Quiet Night.

I'm all alone with my thoughts tonight. I was last night too.

Grandma and Grandpa B have been asking to spend some time with McKenna. After Haily's day care kids went home, she packed up McKenna and Adrian and flew up to Vegas for the night. Haily and Adrian came back this afternoon, but Haily had to rush right back out for her Enrichment activity. Adrian's been fed and put to bed and now it's just me, all alone, with no idea of what I should write about.

And one from me . . .

Playing with Photoshop. Original picture and more can be found at Print a Penguin.

This one's for Uncle Adrian

Colored by McKenna. If you like these, check out ToonBaboon's Print a Penguin blog!

Short Disneyland Trip

I know a few of my relatives and in-laws get tired of how often we go to Disneyland. Actually, we haven't been since May, due to money issues and problems with my herniated disc. At almost the last moment, we decided to go, and I'm glad we went. Not only did we get a really good discount on a car rental, but we also had a wonderful time together as a family.


McKenna got three new experiences on this trip. On Saturday, before we left home, we measured her height - she was pretty darn close to 40 inches tall with her shoes on. Once we had an opportunity to check at the park, she came in right at 40 and she got to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Star Tours with me. And even though she has seen Fantasmic a few times on You Tube, there's nothing better than seeing it in person.


In all, we had a great time. We usually spend a lot of time together, rarely do Haily or I do anything without involving the kids, but it's sure a neat feeling to find yourself flying in an elephant, or sailing over Neverland with your child beside you.

One of our "must do" activities is to watch the "Billy Hill and the Hillbillies" show at the Golden Horseshoe Saloon. These four brothers, each named Billy Hill, put on a bluegrass show that touches almost every muscial genre from Elvis, to the Beatles, to Country and Disco (They call that style Crisco) and Country meets Rap (no name for that style yet). They always put on a good show, and I've yet to be disappointed.

Special thanks go out to Karen and Charles for hosting us for the night, and extra thanks also go out to Bryan and Jamie who helped us out with an issue after we got home.

Blowin' In The Wind

Living in Arizona, we're constantly aware of any changes to the dry heat of the summer. One of the most dangerous changes comes with the monsoon, a seasonal weather pattern that brings moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. The storms often appear unexpectedly, and bring a high amount of rain, preceeded by high winds and dust. Many of the local television stations broadcast a special about the dangers of the monsoon.

On Thursday night, we got caught up in one of the storms. We were driving after dark and fought the wind for a good distance. We could see the dust getting kicked up, and watched as heavy raindrops splattered on the car, muddying up the windshield with a thick paste. Our field of view diminished to the point where we could see only a few feet ahead of us. We pulled over, turned off our headlights, and turned on the hazards. A signpost that was only ten feet ahead of us disappeared in the gloom. We sat for several minutes, in silence, watching as cars slowly passed us, and others, following our example, pulled off the road. At one point, McKenna said she was scared and wanted to go home. In all, we waited for about fifteen minutes for the storm to pass us over.

As the wind slowed and visibility increased, we could see that the car was covered in dirt. I'm glad we had the sense of mind to pull over and let the storm pass over us.

Dr. Seuss invades the Warren home

Watch as Haily reads a book,

Check out Kenna's hair - new look!

Eric ignoring the world again,

And Adrian with a cheesy grin!

It's September

And I was just getting used to it being August. I only just realized that Labor Day is next week.

Growing up in Idaho, the first week of September was always exciting. It signaled the opening of the Eastern Idaho State Fair, probably the biggest thing to hit the area. For a few dollars, we could see arts, crafts, livestock, and a selection of the best food to choose from. Over the years, different things would appeal to us, but we always had to get a tiger ear and go on the carnival rides. There were even years which found different members of our family behind the booths, serving up the ubiquitous tiger ears, and I later manned the booth for the TV station I worked for.


Different music acts, mostly country, would perform, and it was at the fair that I went to my first concert. What I consider to be my first real date was at the fair. And I'll always remember the night I came across my two best friends before and after they attacked a certain ride. The after was definitely worse than the before.

The pictures used for today's blog came from http://www.idahofallstoday.com/2008/08/31/idaho-state-fair/

Egad - No post yesterday!

I completely forgot to post a message to my blog yesterday. I set a goal for myself to post at least something every day. For those of you who may be reading my blog through Facebook, you may say, "Yeah, but he posted all of those crazy pictures yesterday." Technically, that's true, however, I didn't actually post anything to my blog at www.hpflyer.blogspot.com.

Now if this isn't a crazy way to drive traffic to my blog, I don't know what is. :)

15 Movies

Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen movies you've seen that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what movies my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note -- upper right hand side.) I hope you participate, even if you didn't get tagged! No judging! Okay, fine, judge .

Star Wars: A New Hope
Dragonheart
The Last Starfighter
To Kill a Mockingbird
Beauty and the Beast
The Goonies
The Iron Giant
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Raiders of the Lost Ark
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
The Fifth Element
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Moulin Rouge
The Other Side of Heaven
Serenity

Project Vulcania - Revealed

"...there is hope for the future. When the world is ready for a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass, in God's good time." Captain Nemo




I put the finishing touches on Project: Vulcania this afternoon and can now officially reveal it!



