Especially Evey

Bedtime

2012-02-04T13:49:00.001-06:00

Sent from my iPhoneShot this pic with my iPhone as the kids were about to go to bed.

It's been a rough couple days as Boydee has had this congestion in his head for a few days. He's finally getting over it. But the gurgling noise he'd make whenever he laid down was really sad.

Work gas been busy for both me and ADRO lately. It's a busy time of the year. It doesn't help that I was in England for six days recently. We need spring break to get here just so we can catch up on stuff!

More later. Once things settle down, in about... Five weeks.

Evey and Daddy vs. Darth Maul

2012-01-29T18:46:00.001-06:00

Sent from my iPhone

Jedi Seth vs. Darth Maul

2012-01-29T18:45:00.001-06:00

Sent from my iPhone

Jedi Boydee vs. Darth Maul

2012-01-29T18:43:00.001-06:00

Sent from my iPhone

Jedi Evey vs. Darth Maul

2012-01-29T18:42:00.001-06:00

Sent from my iPhone

Jedi Adro vs. Darth Maul

2012-01-29T18:40:00.001-06:00

Sent from my iPhone

Boydee sleeping

2012-01-25T11:55:00.001-06:00

Sent from my iPhone

Evey in Noni's hat

2012-01-25T11:54:00.001-06:00

Sent from my iPhone

Can't wait to see the family

2012-01-25T11:53:00.001-06:00

Sent from my iPhoneSo happy to hear they're all doing well.... ADRO is the MOM of the YEAR!

Boydee's first phrase

2012-01-12T21:39:00.001-06:00

Yes, my daughter is wearing play jewelry and my son is rockin' a baseball cap in this pic.

Don't they look adorable? They're so cute, they just break my heart.

This literally happened the other day (unlike most everything else on this blog, which is utter science fiction): It's about 4 a.m., maybe 5 a.m. Boydee was making some noises so I was awake and listening, waiting to see if he was going to start crying.

Out of nowhere, loudly, he goes, "I don't like it!"

I'm like, "What the?" Adrianne moved, so I go, "Babe? Did you hear that?" And she responded, "Yeah! 'I don't like it!'" We kind of looked at each other and just shook our heads. Sure enough, Boyd started crying a minute later so Adro picked him up and got him happy/sleepy again.

Strange, his first phrase got here before his first word.

Tried Peking Taste take-out tonight

2012-01-11T08:19:00.003-06:00

I called in Peking Taste take-out last night. I was at Best Buy, about to head home, and called in. They told me they'd have my food ready in ten minutes.

I ordered:

-- general's chicken
-- broccoli beef
-- fried rice
-- white rice
-- four egg rolls
-- an order of chicken-on-a-stick

I navigated over to the worst intersection in Lawrence, 23rd and Louisiana, and got in there. My food was ready. Both Tony and his female counterpart gave me excited, nervous smiles. Tony was on the phone so we couldn't talk.

The above order was mine for the princely sum of $30.

Three adults (me, Adro and Judy) and one child (Evey) ate off the order and there were still leftovers for lunch today.

All in all, it was OK. Adro gave it a thumb's up. I thought it wasn't quite as good as it used to be. We both thought $30 was just a little too expensive. Maybe if I would have left off the egg rolls or something, $26 or $27 would have "felt" better.

So that's my no-buffet Peking Taste report.

***

That photo of Boydee is a month of old. He's growing fast!

Evey and Boydee

2012-01-08T21:12:00.001-06:00

Taken on my cell phone last week.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Christmas Eve cookies

2012-01-03T00:20:00.001-06:00

Once again Evey made and left out cookies for Santa. Here's a photo of her with Santa's loot this year. He rewarded her for being nice all year with several gifts for her and her brother... including the Lion King DVD and a new BIKE!

I got lots of good photos from Christmas. I'll post a few soon. My company closed the offices all of last week and this Monday, so I've been off the computer for a while now. It's been a nice break. But I am excited to get back to work and create a cool magazine.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T17:26:00.000-06:00

And Noni stopped by to surprise us!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Late night with B.J.

2011-12-20T23:34:00.000-06:00

Go to sleep, Boydee.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Boydee and Momma, ready for Christmas

2011-12-20T23:32:00.003-06:00

I did take this photo a few weeks ago. We got our Christmas tree up on time.

Boydee has been pretty mad this evening. I could understand if it was last night, maybe the Davidson game made him mad? But no, tonight, everything was peaceful, yet he screamed at his Momma for an hour before I finally overheard him through the Foo Fighters concert (on Palladia) and went up to give Adro a break. An hour later, and he's still screaming.

I needed a break so I set him down on the couch (I'm sitting at the computer, right behind him). I've got GolTV on (La Primera highlights) and Radiohead's "How to Disappear Completely" on a loop on the jukebox. Now, he's chilling. Maybe it's a good combo? Maybe he just needed some alone time?

Or maybe I have a reincarnated Spanish soccer fan on my hands?

Regardless... let's get to bed soon, Boydee. It's not vacation time yet.

I'll try to post the photo I just took of Boyd's POV next...

I really need to return that library book...

2011-12-19T23:53:00.003-06:00

Five years later? That's gotta be a major fine.

(JOKING, I went and checked it out again.)

Evey is the top photo, taken when she was about eight weeks old. The second photo is Boydee, taken at about eight weeks old.

The original post with this shot of Evey can be found here.

Nice rental!

2011-12-16T12:06:00.001-06:00

I've got this as my rental for 24 hrs. The guy got me a good deal, around half price.

It's a 2012 Corvette with only 500 miles on it! that's how I roll!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

The Rat Pack

2011-12-15T07:31:00.000-06:00

Check out this crew of baby boys!

From left to right is Asher (with Kendall); Boyd (with Adro); Hayden (with Lindsey); and Spencer (with Jess). There are four months between oldest (Hayden or Asher?) to youngest (Boydee.)

I'll try to get a better photo of these boys together someday. As you can tell, my son wasn't too happy about the photo.

Happy 5th birthday Evey!!!

2011-12-12T00:18:00.001-06:00

Evey turned 5 on Wednesday. But we've been celebrating her birthday all week!

I have a bunch of cool photos to share... I'll update as the week goes on.

Happy birthday Evey!!!

Enchiladas and eggs

2011-12-11T11:02:00.001-06:00

My Grandma JoJo made me a batch of enchiladas recently... These were probably the first enchiladas I've had from grandma in 5 or 6 years. A nice surprise.

And Grandma's still got it. to this day she makes the best enchiladas I've ever had.

Years ago -- I think I was still in college -- I did a video of grandma showing me how to make them. I need to find that videotape!

Pictured here, perhaps the best way to have enchiladas... With over easy eggs. Awesome!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Back to work

2011-12-04T10:53:00.001-06:00

Sadly, Adro's maternity leave ended on friday, her first day back is monday. She did tell me she's not that sad anymore after her holiday christmas party... That it was good to see her coworkers again and made her feel better about going back.

Evey, meanwhile, is thrilled to be going back to school. She misses her friends and her teachers. I know she is going to struggle with getting up early, she's been enjoying sleeping in to 830 everyday.

I'll wrap this up with a thank you to Adro for taking two months of leave off to watch the kids! thanks babe, it was a great two months!!!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

A beautiful what?

2011-11-30T22:43:00.001-06:00

We took a photo of the cousins together by our brick at Allen Fieldhouse. Marina's purse is resting on our brick, you can see my name is the last name on there.

***

Evey has had a couple good one-liners recently.

She drew a map of the planets for me, and started naming each one. Her planets were wildly out of order, but I couldn't put them in order either.

Evey was pointing out each planet to me.

"Dad, this is Mars... that's Neptune... here's earth... then Venus... that's Planet Druidia..."

So, I'm happy that Princess Vespa's home planet, from the movie "Spaceballs," made her list of planets.

***

We throw the term "brilliant" around the house loosely, usually in jest. I'm always coming up with brilliant ideas.

