Pad Playing

The last day we ever saw our son's eyes... This was the scene for the rest of Christmas break! Our boy really fell in love with his new iPad- and especially the Apple Pencil. He's able to draw such awesome pictures with it! It's pressure sensitive and can do so much, and feels like a real pen drawing on paper! It took him a little bit to get used to, but then he was off and running. He was drawing and animating for hours and hours- and we don't even mind because he keeps getting better and better!

His animations started off pretty simple, usually only one character making small movements, but he soon unlocked all the features of his animation program and started to incorporate photos, music, and voices. His imagination has no limits anymore! Go, my son, animate to your heart's content!

Open Them Prizes!

This is always a special morning for all three of us, but especially for Ledger! Diana and I usually get each other a little something special, but mostly its the Ledger show. I worked hard this year to find him a bunch of gifts, but there was one in particular that we knew he would love the most, no matter how any other things we got for him. We went a bit overboard with getting him a big gift, but I still wanted to have a full stash of gifts under the tree. I'm sure it's because I grew up with two siblings, but if the tree isn't brimming with gifts it feels empty. I know Ledger doesn't mind that I fill up the space under the tree...

We did our usual approach: as each gift is unwrapped we allow time for it to be played with and enjoyed before we move on to the next. All three of us took turns until there was just one lil' old gift left under that tree. Now, the reality is that if we had stopped there Ledger would have been perfectly happy with his Christmas haul. But I wouldn't be. I do take joy in spoiling my boy and giving him gifts that he didn't even know he wanted, and this year the last gift was beyond his dreams!

All right, enough teasing it out, here's what we got him: a brand new 12' iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil! When he opened it he was actually confused- 'Really? This is for me?!?' he exclaimed. Yes buddy, it even had his name etched into it! He opened it up with eyes as wide as saucers as I explained to him that he is now going to be able to make and edit videos, play games, and watch videos on it, but most importantly: he can draw and animate with it! He became even more and more excited as he thought of the thrilling possibilities this opened up! The reason Diana and I were willing to buy him such an extravagant gift is because we saw it as an investment. Ledger is so talented at drawing that we felt he needed it to keep challenging himself and stay ahead of the game. He hopes to because an animator someday, so we want to encourage him to grow in his skill and to give him an the opportunity to get as good possible. He may have fun with the other gifts, but this one is going to pay off for the rest of his life!

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Christmas Breakfast

The big day is finally here: it's Christmas morning! Ledge came bounding into our room ready for the day to begin! Groggy, we got out of bed and came out to the living room. Ledger, for the first time, saw the big bounty of gifts and was thrilled! Before any gifts are opened, however, we have the family tradition of eating cinnamon rolls. We only have them one day a year, so it is quite a special treat. This year I didn't put icing on them and instead let Ledger have the icing packet and put it on himself. He liked that! Part of the reason for this tradition is that not only is it yummy, but it also makes the whole house smell so great. It's become the smell of Christmas for all of us.

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The Tree is Stocked

Ledger is always so hard to put to bed on the night before Christmas, as I'm sure  all all kids! We made a valiant effort of wearing him out earlier in the day, playing outside and keeping him moving. After much speculation from the boy about what tomorrow might bring, he finally went to bed. Those sugar plum ferries must have been dancing pretty hard because once he was in bed he actually fell asleep pretty quickly! Now the busy work begins... I rounded up all the gifts we got Ledger and brought them down to the basement. Then I had to make quick work of wrapping the mountain of prizes. Diana professes that she doesn't know now to wrap a gift well, and I'm not one to argue with my wife... That means its up to me to get them all wrapped and ready. Two hours later I was finally done! (Don't get me wrong, there aren't enough packages to fill two hours worth of wrapping, I was just watching a movie while I did it) I made a couple trips up to the tree and filled it as full as possible! We got him many (too many) gifts and I know he is going to have a great Christmas morn! There is one gift in particular that we are excited to give him...

