Thursday, March 27, 2008

Garden Prep

It's that time again - time to get the garden ready!
So I spent the evening tilling the garden. At 6PM it was an overgrown patch of green weeds. By 7:30 it was a cross-tilled patch of rich brown dirt with perfectly spaced rows...just what every obsessive-compulsive engineer wants in a garden!
In a few months, we'll be posting pictures of our overgrown garden. Hopefully we'll have shots of the mounds of tomatoes we're harvesting also.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Junior Spelled J-U-N-I-O-R

Junior, March 2008
Junior recently took on the challenge of spelling out his name in Magnetix pieces. Nearly 5 years ago, Syndi did the same thing with Legos, but she was younger and required a lot of help from Daddy. Junior did it mostly himself, but with a little help from Syndi.
Our flashback picture, to June 2003:

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Treehouse Roof

Just before Stephen was born, we bought a playset for our back yard. The original roof over what the kids call the "treehouse" (in spite of the lack of a tree), was a tarp-like material. It survived the first summer with no damage,but that first winter took its toll. In its second summer (last year), the combination of wind and sun shredded and disintegrated the tarp roof. By the end of last summer, I determined to put a real roof on The Treehouse.
So, as all good Jon projects go, I bought materials at the end of last summer, started work on it this winter, and completed it this spring. In fact, I actually still have a few minor touch-ups to make.
Above: Before (December 2007)
Below: After (March 2008)
Now that was fun!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

A Visit from Leah

Syndi had a friend over last weekend. Leah Camper, Syndi's best friend when we lived in Michigan, spent time camping with Syndi this weekend. Syndi's Grandpa and Grandma met Leah and her mom (Hi Anke!) in Alabama, and camped nearby for the night. Severe storms raged through the area and across into our county here in Georgia before passing through Atlanta. The campsite survived the hail and the tornadoes missed Rome by a few miles.

When they returned, they pretended to be at a campsite in our back yard, cooking over the fire pit (to the left of Syndi above).
We saw a beautiful rainbow from our back yard.
It had begun to rain, so the girls came inside, and then we saw this.
Near the end it became a double rainbow, but I couldn't even capture the whole rainbow in one photo, much less the double rainbow.
This is Syndi and Leah back in 2000!
That was then,
and this is now:

Leah joined us at church Sunday morning, and we took this picture out in front of our church. Syndi and Leah had a great time together, renewing an old friendship.
Aren't they cute?

Friday, March 14, 2008

Sylvia' Hair Donated to Locks of Love

A few days ago, Sylvia had her bi-annual haircut. OK, it's somewhere in the neighborhood of every couple of years, and she is able to trim off enough hair (10 inches or more) to send it off to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to kids who've lost their hair (and probably their self-esteem). Here's how they put it:

"Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics.
Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers. "
If you ever get the opportunity to cut off a long section of hair, consider this option instead of throwing it in the trash. Better yet, consider planning your haircuts so you can make a donation. Of course, I can't talk, because if I go more than 5 weeks, I begin to look like a shaggy dog, so I'll never make the 10-inch minimum. But if I had Sylvia's hair, I might look like this:

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

American Idol Season 7 - Top 12

Tonight we see what happens to the top 12.

Okay, Sylvia and I have become hooked on this program. We've never seen any of the previous seasons, except for commercials and snippets here or there. To us this is all new, and we're thoroughly enjoying it. We both love music, so we should've realized earlier that we'd enjoy this show, but we never gave it a shot. Now that we're hooked, we've come to the final 12 with some expectations and with some predictions. So here are my (Jon's) predictions for the final 12 and their eventual exits from the show:

#12 Kristy Lee Cook
Kristy has gotten a bad rap from the judges for weeks, and I just haven't seen what they've seen. I think she's done a great job with her songs...until last night. Last night was laughable. Her country version of that Beatles tune was awful. She has shown herself for what she is: a girl who can sing well, but who has no musical talent. And to boot, she has released recordings previously, and has failed to become successful, being dropped from her label twice. I say she'll go home tonight.

#11 Ramiele Malubay
This little girl showcased a powerful voice early on, but has really petered out of late. Last night's performance was pretty bad, from start to finish. I have to completely agree with Simon - the stair view was bad to start out, and the entire performance was boring. She won't last, and I predict she'll go next week.