The other day I had a brilliant idea, and I shared it with Evey. Evey shrugged off my plan, and gave me her own. We agreed to disagree.

"Dad, my idea is brillianter than your idea," she told me.

That... we agreed on.

***

We were sitting at the dinner table and Evey started complaining about one of her classmates in her dance class. This mean girl, she told us, encouraged Evey to make the wrong dance moves.

"Which girl?" we asked.

"Well, she's the mean one. You know who she is. She has the beautiful retard."

Me and Adro tried to keep a straight face.

Turns out this girl had a beautiful LEOTARD... so she at least had that going for her.

Leotard is way brillianter.

Things me and the wife looked up on YouTube on our big screen while we hung out tonight

2011-11-30T01:24:00.001-06:00

Smashing Pumpkins acoustic
NIN Lollapalooza 2008
Zero 7
REM acoustic
For Squirrels
The Sheila Divine
Radiohead Lollapalooza 2008
Thom Yorke Orpheum
Lemonheads
Cure covers

Comets game with the Johnson's and my Mom

2011-11-26T20:43:00.000-06:00

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Say "cheese... burger!"

2011-11-18T13:24:00.001-06:00

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

The ewok is sleeping

2011-11-18T12:51:00.000-06:00

Got the whole family out at McDonald's, got the Johnsons with us, too... Photos to come.

Right now, Boydie is sleeping in his bear costume.

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TGIF, from Boyd Atticus

2011-11-18T10:23:00.001-06:00

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Solo on the news!

2011-11-17T16:30:00.002-06:00

http://www.usd263.com/vnews/display.v/ART/4e3ee685f2223

2011-11-14T22:31:00.001-06:00

Post something here, maybe about 11/11/11

2011-11-11T22:53:00.001-06:00

What the heck happened?!? Where am I?

Sorry, folks. It's just that my favorite reader -- one Mrs. Adrianne Jones -- is currently on maternity leave. She's with me at home, where I work.

I find less inspiration to post on the blog when my lovely missus is with me everyday, not checking her computer all that often. Sorry. I like you too, dear reader. Just not as much as my wife. You understand, right?

Things are good here. Boyd is getting good sleep. He's a good boy.

Evey has been gassy lately. Still sweet, but gassy.

Dad has just been gassy.

Adrianne still glows as she walks on little cushions of air with every step she takes. Sigh...

Happy 11/11/11... and in 11 minutes, it'll be 11:11 on 11/11/11. I better dance, or something.

We can afford that stove

2011-11-02T00:57:00.002-05:00

The Neutebooms came and visited us last week and even brought gifts for the kids and dinner for all of us! Very nice, thank you 'Booms.

Couple quick hits:

-- Evey has an alarm clock in her room now. She's really excited about this. I told her it's nothing to be excited about, it's actually quite sad that she's old enough to need one. But she's thrilled. She told her grandma all about it on the phone tonight, like she just got a new bicycle or something...

-- Adro was looking through the Pottery Barn catalog tonight and Evey saw a kid's play kitchen. It was really nice, and it was also $300. "Mom, I need that," Evey told Adro. "My kitchen is really old."

Technically, Evey, NOTHING YOU OWN can qualify as "really old," but she was determined to talk mom into this new play stove. Adro then tried to explain to her that it was way too expensive... mom and dad could practically buy a new fridge for what they were asking for this play stove. To drive the point home even more, Adro told Evey, "Listen, the money you've saved in the bank so far? It would take almost all of it to buy this toy."

Evey got excited. "Good!" she said. "I have enough to get it."

-- Boyd continues to sleep well. He grunts a lot when he sleeps, but he's not waking up, he's just grunting.

-- I've got Sporting Kansas City tickets for tomorrow night, just in time for the 40-degree drop in temperature and sleet. Great!

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T22:51:00.003-05:00

That was a blast!

The weather was perfect and Adro -- dressed as a witch -- came with me and Evey to trick or treat for a while. Mom went back home to give out candy (Boyd, dressed as a pumpkin, stayed back with Judy and Virginia) while me and Evey kept going on.

We must have hit 30 houses! It was just so nice out, and everyone was so nice and liked Evey's costume ("You're the only Spider-Girl we've seen!" was what we kept hearing) that we just kept going and going.

Evey's biggest concern -- and she kept asking me -- was, "Dad, are you SURE you know how to get back home?!?"

I'll post photos later, after they're downloaded.

Evey's Halloween costume

2011-10-29T10:24:00.000-05:00

She's going as Spider-Girl! Her idea! Love it!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Three weeks and a day

2011-10-27T23:11:00.000-05:00

This is bullshit, Boyd has been around for three weeks now and I have more Peking Taste coverage on the blog than I do cute baby photos.

Sorry, son. When you get older, if you get the pleasure of enjoying Peking Taste buffet, you'll understand.

"Sonny," as we call him, is doing great. This photo was taken two weeks ago, so it's not the most current pic ever, especially when you're talking about 22-day-olds. But, he still has all his hair, steely blue eyes and an occasional smile. He's sleeping well, too.

I guess there's just not much to report on a three-week-old when it comes down to it.

And, in hindsight, I didn't start blogging about Evey until she was, what? Two months old?

Peking video gets some local coverage

2011-10-25T23:03:00.001-05:00

Well then... while I didn't see that happening exactly, I was somewhat prepared for more than just the blog readers to see my video.

In case you missed it, on Tuesday morning the LJWorld.com posted the below bit about my video, along with a link to the video itself:

As I mentioned, the store is going into the former Pizza Street location, which of course, is a buffet business that is no longer with us. (Rest in peace mashed potato pizza.) Well, there appears to be one Lawrence resident who takes his buffet eating at Peking Taste very seriously. A colleague of mine found this video on YouTube and I’ve decided to pass it along because it was spurred by information first reported in Town Talk. The video was uploaded by Seth A. Jones, according to the You Tube information, and he says he is speaking on behalf of Concerned Citizens for Peking Taste Buffet. He goes on for about five minutes over his concerns that when Peking Taste reopens in the Louisiana Purchase shopping center that it will no longer have a buffet. Among some of the highlights from his impassioned plea are:

He said his wife compared Peking Taste no longer offering a buffet to Southwest Airlines no longer offering flights. “My wife is an accountant. If she starts making analogies, something is wrong here.”
“When I come to Peking Taste, I want all I can eat,” Seth says. “I want broccoli and beef, all I can handle, hold the broccoli.”
Seth says he doesn’t eat crab rangoon because he thinks it's gross, but his friends like it. “Don’t limit my friends on Crab Rangoons. They’re good people.”

Anyway, the entire video is here.

Pretty cool to get your name in the paper sometimes, and this was a fun one. Almost unanimous positive reactions, which is a surprise. Almost 300 views on YouTube as of this writing.

I did get a call from my pal Copy Jesus about it... he told me he posted the link in the comments section somewhere on LJWorld.com, and that's how they got a hold of it initially. "I hope you don't mind," he told me.

Heck no I don't mind! I want CNN to come cover this story!

Concerned Citizens for Peking Taste Buffet UNITE!!!

Peking Taste Manifesto

2011-10-24T15:33:00.002-05:00

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted, so............

'I've got the kids'

2011-10-12T23:48:00.002-05:00

We were finally discharged from the hospital. The nurse led us to believe it'd be happening around noon, so I had the room and car packed. It didn't really happen until 3 p.m., though. So there was a lot of sitting around and waiting.

When we finally did leave Lawrence Memorial Hospital, we only had a few things to take with us. A vase full of flowers from Adrianne's grandma. A diaper bag. A cell phone charger.

And, for the first time, two kids.

With one hand I lifted the car seat carrier. With the other, I held Evey's hand.

"Ready?" I asked Adro as she was escorted out in a wheelchair (a formality). "Ready," she replied.

Then I said something I had never said before.

"OK... I've got the kids."

Ahh, the kids. How cool.

It was a real family before, sure. But now we're a two-kid family. A girl and a boy. It just thrills me.

