Visit with Santa

This is our annual visit with Santa at Andrew Brooks Photography.  At least the kids are no longer scared of Santa.

Nathan's "Girlfriend"

Nathan gave Alissa a necklace with her initial "A" and a heart on it for Christmas. Both of them were very shy. I don't know how they ever communicate. Since when do 6 & 7 year old boys and girls like each other.

I didn't wash my feet.

Heather was helping Nathan put his shoes on this morning and he told her, "I didn't wash my feet but they were under water and that counts."

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Nathan Feed Your Dog

We asked Nathan to feed his dog and this is the result.  Either Nathan only wants to feed him once a week or he thinks Pungo is a St. Bernard.

Maddie's BFF

     Maddie told Heather the other night that she was her BFF.  Heather asked Maddie what a BFF was and Maddie responded "I don't know".  As you might expect, Heather was elated to hear that Maddie thought of her as her Best Friend Forever, then a bit disappointed when Maddie didn't know what BFF meant.
     I was talking with Maddie last night and asked her about the conversation.  I said, "Maddie, mommy said you told her that she was your BFF".  Maddie replied, "yes".  I asked, "What is a BFF?" Maddie replied with a passionate tone, "Best Friends Forever... because SHE IS!"
    Heather's not so disappointed anymore.

Roughing it!

More Photos

The kids and I setup a tent down by the lake and spent the weekend roughing it. We did have the luxury of running water, air conditioning, and supplies several hundred feet away but that ground sure was hard. I had to borrow a mattress from the house for the second night or I would have had second sleepless night. Maddie especially enjoyed our late night special time on the dock and by the fire. She told me several times how special and nice it was (I'm beginning to tear up for the second time thinking about it.)

Heather helped out with the meals but she had to work so she wasn't up for a night in the tent... Maybe next time.

Maddie's First Appearance on stage

The Fish n' Pig normally has a band on Saturday night but they chose not to this week because football season started, Nascar in ATL and the opening of Dove season. 

So, Maddie and Nathan stepped up on the stage and provided some entertainment for us.

Waterski Tournament Season is Over

We all competed in the final tournament of the South Carolina INT Tour this weekend. The kids have come a long way this summer and mom and dad now spend more time spectating/driving than skiing.

When the season began Nathan and Maddie were both competing in "Kneeboard Mini Outlaw" and for the most part were just following the boat around the lake. They both competed in Kneeboard Mini Outlaw all season and Maddie ultimately won the South Carolina State title defeating her brother at all the events except one which was a tie. Nathan is more of a free rider and believes in the saying "go big or go home" so he doesn't waste much time on those easy tricks which add up and enabled Maddie to one up him.

Nathan also competed in the Slalom Jr Novice division at all of the events. He had never skiid behind the boat before the first event but wanted to try it any way. He wasn't able to get up at the first event but he has continued to improve. He is a little more focused on wakeboarding than slalom right now, though. None the less, he scored several bouys at the last tournament and finished the season in second place overall. Maddie has expressed no interest in skiing, so she sits this event out for now.

Nathan and Maddie both took up wakeboarding about 2 months ago. Nathan competed in his first wakeboard tournament several weeks ago but this was the first for Maddie. They were not sure if she was the youngest competitor they have ever had wakeboard but they were pretty sure she was the youngest girl (and a crowd favorite). Nathan has really taken to wakeboarding... 2 months ago he didn't have a wakeboard much less had ever ridden one. Now he is he's riding with confidence and improving quickly. Nathan finished 3rd at this event ahead of Maddie and a little boy that his been riding for nearly 2 years. There is stiff competition in this division (wakeboard mini outlaw). The winner of this division also won the Nationals earlier this year and was pushed hard at every event by the boy who finished second...

Heather and I also slalomed at each event. Heather won every event in her division and ultimately the state title. I too won the state title in my division but I did get beat early in the season. We would both improve if we ever got a chance to ski... the kids are taking up all the water time. When we first started going out as a family we each got a turn to ski but somewhere along the line Mommy and Daddy started getting left out of the rotation.

