What a heartbreaker. Sure, the game was close. We were rooting for Arizona. But that isn't why I felt compelled to write about the Superbowl. I spent this Superbowl sitting with Asher at a party. There were a dozen of his friends playing outside and up on the playstation, but we sat together and watched the whole game. Excited about each advance for the Cardnials, commiserating about each downturn. This is the first time Asher has been so invested in a game on TV. We watched the entire game together until the tension got too great with 4 minutes left and he had to leave. He came back once they went ahead. With their change of fortune, he was ecstatic and gleeful. He hugged his friends and danced around the room. Then the fateful last 2 minutes. All his joy seeped out as Pittsburgh marched down the field for the lead. It was poignant to see how bad he wanted it. When Pittsburgh scored, he fought back the tears and asked if we could go. With 35 seconds left, we stayed, because you never know... But it wasn't to be.
Today will be memorable. We had such a nice father-son time, but his heart was broken with the outcome. Bittersweet.
Living the full life as a Dad, Husband, Educator, and Athlete.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Overdue Update
Two months! That is a long time. But I have been occupied, so it was tough to find the time. Here is the run down, two months in two paragraphs or less.
November is always busy since we have 4 birthdays, coming into Christmas, we were pretty worn out. But we had a great time with our family renting out Pump it Up. The kids will always remember having the whole place to themselves and their cousins. I think Jeremy and I will always remember going at each other with the boxing gloves. Kate is walking and attempting to exert her will. Marley loves preschool and is just a bundle of energy. Ella went to Arizona with her Grandmother to see Stef's cousin Carley, and had the time of her life. Girls night every night, toenail painting, dress-up, they had a blast. Asher is into baseball. It is humorous to me to see how quickly the sports shift depending on the season. Asher didn't touch his baseball glove since the last game last year. He was all soccer. Then even a week before baseball tryout, it was all soccer and football. "Dad, I don't know if I really like baseball anymore." Tryouts come, and every second since has been about baseball cards, baseball magazines, and most of all, playing catch with me or by himself in the backyard. Today we actually went and bought a new glove. He probably would have slept with it tonight, but he asked me to put his name on it instead. Ella just finished her first grade play. She had the lead role as a narrator and loved it. Here is the video for it.
Ella's First Grade Play from Jason Sutter on Vimeo.
It has been 2 months, so a house update is in order. Right after the last bit of work (stucco, windows, counters), we tore out the downstairs bathroom and laundry room. It seems rather... well... stupid, I know. Why start something new with so much unfinished. However, we had reasons. Probably not the best, but reasons. We had a debris pile to get rid of before it rains. Since we knew we were tearing those things out this year, it made sense to do it when we had the debris box. Secondly, the laundry room still had a rat-ish smell when it rained, so we guessed there was rat nests, poop, etc in the walls. On this second point I was a little worried that I missed my guess when we started ripping stuff out, but at the last piece, I struck paydirt. The smell was located. It must sound funny to be excited about finding rat remains in your wall, but understand that means I can get it out. Under the landing in the staircase on the other side of the wall was what looked like a rat disco lounge before they were all poisoned. So there was a lot to clean out. I know I am going into great detail, possibly too much on this point, but please understand that I am excited. I can confidently say that our house no longer smells like rat poo when it rains or gets too hot and sweltery. That is a good feeling, let me assure you. So, I drywalled both rooms immediately and all was back together before Christmas. The cabinets are all finished. I am staining them in the evening and will put on the last coat tomorrow night. As for the counters... who knows. But I think we are close. I have finished staining them, and they are now in the garage waiting to be sealed. I expect to place the cooktop into place on Tuesday, and start hanging cabinets next week. Look, here they are in my garage. So a New Year's date was not realistic, but Valentines is actually possible.