I know it's such a simple thing to so many families out there. But it's new to us. And it's really, really cool. Evey is a sister. I can't ask "the girls" if they're ready anymore... I need to use a different term now when addressing the family. Me and Adrianne have to be sensitive to the needs of two kids now.

Two different personalities.

Two different people.

Evelyn is handling it well so far. She really loves her brother, even declared she was going to marry him the other day (we had to straighten her out on that one.)

But she also is a little more sensitive to criticism, it seems. She gets deflated quickly. A lot more things are a "big deal" to her now.

I'm sure there's an adjustment period for her, for all of us. We're doing our best to make Evey feel as important as she is.

She's not just one of the kids. She's my favorite little girl in the world.

Introducing...

2011-10-09T21:22:00.003-05:00

Boyd Atticus Jones.

We're very excited, even if he isn't.

baby boy jones

2011-10-06T10:18:00.001-05:00

Video shot last Thursday, 9/29/11

2011-10-04T00:44:00.001-05:00

Jones Family Update

2011-10-03T00:05:00.000-05:00

No baby yet.

Adrianne is doing well. Had a doctor's appointment on Friday, doc said everything sounded good. The boy is doing well, he's just not ready to celebrate his birthday yet.

I took the above photo of Adro on Thursday. As I said today, she's never been this pregnant before... with Evey, by this time, we had a two-week-old. So this is a different experience for us, this anxious waiting. Last time it was an unexpected, quick finish. With the boy, he's making us wonder when he'll show his face.

No baby, yet I have BIG NEWS.

Evey had her first multi-goal game on Saturday. She scored two goals!!! So exciting!

I hate to admit that missed both goals. My cousin Melissa was flying in from Louisiana, so I left Evey's hour-long soccer practice/game about 20 minutes early to pick up Melissa. I was on the road for about 10 minutes when my phone rang. Caller ID showed it was Judy, my M-I-L. I instantly thought, "Oh, shit, BABY!!!" I answered the phone and all I heard was shouting. I was like, "Holy crap, are they delivering right there on the soccer field?!?" Then Judy came on and shouted, "Evey scored a goal!"

I was pumped. Judy said it was a good goal, too, not a set-up like her first goal.

So I kept driving and about two minutes later my phone rang again. Yep, goal No. 2!

She obviously had a really good week on the soccer field (after missing last Saturday's game with a cough.) I got some good photos this week, too. The above photo was taken this Saturday. In the time I was able to watch, I saw that Evey was doing better getting in there and kicking the ball. I got a lot of good pics from that game, I'll share more later in the week.

What else? Ran a 5K Sunday morning, the "Race for the Cure" fundraiser to support brain cancer research. Me and Sis ran the race last year as well. The race doubled in size -- there were 500 people there this morning, I was told.

I did my part to solidify last place in my division like I did last year. I came in at 35 minutes, about three minutes slower than my pace last year. Pretty sad. Last year I was hungover and had a bad knee. This year, I was just slow, and happy to walk as I pleased. But I'm pretty sure I could out-drink most of the people who beat me, so I got that going for me.

OK, that's all from me for now. More soon.

Neuty and the girls

2011-09-28T00:45:00.000-05:00

Here's a great shot of Eric and Bella and Evey, taken a few weeks ago.

A big shout-out to Neuty, for coming by the house and helping me install a new screen door on the back door.

Something I have to tell you about Neuty: he treats Evey so well. He jokes with her, plays with her, gives her hugs... let's face it, my friends are all mid-30s dudes. Playing with a 4-year-old might not be high on any of their list of priorities. But Neuty always takes the time to be good to Evey, to play around with her, to make her feel special. And that is one of my favorite things about Neuty.

Cheers to you, Neuty.

And before your head gets too big, just remember... I'm 1-0 against your fantasy football team this year, jerky.

Adro and Evey, Sunday afternoon

2011-09-25T21:20:00.001-05:00

No baby yet... Adrianne is feeling OK. She's starting to wonder if this will go all the way to Oct. 7th.

No soccer for Evey this weekend as she had a bit of a fever Friday night.

We'll keep you posted if there is any baby news!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

GOALLLLL!!!!

2011-09-21T23:54:00.000-05:00

BIG news…Evey scored her first goal!Indeed, she scored it last Saturday on that rainy, drizzly morning.

It came late in the game… in fact, it may have been a golden goal, as both sides stopped playing immediately after the goal.

A low cross came from her left halfback. Evey timed her run perfectly, staying onside. The ball skipped once, Evey put her right foot out, made good contact despite the slippery conditions, and the ball spun into the lower right corner of the net!GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!

OK, it didn't happen like that at all. It actually happened like:

Coach Kevin assembled the Yellow Giraffes. It was about time to pack it up as the rainy weather had all the parents fidgety.

Coack K declared, "Guys, let's get Evey a goal!"The kids fumbled around with the ball until Coach K finally propped it up right in front of an empty net. "Evey, kick it in the goal!" coach shouted. Evey kicked it, but it missed the goal. He got the ball back and teed it up again. The other kids all were confused, but continued bumping into each other and falling down as they are wont to do. Evey wound up and kicked this one into the back of the net! The kids all went wild with a goal celebration! Evey celebrated, but she didn't really understand... that she had just SCORED HER FIRST GOAL!!!

I had a smile ear to ear. It literally was the highlight of my weekend. I couldn't have been more proud.

I should mention, Evey was the only girl on the field for either team. It didn't slow her down. She had a nice game, getting more kicks in this week.

And another update... yesterday Evey was declared HAPPY FEET PLAYER OF THE WEEK again, making for back-to-back weeks, and three of these awards total. I even got an email from the coach about her skills. Here it is:

Meg and I love working with Evey both at Leagues and at Lawrence Montessori, her enthusiasm is great and she always listens to us. I'm actually training with Meg to do weekly classes and came along to Lawrence Montessori last week; Evey did awesome there so I know she can do very well at Leagues as long as we encourage her! It seems like she has been practicing at home too, so whatever you guys are doing there, definitely keep it up -- I'm confident that she will keep improving with each week!

WOW!We're so proud of her... GREAT WORK EVEY, my SOCCER STAR!!!

BABY UPDATE: Adrianne is doing well, but nothing to report yet. She has an appointment tomorrow so maybe we'll learn something then. The due date is still Oct. 7th. If he goes the whole way, that's cool, we just hope for a healthy baby. The only complaint Adro has is some trouble sleeping, and occasional belly pains. But she's getting lots of back rubs.

OF NOTE: Today would have been my Dad's 65th birthday. We got the family together on Tuesday to do a toast to my Dad.

It's interesting how much has changed in a year. Last year, my Dad's birthday was reason to get a melancholy drunk on. This year, I was hopeful we'd be celebrating the birth of my son on my Dad's birthday.

My Dad certainly is not forgotten, but there were some serious strides made in 2011 to accept that Dad is gone and we're going to have to move on without him. Still miss him like crazy, but I think my brain finally understands the reality of it all.Here's to Boyd, who I know was watching Evey first goal on the sideline with me!

Player of the week -- again!

2011-09-14T23:58:00.001-05:00

Evey was named the Happy Feet player of the week again! We are so proud of her.

She's been playing Saturday mornings and doing really well. She hustles and plays the whole game. In fact, her last game, she was one of only two players on her team still in the action! The rest had all dropped off like flies.

No goals yet... she seems too polite to kick it sometimes... but she's getting better each week.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Evey and Daddy's "Dark Knight"

2011-09-07T18:25:00.000-05:00

This is a Seth-and-Evey collaboration, the first(?) of what I hope are many to come.Evey wanted me to draw something she could color. My favorite thing in the world to draw is Batman, so I fired one out for her.

She did all the colors, added the wings, and included the flower. She even added a "mom and dad" to it. Awesome!

The other day she asked me to draw my dad ("Pappa" to Evey) so she could color him. Well, I took it seriously and drew my best interpretation of my dad with a blue crayon I could accomplish. She took one look at it and said, "This doesn't look like Pappa!" and turned the page.

