Backing up to summer

Well, here are some pictures of some activities we did this summer.

Seany graduated preschool. They did a nice ceremony and he got his diploma:

Zack played coahc pitch baseball:

Seany turned 5:

We worked a lot around the house and yard (no pictures). We also golfed at the local club and the boys did junior golf. Many days were spent at the quarry swimming and catching frogs.

School started again and Seany started Kindergarten:

Seany also dumped the training wheels:

BJ and Zack played fall soccer. A really good program in St. Albans:

We planted 11 trees in the yard after cutting down 3 dead ones. Sean's orchard - Two Honey Crisp apples, one crabapple. Zack's orchard - Two Macintosh apples, one crabapple. BJ's forest - two Burr Oaks, two Atunm Flame Maples. JoJo got a Patten Pear in memory of her dad:

Here is Shasta:

Here are fall colors. I couldn't get the camera to do it justice.

One of BJ's Autumn Flame Maples

BJ turned 7

Did the Halloween Pumpkin thing

Seany designed a missle launching submarine

Went to get the Christmas tree at this very picturesque place.

Thats the quick and dirty catch up. Our laptop is due back next Tuesday. Hopefully I'll do better then at keeping this up to date. See Ya!!!!!!

Finally, a real update, sheeeeesh!!!

So....I left off Friday May 30th. This is going to sound a bit lame, but your gonna have to give me the benefit of the doubt here. The core reason for not posting lately, and its not a good one, is that within about a week of my May 30 post our wireless adapter went out on the laptop. (Please hold while I check on a router bit I'm bidding on over at Ebay, it's witin minutes of ending)........OK, I'm back. 6 minutes to go.....So, we lost our wireless capability and there was no comfortable place to sit at a computer, not even this one. Then, about a month or so later the whole laptop craps out. No display, stuck in a boot up loop, and otherwise useless. Anyone wanna guess about whether it was under warranty? (Back to Ebay, please hold).........3 minutes. I have to bid soon. So I finally did some research on HP after having to look at this stupid laptop dormant in the corner of our bedroom, knowing I still owe $800 bucks on it and (oops, back to ebay)........HAAAAAAA!! Bosch Rail & Stile matching pair router bits normally sell for $105 at Lowes. I just nailed these for $37.86 plus shipping, BooYah! Ive been wathcing the same ones sell for over $55 the last few weeks so I'm extra geeked. Brand spanking new too.....Now back to our regularly scheduled blog......So I still owe buckets of cash on this thing and its out of warranty. So after some online research I find this is a pretty regular thing with these laptops and that depending on my serial number, etc., HP might repair it for free under their "Extra Special Warranty" which is code for, "We put out junk, we know we put out junk, we can't really say we put out junk, but if your computer shows problems with one of these two problems, send it in and we'll fix it for free and pay the shipping" So, I'm now mad at myself for not checking earlier, I'm both mad and happy with HP because, well, they put out junk. On the flip side, well done HP for stnading up almost saying they put out junk and fixing the problem at zero cost to the customer. Yes, I will be writting a letter commending them for this when we get it back because it happens to rarely. So when it does I am going to give them props for it. So, with much added and uneccesary drama, that is why I haven't written much in the blog lately. It just wasn't convenient. And we've been busier than poop.

Is anybody wondering what the router bits are for????? Well I'm glad you asked, I am finally getting to the needed built ins around the house and I am doing it all myself. So I bought a biscuit jointer (cuts little slots in wood for those little wooden football shaped thingys), and I have also just purchased a higher end Bosch router and some router bits. I now need a router table and with the bits purchased this past week and then just tonight, I can make my own raised panel cabinet doors. Super geeked about that. So for my first feat of daring woodworking I have decided to tackle Zacks window seat (which I called a love seat today at work and was abused for hours about building a love seat for my 8 year old) and bookshelf system. The base cabinets have lots of space for toys and things with lift top storage also. So Zack and I have finished the base units and the bookshelves, cabinet doors, painting, and cushion are next. So this router bit set I bought tonight helps me make the perimieter four peices that make up a cabinet door. Two are called rails and two are called stiles. The router bits cut them with not only a decorative edge but also so that they fit together perfectly at the corners. Cool huh? So attached are some pics. The last one I just took while zack was asleep. Hope he didn't mind the flash! It's fun doing these project with the right tools. Oh yeah, hey Terry and Sandy, much of this was done on the radial arm saw. I've put alot of time into getting it tuned up and it is working well. I also found out why it wouldn't go down all the way. It had to do with the wrench that was dropped down into the lifting mechanism...... ;) Seriously! I still can't thank you enough for that gift.