November is always busy since we have 4 birthdays, coming into Christmas, we were pretty worn out. But we had a great time with our family renting out Pump it Up. The kids will always remember having the whole place to themselves and their cousins. I think Jeremy and I will always remember going at each other with the boxing gloves. Kate is walking and attempting to exert her will. Marley loves preschool and is just a bundle of energy. Ella went to Arizona with her Grandmother to see Stef's cousin Carley, and had the time of her life. Girls night every night, toenail painting, dress-up, they had a blast. Asher is into baseball. It is humorous to me to see how quickly the sports shift depending on the season. Asher didn't touch his baseball glove since the last game last year. He was all soccer. Then even a week before baseball tryout, it was all soccer and football. "Dad, I don't know if I really like baseball anymore." Tryouts come, and every second since has been about baseball cards, baseball magazines, and most of all, playing catch with me or by himself in the backyard. Today we actually went and bought a new glove. He probably would have slept with it tonight, but he asked me to put his name on it instead. Ella just finished her first grade play. She had the lead role as a narrator and loved it. Here is the video for it.
Ella's First Grade Play from Jason Sutter on Vimeo.
It has been 2 months, so a house update is in order. Right after the last bit of work (stucco, windows, counters), we tore out the downstairs bathroom and laundry room. It seems rather... well... stupid, I know. Why start something new with so much unfinished. However, we had reasons. Probably not the best, but reasons. We had a debris pile to get rid of before it rains. Since we knew we were tearing those things out this year, it made sense to do it when we had the debris box. Secondly, the laundry room still had a rat-ish smell when it rained, so we guessed there was rat nests, poop, etc in the walls. On this second point I was a little worried that I missed my guess when we started ripping stuff out, but at the last piece, I struck paydirt. The smell was located. It must sound funny to be excited about finding rat remains in your wall, but understand that means I can get it out. Under the landing in the staircase on the other side of the wall was what looked like a rat disco lounge before they were all poisoned. So there was a lot to clean out. I know I am going into great detail, possibly too much on this point, but please understand that I am excited. I can confidently say that our house no longer smells like rat poo when it rains or gets too hot and sweltery. That is a good feeling, let me assure you. So, I drywalled both rooms immediately and all was back together before Christmas. The cabinets are all finished. I am staining them in the evening and will put on the last coat tomorrow night. As for the counters... who knows. But I think we are close. I have finished staining them, and they are now in the garage waiting to be sealed. I expect to place the cooktop into place on Tuesday, and start hanging cabinets next week. Look, here they are in my garage. So a New Year's date was not realistic, but Valentines is actually possible.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
House update
I took four days off last week and tried to crack somethings out. Somethings were pretty good, some, not so much.
Task 1: Grind stucco. This job sucked. We had heavy 80's stucco, and we needed to grind it down to match the new window patches. This job was big, but it is done. Yea for me!
Task 2: Install windows. I put in 3 out of 4 windows. So, that wasn't too bad.
Task 3: Grind and polish counters. I am so frustrated with this. The pour was great. The forms were perfect. There were very few bug holes, and none on the sink counter. We actually thought about setting the counter without polishing because it came out so good. Now I wish I had. I can't grind these things to save my life. The irony is that I had assumed that would be the easiest part when I started. Arrrggg!
Task 1: Grind stucco. This job sucked. We had heavy 80's stucco, and we needed to grind it down to match the new window patches. This job was big, but it is done. Yea for me!
Task 2: Install windows. I put in 3 out of 4 windows. So, that wasn't too bad.
Task 3: Grind and polish counters. I am so frustrated with this. The pour was great. The forms were perfect. There were very few bug holes, and none on the sink counter. We actually thought about setting the counter without polishing because it came out so good. Now I wish I had. I can't grind these things to save my life. The irony is that I had assumed that would be the easiest part when I started. Arrrggg!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Birthdays
November is eventful. We have 4 birthdays this month in our house. Marley turned 4. Asher turns 9 in 2 days. Kate will be one. Stefanie will be... one year older. Add that to the other holidays and it is a packed month.