Warming Up On the Inside

We recently rediscovered hot chocolate. You know how there's different foods that you totally love but then don't eat it for a long time? Well, Diana and I seemed to have forgotten how yummy hot chocolate is, and Ledger is very pleased that we have rediscovered it this fall! He's been asking for a cup every night lately, and with all the twinkling lights from the Christmas decor and the blustery snow outside, we are all about it! Thank you Swiss Miss!

Brink Night Out

You know what we don't do enough? See my whole family! We stop by and see Mema and Papa from time to time, but we so rarely get together with them and Tim & Jill. It was time to fix that! My mom and Jill made work of scheduling an opportunity for all of us to get together- and without kids!

Avery offered to watch Noah and Ledger for the evening at Mom and Papa's, so we stopped there and dropped off Ledge. Then the four of us met up with Tim and Jill at 5 Lakes Brew Pub, a new place that just moved into the Tanger Outlets in Byron Center. Jill and Tim know the people who run it, so it was a chance to support some of their friends and check it out together. The place was nice and the food was really good. It was so nice to see everyone and have a chance to catch up. It was the first time seeing them since I started my new job, so I got to tell them all about it. We got to hear about all Jill's kids latest news as well as how the house transition has been going for Mom and Papa. A lot going on in our lives, so it was such a great night to relax and reconnect. I think we all realized that we need to do this sort of thing more often! And for the first time, because of the new job, I even go to insist that I pick up the tab.

Oh Christmas Tree

The seasons just keep changing, huh? With Thanksgiving over that means its already time to get ready for Christmas! We don't mind putting up the decorations and tree though, it always makes the house look so much cheerier!

As with all families, we have our own traditions that we've created around the holidays. Putting up our tree is certainly one of them! Here's how we like to do it: a week or two after Thanksgiving we decide it's time to get in the Christmas spirit, so we get our tree out of the garage and the decorations out of the basement. Then we bake some cookies in the oven. This part is very important, not just because it's always a nice treat to have some freshly baked cookies, but because it makes the house smell so good! We turn on some Christmas music to complete the mood; you know, Christmas for all our senses! Once the cookies are being baked, we open up the Christmas tree box and pull out the tree sections. For some reason this is always taken as an invitation for our son to climb in the box. I don't know why, but he does it literally every single year! When he see's that empty Christmas tree box he turns into some sort of cat- he can't resist it! I think he's only got a year or two of that left before he's too big to fit in it...  Next we pull out the step ladder and get to town putting up the decorations and ornaments. By the time we reach the bottom of the decoration box we collapse into the couch. The lights go out and we count down to the tree lights being plugged in. Voila! And just like that, it's Christmas time!

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Lookin' Good

The weather was so nice that we decided to go out and enjoy it a bit. We had an errand to run in South Haven, so we gathered up the boy and drove down there. We stopped and took care of what we needed to, walked around for a bit, then found a place to eat. A wonderful afternoon and evening together. The thing that made this day a different one was Ledger's hair. Usually we wet it and comb it over to the side and when it dries it goes back however it wants. For some reason as we were getting ready I decided to comb his hair straight back. As it dried it actually stayed back. He was a little concerned, thinking it might look bad and he would be embarrassed, but the reality was that it didn't look bad at all, in fact it looked amazing! He had grabbed his new jacket that he hadn't worn yet, and something about the hair and the jacket made him take notice of himself for the first time. For the first time he looked at himself in the reflection and made a startling realization: 'Hey, I look kind of cool!' He was very delighted with this new situation. He had always thought he was just a normal looking kid, average in appearance, but now? Well, now our little beloved child looked COOL! When he realized this, there was a small change in the way he walked, in the way he stood. He was a little taller and a little more confident, it's like he noticed for the first time in his life that he is a good looking boy! We've been telling him that for his whole life, but it was really awesome to see him realize it for himself.

