A new life; same as the old life?

Christmas is a coming and hi tech is the latest thing! Someone told me about this website and I thought it was too cool not to share, so if you think it's lame..bite me! I don't know how much of it is true, partially true or complete BS, but it is an interesting story. Apparently it all started in the 50s , when some store printed an error in their "Call Santa" hotline number, which took kids through to what was then CONAD, later NORAD. According to their website, they have been doing it ever since. Now I definitely don't believe all the stuff about using jets, satellites, etc, but there is no reason why some computer simulation isn't doing it. So I am going to call the number on Christmas Eve and see if anyone answers, right now it is just a machine.

and I am a blogger, it has been over a month since my last post! Seriously, where does the time go? September has been a super busy month, with the end of summer and everyone trying to squeeze in their events before the weather starts to turn. WARNING; monster post, lots of pix, grab a coffee/G&T! Every year, the rules are that everything opens up for summer on Memorial Day and closes on Labor Day (this year Sept 5th). With this in mind, I took a day off work in the middle of the week to do some stuff with the family, including a day trip to Six Flags Great America. Well I guess Labor Day came early in Gurnee, because the Wednesday that we went to Six Flags, August 31st, they were closed! WTF! Fortunately they were still open weekends and holidays, so we used our season passes to spend a couple of hours there on the Monday night of Labor Day. We even managed to get Addison onto one of the water rides, twice! Only a few pictures of the fun and games as it was a short evening. Wauke...

I cannot believe it is the end of August already and officially the end of summer here in the US next weekend. It has been a strange summer, lots of storms, oppressive heat and mosquitoes! As is always the case at this time of year everything is being squeezed into the last few weekends. Last weekend I went to the only golf outing truly worth it's salt. The Timothy O'Tooles 14th annual outing. It was our first time, but the pictures of previous outings convinced us. They promised an all in experience with all the food and liquor you could drink, free samples on every hole, etc. Well they came up a little short of every hole, but probably at least 14 or so out of the 18 had free liquor and some nice sights too. Click here for a few shots from the day. This weekend we have already seen Tony Bennett, last night, at Ravinia Festival. Always a good time, the picnic, the lawn, camping out on the station platform waiting for the train. This afternoon, we are off to an "ope...

After an excellent weekend of family time (although Lorraine still says I spend too much time "playing" on my phone) we find ourselves in the grasp of another serious storms system, but I am getting ahead of myself. One of the things we enjoy about the summer here in the US is the predictability of the weather (snort). Whilst it is true that the weather is generally more predictable and lends itself to planning outdoor activity, this summer in particular has made a mockery of that. Firstly it was super late in getting started this year; with the rainiest April on record and May not being much better, whilst all the family were here; culminating in having to move Lorraine's birthday party indoors due to a last minute rainy day! June started to improve to more normal temperatures, before it got crazy hot for a couple of days right after the family left. The last few days here have been in the 90s, typical July weather, and then the big storm today. We have had a couple of p...

I know I have been missing from this blog for a while, and largely because life really is just the "same as it ever was" to quote Talking Heads. I don't know that I even have any readers any more that care, or if the 30 or so people that drop by every week are finding me on some random google search. I have been continuing to work on my photography and maybe when I am done with the Photo 365 project, I will move back over to here and post the photography work over here. In the meantime here is a quick update of what I have been doing. Family : all well and getting ready for summer Phrase of the week (Addison) : "I totally can't do this!" Cooper's favourite word : Car! Cubs : suck Golf : mediocre, with some flashes of brilliance Kitchen : done, looks awesome Weather : getting hot Photography : having fun with it Work : busy as heck This weekend is 4th July weekend, and I reposted an item I did from way back in 2005. Addison's school have a group in o...

