Carlson Closeup - Jake

I was trying to think of something clever to blog about and I thought, "What if I 'interviewed' the family and posted the answers in a blog. Add some cute pictures and BOOM - clever blog posting - well, clever to me anyways, so that's what you're gettin'.

I am asking the same 25 questions to every speaking member of the family, so this should be fun by the time we are done. Our first, victim, er... candidate is Jake. Since he is our middle-aged monster, I figured I would give him the honors in the inaugural Carlson Closeup.

Let's start with a little picture montage of our cuddliest little Carlson (you can click on the picture for a bigger version):

Isn't he our cute little fuzz bucket??

I had an interesting interview with the little monster. A lot of the answers needed a little coaxing, but these are very indicative of the cotton-topped cutie.

Q. Apple juice or orange juice?
A. Apple Juice

Q. Are you a morning or night person?
A. Night

Q. Which do you prefer, sweet or salty foods?
A. Sweet

Q. Ninjas or pirates?
A. Ninjas

Q. What was your favorite childhood television program?
A. The Backyardigans

Q. Are you a collector of anything?
A. puzzles and cars and trains (oh my)

Q. If you could be any animal, what would you be?
A. Elephant

Q. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
A. Be like Buzz Lightyear

Q. What is usually your first thought when you wake up?
A. Watch a show

Q. What do you usually think about right before falling asleep?
A. Dreaming

Q. What's your favorite color?
A. Blue

Q. What's your favorite animal?
A. Lion

Q. You're given 1 million dollars, what do you spend it on?
A. A fan (gotta love the childhood innocence)

Q. Are you mostly a clean or messy person?
A. Messy

Q. Who are you going to marry?
A. Mommy

Q. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
A. In the city - because he wants to drive

Q. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A. Disney world

Q. What's your favorite song of the moment?
A. Life is a Highway

Q. What's your favorite movie?
A. Cars

Q. Have any hidden talents?
A. playing

Q. What would be your dream job?
A. Firefighter

Q. Which would you rather have, 100 million dollars or true love?
A. True love

Q. If you could have 3 wishes granted, what would they be?
A. 1.Mac and Lightning. 2. Truck. 3. Mousetrap

Q. If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to?
A. Fuzz Bucket

Q. What's your favorite cookies?
A. Valentine's Cookie

Next up on the Carlson Closeup - Julia!

2010 - Still waiting for global warming ....

Well, we've been freezing our tails off so far in 2010. Today was actually nice (sunny, 60 degrees, etc ..) UNTIL we actually decided to go to the park where the temperature dropped 20 degrees in like 5 minutes. We were enjoying a nice family stroll on a nature trail when all of a sudden Cold Front #137 blew in. Thank goodness Julia drew X's on the trail every 15 feet otherwise we would have never gotten back to our car :)


So it's been a while since I blogged. Being frozen to the core has stifled my writing creativity. Either that or it could be never getting a good break from work -lol. Here's a synopsis of key things that have happened since the last blog:
- Thanksgiving - my favorite holiday of the year
- Christmas - very special this year with my first nephew, John Carlson Busker, being born on Christmas Day!!!
- Car breaking down again - still working on getting it fixed
- Dead rat in the walls - it is still decomposing and yes it stinks
- Jansen is now completely mobile on his hands and knees - pulling up to his feet on EVERYTHING - if he's not walking in 2 months I will be surprised
- Jansen has like 8 teeth now!!! And we wonder why our nights were so bad around 12 weeks and after - ouch!
- Julia is reading like a superstar and is picking up the violin very quickly
- Jake is .... well he's Jake! I love that boy to death and I love holding him tight in my arms. He is starting to show glimmers of actually sitting down and learning

Whats to come ...
- some more recent pics of the family
- some interesting opining by me on some topics that are near and dear to my heart

Until then, the Crazy Carlson life goes on

New floors!!!

The Carlson family began its home-owning experience back in 2003. We were so excited to get to be able to build our house (with the help of Pioneer Homes). One of the steps in that process was going to a design center and getting to pick out all the carpet, tile, counter tops, etc ... If only we had known then what we know now - lol.



We tried to choose wisely.



Emphasis on tried.



We, on purpose, chose the lowest grade 5 year carpet. Not so much a bad idea except in 2009 our 5 year carpet was now 6 years old. So after 6 years, a dog, and 3 children it was time to get new carpet. And, heck, if we are gonna get new carpet then we might as well go ahead and get rid of the nasty tile all over the entry-way and kitchen, right? (k, so the tile itself wasn't nasty, but our grout was horrible). So after lots of shopping around and decision making, we pulled the trigger on hard-woods downstairs and also replaced the carpet everywhere else.



No one told us getting all this done was going to feel like moving out of our house and moving back in, all in three days time - lol. Well, the dust has finally settled, mostly everything is back in its right spot, and we feel like we have a brand new house (and hopefully one that's worth more now that it was 6 years ago). Here's some before and after pics. You can click on them to get bigger versions of them:

Still going

Well, after roughly 17 weeks, I hit my goal weight! I started at 249 pounds on July 2. On 10/26, I weighed in at 189 which was 1 lb under my goal weight!!!!! I could totally be one of those poster boys for weight loss.