-Dean

Nathan's First Wakeboard tournament and the Interview

Nathan competed in his first wakeboard tournament this weekend. He just started wakeboarding a few weeks ago. We couldn't get decent video because of the distance from the beach to the course.

Maddie Barefootin'

It won't be long...

Maddie is getting more comfortable with the speed... she still complains when I try to push the speed up but she's complaining at 5-8 mph rather than 2 mph.

More time on the water to get used to the speed and continue to work on form and by the end of the summer she could be skiing... barefooting that is.

Nathan is a wakeboarder

Nathan progressed from wakeboarding on the boom to riding behind the boat today. Woooo! He is also slalom skiing on the boom. It'll probably be a while before we try putting him on a rope. He gets frustrated and I'm sure the transition to a rope will be a little harder than it has been with the wakeboard.

Maddie is still a little timid. She's wakeboarding on the boom but still struggling to get up and isn't very comfortable. She is still boycotting skis.

Maddie Shreddin' the Gnar

Maddie got a new wakeboard yesterday and had to try it out today. Both her and Nathan did really good and are popping right up while skiing on the boom. Maddie did catch a toe side edge once and was ready to get back in the boat but I got her to ride the kneeboard to keep her in the water. Nathan is now skiing on combo's behind the boat and we hope to start working with him on a slalom off the boom soon. We haven't been able to get Maddie on the skis much... she's a little timid.

Here is some video from today... Youtube stripped the audio out. If you want to here some Jimmy Buffet with the video you can download the original video here http://dummitt.net/Skiing%2006-13-09.wmv

First waterski tournament

We competed in our first waterski tournament in too many years this weekend and Nathan and Maddie competed in their first tournament ever!

Nathan and Maddie are so proud of their first Medals. Nathan finished second and Maddie finished first. I don't think Nathan realizes Maddie beat him. Maddie did all of her tricks (side slides, touching the water, waving to the judge and for style points Blowing a Kiss). Nathan was focused on doing a hard trick (crossing the wake) which he couldn't quite do behind the wake of a big wakeboard boat and he forgot to do the easier tricks.

Heather won her division in slalom among some stiff competition and I finished second in my slalom division. I also won my kneeboard class.

Nathan wasn't able to get up for his slalom pass. It was his first attempt ever behind a boat ;). He wanted to try though.

I think the medals have given the kids some motivation.

Some Photos from the tournament

Nathan Loses his First Tooth

This is the post tooth pull interview.

We Lost our First Tooth

Nathan Lost his first tooth today. It had a little help. He was hit in the mouth a couple weeks ago and knocked it loose. Mommy finished the job this evening with a quick tug. He's pumped about the prospect of the tooth fairy coming tonight. A post tooth pull interview to come soon.

Heritage Kindergarten Celebration

Sorry, I've got to find another host for the video. Youtube limit is 10 minutes :(

Heritage Elementary held their 2009 Kindergarten Celebration May 22. This video is a portion of that Celebration through the eyes of 2 proud parents.

Maddie's Fortune

Maddie and I ate Chinese today and her fortune said "you are the Master of every situation". How do they know she is a control freak.
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Warner Robins Air Show

We slipped down to Warner Robins to see the Annual Air Show last weekend. We had a pretty good time despite the crowds, buses and parking. Hopefully the airforce doesn't run a military action the way they did the parking at the Macon Airport (to catch a shuttle bus to the Air Force Base).

Nathan and Maddie couldn't see over the crowd as the Blue Angels were preparing to take off and they wouldn't take turns on my shoulders so I had to improvise.

There are some more photos at the link provided. If I get around to it I'll post some video clips of the Blue Angels on the same page.

Heritgage PTA Tribute to Mothers

Nathan had a speaking part in the Kindergarten's tribute to mothers at Heritage Elementary.

Heather got pretty chocked up watching her little man.

Skiing Has Started

Skiing has started but we are off to a slow start. Heather and I are way out of shape and the kids are real timid. Nathan is riding the skimmer and skiing on trainers off the boom (with a little help from me). Despite having ridden the skimmer the last 2 summers Maddie won't even try it. She has tried skiing on the trainers off the boom... with my help of course. It's hard to believe this is the same little girl that tried to barefoot last summer.

