Why not?

Not being able to sleep I decided to place another post on my blog. I mean there is only so much late night TV one can take before looking for the power button, right? I got the mail today and noticed a letter from UND. I opened it, and it was a "special invitation" from the president of the school to be, and I quote again, "Commencement Marshal Candidate" for the summer commencement. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, I know I will have to get up in front of lots of people, which I hate doing, it is August 1st, which I hope to be headed to Idaho before than, so I will probably be declining but thanks anyway. This is something that they honor the underclassman with outstanding academic records. For those of you paying attention my Spring semester didn't go as planned due to some unforeseen pure laziness on my part. I was only able to get a 3.485 GPA which doesn't place you on any list. The saddest part was I got a "C" in the class that I very easily could have gotten an "A" in if I only had just applied myself a little more. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

Well here is the first picture that Cole drew without any help from myself. As you can see here, the artist's perspective on the piece entitled "airplane" was drawn with such precision and detail, from the distinctive airplane shape right down to the windows carefully placed along the side of the airplane.

I will leave my visitors with this last thought that touched my heart last week. I was rocking Cole to sleep one night, just as I do every night, and he curled up on my chest, laid his head on my arm and then wrapped his arms around my arm. I am so thankful for a son who not only seems to understand me, but has such a loving way with his dad. I truly enjoy giving bubba "airplanes rides" to the big boy toilet (If you have to go, what better way to get there than your own person jet) and the special times when he just wants to curl up in my arms and fall asleep. For these are the things in which I am grateful.

Look There ----------------------------------------------------------------------------->

So there are 365 days in a year, divide that in half and you get 182 1/2 days. Well that marks the half way point for graduation. It is now just under six months and counting. As far as the actual school part of it, I have finals tomorrow for the first half of summer semester. Two finals in one day, that really stinks especially when it is Math and Spanish. Can't really fake it through either of those classes, and neither of those classes are offering a multiple guess test. Might actually have to study for those.

Just a couple of quick snap shots of some animals that are living in my neighborhood. The rabbits around here are pretty good sized and there are tons of them on campus. The ducks live on a small creek that runs through the campus. There are about 20 - 30 little ducks swimming around but they are hard to spot since they hide in the swamp like area. The picture of Cole on the rocks with the water is the same little creek. During the winter I saw some people curling on it. What ever floats your boat I guess.

So I told Cole there was no way that I would let him wear my glasses because I didn't want him to break them. As you can see I am the biggest softy when it comes to him, however he really is just interested in wearing them. I think it is time to go out and get him a pair. The park that Cole and I usually go to has this art thing that Cole and I have never looked at until recently. I was really surprised it is actually pretty cool. I set Cole up by it and took his picture. There are several rows of different types of vehicles. From cars, trucks, trains, airplanes and at the very top large military bombers. Cole loved it.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there. Without you our cars would be broken down, our fences would be laying on the ground, our baseball pitches would always be in the dirt, our basketball shots would be short. For all of the things you do and all the things you will do, you deserve a special day in the sun. So get outside and enjoy day.

And to all of those out there that have yet to become dad's, one piece of advice for you. Understand the only shoes that you have to fill are your own.

This weekend Cole and I tried to get out and about to spend some time outdoors. It was rainy most of the weekend, with a pretty decent thunderstorm on Thurdsay afternoon. Which I due enjoy, much unlike Boise, I don't mind actual storms coming through the area. It brings a nice change of pace and some excitement to an other words boring display of weather.

Tonight is the first night of my class out at the airbase and I am not really sure what to think of it. I drove to the base last week to get a parking pass and it took me about 15 - 20 minutes to get out there. The class is going to be really long, not getting over until 10:15 which is going to make for a nice relaxing drive home with no traffic and cool summer breezes.

Half Way Done

So the weather has changed and it is starting to feel and look like summer. Which is strange because I don't remember it ever being fall. I took Cole out to the playground the other day and just loves playing in the sand (volleyball court). I even got him to wear his John Deere just for you Rich.

So tomorrow is the last day of the first three weeks of class which marks the class half over with. It is going by pretty quickly. I am starting up my evening class out at the Grand Forks AFB on Monday which will run through July. It is twice a week from 4:45 until 10:15. I am hoping that the class is easy, it is however Physics, a class that I have never taken, not even in high school. So we will have to see how that goes.

6 - 2 = 4

So that is a 6 - (+2) = 4 or now is that 6 + (-2) = 4. Your guess is as good as mine. Well two weeks have passed by of the summer semester and I wasn't just wasn't sure how the whole summer semester thing would go. So after just eight classes of Math we are already 3 1/2 chapters into the book, and Spanish is going by just as fast as well. It is good thing I am really good at Math and fluent in Spanish. Well at least one of those statements is true, I will let you guess which one.

I thought that I would put some of the newest pictures of Cole up. We have created a new game that is a cross between baseball and golf. As you can see it involves the usual baseball equipment, but the delivery of the ball is kind of like golf. Dad pitches the ball on the floor and bubba boy takes a good whack at it with his bat. This game is dangerous if I am caught off guard because Cole doesn't hold back when it comes to swinging the bat.

Some Pictures

Well the semester is over with, and the new one starts tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. As many of you know, I am not the morning type of person so it is going to be a rough summer. I thought I would throw some pictures up of Cole this last week at the park. You have got to love his hair when he would go down the slide.

