So, this post is going to be an attempt to try to catch up a little of the last few weeks.

Ok, going all the way back to September 20, we were able to see the Vikings play Detroit at Ford Field. It was our first visit to an NFL game here in Michigan...and we had a good time. I got a special deal on tickets through work and we couldn't pass up a chance to see the revamped Vikings. We had really great seats and enjoyed the time.

We also went to Minnesota for Pete and Steph's wedding and had a blast - that is too much fun to pack into this post so that will be another post on it's own coming soon. Right after we returned from that trip (we were gone 6 days), we had visitors from Indiana which was a nice surprise. Always fun to have visitors and they were here for 3 days - even went to watch my basketball game and were great fans! Here is a pic of the happy group taken by Nadia (who was taking a nap and we rudely woke her up - thanks Nadia!).

So there are the last few weeks in a nutshell. I know there has been so much more going on, but those are the pictures I have as proof of our busy but fun few weeks. I'm definitely tired and ready to take a nap...for a week...

Book Reviews

Who knew you could do book reviews on your blog?

I just read the latest post on Mark's blog (see post below) and noticed his new book will be coming out soon. That's pretty exciting and I'm looking forward to reading it. I have a bit of catching up to do (haven't read all of his other books yet), but it's something I'm going to try to keep up with. In the beginning of this blog, many moons ago, I had a few book reviews and kind of miss doing that.

Always fun to see good press about what Mark is doing out there as well. Pretty exciting stuff for sure. I'm going to have to convince J to make a visit out there to see what's happening first hand. We have been talking about going east for a while, so this may be a good excuse to make the trip.

my new fav blog

Who knew reading blogs could actually challenge you as well as entertain you?

So it turns out I have some pretty amazing cousins (I know, who knew a guy like me could have cool relatives?). I have a few of my cousins out on the east coast and one of them is married to the pastor of a pretty cool church called National Community Church in DC. They have 5 sites that link into one main church (one of them even meets in a coffee house - totally jealous). Anyway, the head pastor is Mark Batterson and he is married to my cousin Laura. Another cousin of mine (Joel) is also on staff there as the campus pastor. Pretty crazy huh?

Enough of the background, onto the point...it turns out Mark has a blog. I think in this day and age most pastors do. I started reading his and I must admit I am really enjoying it. Most of his posts are short and too the point - which works well for me since I rarely have the attention span to read the long posts - I probably wouldn't even last through my last post about 'time.'

I can't even pick a favorite at this point - there have been many that have really hit home, or been just what I needed to hear. He even put up a post about the Minnesota Vikings last second win (he is from Minnesota and Wisconsin after all). Doesn't get much better than that.

If you have 2 minutes, and want to check out a blog that talks about stuff other than what I did yesterday, his is a pretty good read...

Time

Who knew time was so important?

What a weekend...I have had so many examples of what time can do it's simply ridiculous. Let's start with Saturday - it was our first basketball game for the team I play/coach (well, I'm in charge of the paperwork at least). I wasn't able to play last season since I was in Chicago and they won the championship - so we are trying to defend the title this season.

It turned out our first game was against the team we beat in the championship game - so we were playing them twice in a row. They are a very good team and it was an extremely physical game (with maybe a little bit of trash talking). It went back and forth and was a close game the entire time. It looked as though they had pulled off the win - they were up with 12.5 seconds left on the clock and were shooting free throws. We pulled down the rebound, and got it to one of our guards who was quickly triple teamed. He was able to see another open player and passed it out. That player wound up finding one of our best shooters in the corner wide open - I could hear the opposing teams bench collectively hold their breath when he caught the ball and squared up to the hoop. He let it go...clock was winding down...swish...we went nuts! 2.0 seconds left on the clock...we were able to hold them off and won the game. Phew. Tough way to start the season, but ok since we pulled it off. I love this team.

Next, I watched the Michigan and also the Minnesota Gophers football games - both went down to the fourth quarter for them to win. Michigan needed a final drive with little time left to win the game. I know, crazy.

On Sunday, I watched a little bit of the Vikings game - and it went down to the fourth quarter as well. Bret Favre had 1:35 (I think) left with no timeouts - he drove the team 80 yards and threw a 28 yard TD with 2 seconds left in the game...insane. The Lions also won late in the fourth quarter and was down to a defensive stand at the end of the game to hold onto the win - first win for the Lions since 2007...funny how important time is - and funny how a little time can go a long way.

So, that was 5 games this weekend that went down to the wire - and in a rare coincidence, all my teams won on those last minute plays.

Time also helps people forget - just think, about a year ago, all we heard was how bad Michigan was and how many records had been set for having such a terrible season. About a month ago everyone was talking about how bad coach Rodriguez was - for overworking his team, for losing, and on and on. Now, at 4-0 (already more wins than all of last year), I haven't heard a negative thing about him in a month. Funny how quickly we forget - jump on the bandwagon, it's driving by. I'm excited about it, bowl game here we come. Last year was very hard.

Time also affects other things (not just sports - who knew?). After being home for almost 2 months now, I'm starting to forget what it was like to ever be gone. Even the hardest things we go through in life seem to get easier to deal with as time goes on. Some things we never get over, or recover completely, but time always seems to help.

Time is a funny thing - always seems to go slow when we want it to go fast, or fast when we need it to go slow. Ever been looking forward to something - like a vacation, a holiday, or whatever? Before you know it, it's over and done - it's in your past already. If we don't pay attention to what's going on around us, we simply miss too much. I'm starting to learn to be better about paying attention to the moments I'm in - whether good or bad. I'm trying to live in each moment as it goes by (so many movies out there try to get you to figure this out).

No one can tell us about this - it's something we have to discover for ourselves. I'm a fan of it though - trying to enjoy each moment as it passes. Even now, just sitting here goofing off on the computer, watching a little TV, drinking a decaf coffee with J sitting next to me...no place I'd rather be.

Anyway, try it - I dare you. Try paying attention to each moment as it slips by you during your day. Don't try to watch the clock, or see the minutes tick away - but simply try to be aware of your surroundings and what is happening or going through your mind. After a while, it can be kind of fun (once you get used to being alone with yourself at times).

Good luck, time really is important.

Proof

Who knew kids could look older in pictures than in real life?

Here is a picture of Tay right before her first day of middle school. Getting older by the second. So far, everything has been going very well. We had an open house last week and were able to meet all of her teachers. It was a nice night.

She is also in another play coming up in November - currently practicing 2-3 times per week. Sounds like a pretty big role again so we are excited about it. More on that to come I'm sure.