"Hi, I'm Todd Blankenship. I lost 60 pounds in just 17 weeks. And you can do it too!!! Just look at my before and after pictures .... "

"I feel like a new man!"

I would have to use a fake name so no one would know who I was. My fake name is Todd Blankenship.

So, since I hit my goal weight ahead of time, I reset my goal to 175. As of today I am at 186, so I'm only 11 pounds from my new goal. woohoo! Please pray that I can maintain this new weight/eating lifestyle once I am officially off the diet.

Next up on the blog catchup ..... more before and after pictures. Have a great weekend!

Following in Mommy's shoes

While Julia's eyes and personality are exactly like Daddy's, that's where the likenesses stop. She is girly girl through and through. Her career aspirations have ranged from Daddy's wife (?) to ballet teacher, but after our newest instrumental addition to the family, she now aspires to be a violin teacher .... following in Mommy's shoes!

We are very excited to see Julia grow musically. Julia's enthusiasm for learning the violin is so cute. The first day we had the violin, Julia got it out and played it like twenty times! She has already started lessons with Kelly and she knows all the parts of the violin and bow.

Stay tuned for more quick updates .... there are some very cool things for us to blog about.

How a 5 Year Old Can Impress You

So, Julia turned 5 yesterday. I can remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. I remember Kelly waking me up in a rush early that morning ... then waiting for her to take a shower, do her hair, put on her makeup (God, I love my wife!!!). I remember seeing Julia's head crown and watching the delivering doctor give her a mohawk in between pushes. I remember hearing that first cry and wanting to shout, out loud, how excited I was and how good God is for this little miracle.

Flash forward 5 years.

God is still good.

Julia is still a miracle to me.

So Julia's 5th birthday was a day with many unexpected things, and I was going to chronicle the craziness of a full house in this posting, but as the day finally wound down, I unpacked the day in my head. Instead of capturing a crazy, spontaneous, at times hectic day, I decided to capture how a 5 year old miracle can impress you (blow your socks off, even).

First, on a day of expecting great presents and activities for herself, in this case a round of black light miniature golf, and then getting disappointed because the place was closed when we got there - Julia impressed me because she did not throw a fit, or cry, or whine, or complain. She was content that she was with her family travelling around town in the mini van. Impressive.

Second, we spontaneously gave Jules the option to get her ears pierced (this is something she has been wanting and patiently awaited for the day for us to let her do it). We explained to her the quick implications of pain and the long implications of care and maintenance, and she readily and happily accepted the proposal. She took the pain like a champ (no tears, no whining, just a little shocked), and now our pretty little princess has earrings!!!

- Impressive.

Third, on a day that was supposed to be 'her' day, Jake slammed his fingers in the door ... again ... but this time it was pretty bad. On 'her' day, as Mommy and Daddy are frantically cooking in the kitchen and entertaining a 4 month old, Julia comes downstairs with a piece of paper and asks me,

"Can you help me write a prayer for Jake so his fingers can feel better?"

My heart melts. I start wondering if there is something magical and mystical about a child turning 5 and them finally getting it. Probably not, but it is rewarding as a parent to see those kinds of fruits and to realize that IT IS SINKING IN! I shake myself out of awe and amazement and help her spell out the bigger words

Most Impressive.

So, I am beaming as a parent the day-after. I'm sure I'll be yelling at her again tonight to get her chores done, but I am revelling in this moment for as long as I can.

And God is still good.

Here's a collage of pics from yesterday:



And here's Julia, our miracle (one of many) from God, telling everyone goodnight.



Until next time ... the Crazy Carlson life goes on and on ....

Annual Enrollment Madness

So those of you who know me and where I work at and what I do know what Annual Enrollment is. I would love to explain, but I am so tired of it that it might make me puke in mouth (again). I'll just put it this way:

This post is on 10/14 (1 hour before Julia's 5th b-day) .... my last post was on 9/12. That is AE in a nutshell

This post is at approximately 11:00 pm. I wish I could tell you that I was up doing something productive for my family or the house or something cool like that. But that would be a lie ... it was just good ole AE.

So here's what we missed in the last month or so (in random order):

- house got painted (and new flooring all over is on the way)
- Kelly's b-day (Man, I love my wife)
- The kids at the Fort Bend County Fair
- More talk of me losing weight (I weighed in at 193.5 today - that's 55.5 lbs down)
- Sarah, my sister, is starting to actually look pregnant!
- Me in a Human Traficking Awareness soccer tournament
- Jansen doing cute baby stuff
- Homeschool is in full swing
- Kelly's 13 year old dog, a dear friend, leaving us :(
- the 1o Pepper Rub - oh momma!
- Jansen getting dedicated at church
- and so much more ...

Some of the above might actually get a post in the days to come (since I've got some cute pics). But for now ... I have recalced and must go to sleep

until next time ...