Robofest at CCA

Andrew and his three friends entered the Robofest this year at CCA. They entered the Exhibition portion of the competition. They used LEGO RCX Mindstorm kits to make their robots. Trying to get 4 boys to focus on a task when there are three huge boxes of LEGO's, motors and sensors was like hearding cats.

We finally were able to focus them enough to complete their robots last night.

Their robot exhibition was called the Robot Recycler. The cans came down a chute and was picked up by a claw and taken to the crane. The crane had a magnet on it that picked up the can and moved it to the recyclying bin.

This is a short video of the robots in action. They ran into a couple of slight problems with the program towards the end of the competition that made the crane go a little haywire.

Final Four Seat Cushions

Friday night Matthew and I went down to Ford Field to help prepare for Saturday's NCAA Final Four Games. Boys from our Scout Troop along with about 200 other scouts placed seat cushions on every seat in Ford Field. The stadium is set up to seat about 75,000 people for these games on Saturday. We did get a free seat cushions as a souvenir.

Sunday in the Park with Abe

We started off on Sunday heading to the Washington Monument. When we
arrived at 10:00 all the tickets were gone for the day. Apparently you
had to get in line at 7:30 for tickets (they start distinuting them at
8:30). So we headed to the Jefferson Memorial. In addition to the
statue, it was the begining of the cherry blossom festival. The trees
around the Elipse were just begining to bloom.

We then headed to the American History Museum. We spent about four
hours there. There was a great exhibit about Abraham Lincoln as it
would have been his 200th birthday.

Matthew wanted to go to the ESPN Sportszone for dinner. I protested,
but he got his way. It was the worst meal of the trip. Food was
horrible and the service was weak.

After dinner we headed back to he Mall to see the WWII Memorial, the
Korean War Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam War
Memorial. These were even better to see at night.

Saturday in DC

On Saturday we visited Arlington Cemetary. We took the Metro out
there We saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, JFK's tomb and Robert
E Lee's house. It was still drizzling out so we decided we to go hit
some museums rather than the zoo.

We went to the Air and Space Museum. My favorite exhibit was Wonder
Women's plane. We also ate lunch there. I have never dropped $42.00
on Mcdonalds for a family of five. (and some were still hungry).

Andrew had been bugging us all day to go to the Spy Museum. It was a
little pricey (especially compared to the Smithsonian), but was worth
it once.

We then went to the National Archives or "ar chives" as Andrew calls
it. We were in somewhat of a hurry due to dinner reservations, but
were able to see the Dexlaration of Independanxe and the Constitution.

We then met with Mike Zarowny, a friend from college that we had not
seen in almost 20 years. We had a nice dinner at an English Pub called
the Elwohant and Castle. After dinner we went back to the hotel for a
few drinks and to get caught up.

The Metro offers one day pass on the weekends. We took advantage of
this all day.

First night in DC

We left Canton this morning a little after seven and after $20.00 in
tolls we arrived in Washington DC about 5:30.

We are staying at the JW Marriott right on Pennsylvania ave. Two
blocks from the White House.

At the reccomendation of my Dad we ate dinner at The Old Ebbitt
Grill. There was an hour wait, so we put our names in and went for a
walk around the White House. By the time we returned, we had a ten
minute wait Very good food. Kris had the crab cakes and I had the
trout. The two older boys split jambalaya. Stephen had their world
famous grilled cheese. We were going to hit the mall after dinner to
see some of the memorials, but it was raining. We came back and the
kids went swimming and I am getting ready to watch the State game.

Speed Eraser

Stephen and I finished his pinewood derby car tonight. I only had to
help with one car this year. I have learned after helping build eleven
cars over the years that I don't know how to build for speed, only
show. The boys have won every year for design or paint. Stephen won
third place his first year (out of four boys).
Next year will be our last year for building pinewood derby cars.

My Side of the Mountain

This week is reading week at the boys school. Today they dressed up
like a character from their favorite book. Andrew dressed as Sam, the
boy from the book My Side of the Mountain. This is one of his
favorite books. He has probably read it 10 times.

The glove is a falconer's glove for those of you who never read the
book. Sam had a pet falcon named Frightful that he raised from a chick.

Sports Team Day

Today the boys got to wear a sports team uniform. Andrew wore a Pohang
Steelers, S. Korean soccer (football) team jersey that I brought back
from Korea a couple of years ago. Posco Steel sponsors the team.

Matthew wore his MSU shirt and Stephen wore a soccer jersey I brought
back from the Netherlands. The team is IJsselmeervpgels from
Spakenburg, NL.

50's Day

Today was 50's day at school. Matthew dressed up as a nerd. Stephen
had his letter sweater, t-shirt and jeans. He had a pack of smokes in
his sleeve, but you can't see it on the photo. Andrew was still
playing Gordon Ramsey this morning and didn't want to dress up.

Crazy Hat Day

I guess this one is self explanatory...