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First Day of Work

We always take a picture of Ledger's first day of school, so it's only fitting that we would also take a picture of my first day of work! There were a lot of changes that we had to prepare for with my getting a new job. I had already gotten a haircut, so that change was already dealt with. I think the hardest change for me was the fact that I can't wear a t shirt and shorts to work anymore! Just like my father before me, I am now a supervisor! And just like my father before me, I have to dress nice because I am a supervisor... We had to do a lot of clothes shopping because my entire wardrobe consisted of only t shirts and shorts! I had to get dress pants and button down shirts and everything. I guess this was how I dressed when I was teaching, but it had been long enough that I kind of forgot what a pain it is to dress up for work! The other big change with this new job was getting used to a normal work week again. I had been spoiled by only working three days a week for the past 5+ years and now I have to work five days a week- in a row! This is going to take some getting used to...

Goodbye Haworth

 Haworth has played a big part in my family's life for a while now. Years ago when Papa's job of 30+ years started downsizing, he found a job as a supervisor at Haworth (the competitor of where he used to work). He wasn't necessarily wild about having to work 2nd shift, but it was a good company and they treated him well. Eventually as Diana and I started feeling like we needed a change, Papa offered to get me a job there as well. Throwing caution to the wind, we decided to do it! I had been teaching for 14 years, but needed a change, and this was the best offer going. Having no clue what I was in for, I took the plunge and started at the bottom as a hilo driver. After a few months I moved up the chain to loading, and a few months after that I moved up again to be a team lead! I went from the lowest position to leading an entire shift and crew of 22 people in the course of a little over a year! Over the next six years I tried moving up further in their operation, but I kept getting denied. I guess I realized that team lead was as far as I was going to get at Haworth. It's a little disappointing to be told no again and again, so I started looking to see if there were any opportunities elsewhere. With the pandemic and everything that has been going on the past year and a half, I figured even if they did promote me, there might not be much future in an office furniture company when no one is working in offices... After going on a couple interviews (thus the haircut), I had actually gotten a job offer! (that's what the call was while we were at Mom and David's). And that job offer was way too good to pass up! That meant that it was time to say goodbye to Haworth. It has been a great place to work and I will miss many of the guys there, but it's time to move on up! I gave Haworth my two week notice but only had to work one of them because I had saved up enough vacation time to slip out early. It's been great, but its time for me to see what the next chapter of my life looks like!

Keenansgiving

Thanksgiving time is back again! Typically we decide what we are doing for Thanksgiving based on my sister. When she goes to see my parents then so do we, on the off years we go and see Diana's family. Well, this just so happens to be an 'off' year, so down we go to South Bend!

We didn't exactly do the normal Thanksgiving feast, and I am ok with that. David is famous for his chowder and offered to make it for us instead of the usual turkey and fixin's. Sounds perfect to me! He makes a super huge vat of the stuff- delicious! He even made it a little fancy by getting bread bowls for us to each it out of- what a treat! We stayed with them for a couple days, so that means that I had chowder for every meal, even breakfast!

While we were around the table eating I happened to get a phone call. A pretty important phone call that would change our lives for the better.

As we started talking about getting ready to go home, David asked Ledger if he would rather stay for a few more days. Well, of course he does! So Diana and I left him there through the rest of the weekend, he got to hang out with his beloved grandparents, and we got a few days peace and quiet- win/win!

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Day Out

Lately, with Diana at her new job, Ledger and I have a little extra time to go out and about! I needed to run a few errands in town, so I took the boy and off we went. We did the stuff we needed to and both of us were hungry, so Ledge got to pick where he wanted to eat. He picked Panera Bread. They have macaroni and cheese, so it's not too unexpected... We had a nice time hanging out and chatting, doing what we do best: making each other laugh! 

After we ate we took care of a few more things and decided to go see a movie- I'm always up for that!
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Doggie

 He's so darn cute, isn't he? We've had this little fella for over a year now and he is such a treat. We definitely got lucky with this guy, he's absolutely adorable and continues to be so well behaved! We don't have to chain him up in the backyard when he goes out, he has never once peed on anything in the house, he's never bitten anyone or chewed on our stuff, he listens to commands, and he's just so darn cuddly!

Make sure you check out some more pictures of him here!

