iamspartacus.net

I am finding less and less time to write new content for the web site in recent months. So, I've decided to take a different approach -- I'm officially lowering the bar.

Okay, in the past I have written about major events, minor events and everything in between, but tried to place emphasis on the writing style, humorous anecdotes, accompanying photos, etc. For whatever reason, it's just not happening, so I'm going to do things a bit different. I don't want to lose the purpose for this site -- my own personal journal of the history of our family and our children. But I don't have the time that I used to have -- or I'm not taking the time, the excuse varies from day to day. Nonetheless, I have maintained this running narrative of our lives for several years and am not willing to abandon it.

So what's going to change? My posts and rants will be potentially less eloquent (unlike the Shakespeare-esque updates to which you have become accustomed), but hopefully more frequent. My hope is to post something at least once or twice a week, even if it's merely a quote from one of the kids or the most recent way the dog has made me angry. We'll just have to see how it goes.

The time has finally come when we must bid farewell to summer and welcome in the new school year. To mark this commemorative event, yesterday we visited Perry Lake and took in the swim beach for a few hours in the afternoon.

Truth be told, this was the first weekend since May that I didn't spend Saturday on the river with Up a Creek. The swim beach was not the river, but was a welcome break in the routine. I'll more than make up for it next Saturday though, when we take 20+ willing victims down the Kaw.

More photos in the gallery.

July? It's already July? Pardon my French, but what in the ^&*%(@* happened to June? Argh!

This happens every summer. It sneaks up on us while we're not looking, then hangs out for awhile before anyone really starts counting. Then we are so busy the first few weeks doing all of the things we put off until the end of the school year that by the time we stop to take a breath, it's half gone. And despite this predictable formula, we have let it happen yet again.

So, what's new? Logann is here a lot more during the summer, which is really nice, though he's in Lee's Summit for another 10 days or so right now. He's communicating a lot via e-mail -- such is his age.

Andrew wrapped up band camp a week ago with a small performance and even a solo! Nicely done. He's also spent some time this summer learning to ride 4-wheelers on a farm in Missouri. And you all thought having a motorcycle was dangerous!

Jess is spending so much time playing outside with friends! Our house has become the neighborhood kid fly-paper. Kids are knocking on the door early in the morning asking if Jessica can come out and play (or if they can come in and play, depending on the heat). That girl knows no enemies.

And Martin? He's been kind of a cranky bugger over the last couple of days, but we're going to keep him anyway. Loves riding his bike when given the chance, and loves riding Daddy's bike too, though we are under strict instruction that when riding on the motorcycle I'm allowed only to go "slow and medium", because "fast will make me throw up", according to Martin.

And as for Jeannie and I? I'd love to say we spend most of our time relaxing as the photo above demonstrates, but unfortunately, that is the exception rather than the rule. Jeannie is working through her last week of the summer semester of grad school and juggling numerous appointments for the kids. I'm still spending more hours than I care to think about in meetings and staring at spreadsheets and project plans. I have taken quite a liking to the Kansas river recently, however. I owe Craig for the introduction to this new pastime, though at the moment my face is peeling off like some sort of disfigured crocodile-man due to the sunburn I acquired after our all-day float last Saturday.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I need to get some sleep so I can gear up for more meetings and spreadsheets -- did I mention just how much I love those two things? Dad, do you feel my pain?

More later when I have time.

Ah, summertime. The kids are slowly venturing outdoors and away from their regular school year routine. Hasn't been warm enough to take in the pool just yet, but we've found other ways to pass the time. Jessica, our social butterfly, has made friends with several neighborhood kids and spends much of her time barefoot in the front yard chasing her friends or the cat.

Andrew and Logann unplugged long enough to help build a ladder on the huge tree in our front yard. (And no, Andrew wasn't really drilling through Logann's foot in the photo below). Now they have a means of reaching the lower branches of the tree where they can truly appreciate the joy of vertigo.