Cub Scout Popcorn

4 and a half months since my last post......Thats just pathetic!

The following takes place in our bedroom which is where our desktop computer sits (After reading this over again I realize that that statement could go down the wrong road all too quickly). It’s fiction, but had I assembled these boys in front of the computer instead of writing this at my work I believe things would have transpired as follows:

(Zack) Hey everyone! My dad has been very lame about writing blogs lately so I thought I would do one with my brothers.
(Sean): Yah! Dads Lame!
(BJ) Hey, he’s not lame, you are Zack!
(Sean) Yah! Zack’s Lame!
(Zack) KNOCK IT OFF you two!!!! Anyway, so there are lots of things that have been going on and my dad will try and write soon to get you all up to date, but until then BJ and I have some popcorn stuff to sell for Cub Scouts. It’s really late and the orders are due tomorrow, but you don’t have to pay until later….
(BJ interupts) No Zack you have to pay now!
(Zack) No you don’t BJ, you can pay later!
(BJ) Now!
(Zack) BJ!!!! Stop screwing this up!!!!! You don’t have to pay until later!!!!
(Dad) Hi everyone, just chiming in to put them back on track. BJ, you can pay now and the scouts would prefer that, but you don’t have to. Zack stop yelling all the time.
(Sean) Told Ya!
(Zack yelling again) Sean you never said anything!
(Sean) Oh. (Sticks tongue out, Zack tries to grab it and gets a piece which sends Sean crying to mom)
(Dad) Go ahead Zack, keep going.
(Zack) Where was I?
(Dad) Popcorn, don’t have to pay now, orders due tomorrow……
(Zack) Oh yah, so BJ is a tiger cub this year and I’m a Bear cub this year and even dad is in the scouts. He’s BJ’s tiger den leader!! Ha Ha!!! He He!! He looks dorky in his uniform. (Sean came back in the room)
(BJ) Yah, he is, he’s my tiger den leader. He doesn’t look dorky.
(Sean) (laughing) Yah, dorky!
(Dad) Yep, it’s true. The dorky part too.
(Zack) So my dad is going to attach some files somehow so that you can look at what to order. BJ and I are going to split what comes in. If you’d like to support the cub scouts by buying popcorn that would be cool. So I guess you can call my dad or something….
(Dad) Yah Zack, they can call my cell phone or email me or home phone. 616-402-4652 or jimbennink@gmail.com 802-782-8364. Is that all you want to say Zack and Beej?
(BJ) What?
(Zack) I think so….
(Dad) Beej why don’t you tell everyone what the money goes for.
(BJ) What?
(Dad) Clearly folks, the focus is lost!!!
(Zack) What is it used for dad?
(Dad) Well it helps the scouts pay for sign up fees to different events and put great trips and exploration things together. It also helps the local packs pay for the badges and awards that are handed out thru the year. It really is the prime source for income.
(Zack) Oh……and pine would derby cars?!
(Dad) Yep, even those.
(Sean) Sweeeeet!
(Dad) (laughing) Yah, it is sweet. Are you gonna be a scout next year too Seany?
(Sean) (Rolls eyes at Dad) Yah dad, duh!
(Dad) You heard it folks 5 years old going on 13!!! OK Guys anything else you want to say?
(BJ) Are people going to buy me Legos?
(Dad) What?! What are you talking about, you are asking people to buy popcorn from you for cub scouts!
(BJ) Oh, I forgot.
(Dad) Is that it guys?
(Zack) Is Drew gonna read this?
(BJ) Yah, is Drew gonna read this?
(Sean) Yah, is Drew Gonna read this?
(Dad) I don’t know if he will but I bet one of his parents will and tell him about it. Why?
(Zack) Can I say hi?
(BJ) Yah, me too.
(Sean) Yah me also.
(Dad) Go ahead….
(All three boys yelling at the computer as if that is going to make it come out in print) hi Drew, hi Drew, hi Annie, yah, hi Annie!
(Dad) What about the twins? Daniel and, and, and, Damn!......Erin! Hah, I remembered this time! (Maybe If I had met them more than twice, but still I just can’t seem to get Erin thru my skull. Crimeny Sakes!! Sorry Dave, sorry Suzanne!)
(The boys again) Oh yeah, hi Daniel, hi Erin, hi Daniel, hi Erin.
(Zack) I remembered Erin’s name!
(BJ) Me too!!
(Sean) Me too!!
(Dad) Yah I knew you guys didn't forget, I’m old!
(The boys run off to play with Shasta our new Husky all focus on this task lost)
The end.