Based upon Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, I give you Captain Nemo's Submarine - The Nautilus! The film, of course, is based upon Jules Verne's novel. My project's title, Vulcania, came from Nemo's secret island base.



The build took an estimated 10 hours spread across four days and involved seven printed sheets. To build the model I used scissors, an x-acto knife, Elmer's glue, a scoring tool and ruler. During the build I discovered that two sections were not glued correctly and ended up replacing them. One final error remains, but at this point I'm not going to worry too much about it. I also utilized a themed stand designed specifically for the Nautilus.

The template, instructions and stand all came from www.thedisneyexperience.com, which in addition to several other papercraft projects, also offers several free desktop backgrounds, user images, icons, fonts, and projects - all with a Disney theme.

I've built some other papercrafts from this site, but they, as well as most of my papercrafts, are at work. I'll try to remember to bring a camera to work and post pictures of those as well.

Threes of Me

Rules:
You've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with the 3's of YOU. At the end, choose people to be tagged. You have to tag me. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you - but not in a creepy stalker kind of way.

(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 3's, tag 26 people (in the right hand corner of the app), then click publish.

Three names I go by:

1--Daddy
2--Eric
3--Junior (thanks Channel 3)

Three Jobs I have had in my life:

1--Hydrotubular Transportation Specialist (pipe mover)
2--Local TV news photographer
3--Lead agent for US Airways group department

Three Places I have lived:

1--Pingree, ID
2--Grant's Pass, OR
3--Chandler, AZ

Three Favorite drinks:

1--Chocolate Milk
2--Orange Julius
3--Black Cherry Kool-Aid

Three TV shows that I watch:

1--Lost
2--Hell's Kitchen
3--America's Got Talent

Three Places I Have Been:

1--New York
2--Moscow
3--Copenhagen

People that text/e-mail/facebook/tweet me regularly:

1--Haily
2--Adrian
3--My mom

Three of my favorite restaurants:

1--Chipotle
2--Cracker Barrel
3--Good 'N' Plenty

Three friends I think will respond:

1--Haily
2--Adrian
3--Amanda

Three things I'm looking forward to:

1--Next trip to Disneyland
2--Birth of our new son in January
3--Next papercraft project

Project: Vulcania - Nearing Completion

After taking Monday off of model building to regroup and decide how I wanted to correct an error I made early in the build process, I nearly finished Project:Vulcania last night. I still have one step left to complete before I'm ready to finish it. It's been a lot of fun to work on, but in the meantime, I've promised McKenna I would make a special papercraft project just for her. Pictures of both will be forthcoming. I may also take my camera to work, where I have my other papercrafts, and get pictures of those as well for posting.

Everything but . . .actually, yeah.

I wish I had a camera. On my drive home, traffic slowed down extremely quickly on a stretch of the road that normally doesn't have any traffic problems. It was enough to get out of the fast moving left hand lane into the suddenly much quicker right hand lane. I soon learned what the cause of this backup was - it seemed Jed and all his kin had packed up the homestead headed to Beverly. Apparently, a family was moving all of their possessions by pickup and makeshift trailer, with several items which appeared to be lashed on. I couldn't help but think that they had everything but the kitchen sink . . . until I was close enough to realize that, yes, the kitchen sink was lashed onto the back of the trailer as well. Again, I wish I had a camera.

Project: Vulcania - day 3

Here's a few more pictures of Project: Vulcania. I'm not quite halfway through with this build, but it looks to be turning out to be one of the best I've done so far.

Secret Project

. . . I've only just begun.

I started a new project.

And I'm really excited to see this one take shape. Pictures to come!

Scientific Study of Me

A friend of mine posted this on her blog and I figured I'd co-opt her idea. I really have nothing better to do for the next ten minutes.

************FOODOLOGY*****

********

1. What is your salad dressing of choice?
Ranch, except when I feel like Catalina.

2. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
Probably Cracker Barrel, but I don't get to eat out like that very often.

3. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
Pizza

4. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Pepperoni and Canadian Bacon with pineapple

5. What do you like to put on your toast?
Butter and raspberry jam.

***********TECHNOLOGY************

1. How many televisions are in your house?
Three, however, one does not work. Should I count my portable DVD player as one more?

2. What color cell phone do you have?
Black

3. How many computers are in your house?
2. One works. One takes up space.

4. Have any idea how many Megahertz your computer has?
Nope. There used to be a time when I cared about such things. Now I only worry about it not turning on.

**********BIOLOGY***************

1. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right.

2. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
Teeth and a portion of my colon (that's a lovely story involving a near death experience).

3. What is the last heavy item you lifted?
My kids.

4. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
No.

****************BULLCRAPOLOGY***************

1. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
I could see the benefit, but I would rather not.

2. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Rockerfeller, but only for the inheritance that would come with the name.

3. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
No.

*************DUMBOLOGY*************

1. How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
One, but I haven't worn them for a couple of years.

2. Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
1999. I ran a red light.