I have so much work to do on the house, tidying up after the builders have finished. The kitchen needs the backsplash, the laundry room needs a little more paint, the ceilings and walls need refinishing where drywall has been done, and the place needs cleaning. However this weekend it has been all fun, all the way! I went on my first outing with the camera club yesterday to the Chicago Flower Show. I have to say that it wasn't nearly as grand as I thought it would be, and I am sure not a patch on the Chelsea Show. It was kinda cool though, as we were able to get access to the show 2 hours before the general public, and therefore able to shoot lots of pictures without being jostled or worrying about the tripods, etc. I am not much of a floral person in terms of knowing the names, but I think this is a lily variety, maybe even an Arum Lily. Here are some more pictures of the day trip. The theme of the event was "The Sport Of Gardening" The folks I was driving wanted to le...

This it the tourist slogan for Illinois , a play on the name of the main shopping street in Chicago. IE there are more miles worth seeing in Illinois than just the Magnificent Mile; or at least that's how I interpret it. So this weekend, we decided to see if it was true. As you may have noticed, I have been doing a lot more photography wise, and one of those guys I have been working with runs his own business doing "Photo Safaris". Well on Sunday Gary was running an aerial safari from Rockford "International" Airport. Gary actually runs some really cool safaris, both locally and around the world. Click here or on the logo for more info. I could have gone myself for the two hour flight in a Cessna, over Rockford, Galena and the Mississippi river, but we decided it was a good way to start to prove/disprove the Illinois tourist board, and take the whole family; with a view of seeing what we came across on the journey worth doing. We left home around 10:30 on Satu...

As you no doubt saw below, Addison went of to school this month. That's about as much excitement as we have had, although we did finish the plans for the kitchen upgrade (more on that in a separate post) We just got back from the UK, and I have been working to upload all the photos we took there and since we returned..here they are. Browse at your leisure, but here are a couple of my recent favourites. Random pictures of the kids from September 2010 A weekend trip to Center Parcs A day out at Longleat Safari Park Fall festival at the local nature center A day out with some colleagues down in Chicago Fright Fest 2010 - Six Flags Great America

We went on this trip as an alternative to standing on a baking hot beach to watch the air and water show. I was hoping to get some great pictures, as i hadn't been to the show for years and was excited by their claim on the web site "will give you one of the best seats for the Annual Chicago Air & Water Show." After getting over the sticker shock, the $49.90 base price actually comes out at $65 including taxes and "fees" and the additional $49 to guarantee a window table, we were excited. We arrived and got on board easy enough, only to notice that it was pretty empty and we would have had a window table anyway, and secondly, even the non window tables were pretty friggin close! Ripoff number 1! The food was limited and average at best. We were amongst the first to board and it was already mostly cold. A selection of chicken something, beef something and some sides, and that was about it. Brunch at the Hancock is about $50 without the rip "fees" a...

May was a pretty quiet month for us generally, the weather was unseasonably cold, I went to a few Cubs games, and generally we did homely stuff. We did go to Sarbina & Bob's twins first birthday and had a garage sale at the end of the month, where we made some decent cash. Also we went to that iconic American insituttion, the drive in movie, but that's a post for a different day. For anyone interested, here are some general pictures of the kids from May.

The debate will never be resolved of course, but it is an interesting thought process. Theoretically we have done nothing different with Cooper than we did with Addison, yet the differences in his behaviour are marked from Addison's. I say theoretically because, of course things are different. Our values have not changed, but likely our approach has. He is child number two, so of course lessons have been learned, attitudes are different, and Addison is here being very involved in everything going on. He is way more grizzly than Addison ever was, doesn't sleep as well, and seems to need to burp every minute of EVERY DAY. Appearancewise, he could be her twin at that age. There are often time when I look at pictures, on the computer or the digital frame, with some hand me down outfit from Addison, and I cannot tell for sure which one of them it is. All of this to say that he has been a nightmare to feed, to the point where I don't even try any more and Lorraine spends hours w...