Oh well. At least she was thinking about him. I think I kinda nailed it, but 4-year-olds can be tough art critics.

I haven't posted/scanned/photographed enough of Evey's art in the past couple months. She's gotten really good at coloring, but more impressive to me, painting. She paints flowers, rainbows, girls in dresses, etc. I really need to sit down with her and show her some things, I think she'd pick them right up. She's a little artist. And she does get frustrated when things don't turn out the way she wants them... something I can relate to when it comes to art!

Big Sister School

2011-09-06T22:59:00.003-05:00

Evey attended a class at LMH a few weeks ago where she learned the ins and outs of being a big sister. We got to see a real little baby, as well as a fake little baby (pictured), we watched a video, saw the hospital room where momma will have baby brother, etc.

Evey did great! She is now certified to be a big sister. She was a good listener through the entire class. The other little girl in the class was a chatterbox. I'm pretty sure they made her return to try big sister school again, because she couldnt've learned shit with her mouth flapping non-stop like that.

Yep.

Happy birthday, Momma

2011-09-02T01:18:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday, babe.Pretty soon we're going to have a family of four. Thank you for that.All of my good karma of the last seven, eight years... I feel it is largely attributed to you.Can we please keep this going until you put me in the ground? That's my plan. I hope you're down with it.

-Seth

Meeting Asher, and all kinds of awesome

2011-08-31T22:17:00.009-05:00

The Jones family had the privilege of meeting Asher Heiman recently. Evey even got to hold him, which really excited her.

We kept asking Evey if she could believe we'd soon have a baby boy the same size in our family. She'd smile. She so doesn't know what she's getting into. ...neither do I.

Asher's a real sweetheart. It's cool that the Heimans just had a son, and the Rockholds are also expecting around the same time as us. This could be a formidable group of Jayhawks in about 19 years.

***

Evey fell asleep on my chest the other day, enabling me to turn the channel to the old sci-fi movie "Forbidden Planet" on TCM, a movie I'd somehow never seen before. I looked over at Adro, then looked down at Evey. I whispered to Adro, "Just think... here in a few weeks, it'll be even numbers... instead of 2-on-1, it'll be 2-on-2!"

Adro looked over the top of her glasses at me and said, "More like 3-on-1."

***

Someone smelled something in the living room tonight. I don't think it was me, but I've learned that I don't have to be cognizant of it to be guilty of it.

"Dad farted," Evey told Adro.

"I did not!" I said.

"Mom, he did. I saw the smoke come out of his butt."

***

Me and Evey went outside to do some yard work a few days ago. My garden looks like hell... I had to pull out some serious weeds. Frustrating.

Anyway, I had Evey watering some plants. She ended up playing in the hose. Then she needed to go to the bathroom, so I sent her inside.

While she was inside, she changed out of her wet clothes. She was chatting with Adrianne.

"Mom," Evey asked Adrianne, "When am I going to be awesome, like Daddy?"

***

Want to get a free hat, and donate $1 to charity? Click over to www.golfdom.com/iuow and vote for your favorite film. They're all short films based on water conservation. It would be much appreciated!

Air Hogs

2011-08-23T00:30:00.002-05:00

My Mom bought Evey and I an "Air Hog" recently. We took it out to test it this weekend.

I asked Adrianne to come out with the camera because I figured either me or Evey was going to get hurt. Somewhat surprisingly (based on these photos) it was Evey.

I thought the Air Hog would fly down the street. That's what I was prepared for. Turns out it BOOMERANGS and does a loopty-loop right in front of your face. Don't I look tough trying to avoid taking one in the nose?

Turns out this thing was a blast. Evey isn't big enough to throw it yet, but she would try, and then giggle every time I chucked it and ducked it.

Don't let the one photo fool you where the Air Hog seems to be peacefully sailing around us... most times this thing went up, then right back at me. I felt the wind come off it more than once.

But then our fun ended when Evey tripped and scuffed her knee. I was going to string-trim a few spots in the yard while Evey played with the Air Hog and had pulled out the extension cord. She got tripped up by the cord. Dangit!

Still, a good time, and we'll get it out again. I figured it'd disintegrate after a few wrecks, but it held up pretty well.

I really like the first photo. It reminds me of a photo my sister and Dad would have taken back in the mid-70s. I'm wearing a sleeveless shirt (classy!) and Evey's hair is wild and she's dressed like, well, a little kid. I think this will be a photo I'll cherish for a long time. Someday, I'll show it to Evey and say, "This was right before your little brother came along and started hogging all the attention!" Thanks to Adro for coming outside and shooting a few pics!

Good and terrible

2011-08-19T00:19:00.002-05:00

GOOD:

Evey was named "soccer player of the week" at her "happy feet" soccer class this week. ALRIGHT EVEY!!! Way to play some soccer! Kick it, girl! You make daddy proud!

TERRIBLE:

Evey came running into the living room this evening.

"Oh my gosh, guys!" Evey shouted, sounding like a valley girl. "There is something bad... terrible... in the bathroom."

"What is it, Evey?"

"There's poop. On. The. Floor."

"What?!?"

Sure enough, Evey somehow managed to get a streak of poo on the floor. Unless I did it during the day and I just totally somehow didn't notice. Maybe I was too enthralled by the new issue of Esquire? I don't know. It's a mystery.

Soccer, good. Poo on the floor? Terrible.

Building blocks at the library

2011-08-17T11:53:00.000-05:00

Brought Evey with me his afternoon for a few errands. Squeezed in some time at la biblioteca. Next stop, lunch at Casa Agave with Teresa.

Was in Charlotte Monday and Tuesday for work. Got to catch up with Lervik for an afternoon, which was nice. My performance at pool was not-so-nice.

Was in Atlanta the week before for the PGA Championship. It was an excellent trip for me, check out some of the interviews I did at www.golfdom.blogspot.com. interviews include Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Jim Furyk, Lee Westwood, among others.

Excited this weekend for Buzz Under the Stars 2. Incubus, Bush, Jane's Addiction (among others) at LiveStrong Park. If you are going, let me know, so we can catch up for a beer. Right now it's four of us... my sis and bro-in-law and Danny P. I'm jonesin' for a concert right now since apparently they allowed Lollapalooza to go on without me.

Adrianne and Evelyn are doing well. The nursery is all finished, clothes folded and in the drawers. We are all really excited or Baby Brother to get here. Due date of Oct. 7th, but doc thinks he'll be here early.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Do me a favor?

2011-08-11T22:27:00.003-05:00

If you still have Thursday's Lawrence Journal-World, save me the sports page... I wrote the Gary Woodland story on the front page, and I'd like to mail a copy to dear ol' Mom.

Thanks!

Nice photo from a nice golf course

2011-08-09T22:39:00.002-05:00

That I visited recently. Somewhere in Georgia.

We took Evey to get her haircut on Sunday. I got a lot of great photos. They're on my small camera, once I download I'll share.

We met the Kaminskis -- all four of them now -- for lunch and then the haircut. Those two girls are really cute together.

Evey said something that made me feel good after we parted ways with the Kaminskis. "I like Sadie," she told us. "She laughs a lot!"

It's good to laugh together. Evey realizes this, even at the age of four.

That's a man, man!

2011-08-05T09:18:00.001-05:00

Ok, now I like the sonogram tech. The worm turns.

Our son got an "A-plus" review from the tech. Currently 4.2 pounds. Good looking heart. Practicing breathing. Big head. And, excitingly, both of his balls have dropped. Which is exciting because mine didn't drop until I was about 17.

That's a picture of his equipment, by the way!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Baby sonogram 8/5/11 and a God complex

2011-08-05T08:24:00.001-05:00

This is a pic of the girls right before we go in for another sonogram.

We're 15 minutes early for the sonogram because the sonogram tech won't do her job if you're 1 minute late. I once got here 3 minutes late, and Adrianne was already well into the process.

