Author: McAdmin

Categories
Chase

No training wheels!

While we were in NC in June Chase randomly started telling us how such a big boy he is because he could ride his bike without training wheels. We had only just gotten him a bike in April, so we said “that’s nice”. Upon our arrival home he ask so politely that I had to take off his training wheels. To our utter amazement he rode his bike just fine on the first try, although he did have a bit of a stopping problem. Check out the video for proof. The next day I was eager to see him ride more, but he asked for his training wheels to be put back on so he could keep up with the neighbor kids. How fast these kids learn though, it’s amazing! And now Charlotte is going around yelling “da na na da na” which sounds pretty much like Dada, which is Daddy, and therefore Daddy was her first word… right?

Categories
Work

Cool new presentation

So my work is having a webinar for a group of trainers, and since you are friends and family I thought I’d share this interesting study. It’s a powerpoint about how to hold Crucial Conversations with children. I browsed through it fairly quickly and thought it might be good for a family home evening or something. Check it out. (requires powerpoint or open office)

Let me know what you think, or your results from using it.

Categories
Personal

Activity Days

For church, my current calling is teaching the age 10- & 11-year-old girls on Sundays and holding Activity Days every other week. Last year our group was relatively calm and composed, whereas this year our group is a little more “spunky!” Chase loves coming to the activities with me and diving into whatever we’re doing. Here’s a weeding activity we did recently:

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We also joined the younger group of girls a couple weeks ago to visit the BYU Museum of Art. (It’s always fun going back to my old “tromping grounds” without any sort of test or paper weighing heavy on my mind.) At the MOA, they have this activity available where they provide costumes for the kids to dress up in. We took advantage of that, then walked around, finding the girls’ characters in the paintings and briefly discussing the paintings. I was surprised that there wasn’t any complaining or arguing about who got which outfit! They’re good girls. It was a nice, calm, educational activity (my parents were visiting and watched Chase & Charlotte for me! thanks!!!).

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Categories
Reviews

Thank you for your brilliance, IKEA

We love IKEA. With their practical solutions, charming Swedish names, and low prices, I don’t know many people who WOULDN’T love that place. I especially love it now that Chase can go in the kids’ play area, “Smaland,” for one hour while we shop. He gets to have fun while we get to actually focus on the shopping task at hand (and perhaps buy more? simply brilliant).

This time at IKEA, we got a large bookshelf for Chase’s room. I don’t think that his Grandma T. (extreme book lover and former bookstore owner) will ever stop buying him books (which is QUITE alright with me, since I enjoy a lot of kids’ books myself). So now, we have a place for all those books and toys to live. We don’t have the bookshelf filled up yet, but that’s a good thing.

And don’t worry, my amazing MAN-husband has not only assembled it in record time, but he’s also cut out the bottom edge to accommodate our oversized baseboards, bolted it into the stud for my peace of mind, and has also taught Chase that if he climbs on it, he may eventually be crushed. So thorough!

Categories
Ranting

Michael Bay is a bad director

Shame on you Michael Bay for taking my favorite childhood toy/tv show and ruining it! I just got back from Transformers 2 and WOW, no one told me it was the worst movie ever made, with the best special effects. So if it’s not too late, let me be the one to warn you. Don’t go see it! If you must see it, watch the HD clips on the internet and piece together the story in your head, b/c that will be better than how director Bay told it. Sheesh, what a joke.

Categories
Tech

Firefox 3.5 is available!

Firefox 3.5 is now available, go get it now to be the coolest person today. And for those of you willing to take my tech advice, here’s some special content in HTML 5 format that only you can see. 🙂

Categories
Charlotte

Charlotte at 6 months old!

Our cheerful, sociable baby girl now weighs in at 17 lbs. She’s definitely a second child because I rarely think to take photos of her. But we love this fun little baby to pieces! She enjoys being held always, loves baby cereal, and watches/laughs at her big brother all the time!

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Categories
Deals

Arby’s Free Food (with purchase)

Every Wednesday in July Arby’s is giving me more of what I want, fat fat fat. Mmmmm that blessed fast food of the ancient greek gods. Arby’s is one of my favorite places to eat when someone else is buying, but not this month! This month I’ll be thinking about Arby’s on hump day because I might get something good for free. Here’s the break down:

  • July 1st – Free beef & cheddar with drink purchase
  • July 8th – Free Orange Creme Swirl Shake with sandwich purchase
  • July 15th – Free Reg Roast Beef with drink purchase
  • July 22nd – Free Roastburger with drink purchase

Here’s a google calendar version for all you techies out there. So don’t forget! Free food always tastes better, and that random raisin in the apple turnover is supposed to be there.

Categories
Ranting

Oh yeah that’s right…

That’s why I only shop one time every 10 years, because clothing is expensive! I went shopping today. Yep me, just me. That’s how us men do it. Grab stuff, maybe put it on, buy it, leave. Kohls was having a huge sale (surprise surprise) and I found some awesome clothes on sale. I got 2 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts, and 1 pair of pants that can zip away the legs to be shorts. (man I love those) And how much did you spend oh great man shopper? you might be asking. Well reader I’ll tell you. Reg retail price according to Kohls well over 200.00. My special price for me today: 78.00. $78.00 bones! Are you serious, well no, it was 103.00 but Joy had 22 something store credit.

So I was excited, until I was leaving the store and I realized, what if I get hammered by Joy, like I could’ve gotten shorts for 10 bucks each instead of 16.00!? Ahh my mind was racing as to how I could out shop my wife so I could win the argument we were having in my imagination. Then I devised a plan to blog about my shopping saying I got everything for only 25.00.. naw she’d never believe that, then I thought hey, all I got was a couple of shirts and some shorts, why the heck did I pay $103.00!? That’s an average of $20.00 an item. And I realized what a racket clothing companies have, because hey no one wants to be naked all day.

What do you think dear reader, was that a good deal? Should I hang my head in shame when I walk in the door later, or hold it high and proud waving the receipt around like it’s a winning lottery ticket?

Categories
Deals Tech

Windows 7 is coming

So for those of you still pimping out your computer with Windows XP, your time has come. Windows 7 will be coming out October 22nd, and I don’t have a big list of why you should upgrade, just one: Windows Media Center. Yeah all the other cool stuff is great too, but really, until something gets close to this experience Windows Media Center will be on my TV for a long time. OH and if you can make up your mind before July 11th, Bill will pay for half of it.

The full version of Windows 7 Home Premium is priced at $199, with an upgrade from Vista or XP costing $119. The full version of Windows 7 Professional is $299, with upgrades going for $199. Windows 7 Ultimate is priced at $319, with the upgrade version at $219.

But U.S. shoppers who pre-order between June 26th and July 11th will receive discounts of 50% or more, Microsoft said. For instance, Windows 7 Home Premium will sell for $49 during the discount period, while Windows 7 Professional will sell for $99. Participating retailers include Best Buy and Amazon, as well as Microsoft’s own online store.

-source
P.S. – Don’t waste your money on the ultimate version!