#10 Jason Castro
I have been predicting this guy would go home for weeks. I just don't see what they've been seeing. I think he's so boring every time, has no stage presence, and looks so uncomfortable on stage that I can't bear to watch him. Last week I finally thought his poor performance wasn't as bad as others and thought he'd stay. But I don't think he'll make it through the next three weeks.


#9 Syesha Mercado
I like her attitude and smile. Her singing is okay, but it just isn't great, and I think she'll go home in the next four weeks.





#8 Amanda Overmyer
I liked her early on, but she was downright awful for a few weeks in there. Last week she was back on her game, and last night she was okay, too. But her style is so repetitive, and her smile is fake, and she has some really bad nights. I think she's still here thanks to VFTW, and will go home in the next five weeks.


#7 David Hernandez
This boy can sing, and has a good stage presence. Maybe from all that time as a stripper. Good grief! With the gossip surrounding this guy, he won't last until the top 6. He was not good last night, but not really bad either. He's part of the bottom seven unless he has some stellar nights in the near future.



#6 Michael Johns
I thought this guy was great the first several weeks of the show. He can sing well, I like his voice, and he has musical experience (supposedly having time "in the studio" as he said). But in the last two weeks, when he "showcased" his musical talent, it was...well, not there. Why doesn't he add some life to these songs? Does he not know how? If he doesn't show a lot more spark, he'll be first to go in the top 6.

#5 Chikezie
I have liked Chikezie from the outset. From a return contestant who matured enough to make it into the top 24, to that smile on his face. He seems real. I have liked what he's done so far, until last night. I loved what he did last night! Last night when that Beatles song started, I thought it was neat, but different. But when he turned it into a great rock song, I thought he was phenomenal! He rocked! He showed musical talent! He owned that stage. And he will be there for weeks to come, because he is consistent. Whether he can make it into the top 4 remains to be seen. So for now, I'll put him at 5. Great job, Chikezie!

#4 David Archuleta
This Boy Wonder (as they call him) has an incredible voice. But two weeks ago, with the Phil Collins song, he seemed flat. He added no life to the song. Then last night, he truly showed he has some growing to do. Give him a break, though, he's what...12? Okay, 17 I think. He was born in the 90's? Man that makes me feel old. I think he needs to have some fantastic nights to move ahead of the top three.

#3 Carly Smithson
This girl has some pipes! I have loved her renditions of Heart and the Beatles song. She has truly nailed it the last few weeks. And unlike Simon, I think she's been singing the right songs for weeks - unlike some weird Carly video going around the net (ugh). Yes, this girl has released an album before, as she has admitted. I hear there is something fishy about her, that she's been planted in the competition, but I read one article too many on VFTW (and that's the only one I read). She will be in the top 4 for sure, and I suspect the top 3, but we'll see.

#2 David Cook
I would guess most people think he'll make top 8 or so, but no further. But watch this guy. He has talent. If you've seen what he's done with the last few songs, you can see he has a great mind for musical composition. He can make a rock song out of anything, I say. I love his voice. I love what he does with the tunes, and I think he'll be a surprise entry into the top 4 for sure, but maybe the top three. I'm only putting him at #2 because of the "controversy" surrounding Carly.

#1 Brooke White
Brooke, Brooke, Brooke. America loves you, Brooke. She is the genuine article. She is very talented musically. Guitar. Piano. Songstress. Slice-of-America looks and personality. Sylvia, my wife, - a pianist, mind you - spotted the bare feet after she played the piano last night, so we were rewinding on the DVR to see if it was so. Then as we played through, Ryan pointed out the bare feet. She is so normal! I put her here at #1 because I know she'll make top 3, and at number one because that is what I hope. Whether she'll make it to #1 remains to be seen.

That's all I have to say about American Idol Season Seven right now. We'll see if Kristy goes home tonight. I borrowed these pictures from americanidol.com, so check that site out if you want to see the real info. I may have to update my take (or create a new one if I'm all wrong) on the contestants in another month. Now this was fun!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Junior's First Test

JuneBug had his first test for school this week.
It was a math test (naturally), and was administered by the school principal, his Dad. And Junior got a score of 100% on it, earning an A+ and a green star.
He was quite proud. Way to go little man!

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Junior Flashback I

Junior Caruvana
April 2004
Family room toy box in our new Georgia home.
That was then...

and this is now.
(Last fall actually.)