This, as you can imagine, doesn't sit well with me. Sure, lady, you can see inside women's stomachs, but that doesn't mak you God!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Captain America OK, not great

2011-08-01T06:48:00.000-05:00

Took this pic of Evey in the Camaro the other day.

Took Adro to see Captain America this weekend. I thought it was OK. I'd heard some rave reviews of the film... the movie wasn't bad, but it was middle-of-the-road as far as these superhero films go. Thor was better. And this doesn't come within swinging distance of Iron Man.

The effects on Chris Evans, making him look skinny and short, were impressive.

For me the story never really got going until the end.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

What a jhrag

2011-07-25T20:33:00.003-05:00

Evey is already making plans for her birthday cake.

"Mom, Dad, do you know what I want on my birthday cake?"

"No, kiddo, what do you want?"

"Guess! It start with a, "juh," "juh."

"Hmm... could it be... you want a... GIRAFFE on your birthday cake?!?"

"Nope!"

"No? OK... what animal is it that starts with a 'juh?'"

"A 'juh'-RAGON!"

Palladia ROCKS!

2011-07-21T23:17:00.001-05:00

We've added the best station to our TV package since MTV2 was still playing music videos...

It's called PALLADIA. http://www.palladia.tv/

It's mostly live music with a few music videos here and there. I'd even say they skew to alternative rock a bit... for example, this last weekend they introduced an hour-long performance of Soundgarden at last year's Lollapalooza (I was there in person, you know, but hey... good to see the TV version!)

Just now I watched Silversun Pickups performing for 30 minutes unplugged! Bad ass! I can't even find this on YouTube, or else I'd post a clip. I know Hendren hates Silversun because of their androgynous lead singer, but damn, that guy can play some guitar, too!

I also recorded Austin City Limits with Pearl Jam and Kings of Leon.

This is the station for ME!!!

Good pic of me and Grandma and Grandpa

2011-07-20T22:55:00.000-05:00

This photo is from a few years ago.

Quick Grandpa Nick story:

My sister just got this shiny new red Dodge Daytona... I'm telling you, this was a hot shit car back in 1987. And my sister was appropriately proud of her new wheels (her previous car was a junker Pontiac Sunbird, dull yellow, the interior was all plastic and I could carve my name pretty much anywhere in the car with a fingernail.)

She parked her car across the street from Grandpa and Grandma's house. Grandpa had this huge conversion van. We had friends coming in town from Indiana to visit...

Grandpa had to run an errand, so he's backing his giant van out of the driveway. Our friends Larry and Mary arrived at the exact same time. Apparently Larry pulling up distracted my Grandpa... he kept backing up to get out of Larry's way, until... CRUNCH... Jessica's new prize got backed into.

So Sis is freaking out, Grandpa is pissed, Larry is like, "Hey, everybody... bad timing?" And Larry gets out of the car and mumbles to me, "Dammit, I saw that was about to happen, but... I didn't honk because I didn't want to give Nick a heart attack..."

And Grandpa looks at him and says, "Next time, give me the damn heart attack!"

Happy 4-0 to the Lip!

2011-07-19T22:50:00.000-05:00

Hope he doesn't mind me celebrating the milestone here on the blog... but relax, Lip, I still look older than you!

Here is a blast from the past photo... Evey and Sean hanging out when Evey was just a little thing.

Happy birthday buddy! Glad we've stayed close all these years.

Grandpa's Obit

2011-07-18T22:06:00.000-05:00

Here's how it looked in the Wichita Eagle.

67 years with Grandma Joyce.

39 years at Boeing.

11 great-grandkids.

Nice run.

Too bad they misspelled my wife's name. A-D-R-I-A-N-N-E is the proper spelling. Oh well, she's used to it, but she's married to an editor and things like that bug him.

(I remember when my Dad died, no one believed me that Nichol's name was spelled that way... and I had to leave the funeral home early so we could attend Adro's grandpa's funeral outside Topeka for a day and then turn back around and get back to Wichita for my Dad's funeral... as soon as we left, I called Melissa to confirm Nichol's spelling... got it changed before it made the paper. Whew! Stuff like that keeps me up at night!)

Visit with Asher

2011-07-17T22:18:00.002-05:00

We had a great time on Sunday hanging out with Asher and his big brother Grey. Evey even got a turn at holding Asher. She did a nice job, I know she's excited to hold her own baby brother here in a few months.

Evey didn't see me holding Asher, she was busy chasing Grey around with a Star Wars blaster. She told me after we got home, "Dad, you really should have held the baby, it was really fun."

I told her that we'd have a baby of our own in the house to hold all the time, and I'd probably get to hold him a lot here pretty soon.

Evey then told me the plan:

"Dad, you get to hold me while I hold the baby. ...Mom gets to hold Grey's brother."

So, hopefully Asher and the Heiman family are down for that plan, or else Adro is going to really feel left out.

I'll have photos of Asher and Adro posted, probably not 'til next week though...

Good news X 2

2011-07-12T01:12:00.003-05:00

The Aquabats have a new TV show...

And they're playing Comic-Con next week!

Whoo-hoo!

In other news, it's HOT outside.

Thank goodness for AC.

Back from the funeral

2011-07-10T23:23:00.002-05:00

Made it back home on Saturday. Smooth sailing until you get just past Lawrence on the turnpike, then miles 208-212 took us a half hour to get through (construction).

My cousin Melissa read my blog post out loud at the Rosary for Grandpa. That was nice.

Got to see my Uncle Joe and Aunt Josie from Santa Fe, which was great. We didn't get to visit long... but at least we had a chance to say hello.

Evey was on her best behavior. The Rosary took forever, and she sat there and did a nice job. For the funeral, I had to sit with the other pallbearers, so Evey and Adro were sitting without me. Every time I looked over she seemed to be doing well.

I told her she did a great job. She seems to know when she really needs to be good.

I'll try to remember that the next time she shows her ass at Target.

Farewell to Grandpa Nick

2011-07-07T00:16:00.004-05:00

Sad news. Grandpa Nick passed away last night. He was... 86? A long life. These last few years had been hard on him, so it's a relief that Grandpa is no longer suffering from his many ailments he was stricken with in his last years.

Grandpa was a first-generation Mexican-American, a WW II vet, a 40-year Boeing employee, a member of a biker gang, a Jayhawk fan and most important to me, my friend. He absolutely loved Evey and my wife.

Grandpa didn't talk much. He was a quiet, stoic guy. He worked on his yard a lot. Watched a lot of car racing, football (hated the Cowboys), college basketball, boxing, a little pro wrestling on occasion. He was the first guy I knew to buy one of those giant satellites they sold in the 1980s -- you know the ones that were like 15-feet wide? We about spun that thing off it's pole trying to get Wrestlemania 2. It's still in Grandma's back yard.

The place you'd see Grandpa most often, especially from about 1982 to 1994, was sitting on the back deck right next to the sliding glass door in a dilapidated lawn chair, no shirt, old blue jeans, John Deere hat, Mickey's in his hand. He had just finished working in the yard. And you could sit there and chat with him if you wanted. But he probably liked it better if you just sat there in silence with him and watched the grass grow.

When Grandpa did laugh, he laughed hard, and his entire bald head shook.

The thing I think defines Nick Gomez, the thing I would want people to know about him, is that, if not for him, there would be generations of Mexicans, young and old, full-blooded, half-blooded, practically gringo -- who would have never made it in Wichita. He was the trailblazer. He got a job at Boeing and he stuck it out. He knew what work meant. He had three kids, and those kids had kids -- some more than others. Some of those kids needed help -- some more than others. And whenever they came to Grandpa, he helped them out. He helped his friends out. Grandpa didn't say much, and that includes the word "no." You needed help? He helped. You needed work on your car? He worked on your car. You need to buy a car? Let's see how we can buy a car.

I don't know how often the favor was returned for Grandpa. The last time I saw him... hell, the last five times I saw him, I thought that would be the last time I ever saw him. But this last time, I was pretty sure. So I told him as I shook his hand, "Grandpa, I want you to know I love you, and my family loves you. I'm proud of you. And most of all, thank you for everything you've done for this family. There are a lot of people who wouldn't be where they are now if it wasn't for you."