We just got back from good old blighty. Lorraine had been there for 3 weeks before I got there, and I joined her for the last 10 days; but let me go back a little, because I can't believe it is March already. Jan (Lorraine's mum) came over in December, with the plan of arriving a couple of days before the new arrival. She was to stay two months, then travel to the UK with Lorraine, and then five weeks later I would bring them back. As it turned out, Lorraine went into labour the day of Jan's arrival and so the wonderful and talented Amy stepped up, picked her up from the airport and whisked her directly to the hospital, do not pass go, do not collect $200! The two months flew by, and Jan was very helpful around the house, baby wrangling, etc In fact Lorraine had to tell her off several times for making Cooper too comfortable and not being able to wake him for feeding time. From my perspective, I discovered clothing that I had forgotten, and my wardrobes and drawers became s...

I tell you, Addy is growing up faster than you would ever think possible. She is smart as they come. She is toilet training and talking 10 to the dozen! Some of the stuff she comes out with, makes you wonder..today she says "I'm going to call Cooper James Coops!" This month of course, Cooper was born, see below for more links to pictures, Lorraine's mother came into town for a couple of months, and we got the Christmas tree, put it up with the decorations, etc. Just a busy month! Addison loves to help with everything, she helped to bring the tree back, helped Lorraine with some baking for pies with the Thanksgiving leftovers, and even helped decide exactly where all of the ornaments would go on the tree. Click here for pictures of the tree cutting, decorating, etc. Click here for pictures of Coops in the hospital & his first few days home

Well here he is folks..in all his glory!

is here, weighing in at 9lb 12oz, and 22in long, a big lad! Born at 6:46pm today December 8th by C-section..more to follow

My postings seem to be getting less and less regular as life itself takes over! The holiday season is fast approaching with Thanksgiving tomorrow, and the sales, although again this year, despite the economy, I am not overly impressed with the deals. The weather has been exceptionally mild here with temps still in the 50s and last weekend I was out putting up the Christmas lights in a t-shirt, and in the same breath I was preparing my snow blower for the inevitable. Jan and Mads are coming for Christmas, with Jan actually coming for two months. We figured with the two kids now, it is going to be difficult for Lorraine to travel on her own. The plan is that Jan comes here, baby arrives, we wait until the two month check up, then she and Lorraine fly with both kids, and then I join them for a bit and fly back with Lorraine. So Charlie, I will be bringing my clubs and looking for some spring time golf! Speaking of the baby, Cooper James will be coming along very soon....December 10th is t...

I am sure you are all getting sick of seeing pictures of Addison by now, but I don't care..she is just so damned photogenic. So there are more here , and here . She has her own incredible personality, which is mostly good, although of course there are a few things that don't jive well, like throwing a fit when she doesn't get her way. The naughty spot is getting some usage at the moment. One of the things she has started to do, for the last couple of months, and I think she learned this one from me, is what she calls her "special kiss". She takes your face in her hands and plants one on you! Baby CJ is progressing well, we have another scan next week, so I will post the pics of that. Addison seems to be OK with the idea so far. She knows his name and where he is. Lorraine has been talking about singing to him and so now Addison pulls up Lorraine's shirt to let him hear. After a few minutes she pulls it back down as he is "getting cold" Lorraine is ve...

Those of you who know us well, will know that first time around, we had the boy names all picked out, but just could not agree on the girl names. We did end up eventually with a great name, and I didn't even come up with the Cubs connection, Lorraine did that all on her own! Well this time around it will be much easier, because thanks to the wonders of the modern science and the amniocentesis, we know we are having a boy and that he is due in early December. We have always liked the concept of last names as first names, and both liked the thought of using Lorraine's maiden name, Cooper, as his forename (I know Clark would have been cool too, but I would not have gotten away with that - Wrigley sits at the corner of Clark/Addison for the uninitiated). Lorraine only has a sister and therefore the family name would have ended without it. James was my maternal grandfather's name. A very influential figure and guiding light in my life; much more so than my father ever was or wi...