Blessed

We picked up Rece a bit early from daycare on Friday to go to the Children's Zoo here in Lincoln. It's a great zoo for kids and the afternoon was beautiful. Watching Rece run from exhibit to exhibit fascinated with the animals was joyful. It's easy for me to get caught up in all the things I need to get done and all the goals yet unfulfilled. Having afternoons like this remind me how blessed we are.

My first 10 miles

I've been training for a half marathon since early August. My first. The race is October 21 and a couple weeks ago I had a run of 10 miles on my plan. I know I've never run 10 miles in a row in my life. Ever.

I asked my friend, Andy, a runner for a few years now, for advice for a long run like this. He told me to be patient and to make sure I gel and water for the run. I totally forget to get gel (I've never used it) and the morning of the run I was searching for something to take with me on the run. My solution? Rece's applesauce packets! These work great for Rece - no mess and they taste great. I had one before the run and filled it with water and took another with me. I ate it at mile 6 and applesauce (and applesauce flavored water) never tasted so good. And, don't tell anyone but this running thing is kind of growing on me. We'll see how the hip and knee holds up through the race. More updates to come.

Losing neighbors - missing friends

It's been three weeks since our neighbors, the Stutheits, moved to Chicago. It was a hard week for a lot of us on the block; we loved having the Stutheits as neighbors. They are genuine, caring and fun people (typical K Staters). There was a palpable sense of loss - our block commiserated. I felt a bit like when I was in third grade and one of my best friends moved away. What has caught me by surprise was how attached I've become to our neighbors. I suppose it's because since I moved off the ranch in Bartlett I've never really felt like anyplace was "home" - there are places I lived but no place that was ever my community.  Carrie and I have lived in our house for 5 years and in that time we've put down deep roots. This is our home. We care about this place, this community and the people here.  And, we're happy for Jeff and Jennifer, it gives us a great excuse to Chicago, but we're going to miss them for a long time. That's what communities do.

Derner men fishing trip

On thing my dad, brothers and I have never really learned to do is relax. (Well, I'll admit, I've been trying harder than they have to learn this skills for some time) We're trying, though. We planned our second fishing trip this year to Wetstone Bay in South Dakota. Dad upgraded the fishing boat which was much needed after our harrowing experience in the 16' Lund last year at Pierre.

Yes, it was only 36 hours together and the fish were few and far between, but that wasn't the point. The fact that we all made the time and effort to do it - that just hanging out together was important enough. I don't think we'll ever be good at relaxing; I don't see any weeklong camping excursions in the immediate future, but we had a great time and have memorable experiences to build on for the future.

My brother Levi and nephew Chance with the best catch of the trip - nice walleye

 

 

Dad - fishing, driving and directing (can you believe he going to be 70 next year?? I hope I age half as well as him)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swimming Lessons

I "learned" to swim at 29 years of age, and by swim I mean frantically splash across a pool. Carrie was a life guard and looks like Michael Phelps to me. I always wanted Rece to take after his mom in this regard, but when Carrie brought up swimming lessons for Rece - at 20 months of age - I was skeptical. What I had read online was that the current recommendation is to wait for lessons until age 4; when kids can learn to hold their breath. But, our neighbors, the Jones, had taken their little girl who is a month younger than Rece to the previous session and was thoroughly impressed with the program at Country Swim School.

Carrie signed Rece up but was willing to cancel after we went to our orientation meeting.  I was expecting a snake-oil sales pitch and I'm sure my skepticism was obvious. Not to mention feeling put out that they require new parents to attend an orientation meeting before your kids can take a class.

It's nice to be pleasantly surprised.

Sue, who has run Country Swim School for more than 30 years, was a direct as she was clear about her wisdom, experience and methods to help kids learn to swim. The kicker was the demonstration. There was a parade of kids - from 10 months to 10 years old showing their skills. When I saw that 10 month old dive from the side of the pool and swim about 10 feet to her mom, I was sold. Not sold because Rece will be able to swim on his own, but sold because he'll have the foundational skills in place to be a good swimmer. I don't care if he ever competes in swimming, but I'll rest easy when I know that someday he can enjoy being on the lake with friends. Not to mention, Miss Sue runs a tight ship and the discipline and routine will be good for our little guy.

