Putting Up the Tree

We've got our tree up and decorated. Currently, we only have about 10 ornaments on it, but we're planning to get more for Jaden and from other people. We usually get some from our volleyball players, etc. This is a great year since we haven't had a tree for the past 5 years. Each year Christmas comes and we just can't find the time to put up the tree. With Jaden, we wanted to make this a special Christmas for her (and for ourselves) so we went ahead and put one up. Pictures are to follow, but now it's off to Shawano for a few last minute gifts!! We're definitely getting into the spirit of the season. Jesus is almost here!

Home Made Root Beer

Tonight, Scott and I had the opportunity to make some home made root beer. It was an interesting experience. First off, I've been reading up on the process and found that this is a fairly dangerous activity. A lot of pressure involved if you don't handle it carefully. With that said, we decided to work in a save environment. Somewhere we felt safe and secure. We went to Mom's kitchen. Here, I began by mixing up 13 cups of cold water, a tray of ice cubes, 1.5 cups of sugar and a half ounce of root beer extract in a pitcher. Once I had it mixed up, I realized that there would be too much in the pitcher to fit and we poured some out into a 2 liter cooler. Then came the fun part. We added about a pound of dry ice to the mix. Wow did it bubble over. I replace the lid as best I could an held it in place until the pressure within forced me to turn it and release some of the force. It was really cool to watch. This high level of bubbling pressure happened for about 15 minutes. At the end, we had some fairly good root beer. I'd say give it a whirl some time.

Next week I'm doing the same thing with my students in science class. Stay posted for the results. I'll try to get some video/photos on too.

It's Almost Here!! Christmas

Sandy, Jaden and I are getting ready and into the Christmas spirit. Yesterday, we bought our Christmas tree (Jaden's first) and put it up in the living room. It's a nice looking Blue Spruce. Tonight, we'll decorate it and make it look super. Things have been going well here at the house even though we haven't posted in a while. Reason we are posting again is because I had the opportunity to see Taylor's blog and though it was pretty awesome that she was doing such neat things with technology. More to come...

Lazy Day

Today, I had to run all around Brown County to fix problems with Player's Edge sales. I had to go to Pulaski to deliver some small spandex because some kid tried on the wrong size and made a mistake. Then I had to go to Ashwaubenon and deliver size 12's. This is because the shipment has been slow in coming. Then I had to go over to Preble to swap out a pair of kneepads which supposedly had blood on them and were too small. I don't think they were blood stains, instead, they seem like rust stains to me. Anyway, I was then off to meet a father who was switching out a pair of spandex for a different size and brand. After all of this, I got home around noon and had some lunch. Then I relaxed on the couch and was awoken two hours later by my phone ringing. Apparently, I took a 2 hour nap. Oops. Sandy and Jaden got home around 2:45 pm. Then we hung out for a bit and cleaned up the house. We took some more footage of Jaden and now I'm entering my daily blurp. We'll see what tonight holds. We may go to the Shawano County Fair, or maybe we'll just stay home and veg out some more. I didn't get as much done today as I had hoped, but it is Labor Day weekend. Maybe I'll find more time later. - Mike

Thursday before the storm

Well, it's that time of year again. We're about to begin school. We've had quite the enjoyable summer. It has included working with volleyball players from around the state, selling Adidas and Nike gear at area schools, struggling with colleagues and aquaintances, and of course, playing with Jaden. She's grown so much this summer we can hardly believe it. I hope that things continue to go well.

Tonight, we had volleyball practice at Pulaski. It was fun to be able to watch the kids working on their skills and becoming a team. Jaden certainly had fun riding along with Daddy in her Baby Bjorn. We had some time to instruct and some time to watch people work on their skills. Jaden doesn't seem to mind the gym very much. Hopefully she can continue to tolerate it since her mom and dad spend a lot of time working there.

Tomorrow, Mike has to go to Green Bay to drop off some shoes, swap out some spandex and discuss a kneepad problem with a lady. While there, he may stop over at Best Buy and see what they have that's new. Of course, he's just going to look... With the new school year about to start, every penny is accounted for.

On that note, we're a little upset about our checks for the work we've been doing this summer with Players Edge. We've been working hard and turning in thousands of dollars to the main office, but haven't yet received a check. What gives? We're working hard to get things in on time, the least they can do is get us paid. It makes it really hard to want to continue to help them out if they don't care enough about us to give us what's ours. I don't know, maybe I just need to be more patient.

Jaden's taking a nap right now. Well, if she keeps it up, it'll actually be here bed time. Hope she continues to grow. On Monday, we took her to the doctor and she was up to 14 pounds 11 ounces. This is pretty good considering her start. www.caringbridge.org/visit/jadenschmidt. We really love our little girl and are going to miss her once we go back to school all the time.

Well, gotta go, the Packers are playing the Titans tonight and they're losing right now. Hope Rodgers can keep the ship headed in the right direction. - Mike