And Martin? Well Mom, if you're reading this... I promise we were very careful and went slow enough you could have walked alongside. Martin dawned the junior helmet I brought home last week and climbed onto the back of my new motorcycle for his first ride. The helmet weighs about 2 ounces less than his bodyweight, and seeing him wobble to the curb was priceless. Nonetheless, he is hooked now and wants "motorcycle everything" for his upcoming birthday. This, after preaching to me that we must "only go medium, because fast will make me throw up".

At any rate, the kids are good, Jeannie is enjoying a summer of "slightly" less responsibility than the school year, and I'm taking random vacation days when I just can't handle it any more. I'm way behind on the family photos lately because my efforts have gone into my Flickr photo gallery and some recent photo challenges. I'll get caught up someday.

With the help of Craig and "Uncle Ron" (though no blood relation is required to use this term of endearment), Andrew, Logann, Jeannie and I joined a couple of other families for an afternoon float on the Delaware River this weekend. As has been the norm lately, no time for a lengthy story, but lots of photos in the gallery.

A couple of things we learned about our chaperones, however: Craig is right at home soaking up the sun on a kayak, and Ron, while he may not necessarily always know which way the river flows, makes a mean martini.

Photos in the gallery.

Sorry for the lack of photos -- I was too busy with the grill to shoot much at this event.  Nonetheless, our surprise party for Jeannie's birthday was a blast.  Tons of food, home-made beer and Craig's best Chardonnay yet (I'm still feeling that one, by the way).  Happy birthday, Jeannie.

And despite the photo above, there were a few adults present at the party, I swear.

No time to write anything interesting, but I took some fun photos this weekend at the NCAA Bicycle Race in downtown Lawrence.

Check out the photos here.

Last weekend was Jessica's long-awaited birthday, and with it, her birthday party. She and three close friends from school (along with her brother Martin, Jeannie and me) took up residence at a hotel in Topeka which boasted an indoor swimming pool and 3-story water slide.

In addition to the questionable decision Jeannie and I made to put ourselves in a hotel room with four first-grade girls, we also thought it wise to take them all to dinner that evening. They covered the spectrum of gorging on ice cream and cheeseburgers to falling asleep at the table.

At any rate, they had a blast and the following morning Jessica pointed out to me that yes, it's true -- in just three years she'll be ten years old. ...Sure glad that the novelty of being seven didn't tarnish too quickly.

More photos of Jessica's birthday party are in the gallery.

As we draw nearer to the end of the school year, our evenings fill with school activities. Sometimes our days fill with school activities like the field trip to the zoo, but that's a story for another day. This evening was Andrew's 6th grade band concert. And somewhat surprisingly, it was enjoyable. I know that sounds cruel -- he's my own kid after all -- but if you had heard the screech of cats being strangled as we did for weeks when he first picked up the clarinet, you would empathize.

At any rate, the concert was a huge success, and as an added bonus, it gave us an opportunity to see Andrew in a tie -- something typically reserved for weddings.

(by Jeannie)

Since I’m celebrating not having to pay utilities or rent to my apartment anymore, I figured my best next purchase would be this. It is confession time. I can be a rather hard a** girl, but I have two weaknesses: temperatures below 50 and these:

It’s not rational. I know that. Home repair projects scare me. I will screw something up. I will hurt myself in the process. I will have to spend WAY over my budgeted amount. I will become a raving praying mantis which will snap the heads off of family members.

That said, living in a 1959 house brings with it a certain amount of home repair projects. There is some rewiring to do, windows to change, siding to fix, and a fence to mend. The power saw and I are going to get close and personal starting tomorrow. The gaping, rotting holes in our fence are getting replaced. I’ll also break out my super synthetic warm under layers for an early morning walk in the cold.

Why the change? I brought home a new girlfriend. I know Shannon won’t mind: she’s a blonde and if you haven’t noticed, he’s got a thing for
blondes.