So, expect to see lots more swim lesson pics and posts in the future. We'll be in the "Water Babies" class until Rece turns three. This means Carrie and I will be in the pool with Rece for his lessons until then, too. a bit of a burden on the schedule? Yeah, but it's been a ton of fun seeing Rece learn to love the water and spending the time together has been a true gift.

Summer veggie pizza

Love summer veggies. The garden looks rough but thankfully the local farmer's market still kept us supplied. Every blog needs food pics to drive traffic. :) Here's our token pic. Saute' the veggies and put on top of a crust with low-fat garden veggie cream cheese. Easy. Just like summer meals should be.

Crazy summer

This was a crazy summer for travel. Literally dozens of nights on the road. Carrie and I were able, however, to sneak a few days in to visit her family in Oregon and Washington after finishing a conference in Silverton, Oregon. First of all, if you ever want to understand why it's called the "Oregon Trail" so see the paradise that is the area around Silverton, Oregon. You'll quickly understand why pioneers by the thousands risked it all to get out there (just the huckleberries alone are worth the trip).

So, did I get pictures of Rece with his grandparents, with his new cousin Riley, or with anyone in Washington? Of course not. I did get a picture of him standing at his grandma's sink playing in the water. The slightly mischievous look on his face was merited. the next glass of water went right on the floor. Little turd.

Mister fun

To say that this was a hot summer is a bit like saying that state fairs cause people to eat unhealthy foods...understatement. Still, we were committed to playing outside with Rece whenever we could; he needs his vitamin D. To cope, we invested in a kiddie pool (that required being re-filled each day - something about 98 degree water that he didn't enjoy) and a mister. Our awesome neighbors, the Batemans, came by on this summer evening and turned Alece loose with Rece in the yard. Nothing like the joy of little ones...

Here's a pic of the same two characters in the pool a month later. Look how much they both grew up in a month. Crazy.

4th of July - Hot Dog bar

Yeah, it's almost October and I'm just posting about the 4th of July - good thing I'm not trying to sell ads on this thing!

Anyway, Carrie and I love hosting our great friends Andy and Ben over the the 4th of July. This year was all about food and fireworks (and, of course, celebrating America). What's more American than hot dogs? So, we worked on a plan for a hot dog bar. Four different types of dogs and five prototype recipes representing iconic American tastes. of course people could create their own masterpiece (and many did). Regardless it was a great way to get the neighborhood to hang our before the fireworks.

 The five iconic dog recipes.

 

A portion of the bar spread around our kitchen.

7 Amazing Years

Last week, Carrie and I celebrated our seventh anniversary. It's been an incredibly joy-filled adventure with very little about our lives today planned or scripted from seven years ago. But, between faith and each other we feel incredibly blessed to be where we are and where we are going. This photo has layers of meaning. First, it's my "thing" to self-take our photos - even if people are walking by and offer to take it for us. Every fun trip we've ever taken includes a photo like this. Second, this photo is in front of a fountain by the downtown apartment building where we first moved after getting married. We were so excited when the put the small park and fountain in the vacant space. We still love to walk by it. Finally, as you can see we're both in a lot better shape than we were four months ago. A lot of hard work and sacrifice has gone into that (and still does) but we both made the decision that we had to make it important enough to happen now. We feel wonderful and hope that Rece only ever knows fit and active parents. Here's to another 50 or 60 years!

Rece's First Trip to the Omaha Zoo

For those of you that don't know, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo is a top-rated zoo in the United States - in the same league as San Diego and Cincinnati. When I taught, I would take my animal science students on a field trip there annually to meet with the head zoo vet and get a behind the scenes tour of the facilities to learn about animal care, nutrition and genetic research. I love this zoo. Expect to see LOTS of pictures of it through the years.