I did however take him to the barber this afternoon to get his hair cut. The barber said his hair was more than three inches on top, so I only thought it would be fair to cut it down to match dad's hair cut. Ok, so he didn't get it shaved but it was reduced by half which looks tons better than what it was before.

Well the weather has maybe leaned more toward spring the last few days, it has finally been nice enough to go outside and enjoy outdoors for awhile. I went out today and bought Cole a bike helmet and we installed his bike seat. We took it for a test drive to the park and he just loved it. About two months ago I bought some glow in the dark planets to hang on his ceiling to go with the stars. You might have to click on the photo to view a larger size to actually see the stars and planets. And as you can see from the second photo, it has only been a month since I introduced the world of puzzles to Cole, and he is already putting together some pretty big puzzles. I bought him a 60 piece puzzle the other day and he already has mastered it.

Finals are this week and I only have two actual finals to take. I really hope to get onto the Dean's List again this semester, and it is basically down to one class that I have to do really well on the final to get the "A" I need to remain on the list. Kind of wish that I would have tried harder during the semester so I wouldn't be so pressured to do really well on my final, oh well.

Finally Warm

The sun as finally decide to come out and bless the ND area with some warm weather. It was really nice the last couple of days and Cole and I spend the majority of it outside. I took him to this little creek that runs through the campus and we decided to throw rock into it. The third picture is him throwing a rock with each hand.



There are lots of little ground animals in which I have no idea what they are called, but Cole really enjoys running after them. They are really quick and Cole hasn't figured out that he needs to be quiet and sneak up on them. The picture below is of one of these animals, you can see the hole he runs into just above and to the right of the animal (which is centered in the pic).



I came across this quote the other day, and for some reason it has really stuck in my mind. Most likely because it really applies to me right now. "You don't have to stay up nights to succeed; you have to stay awake days." How true this is. That quote applies to me because by its definition I am not succeeding, but I am hanging on with everything that I have got not to stay up too late.

Getting Close to the End of Another

So it is that time again, my semester is coming to a close and I am trying to get all of the loose ends tied up. I have two big group projects that are both due the next two weeks along with presenting them to the classes. My favorite. I am not to worried about them, I just really hate being dragged to the front of the class and having to talk about something that nobody in the room cares about, including me. Kind of torture if you ask me.

I have registared for my summer and fall class this past week. I hope that everything falls into place for me and I am able to finally be done with school come Christmas. And just a shade under a decade too, however the sad part is I will not be able to be placing the letters "MD" at the end of my name.

Winter I think has finally wrapped up around here and summer seems to be just around the corner. Cole is looking forward to playing outside more than what we have been. I bought him a little bucket with some shovels and the two of us went out and sat in the sand box (volleyball court) and just played for an hour. One day last week we even got to play "hoops." That is right since adding another year under his belt he has upgraded from "shoup."

Yes mom we found a good year around use for his Easter basket.

Bubba's Hobby

So I have been putting together a puzzle in my bedroom and Cole has found it. So I thought that I would go out and get Cole a couple of puzzles to get him started. Well as soon as we got home from the store Cole took his puzzle and headed for my room. I don't think so buddy, so we end up putting together his puzzle last night on "his" table. Well today we had to get the puzzle out, and about three hours later I am reading the box to see if the puzzle is flammable. The only thing that I can find on it they have a number that says "3-7." I was thinking that was 3 -7 times before this puzzle ends up being put away....forever. Oh well.

Easter Pics

Well here is a couple of pictures from this last weekend. As you will notice Jen the color of the "grass" closely resembles what a typical apartment carpet color might be. The good news is that next week we are going to get up to 40 degrees that is over course after the heavy snow storm over the weekend. And yes Cole must stick his tongue out in order for the eggs to be dyed correctly.

Somebody Help Me Out

So on Feb 2nd when they pull the rat out of some old tree stump that has been turned into a cage, he sees his shadow, and has how many more weeks of winter? I was thinking that it was six more weeks. So I looked at the calendar and that would mean winter would end on the 15th of March. Well it is now the 21st of March and it has been snowing all day long. Right after all last week it was sunny and nice. When is it going to be spring already?

Well Sarah, Cole, and I are going to go to the Alerus Center again for Easter tomorrow. They are having some big event indoors like they did for Halloween, Thank God, hiding eggs around the house just isn't has fun. Was looking through the pictures from last year and happened to come across these that make me laugh every time.

The Jury is In

Well, there was no jury in fact there shouldn't have been a court hearing to begin with, but somebody wants go the court route instead of sitting down with our lawyers and trying to work it out. This same person also believes that there is a little tree out back that produces a fruit that is made entirely out of paper that looks a lot like, well.....money.

So everything said and done we did come to an agreement about a schedule for Cole, and the court has ordered us to take a parenting class, and also we are being appointed a custody mediator (for free) that should begin sometime in the middle of April to hash out a final solution for the well being of Cole. If nothing can be agreed upon then we are looking at a court date sometime at the end of July to get the divorce rolling.

Things didn't turn out exactly like I wanted but they are very close, and all in all I can not complain to much. Just wished that somebody would have come to the table to begin with instead of dragging this into court.

The Day Is Coming!!!

For those of you who don't know, I am going to be appearing in court on Wednesday. So the day is set for a judge to decide what is best for Cole until the divorse is final. The last few months have been an experience that I hope I never have to face again. I am actually looking forward to having some sort of order in my life when it comes to Cole.

On a happier note, I would like to thank my dad and Tyrone for making it possible for me to have a vehicle now.

Here are some new pictures of Cole that I took while Tyrone was here over this last weekend.