Grandpa just nodded as he got ready to go back to sleep.

Grandpa never talked much.

First dentist appointment in the books!

2011-06-30T01:44:00.002-05:00

Check out this cute photo of Evey getting ready for her recital at Eudora High School! I have (expensive) studio photos we bought of her in this outfit that I'll scan and post soon.

Speaking of expensive, let's talk about Evey's first dentist appointment!

Like I said, I didn't go, so this is all a second-hand report from the lovely Mrs. Adro Jones.

The appointment only took ten minutes. The dentist's assistant (is that what you call them?) looked at Evey's teeth, said they looked good, then quickly did a cleaning and applied some fluoride. The gal then went to get a dentist, any dentist, but they were all too busy to see my daughter. So the assistant asked Adro if they really wanted to see the dentist, and Adro was like, "Well, if they're not available... I guess not."

So Evey then sat back again, prepared for what was described to her as a scrubbing. This is when the assistant told her, nope, she was done! She already had the "scrubbing," that was the cleaning/fluoride.

So Evey got off even easier than she expected! Nice.

Me and Adro, however, didn't get off as easy. That 10-minute trip cost $80. We didn't sign up for dental for Evey this year because we figured it would cost less than paying the monthly premium for just one or two appointments than paying cash for the one or two appointments she went to... which will turn out as true (knock on wood, barring any tooth accidents) as long as she doesn't go back for a while... and Adro smartly scheduled her next appointment for early January.

So, there you go! Evey thus far has the Weibel/Romero teeth, lucky girl. Let's hope the baby boy gets the same teeth, along with dad's vertical leap, humility and awesome taste in music and sense of humor.

Coloring with Papi

2011-06-28T06:58:00.000-05:00

Here's a photo from when we were at Roaring River State Park. Evey and her Papi taking some time to color some pages.

I've discovered a new flavor drink at Sonic that is really quite amazing. It's my new favorite drink and I'm addicted to it.

It's a cherry limeade with grape flavor added.

It sounds simple, but that is the beauty, and brilliance of it. Try one. Today.

Adro tried it and didn't like it. She said it tasted like "pop rocks."

I don't know what pop rocks taste like, but if they taste like magic, then yep, she's right.

Piggy bank money

2011-06-28T01:04:00.002-05:00

I asked Adro to pick up a new car seat for me yesterday. I told her I'd pay for it, she said we'd take it out of our joint account, you know, the usual pleasantries.

Then Evey came out of her room holding her piggy bank.

"Here, Dad," she said. "You can take it out of my money."

I told her that was sweet, but that mommy and daddy had it covered.

========

Oh, how did the dentist appointment go?

Stay tuned.

First dentist appointment

2011-06-26T22:07:00.003-05:00

Evey has her first real dentist appointment Monday morning. Judging by these photos, she'll be ready.

The cousins, Jett and Marina, spent the night at our house a few weeks back... I snapped these photos as well as a few others I'll share this week.

Evey has already had two "happy visits" to the dentist where they just sat her in the chair and let her check stuff out. They also counted her teeth. I'm told this freaked her out a little bit. I'll wait for a report from Adro on how here first real, non-happy visit goes. I'm nervous for both of them, but I won't tell her that.

And no, I'm not going to be there at this memorable event. There are no happy visits for me at the dentist, only sad visits, so, to quote the late Layne Staley, I stay away.

Weather

2011-06-23T00:13:00.003-05:00

Here are some more weather photos from southern Missouri the other day. At one point I did start videotaping because I thought the clouds were about to drop... thankfully that didn't happen.

Evey is starting to read everything around her. Today she tried reading the random French wine posters we have in our dining room. She did pretty well sounding things out phonetically, sadly, there was no reward for her because the words were nonsense to her (and me.) But it's cool to see her mind trying to arrange the letters correctly.

I got a nice voicemail from my pal Damon yesterday. We're playing phone tag right now, but I'm flattered that he still checks Evey's blog. Hopefully he makes it down for the Laugh Olympics in September... I'm sure he will, he's been a long-time supporter of the event, and this year will mark the 10th anniversary. Plus, he is living in the states now, which will make his flight easier.

And the coolest letter we've received recently was right before I left for the U.S. Open -- my cousin Melissa sent Evey a "congrats" card on the news that she would be a big sister... also included was a $25 gift certificate to Applebee's, with a note saying, "Take you mom and dad out to dinner!" Very sweet, very nice. Hopefully Evey follows the directions and does indeed take us out!

Jukebox update, 6/20/11

2011-06-22T00:21:00.000-05:00

Removed:

Jethro Tull, Greatest Hits Vol.1
The Crow Soundtrack
Elliott Smith, XO
Elliott Smith, New Moon Disc 1
Elvis, No. 1s
Incubus, A Crow Left of the Murder
Nine Inch Nails, Downward Spiral
Pearl Jam, 10
Powerman 5000, Tonight the Stars Revolt!
R.E.M., Best of Disc 1
Roy Orbison, Black and White Night
Stone Temple Pilots, Purple
Sponge, Wax Ecstatic
Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Soul Coughing, Ruby Vroom
Toadies, Rock Show (Live)
Tool, Aenima
White Zombie, Astrocreep 2000
Stone Temple Pilots, Thank You (Greatest Hits)
Something's Gotta Give Soundtrack

Inserted:

L.L. Cool J/Cool Kids mix
Beastie Boys, Hot Sauce Committee Part 2
Chevelle, Wonder What's Next?
The Flys, Holiday Man
Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
Foo Fighters, Wasting Light
Seether, Disclaimer
Pearl Jam, Vitalogy
Muse, Absolution
Michael Jackson, Number Ones
Lil' Kim, La Bella Mafia
Ludacris, Word of Mouf
Sublime, Sublime
Slipknot, Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses
Starsailor, Love is Here
Manchester Orchestra, Simple Math (plus Silversun Pickups, Pickul)
Marilyn Manson, Greatest Hits
Tool, Undertow
Vampire Weekend, Contra
War, The Hits

Father's Day

2011-06-20T04:06:00.000-05:00

I had an awesome father's day weekend!

My girls got me some great stuff. Highlights include some new adidas (which I really wanted/needed... I neglect to buy myself clothes, as is evidenced by proudly wearing my 1998 Aquabats T-shirt like it looks good) and the ESPN "30 for 30" series on Biu-Ray.Hot damn!

We went after the yard on Saturday morning and got a ton done. Started at 8:30 a.m., done by 1 p.m. Then I got the slip and slide out and me and Evey got crazy. Afterward I called a mandatory trip to Peking Taste, so we went. And something about that visit to Peking was just... perfect. Evey loves the place, as do I, it was 95 degrees out, and we're throwing down buffet. Good times.

Saturday night I played with the jukebox. Swapped out 20 CDs. Also, watched V for Vendetta.

That night, I dreamed about my Dad. The dream wasn't a very good one. Me and Dad were at a karaoke party together. I wanted to sing a song that would please the older crowd... but I didn't know many of the songs that were in the book. Eventually I decided to sing an Eagles song, but the one they played for me wasn't the one I picked, nor did I know the song. So I bombed it.

Why was I at a karaoke party with my Dad? No idea. You might guess that me and Dad never hit a karaoke party while he was living... the mind is a strange place. Perhaps the dream was about trying to please my Dad? That seems like the obvious place my mind was going.

Sunday, we took it easy all day. Grilled some dogs and brats while I admired the yard. Evey has definitely been a daddy's girl all weekend. We played a lot of Uno and "tree frog" over the weekend. She also refused to take a nap on Sunday, until she came downstairs and cuddled with me while I watched the U.S. Open... she was out in 5 minutes... and I was content to lay there and watch the blowout win.

A great father's day weekend. Thank you, girls!

Done with D.C.