But this trip wasn't about animals for Rece as much as it was hanging out with cousins, Chance and Shelby, and grandma and grandpa Derner. While Rece had a good time in the aquarium, he had more fun getting attention and playing in the water feature. That's fine, buddy, we have lots of opportunity for me to explain the finer points of giraffe handling systems and large cat dietary requirements.

  

  

Jennie's back!

Carrie's sister, Jennie, is back living with us for the summer. She spent two and half years with us getting her marketing degree from UN-L. We've missed her a ton the past year. Unrelated to Jennie's return we took our first trip ever to Lincoln's horse racing track the first weekend of June. Rece had a great time all the way around. Good thing because we certainly didn't win him any college tuition money on this trip.

Rece gets brave

Just watch this. You'll see what I mean.

May flowers

Our spring was warm and all the flowers are way ahead of schedule. Thankfully, I did think to grab a few pictures of the fron beds in bloom. This never gets old to me.

Shell leaf penstemons - a tribute to the Sandhill pastures of home

The Pickup

Rece loves to play in my pickup. By "loves" I mean we have to spend at least 10 minutes a day in there...every day. I'm guessing I have a few years before he's big enough and coordinated enough to reach the clutch and start it. For now, thankfully, he's content with pretending.

Carrie's Half Marathon

Carrie signed up for Lincoln's half-marathon (13.1 miles for you non-runners, like me) back in December. She wasn't planning to run it, though, because of a hip injury earned while working out so much in March. But, by the week of the run, she decided that she'd try it - at least to earn the t-shirt.

Here she is at the starting line with Katie and Drew (good friends and neighbors for those new to the blog). We took this just as a thunderstorm passed. The day before was 94 degrees, but May 6 turned out to be gorgeous.

Rece and I went home for a bit after the drop-off. We missed Carrie running by at mile 8 because Rece had fallen asleep and was gawking at the spectators. We raced another mile down the course and got out to cheer on Carrie and snap a quick picture.

Of course, in the chaos of trying to find and pick up Carrie after the race, I totally forgot to take a picutre. I am so proud and amazed that Carrie finished the race. And, I felt like a real slacker the next few days as Carrie, Drew and Katie all nursed themselves back to health. None of them were interested in how the early morning drop-off really messed up my sleep schedule for a couple of days. Go figure.

Discovering the Hose

Rece was fascinated watching me water the flowers in the pots on our deck. So I got him a watering can to help. That was good enough for a day or two...then he wanted the hose. So, I gave it to him.

Then he decided he wanted a drink. I obliged.

Check out this concentration:

Soaked...

Fun in the Yard

I love to play in the yard with Rece. We run, roll around, swing...just hang out. Shot this video on an exceptionally beautiful May day after letting him "tackle" me to the ground.

Yogurt pops

Our friend, Katie, gave Carrie a set of popsicle forms for her birthday last week. I caught pics of Carrie and Rece working together on their first batch of fruit & yogurt frozen pops today.

Family, Friends and Carrie's Birthday

Just finished a great weekend. Carrie's aunt Toni and uncle Bo from Washington stayed with us for a couple of days last week. They were here for Carrie's birthday party and gave us both a great lesson on the golf course. Then our wonderful friend, Tiffany, came down from South Dakota to spend the weekend. Other than a brief visit to the basement for a tornado warning, it was a tremendous weekend. We are blessed with wonderful people in our lives.

Brew to Brew in KC - great weekend

Carrie and I went with a some of our great friends to Kansas City for the Brew to Brew race. The 10 leg relay goes from a brewery in KC to one in Lawrence, KS. I volunteered to watch the kids so that everyone else could run. Carrie took the challenge and ran one of the legs. I did not. We decided to do this race way before I decided to get back in shape; so while I felt a bit guilty for not running, I had a great time with Rece and our neighbor's daughter, Alece. Granted it was 90 degrees on April 1 and the hotel A/C went out, so I had to think of someplace to take two grumpy toddlers...where else but Costco! I did catch up with the rest of the crew to make it look like we endured the heat and wind with everyone else.