...Gone Tomorrow

... Unfortunately it just couldn't last. I am heartbroken to announce that I did, in fact, go and get my hair cut. I've been dreading it for weeks now, knowing that it was coming.

There has been a lot of uncertainty at work the past year and a half. Shocking I know! There is uncertainty about the future at an office furniture company? While everyone is working from home and no one needs office furniture let alone an office? Surprising, right? That along with the fact that the guy I lead the shift with recently left were enough to finally make me start looking around for a more secure job. I spent about an hour submitting resumes online to a bunch of random places, and wouldn't you know it- I've got two interviews lined up! That's the real reason why I am finally getting a haircut. I certainly wouldn't have done it just for myself. I was much happier with the long hair, but I think if I get a job offer it will soften the blow!

Check out the new look here!

Hair Today...

My hair has gotten kinda long... I have always loved having long hair. It wasn't really something that my mom and dad were not very happy about when I was growing up. My older brother had long hair for a little while when he was in high school, so fortunately got the brunt end of punishment and disappointment from my parents. By the time I wanted to grow my hair out it was already old hat for them. They still didn't like it and complained about it to me all the time, but I still went ahead and grew my hair out. My Junior and part of my Senior year I had longer hair. Eventually my mom bribed me into cutting it, which I always regretted.

When I was in college a few friends and I decided that we were going to grow our hair out together. Two of the guys had curly hair, so they had an awesomely big afro by the end! I kept it long for the next year and a half, only cutting it a little so that I could get a respectable senior picture. It was kind of important because the pictures we submit for our senior picture were photos they would send out to schools across the country as prospective new teachers for them to hire. I cut it a little, but not too much. I figured 'Sure, I need to look respectable, but I am trying to be an Art teacher, after all, they kind of expect a little strangeness, right?'. Well, it worked and I got a job. I oscillated between longer and shorter while I taught in Salt Lake City. Once it was time to get a new job again I had my hair nice and trim. I was applying to be a Bible teacher by then, so I had to look very clean cut and presentable. I kept that Bible teacher job for 12 years and during that time I never tried to grow my hair out. By the time I left that job I figured my time for long hair had passed. Not that I no longer wanted long hair, rather, the unfortunate reality of male pattern baldness was starting to creep in... 

Then the pandemic hit. My hair was already getting kinda shaggy when the whole thing started, and with the fact that there was no where to get a haircut during that time, I thought I'd just let it grow and see what happened. Diana decided that she kinda liked the long hair, so that was all the excuse I needed- no haircuts for me! It's been almost two years since I had a haircut and I love it! It is a great joy to me that I can have long hair one last time before the MPB monster steals it from me once and for all. I usually wear it down, but I have on occasion, just because I can, put it into a man bun. I honestly don't care if my long hair looks terrible or not because I love it.

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A New Open Dorr

Now that Mema and Papa have had a week or two to settle into their new place, they invited my family over to see it! They moved to a town that's much closer to us, only 20 minutes instead of 45 minutes. That's especially nice for Ledge- he hates car rides because he always gets motion sick, and now they are much closer. We found the place and greeted them excitedly, then immediately got the whole grand tour of the place. It's fantastic! 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, a huge finished basement, and a hot tub in the back! Now this is what retirement is supposed to look like! It's going to take some getting used to for me to think of this place as their house, but it's pretty clear that they have already gotten used to calling this place home.

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Goodbye Childhood

Wow, it finally happened: my parents moved and sold their house. This is the house I spent my whole life in. All those years ago when my mom was pregnant with me, she and my dad decided it was time to upgrade to a bigger house. The one they were in was pretty small, and now they were about to have baby number 3! They bought this house and moved in right around the time I was born- so I literally spent my whole life growing up in this house! 

I have so many fond memories of this place: playing in the backyard pool (before it was torn down), having my bedroom in a closet (had to get away from my brother somehow...), visiting on holidays in college, and raising our boy there for a few months when we moved back to Michigan, and thousands of amazing memories in between!

They had been thinking about moving for a few years now and finally found a house they wanted to move in to. I was able to help a little bit with packing and moving, getting them to their new place. 

