Babies in the Bush

There's a nest full of little robins in our neighbor's tree. The mama doesn't like it when we get close.

 

Tulsa!

Our ex-neighbor threw a surprise birthday party for his wife at the Hard Rock casino in Tulsa. Our current neighbors and we drove down for a relaxing long weekend of sun and fun. Gramma & Grampa drove up from Utah to watch the boys, which was such a blessing.

Fisherman

CG took us out to his new neighborhood in the country and we fished his pond. We were catching little bass as fast as we could bait hooks.

 

Mammatus in the Morning

We've been having a nice wet spring without crazy tornado storms of years past. Lately we've had rain almost every morning. I'm always awed by the cloud formations with each storm.
 

 

Summer Project No. 3

Thanks to a rainy spring day, I had no sunshine distractions or desire to go anywhere. We finished up JP's new fireplace surround. I found a bag of mortar from the basement bathroom tile project, so I was able to get started without even a trip to the Home Depot. The boys have pledged to help paint the wall in order to raise funding for their wish lists.



Next project: remove yucky dirt-colored carpet and replace w/oak.

Destructo Boy

Our latest project of the summer is to improve our fireplace surround and mantle. Step one was to break out the existing ceramic tiles. CP was interested enough that he stopped playing video games for an entire hour to help us. What could be better than smashing stuff with a hammer? Inside the house, too!

  

City Ticks

We've been having really nice weather this week. No storms, no wind, and no humidity.
JP took the boys to Pioneers Park to see the animals. They walked the trail down to the eagles and turkeys and then over to the deer and elk pen. The boys both ended up with ticks! If ticks are out on paved nature trails in the city, just think what they're like out in the woods. I guess we won't be going camping any time soon.


 

 

Retirement, OK Style

JP's mom came out and we all went down to OK City for JP's brother's retirement party.
Seems like yesterday that we were all at ASU, just starting to look for a job, and already it's over.



Given all the crappy weather that has hit OK this year, I'm really thankful that we had three beautiful days there with no storms.
 

JP had fun trying out the Margaritaville Machine.

The five of us fit snuggly in JP's new car. Give GP another year of growth, and we'll have to go back to the minivan.

Laundry Helper

L Likes to help JP put away the laundry.

 

Old Bow

GP came across an old bow that Uncle G gave us. We took it to Scheele's and had it restrung for $8.



GP was anxious to shoot it. He knew in his heart that he is an archer who could pick off an orc a mile away from horseback. Once we started shooting, he then realized one of my favorite maxims: "In theory, there is no difference between theory and reality. In reality, there is."
 

 

Boston!

I had a conference in Boston. It was held at a hotel on the waterfront. Mmmm - Seafood dining on the water every day.



The highlight of the trip was a Red Sox game. 

 

 

Bon Voyage

Whenever I pack for a trip, I always have my helpers.

 

Nieghborhood Ducks

We have a pair of ducks that have taken up residency somewhere in the 'hood. The proud mama duck paraded her brood around the house.
The cats & dog were very interested, too.

 

Cinco de Derby

We had our Cinco de Mayo party on Quatro de Mayo, which coincided with the Kentucky Derby. We made up some betting guides and everyone had fun watching the race and rooting for their horse to win.

 

 

Tiny Boards

These are my latest circuit boards. I've gotten over my fear of surface mount components and jumped in. These translate the signal between a datalogger and a lawnmower engine. We can talk to the engines just like in your car. We're using these to collect information about how the mowers are used.

 

Cats' Favorite Places

V's favorite place in the kitchen.

 

L's favorite place is in my lap on weekend mornings when I'm at the computer.

  

Spring Weather in NE

May 1, 2013: Springtime. Green grass, a nice rain, and a smattering of hail.



May 2, 2013: Record snowfall.

May 14, 2013: 100 degrees.

 

Rocksmith Footboard

As everyone knows, my favorite game on the XBox is Rocksmith. The only problem with it is that you have to keep a controller handy to pick songs, switch modes, etc. It's just not convenient when you have have a guitar strapped on to walk around and fuss with a controller.



Why not use your feet to control the game? Having a pedal board adds to the game, as you can switch effects on the fly while playing. I found a DJ-Hero controller at our local used game superstore for $12. The circuit board inside it with the brains has all the connecitons printed on it, so wiring it up was pretty straightforward. I exhausted my stash of arcade game buttons, and found some cool yellow LED's, too. I used a piece of scrap plywood from JP's headboard project for the box.