3. Last person you talked to?
Haily

4. Last person you hugged?
Haily

***********FAVORITOLOGY***************

1. Season?
Spring. The days are nice and everything is green (I live in the desert, what do you expect?)

2. Holiday?
Christmas, followed closely by Halloween

3. Day of the week?
Saturday.

4. Month?
April. Spring and birthday, and 3rd favorite holiday, Easter.

***************CURRENTOLOGY****************

1. Missing someone?
I miss being close to my family, fortunately my brother lives a little less than an hour away.

2. Mood?
Generally calm

3. What are you listening to?
Haily sleeping.

4. Watching?
Nada. Just the computer screen

***************RANDOMOLOGY*************

1. First place you went this morning?
The ubiquitous water closet.

2. What's the last movie you saw?
Made of Honor

3. Do you smile often?
Every chance I get.

**********OTHEROLOGY************

1. Do you always answer your phone?
No.

2. It's four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
No one texts me that early in the morning.

3. If you could change your eye color what would it be?
Blue, it's very close to that already.

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
I prefer an Orange Creme Slush.

5. Do you own a digital camera?
Yes, when Haily lets me use it.

6. Have you ever had a pet fish?
Yep. Despite the loss of our platys, we've still got a plecostomus.

7. Favorite Christmas song?
Mary Did You Know.

8. What's on your wish list for your birthday?
HD TV, PS3, Home Theater sound system. I know I won't get them, but I can wish.

9. Can you do push ups?
Yes, but I don't do them as often as I should.

10. Can you do a chin up?
I doubt it.

11. Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
I try to keep an open mind about it.

12. Do you have any saved texts?
Only the last several I've received.

13. Ever been in a car wreck?
Yes.

14. Do you have an accent?
Midwestern American.

15. What is the last song to make you cry?
I don't remember.

16. Plans tonight?
Hopefully my Mom will make it here from Dominica.

17. Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
There were a few days like that in college.

18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday?
Chicken strips, potato wedges, a soda.

19. Have you ever been given roses?
No. I've given them.

20. Current worry?
Politics.

21. Current hate right now?
People who excuse their own bad behavior and errors..

22. Met someone who changed your life?
Most definitely.

23. How will you bring in the New Year?
Probably by having fallen asleep at 10 on New Year's Eve.

24. What song represents you?
Moving Right Along.

25. Name three people who might complete this?
Surprise me.

26. Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
As long as it is not to the destruction of Pompeii, why not?

27. Have you ever dated someone longer than a year?
No.

28. Does anyone love you?
Yes. My wife and kids show me every day.

29. Ever had someone sing to you?
My daughter.

30. When did you last cry?
Yesterday on my way to work. I missed my family.

31. Do you like to cuddle?
Yes

32. Have you held hands with anyone lately?
Haily, McKenna, and Adrian.

33. Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
Most of my friends are old.

34. Do you like pulpy orange juice?
No!

35. Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
Enjoying my family and life. Probably while on a visit to Disneyland.

Up and atom

Another day ahead of me. Uh oh, I hear Adrian awake in his crib. Ever since we moved the computer out of the unused bedroom, it's harder for me to accidentally wake him up, as the two bedrooms are right next to each other. The master bedroom, where the computer is now, has a lot more space between us and the kids.

We weren't planning on having any daycare kids today, as their mom is off for the day, so I think we're going to hit the ground running this morning and start looking for some more kids that Haily can watch. She talked with one of her friends about what's been going on, and knows some of the ladies in our ward who are also doing daycare. One of the people she spoke with mentioned that there have been times she's only watched a child for a week or less, and indicated the mother may have just wanted to get the kids out of her hair for a little while. We're hoping some of the daycare moms in our ward might be able to send some kids our way if they're already full.

I think it's been good for Haily to have this experience, and I hope we can make this work. It hasn't stopped Haily from looking for work, but it would work out better for us if we can provide daycare.

Uh oh, I think McKenna heard me typing. I think she's hiding in the hallway just out of my sight.

So much for that . . .

Just found out that the kids we've started having for daycare won't be with us. The mom had some difficulties between her schedule and having someone pick up her kids at school - the district doesn't bus within our community and we don't have a large enough outfit to carry our kids and hers.

Back to square one, but now we've had a taste of what to expect and have done the research to be ready for the next kids. Keep us in your prayers.

Moved it all around

Well, we're making some changes around our home. Haily has begun a day care service. Unfortunately, any job offers that have come along wouldn't pay enough for us to put our kids in daycare ourselves, so we figured this might be a better option.

We've spruced up our little used front room and moved several toys out there. We took the computer out of the unused bedroom and moved it into the master bedroom, then moved a bookcase from the front room to the unused bedroom. I'm not sure how long that bedroom will remain unused, because McKenna will need her own room soon, while Adrian and the baby will be in the other.

We're currently watching three children every afternoon. They are all brothers and sisters. The youngest is three and he and Adrian have been tearing up and down the house. He's had fun with someone other than McKenna around. The other two children are in Kindergarten and first grade, and they will usually arrive around 3 in the afternoon. Their mom works until eight. McKenna's having fun with them as well, and is adjusting pretty well to having three other kids around. I have to wonder how my Mom dealt with all of this noise. Then again, we could be sent to the basement or outside for hours.