They were all moved out and the new owners weren't going to get the keys for a couple days yet, so I took the opportunity to stop back in there one last time. It was really strange to see the whole place empty! I slowly walked through the empty house as the memories flooded through my mind. Granted, my parents had repaired and updated basically every single room in the house since I moved out to go to college, so it didn't really look like the house I grew up in, but that doesn't change the fact that it may look different but it's still the same place. 

They say you can't go home again, and now I literally can't because someone else lives there!

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Front Seat!

Look who's getting bigger! With Ledger continuing to grow, I thought I'd look up what the law is for sitting in the front seat. Turns out he has recently grown tall enough to finally be able to legally sit in the front seat of a vehicle! He had no idea, so when I told him to get in the truck because we were going to Meijer he first opened the back door. I told him 'Not so fast!' and opened the front door for him. He looked at me confused. When I told him he is now big enough for the front, his eyes got really wide and asked 'Really?!?' He did a little dance and jumped in the front seat super excited! I had to make sure to take a few pictures of this momentous day! He is so thrilled because he always gets car sick in the back and now he won't in the front!
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Meme Mystery

 So there I was, minding my own business, scrolling through Reddit, when I came across this meme. Kind of cute, isn't it? A harmless little meme meant to be an encouragement to those who read it. It's lovely. But as soon as I saw it I freaked out! Why? Well, there's something in particular about it that shocked me. It's a bottle of soda and a drawing of a stick. But here's the thing, that's MY drawing of a stick! What?!? You may have noticed that the name of my blog is 'Poke It With A Stick'. Did you also notice in the banner for this blog that there is a drawing of a stick? Well, way back in 2005 when I created this blog I drew that stick on a piece of paper, scanned it in, and did the photoshop thing and made that banner. Somehow someone took the stick I had drawn and turned it into clipart? I honestly have no idea! That is definitely the stick I drew, but how did it find it's way onto this meme? Seriously, how did this happen? It's a mystery I'm sure I'll never solve, but it is kind of strange that my drawing is a part of a meme...

Blowing Leaves

Autumn is upon us! It's my favorite season: its starting to get cold again and I don't mind being outside anymore. Lawn work is one of my least favorite thing in the world, but once the weather turns a bit cooler, then I am totally fine with it- in fact, I rather like putzing around the yard doing work. It's a good thing too, because all those leaves falling makes for a lot of raking! This year we added a tool to our arsenal: a leaf blower! Suddenly Ledger doesn't mind coming out to help anymore...

Halloween Movie Time

 With our silly and imaginative solution to Halloween at home, we decided it was the perfect time to watch the perfect Halloween movie: Nightmare Before Christmas! We watched it for the first time a couple years ago and Ledge absolutely loved it. We had played the soundtrack for him back when he was 4 or 5 and it terrified him half to death! We avoided it for a few years because of that, making sure he was old enough to handle the creepiness. Well, now he adores the movie, just like the rest of us, so it was exactly the right movie to finish off our stay-at-home Halloween! It may not have been what Ledger hoped it would be, but we made the most of it and created some wonderful memories along the way!

Trick or Treat At Home

 Devastating news: Ledger has COVID. Fortunately his case is about as mild as can be: he had a tummy ache and felt a little dizzy so he went to sleep early. When he woke up he was feeling just fine and never complained about feeling yuck again. What makes this so devastating though, is that he was diagnosed on October 28- that means Halloween is canceled for him! NOOOO! His favorite day of the year! The thing he's been anticipating with bated breath for the last three months! He was absolutely crushed. Many tears were shed, understandably. The thought of not being able to go trick or treating was more than our boy could bear.

Fortunately, Diana came up with an alternative: what if Ledger got to trick or treat right here at home? We have a hallway in our house from the living room down to all three bedrooms. Ledger could knock on one of the bedroom doors and she or I would open the door to give him candy. Ledger was interested but not convinced. 