2011-06-19T23:07:00.002-05:00

Photo is of Luke Donald hitting a drive at last week's U.S. Open.

I spent more time lost in D.C. than found. I'll be happy not to return for a while. I always thought it was kind of a petty/small-minded thing for people to say things like, "Oh, I really hate that part of the country, I'd never live there..." Well, hate is a strong word, but I really disliked the D.C./Baltimore area. It also seems that most of the people who live there wished they lived elsewhere. That's saying something!

Anyway, let's talk about my last poll... I wanted to say that I agree with the 8 of you who voted that we wouldn't know color existed, if we were all totally color blind. How would we have a concept for color if we had never perceived color?

Which leads me to my next thought... what are our human brains missing out on right now?

As I take a drink from my beer, how about this one: the ability to sense harmful things that we might consider putting in our body. For example, being able to know, instinctually, that a cigarette was harming you. Maybe a bad example, but only because that one is common knowledge... Take it to a bigger picture... what if you could sense something around you would, over the long-term, going to give you cancer? OK, smaller picture -- the last time you got food poisoning? What if you could have sensed that the sweet and sour chicken would have made you ill?

Some animals do this already... they can sniff out food that's going to cause them trouble... yet some animals will eat poison unknowingly...

If you read a lot of science fiction, you see all sorts of different ideas on things we can't perceive... time, space, color, etc. I read (and by 'read' I mean 'started and never finished') a mildly interesting Isaac Asimov book once where a species of alien could perceive the entirety of its life all in one vision... there was no today or tomorrow, it was just one whole, and these guys knew the day they'd die, but there was really no concept for it.

Anyway, if you're still with me, I want you to know that I believe that there are aliens out there who can perceive much more than humans can... and it was this alien race that designed the highway system in the D.C./Baltimore area, and that is the reason the whole thing is one giant clusterfuck.

Thank you.

Wake up for a tornado

2011-06-15T23:04:00.002-05:00

We were in southern Missouri when the Joplin tornado hit, visiting Adro's family (Alan's side.)

We had to wake up Evey from a nap so we could sit in the hotel hallway for an hour while the tornado sirens went off. Joplin was hit, then the same storm blew through where we were 40 minutes later.

No tornado, but it was spooky. And I'm not just talking about Evelyn's hair.

So proud of Evey

2011-06-13T01:01:00.002-05:00

This weekend was Evey's recital from her dance class... she performed in front of about 300 people on both Saturday and Sunday night along with the other six kids in her class... and she nailed it two nights in a row!

She looked so cute in her costume... all yellow with a miner's helmet (they danced to the 'heigh-ho' seven dwarfs song, "it's off to work we go...") I'll have photos from the event soon (photography from parents was frowned upon, my one cell phone photo is really crappy.)

It was weird sitting there waiting for my daughter to come out from behind a curtain... for 30 minutes I was bored, agitated, disgruntled, but keeping on a happy face... then for two minutes I was thrilled... then back to angry at the world that I was spending my weekend and my money at the Eudora High School auditorium (the whole show was around two hours long, and varied greatly in quality and cuteness, depending on if your kid was or wasn't involved in the performance.)

But, seriously... Evey nailed it. On Saturday, she was a little delayed getting into the routine, but once she got going she was awesome. On Sunday, she almost lost her helmet, but it stayed on her head... she was the second tallest girl on the stage at the time, and her lankiness made me smile. She really stretched those arms and legs out.

My very favorite part of her performance was when she'd lean over and hold her hand to her ear (imagine Hulk Hogan pumping up the crowd.) I don't know why, but she did this one move especially well compared to her almost-as-talented colleagues on stage.

GREAT JOB EVEY! WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

Bella and Evey contemplating a kid's book

2011-06-08T22:28:00.003-05:00

Big weekend coming up... Evey has her first recital for her dance class (Saturday and Sunday), it's my sister's birthday (Sunday), we're watching the Johnson kids (Friday) and my mom is also coming up for the weekend.

And tomorrow (Thursday) I'm going to the first ever soccer game at the new Livestrong Sporting Park. Exciting!

Killed a few beers and a stogie with Neuty on the back deck tonight. For some reason, the temperature doesn't seem as hot as they say it is. Good times.

Adrianne and the baby are doing well. Evey wanted to buy the baby yogurt the other day. Adro told her that the yogurt wouldn't last that long in the fridge. Still, nice of big sister to already be looking out for little brother.

Shout-out to Solo

2011-06-06T22:21:00.001-05:00

Not only did he celebrate a birthday recently, he also scored a sweet new gig teaching high school journalism/yearbook at Mulvane High.

Congrats, Mike! I think this is the beginning of your true career. I'm proud of ya.

GARAGE SALE WEEKEND

2011-06-03T01:24:00.002-05:00

Stop by the Jones casa tomorrow or Saturday, from 7 a.m. to noon, and buy our junk, I mean treasures!

Lots of girly stuff! An armoire! A bedroom set! NO comic books!

What a game in the NBA tonight. I thought the Mavs were DEAD. I mean, they were giving up dunk after dunk. Just pathetic. And yet they pull out the win. This series has life in it again!

Evey, Boom & Boom

2011-06-01T22:54:00.002-05:00

Here's a question for you to ponder:

If humans were universally color blind -- and I mean, we could only see black, white and shades of gray -- do you think we'd know that color existed?

Let's make it a poll!

Evey, tell them what we're having...

2011-05-30T20:11:00.002-05:00

"BOY!"

Yayyyy!!!

OK, it didn't really matter to us boy OR girl... we just want a healthy baby. So far, everything is looking good, so that's what makes us happy.

Evey? Well, she WAS sad because she really wanted a sister. In fact, she buried her face in my chest when the sonogram technician said, "it's a baby brother!" Evey couldn't believe it. Distraught. But she's come around since.

Thanks for all the votes. It's exciting to hear a lot of people -- people like my cousin Melissa and my friend Greg -- found out from the blog. It's flattering that my friends still check this site often!

There is no Dana, there is only Zuul!

2011-05-29T21:58:00.000-05:00

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Pizza party!

2011-05-26T22:58:00.002-05:00

The Neutebooms turned us on to something recently -- an easier way to making pizza at home. Plus, it's something the kiddos can do.

So we let Evey at it the other day. She made us a sweet pepperoni pizza! All by herself!

Just got back from a quick 23 hours in Philadelphia. Seems like a cool city. Sadly, I only had time for one Philly cheese steak, and it was at the airport... and as you'd guess, it wasn't very good.

Three-day weekend around the corner, EXCITING!

Happy Friday, friends.

# 2

2011-05-22T22:11:00.002-05:00

BIG NEWS...

The Jones family is expecting child # 2! Adro is due Oct. 7th, and doing well.

More info to come. In the meantime, a poll...

BOY or GIRL???

Earth Day parade

2011-05-19T01:04:00.002-05:00

It was a cold day for a parade! This was a few weeks ago. Evey's rocking the stocking cap. Looking cute!!!

Moment in time

2011-05-16T00:39:00.002-05:00

The girls getting ready for the Earth Day parade a few weeks ago.

Sorry I've been gone for a while. My travel schedule these last seven weeks has been pretty brutal.

Week-by-week it went:

Scottsdale, Ariz.
Atlanta and Augusta, Ga.
Cleveland
OFF
Washington, D.C.
Asheville, N.C.
Charlotte/Greensboro/Raleigh, N.C.

I'm happy to be back home now.

I'll have more for you this week, I think. I have quite a few stories to tell. But I also have a magazine to publish. We'll see.

I hope you're well.

Never the way you want to start a day...

2011-05-11T08:48:00.000-05:00

At the Urgent Care Center in Greesnboro, N.C.

This morning while we were getting ready to leave, Landscape Management magazine editor-in-chief Dan Jacobs sliced his hand open on the trunk of our rental car. It was like the scene in "Back to the Future," except Marty McFly was not trapped in the trunk.

But don't worry about D.J., he just needs a little medical attention -- which he's currently still waiting for -- and he'll be just fine!