How about a bike trailer?

The warm spring has inspired Carrie and me to get outside more. We like to ride bikes but didn't go at all last year, so we decided we should try a bike trailer for Rece so that we could all go together. We weren't sure if he would like it or not. After the trial run - a quick 10 minute ride in which Rece sat in silence the whole time - we parked the trailer in the garage, unloaded Rece and put our bikes away. Carrie and I went in to get a drink of water and realized Rece wasn't in the house. He had returned to the garage...waiting for trip #2. Awesome.

Crazy warm March weather

We had some really warm days in March - a week in the 80's. It was perfect weather to get Rece outside with one of his favorite toys - the mail cart.

Spring flowers

I'm a big fan of spring bulbs. The planning and patience pays off big time. Love spring color - especially the crocus that sneak up in the middle of the yard!

Reset!

So...three posts in and then a six week hiatus. Not exactly how you win awards for blogging. There are lots of good reasons, but in the end, I just didn't make time. So, I'm going to post some pics form the past month to catch up. In all fairness, Carrie and I have been working out like crazy and losing weight as part of our local YMCA Biggest Loser-type challenge. It's taken a ton of time and effort but it's well worth it.
Seth

North Shore Trail

Last week we took a quick trip to Washington state. We went to Bellingham for a couple of days to see the family. As part of our renewed effort to get inshape, we even went on a couple runs together. On this one, we took the North Shore Trail by Lake Watcom. Rece was a trooper bundled up in his stroller.

Rece ready for the North Shore Trail

About a mile into the trail there is a this beautiful waterfall. We had to stop and take a picutre. It's amazing how much easier it is to run when you have beautiful scenery!

Happy runners!

First dentist visit

A couple days ago I took Rece to his first dentist visit. I didn't know kids as young as Rece should go but our pediatrician recommended that we do. I was nervous. As a kid I had a lot of cavities and hated going to the dentist. It was always a trip filled with anxiety and disappointment. The only bright side (if you call it that) was that the dentist in the small town we went to was pretty loose on the happy gas - so I went under for almost any procedure. But that's way off topic here. Ever since Rece has had teeth Carrie has been consistent in making sure we brush them every night. It's made for some interesting and tear-filled moments during bath time, but I stick to it hoping that it'll develop habits that will pay off big time in the long run.

And, our visit confirmed that our effort is paying off - Rece's teeth are plaque free and look great. The hygienist and dentist were great and it's a very cool office for kids; I think he'll love it as he gets older (especially if he keeps up the excellent oral health.)

Seth and Rece at his first dentist visit. He had that concerned look the whole time.

The last 14 months with Rece have really made me consider how much of success comes from daily effort - getting into good habits that keep adding up day after day. I get a bit impatient at time and wants things to change now, to get better now, but just like Rece's healthy teeth, you got do the hard work day after day. Trying to be a good dad is making me be a better person. (And, yes, I am taking much better care of my own teeth!)

A homemade Valentine's Day gift

This year Carrie suggested we make homemade gifts to exchange for Valentine's Day. I loved the idea but was nervous the moment she suggested it. What to make? Carrie is crafty and has a great eye for design. Me? I get interested in something (I'm sure I'll post about my patio cushions at some point in the future) and then I lose interest. So. I'm not really skilled in anything. Except...I write. A lot. I used to love creative and expository writing. Now most of that energy goes into writing for our business - proposals, agreements, correspondence and narrative for courses and trainings we design.

So, the idea occurred to me: what if my gift was to help write and capture the stories and memories of our adventure together as two people deeply in love with one another raising a family, working together, growing our faith, and enjoying some of the best neighbors on the planet? That meets the criteria of homemade, right? I think so (but, I'm also planning on building a headboard for our bed as a back-up, too - pics of that to come soon, I hope.) So with that, here is the first of thousands of entries. No better way to start than with a picture of our son Rece who made his own homemade Valentines this year. Happy Valentine's Day to all - may all of our friends and family know how much we love you.
- Seth

Rece painting hearts for his Valentine's Day cards