We gave it a try anyway. Ledger knocked on his bedroom door, 'trick or treat!', Diana opened the door and Ledger saw that she was wearing a costume as well! That's what sold the whole thing- Diana and I wore different costumes when he would come to our doors! Now Ledge was all in, and laughing the whole time! He went to the next door and I opened up with a silly costume and gave him some candy. Having a minute or two, Diana had changed her outfit when he returned to her door for candy! It took a bit of imagination, but he was so happy that he didn't miss out on Halloween all together. It's silly times like these that he will remember fondly for the rest of his life!

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Doggy Steps

That pup of ours is so small that he can't even jump on to the bed. Granted, he's got bad hips so he should really be trying, but the bed is too tall for him to make it on. We've been lifting him up every time, but that gets really old and kinda hard to do when laying on the bed, so it was time to find a different solution. I had an idea... We have a bunch of left over wood from when we did the deck, so I rooted around and slapped together this creation. I didn't want the steps to be too tall and the whole thing needed to be pretty thin so it wasn't in the way of either one of us getting out of bed. I got to work in the garage and made it. I brought it in and he was not at all interested in it at first. I was able to coax him up a time or two with treats at each step, but he was pretty skeptical about it right from the start. With enough treats though, you can make a dog (especially our food motivated pup) do just about anything! He's getting used to it at this point and we just have to pat the bed and he's willing to hop up his lil doggy steps to get some cuddling! Mission accomplished!  

Secret Costume

 After much deliberation, he finally picked his costume. Ledger has been waffling back and fourth about his Halloween costume for the better part of two months. In years past he had his costume choice figured out in November, but this year he couldn't make up his mind. We spent a lot of time searching through costume websites trying to pick just the right one. He finally decided that he wanted to be a spy. We found a costume pack with a trench coat, hat, sunglasses, and fake moustache- perfect! When it arrived he tried it on and was very pleased. Finally he's ready for his favorite day of the year!

Carve-O-Lantern

Ledger was a little more daring this year, opting to do some of the carving himself. We got the pumpkins in from the car, after our visit to Gene the Pumpkin Man, and wiped them down. Ledge grabbed his pen and I grabbed the carving knife. His favorite part is deciding what face to put on each of the two pumpkins. After he's made the difficult decision of their expressions, we cut off the top and scrape out all the guts! This part is always very messy, which he and I like but mama really hates! After they've been emptied, Ledge makes quick work of cutting around the lines. I helped out by cleaning up some of the line work and making sure we get maximum light from the candle, shaving it a bit on the inside. Then they are ready to show to the world! Ledger picked the perfect spot on the porch to show them off- now we are officially ready for Halloween!

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Gene's Pumpkins

With Moonlight Jack showing up, that means its time to go get some pumpkins! Every year for the past 5 years we have been getting our pumpkins from good ol' Gene the Pumpkin Man! It's a small pumpkin farm about a half hour south of us that's run by an old guy who absolutely loves pumpkins. Gene's got everything on the farm painted orange and even has some touristy things for us to enjoy while we are there. Ledger loves going there and so do we. It's become an important family tradition for us- we go one day a week or two before Halloween and we get two full size pumpkins for Ledger and a few small lil gourds for decorating inside the house. Ledge loves pulling the orange pumpkin cart as we hunt for the perfect ones!

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Moonlight Jack Returns!

Ledger has been getting a little annoyed lately. Everyone else seems to be putting up their Halloween decorations but us. Argh! He's getting a little impatient, but as we all know, you can't put up your Halloween decorations up until you get a visit from Moonlight Jack! He hadn't stopped by our place yet, but recently one afternoon our boy came home from school to find exactly what he had been waiting for: Moonlight Jack finally showed up!

Now that the spirit of Halloween is here, we can pull out our box of spooky stuff from the basement and get our house in the mood for the season. Moonlight Jack's arrival marks the start of my favorite time of year: Autumn! It finally starts to get chilly outside, the leaves change color, and it's time to get cozy. I love it all!

(He's starting to ask if Moonlight Jack is even real... This doesn't bode well for Christmas...)