Asher had his party this last Friday. I don't know if I was brave or stupid, but I agreed to take seven of Asher's friends camping Friday night at Sugarloaf in Kenwood. Fortunately, I had some help from a number of the fathers. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, but amazingly it was a perfect trip. First off, the weather felt like June. We arrived Friday night and started off with a game of flashlight soccer. Sugarloaf campsites ring a large meadow that is pretty flat except for the gopher mounds. This meadow was perfect for a rustic soccer game of boys vs dads.We followed that with a simple dinner of hot dogs, chips, and apples. After dinner, we had some s'mores. There was an Australian family that visited our site in hopes of finding a corkscrew. Although we couldn't help them there, we were able to give them their first taste of s'mores. Yes, it is the total "Dad" cuisine. But it was simple, and everyone there liked it. Dessert was followed with a game of freeze tag in the moonlight. Then at 9 pm, we were off to bed.
Morning time brought more adventure as the boys started out trying to hunt down a turkey for breakfast. While they were on the prowl, we cooked breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. After breakfast, we played a rematch of the soccer game from the night before and went on a hiking trip. The hiking trip gave the opportunity for some rock climbing which was probably the biggest hit. At 11, we made our way home for pizza, wiffleball, and playstation.
The birthday was a big hit with the boys, and I survived the weekend, so everyone was a winner.
Asher had his party this last Friday. I don't know if I was brave or stupid, but I agreed to take seven of Asher's friends camping Friday night at Sugarloaf in Kenwood. Fortunately, I had some help from a number of the fathers. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, but amazingly it was a perfect trip. First off, the weather felt like June. We arrived Friday night and started off with a game of flashlight soccer. Sugarloaf campsites ring a large meadow that is pretty flat except for the gopher mounds. This meadow was perfect for a rustic soccer game of boys vs dads.We followed that with a simple dinner of hot dogs, chips, and apples. After dinner, we had some s'mores. There was an Australian family that visited our site in hopes of finding a corkscrew. Although we couldn't help them there, we were able to give them their first taste of s'mores. Yes, it is the total "Dad" cuisine. But it was simple, and everyone there liked it. Dessert was followed with a game of freeze tag in the moonlight. Then at 9 pm, we were off to bed.
Morning time brought more adventure as the boys started out trying to hunt down a turkey for breakfast. While they were on the prowl, we cooked breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. After breakfast, we played a rematch of the soccer game from the night before and went on a hiking trip. The hiking trip gave the opportunity for some rock climbing which was probably the biggest hit. At 11, we made our way home for pizza, wiffleball, and playstation.
The birthday was a big hit with the boys, and I survived the weekend, so everyone was a winner.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Singing in the Rain
The first rains are here. I think we were more worried that their Halloween evening might be dampened than they were. Isn't that first rain always so fun and exciting when you aren't really sick of it yet?
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Introducing Ellyana
I have been saving this post for a bit, but we can't keep her from you any longer. We would like you to meet Ellyana. She first hooked up with us in Pinecrest. Whenever Marley was "taking a nap," Ellyana would show up. Much like Marley, she is a firecracker with a lot of life. Ellyana had to spend more time with us at Pinecrest than Marley did, however, she visits less frequently now that we are home. Still, Ella had fun playing dress up with her the day this photo was shot.
Standing Tall
I have been slothful about keeping up to date on our happenings. So here is a little Kate piece. She is crawling, standing, babbling, and smiling a lot. She is very easy going, but is becoming exceptionally curious. She has had 6 teeth for a while now, and we are surprised more have not made their appearance. Most unfortunately for us, she is not sleeping the entire night. She was, but then we went away and she stopped. When we got home, she had figured how to stand up. So now when she wakes in the middle of the night, she gets up and jumps around instead of going back to sleep. All the same, you can see from this picture that she is quite a cutie.
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