Career Day

This week is Spirit Week at the boys school. Today is Career Day.
Andrew wants to be a Chef these days. He was so grumpy this morning we
started calling him Gordon Ramsey. Stephen wants to be a Doctor and
Matthew wants to be a Politician.

White Elephant

We went to a white elephant party tonight. Our present is self
explanitory.

New Glasses

Following in the long line of Kurts with bad eyes, Andrew went to the
eye doctor today and we found out he needed glasses. We chose the
frames below except they are brown and don't have a sticker across the
left eye.

Cub Scout Lock-up

The Cub Scouts are touring the Canton police department. The are in
the holding cell.

Readyman

Tonight my dad came down to work with Andrew's Webelos group on their
Readyman Badge. He taught them first aid.

Let it Snow

This morning the boys spent about 2 1/2 hours outside. The built this cool snow fort by piling up all the snow on the driveway. The bonus is that I didn't have to shovel or snow blow.

Lilly Kathryn Dudley

My new niece. She will have three big brothers to take care of her.

Born January 6, 2009

8 pounds 7 ounces

21 inches long

Lilly Kathryn

Lilly Kathryn

Reggie the Tuque Wearing Ballerina

Shiner

Snake face

Daytona 500 Painting

As many of you know since going to MIS, my family has become a huge NASCAR family. I saw a commercial for the following painting the other day. Any guess who the artist is?




Scroll
Down
for
the
Answer









The artist is Thomas Kinkade...The Painter of Light! My brother Jon thinks that Kinkade has gone too commercial.

Halloween Costumes

Andrew the US Army Soldier

Stephen - Anakin Skywalker Matthew - Joe the Plumber

Joe the Plumber, complete with Buttcrack.

The Results

We finished carving the pumpkins tonight. Normally we do it the day before Halloween, but this week is so hectic with Scouts, basketball tryouts, CCD, etc. this was the only day we could do it.

It gets easier to carve pumpkins each year. I remember there would be years where after about 10 minutes, I would be the only one left at the table. This year Matthew & Andrew pretty much gutted and carved their pumpkins by themselves. Stephen gutted his pumpkin and drew the design on for me to cut out.

I did find a cool website with a bunch of free patterns. Check this site out.

Andrew

Matthew

Stephen

Carving Pumpkins

Make Up Artist Part 2

She also used me as a victim. She needed to show the boys how to make up someone as an old man. (I think she figured that I was half way to being an old man, I was an easy choice.)

Make Up Artist

At tonights Troop Meeting they were working on the Theatre Merit Badge. We had a professional make up artist come in to show the boys some cool make up ideas for Halloween and also for the stage. Kim is a professional make up artist in the area that has been working on many of the films that have been shot in Detroit recently.

She made Matthew up as a Zombie. The fleshy like stuff hanging off his face is made by letting spirit gum get tacky on the face and putting Kleenex on the sticky area. Then put grey and red make up around the area.

Before

During

After

Multimedia message

Red Wings vs. Thrashers

Making Chili

Last weekend I made a big pot of chili. Andrew and Stephen wanted to help out. When it came time to chop the onions, they were having a tough time holding back the tears. Andrew tried out a few ideas he learned from Mythbusters, but none of them seemed to work. The next step was the swim goggles.

Four Religious Truths:

An important primer on some of the world's great religions, as found on Niel Rubin's blog:

1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.

2. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian world.

4. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters.

Lions Pre-Season Champions Shirts

Click on picture for larger image.

Extreme Makover

Our house just finished having a face-lift. Early this summer we decided that it was looking pretty shabby. Our house is about 34 years old and the trim was beginning to rot in some places, the nails holding the gutters were popping and the aluminum siding was stained. We ended up having all the siding replaced with vinyl, all the trim covered with aluminum and new vinyl soffets. We also had all new gutters and shutters installed.

When we were choosing the color for the siding, Kris wanted white. I let her know that if we were spending that kind of money, I wanted to make sure that people could tell that we had something done to the house. We chose a Tuscan Clay siding with white trim and blue shutters. We are very happy with the way it turned out.

The best news is that I will never have to paint the exterior!!!

Front BEFORE

Front AFTER

Side BEFORE

Side AFTER

Back BEFORE
Back AFTER

Family Room BEFORE
Family Room AFTER

Interesting Stat...

Read this in the Detroit News today...

"Jon Kitna has thrown more interceptions than touchdown passes as a Lion."

Lion's New Logo

Night of Destruction

Friday night we went to the Toledo Speed way for the NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION!!!! There was a group of 20 that went down to see the figure 8 demolition derby, roll over contest, chain race, plywood race and the school bus figure 8 races.

The School Bus races ended abruptly when one of the bus' throttle stuck open and ran in to the retaining wall and fence. Fortunately no one was hurt and the driver walked away from the bus. This could have been a lot worse the bus stopped about 5 feet from the grand stand.

Video's from last years races are here, here and here. (they are about the same as this year).

Happy Birthday Kris!!!

Now she is as old as I am...for nine days every year she tells me how much older I am, but sooner than later she seems to catch up to me.