We've only been out twice so I'm confident they will relax as they get more accustomed to skiing again. We plan to ski at Southern Waters (http://www.southernwaters.info/) this summer, too. There are several families out there with junior skiers that I hope will inspire Nathan and Maddie.

Home Newscast Celebrating Jeff Gordon's victory in Texas

Nathan and Maddie really enjoyed putting this newscast together to congratulate Jeff Gordon on his victory. Nathan has been waiting a long time.

Performing Arts

 

Nathan's First Theatrical performance. He played a blacksmith in a skit at the Childrens Museum of Atlanta. Look out Broadway!

Nathan Has A Crush

Nathan has a crush on a little girl at school. She came up to him in the lunchroom last week and asked him what his name was and now he is in love.

Heather spoke to the little girl the other night and she didn't seem to remember the lunchroom and asked how old Nathan was. It didn't sound like she was ready for a younger man.

Nathan wrote her the note (pictured) and took it with him to school today. He didn't have the nerve to talk to her yesterday but today is another day.

An Autograph from Jeff Gordon

Nathan received an Autographed Jeff Gordon clock from a colleague of Heathers.

Thank You Mr. Finlay (Pepsi Co.), Nathan Loves it.

I Love You Spelled Backwards

Nathan has been playing game of spelling words backwards lately. We were playing on the way home from dinner tonight and I suggested something that I thought would be a challenge. I asked if he could spell "I Love You" backwards. Maddie quickly chimed in and said I can, "U heart I"

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29 Forever

Maddie: Mommy, how can you be 29 Forever?
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Montana Bear

The photo captures a disturbing trend that is beginning to affect US wildlife.

Animals that were formerly self-sufficient are now showing signs of belonging to the Democratic Party... as they have apparently learned to just sit and wait for the government to step in and provide for their care and sustenance. This photo is of a Democrat black bear in Montana nicknamed Bearack Obearma

Barefoot'n

Maddie decided to skip the skiing last summer... she didn't like the ski's attached to her feet so she opted to try barefooting first. She is our little dare devil.

Water Rocket

This is a video of our water rocket. we saw this on "This Old House" and built one to play with. The bottle goes about 50' high and you can see how far Nathan had to go to retrieve it.

Macon Museum Valentine Dance

This is a short clip of Maddie Dancing at the Valentine Dance.

Teenagers aren't the only ones who know everything

Nathan: "I don't want to go to school".
Me: "You're learning so much, Nathan".
Nathan: "I already know everything"
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Nathan's First Crush

This is Nathan and Terry. She's a waitress at Carrabba's that Nathan has had a crush on for a year or longer.

What's wrong with this picture?

There's no smoke/steam coming from those paper mill stacks. The graveyard in the foreground has consumed the paper mill. This particular mill may rise from the dead but it was struggling to survive before the economy tanked.

Unfortunately, this is a common story these days. In my short career (16 years), I've seen the industry go through several market cycles but with each down turn more capacity has been moth balled.

Market conditions can change quickly too. I've seen a huge recycle plant closed that was about 10 years old and I've seen a paper machine closed that probably had less than 700 days on it. Both were economically viable when built but rapid changes in energy costs, taxes and market demand changed that.

The old view

This was the view that I had from my office until the tornado took out the two big pine trees on the left of the photo. We'll see what it looks like with out the shade this summer... I still need to get rid of those stumps.

Nathan just chillin

I had to reinstall windows on our computer and in the process I installed Picasa and looked through a bunch of pictures. It's hard to believe this is the same kid.

Heather's PRk Surgery

Don't hit play if you're squeamish... Its not really that bad. Each eye takes about 6 minutes. Quality isn't the greatest. They were showing it on a monitor in thewaiting room and I recorded that with my digital camera. She had a lot of pain... someone asked if they did both eyes at the same time. She wouldn't have gone back for the second if they hadn't.