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Evey on the way to Easter at Aunt Jessica's house

2011-05-09T06:36:00.000-05:00

I've been away a lot lately, and this is the photo I've been showing people when they ask if me and Adro have any kids.

Pretty cute, huh?

Also attached (in case this photo is a blog repeat) is a photo of the cousins coloring Easter eggs.

It's a bad sign when it's Monday morning, before work even starts, and I'm already wishing it were Friday night...

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Hope you had a great Mother's Day

2011-05-09T05:18:00.001-05:00

Our weekend went by too fast and I miss my girls already!

Lincoln Memorial

2011-04-27T23:31:00.002-05:00

I toured D.C. for most of the day on Sunday... here's the one photo I had the nerve to ask someone to take for me with my work camera.

(I had visions of someone doing a "European Vacation" to me and running off with my $1500 work camera... but I asked a nice older lady who also had a nice camera to shoot this for me. She was impressed with my camera, but apparently didn't think she could beat me in a foot race.)

The Reflecting Pool was all tore up and shut down. The Lincoln Memorial was still way cool.

Don't forget -- 10 fall-down hugs

2011-04-25T21:36:00.001-05:00

I get 10 fall-down hugs from Evey tomorrow for my birthday. "Dad," she told me, "If I forget, remind me!"

Hope you had a happy Easter

2011-04-23T14:21:00.000-05:00

Evey got to spend some time with her cousins, which was great. Got to see my mom and sister and bro-in-law. Colored easter eggs, etc.

Also had a chance to take my wife out for a date night on Friday. We went and saw "Arthur," which I actually enjoyed, maybe even more than Adro did. It probably helped that I've never seen the original.

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

Evey the artist!

2011-04-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G

My favorite commercial on TV, right now

2011-04-20T22:12:00.002-05:00

Fun song, and who doesn't want to be this guy when you enter a room?

I basically want to party with every single person in this commercial, except for the main guy... because there's only room for one "main guy," and that should be me.

TV characters... where are they now?

2011-04-19T20:59:00.008-05:00

Apparently Zach Morris, AKA "Preppy" from "Saved by the Bell," grew up to be a lawyer. He'll be on the new TNT show "Franklin and Bash." Looks like he is a real lady's man, too.

It makes sense, it's a natural progression for Preppy. I'm happy to see some continuity in my childhood fictional characters. Preppy wasn't going to grow up to be a firefighter, he was always destined to be a smooth-talking, womanizing lawyer.

How about some other characters?

Al Bundy from "Married with Children" has to be the biggest winner by marrying the amazingly hot Sofia Vergara on "Modern Family." He deserves it, I assume, for all the trouble Peg Bundy put him through. We haven't heard the backstory yet, but I'm sure Peg took Al Bundy for what little he was worth (not much money in the shoe salesman business) and Al had to rebuild himself from the ground up... and boy did he bounce (and I mean bounce) back nicely, somehow scoring the big house in Orange County with a much younger wife. Well played, Mr. Bundy.

I blame the parents, when it comes to Doogie Howser, M.D. What did they expect? When a kid misses out on his childhood -- from 6th grade to med school? -- he's going to rebel, eventually. So Doogie got out of medicine and tried to regain his teenage/early 20s by whoring himself out as Barney Stinson on "How I Met Your Mother." I'm sure Doogie-Barney will eventually find the proper path, but until then... well, it's a loss for modern medicine, really.

This one is less current, but I was always happy to see that after Bo Duke got done outrunning the law and moonshining with his brother Luke on "Dukes of Hazzard," he went on to marry a nice Kansas girl. Then one day they discovered a baby on their farm, apparently shot to earth on some crude spaceship, perhaps from a dying planet? That baby would become Clark Kent, Bo would become Jonathon Kent, and they would all live happily ever after on "Smallville."

This one is the most tragic... how did the lovable, cat-eating alien Alf go from friend to foe? Where did the relationship break down? In another TNT series, Alf returns as the star in "Falling Skies." And this time, he's not here on earth just for the pussy.

Surviving a bad splinter

2011-04-18T21:30:00.002-05:00

Evey got a bad splinter at preschool today. The P.E. teacher said she did a great job toughing it out... she said that Evey showed more toughness with the splinter than her 15-year-old would have.

Yet taking off a band-aid is a life and death thing for her. I don't get it.

***

Me and Adro worked on the yard a lot these last few weekends. We took out the thorn bushes (yay!) and replaced them with flowers. I also scooped out all that red mulch. But the piece de resistance, in my opinion, are these solar powered lamps. We've got about 10 of them lining the stairs... and it looks so cool!

I'll get some photos of the whole deal soon, but not yet. I still need to re-stain all the wood, it's looking ragged. Once that's done, the front of the house is all set.

***

Speaking of those thorn bushes, Copy Jesus almost got a phone call. "Come over." "Why?" "Help me pull these thorn bushes out!"

When we were moving in to the house, Copy J made a joke that he'd gladly help me pull those things out. I came this close to calling him!

So, just remember, when you joke about doing me a favor, I won't forget! And I might even call you! (I didn't call CJ because I know he would have actually came over to help me!)

***

Me and the girls watched the remake of "Clash of the Titans" over the weekend. Not nearly as bad as I had heard!

Evey really liked Medusa, and was sad when she got her head cut off. "I wanted to see more of her!" she said.

They should have cast someone else in the role of Perseus, and let him have the shaggy look (they had him looking like a Marine, which didn't work.) The Kraken was sweet!

***

Was in Cleveland most of last week. My team up in CLE always treats me great when I'm up there, it's a fun group. I never have a lunch or a dinner by myself and they are constantly telling me how happy they are I joined the team.

There are two places I can recommend in Cleveland thus far: the Winking Lizard and the Leader Bar. The Winking Lizard is a good sports bar with awesome wings and plenty of flat screen TVs. The Leader Bar is connected to the same building as my hotel (the Hyatt Arcade) and it kind of looks like... Quinton's, if you removed all the booths, and all you had was a bar top and a few tables. And there seems to be only two bartenders, so you know who you're getting when you walk in.

The crew heads over to the Leader Bar after work often. It's across the street, after all.

Anyway, looking forward to exploring more of Cleveland, and taking the girls up there with me someday. I want to go to the Rock 'n Roll hall of fame, an Indians game, and someday, a Browns game.

***

This Bulls game is going to be a blowout now that Darren Collison is hurt.

I love my girls so much

2011-04-12T22:39:00.001-05:00

Can you blame me?

Tea time

2011-04-11T16:09:00.003-05:00

HEYO!

Sorry I've been absent for so long... my travel schedule has been the busiest it's ever been. It's tough being away from the girls, but I'm thankful I can do it because I know I have my awesome wife who is happy to take care of our little girl for us while I'm out doing business.

Quick Evey story:

Adro took Evey grocery shopping. Evey brought with her a pen and a pad of paper, so she could "keep a list" of the food they were getting.

So Adro took Evey by the deli, and they got a pound of ham. "What'd we get, Momma?" Evey asked. "We got some ham for sandwiches," Adro told Evey.

This went on for a while, and Adro thought it was really cute. And then she caught a glimpse of the pad of paper. Written on the list? "HAM"

"Evey, how did you know how to write ham?"

Evey said, "hhh-aaa-mmmm."

BRILLIANT.

Photo from Disney World, the tea cup ride...

Wanna join our golf fantasy league?

2011-04-05T19:30:00.001-05:00

Friends,

We’ve set up a Yahoo fantasy golf league over at Golfdom magazine... Free to join, and winner(s) get some cool Masters gear!

We’re doing this last-minute (of course) so if you have time, sign up before they tee off on Thursday to try to win some stuff!

Details can be found here: http://www.golfdom.blogspot.com/

Thanks! Remember, I could be shopping for YOU tomorrow morning at the Augusta National gift shop!

Cheers,

Seth

--
Seth Jones
Editor-in-Chief
Golfdom magazine
http://www.golfdom.com