Hey everybody it’s me again, Dad, or Jim or whatever! Yep, we got a husky pup. More on that later…….We really would like to have people order popcorn if you haven’t already supported your local scouts. And if that is your preference no problem. I am really sorry at getting this to you all so late but I didn’t think of putting it on the blog until now.

I am writing another blog after this and hope to have it up in the next day or so. Lots to cover though. I will be attaching two files of the flyer that I scanned so hopefully it will work. If not email me and I’ll email them out to you.

Thanks,
Jim

The New Home

It has been a while, and for those of you who have not been in contact with me some other way, you have probably been wondering about our new house and all of that. Well, we closed on May 16th! It is a great house in a small subdivision that will only have 8 houses plus the original property owner’s house. He still owns 55 acres of playground type land next to the subdivision which all homeowners in the subdivision have access to. This “playground land” turned out to be a big deal because there is an old stone quarry on the property that is long abandoned and full of spring fed water. It’s nearly crystal clear and in spots 60ft deep with 60 foot cliffs. The owner, we call him Grandpa Bud (picture Ernest Hemmingway), stocked it with fish, put down some sand for some beach, put in a dock, built a small cabin and covered picnic area, and has a four person paddle boat that we all can utilize. It’s crazy! Crazy I tell you! I’ll attach some pic’s of both the house and the quarry. We are still a bit overwhelmed by the work ahead of us and are very grateful for my parents coming out and helping paint, unpack, etc. It was a lot of work and we are probably only half done. This is a whole lot more house than we are used to and it will take a while before we get settled. One other item that comes with the house is an acre of mowing! We had to get a lawn tractor (which of course I was not sad about…..at all!) and it still took 1.5hrs to mow. The lawn is in rough shape but we’ll go after it aggressively and get it looking better shortly. I also got several attachments because with a lawn that size you need them, so I got a tow behind spreader, plug aerator, dethatcher, and dump cart. The latter having already seen use hauling lawn waste debris and children around the yard. We also use the tractor to takes rides down the street to the mailbox and get the mail. The guys love to sit on my lap and steer. Zack even got to solo drive as I walked next to him. He was pretty geeked! I’ll do some interior pictures, before/after type shots once we are done painting and adding a bit o’ trim. It’s funny now that we own a home again how much time and money we spend at Lowe’s/Home Depot. I’m guessing their stocks plummeted while we were home ownerless and therefore not spending wheelbarrows full of cash there. Well, fear not good citizens, we are back and hemorrhaging money there once again. Your stock portfolios should be looking up soon! Lets see what else do I have to say today……hmmmmmm……..oh, the job fronts are looking good still with Jo having signed a multi-year deal with the school and GD still doing well. There are a few opportunities brewing at GD and one at another place for me. We’ll see what fits best, but all roads are solid and I don’t think a wrong decision can be made. We’ll see. Also, as I have passed another year on this planet recently, my drivers license in Mich has expired and I need to obtain one from Vermont. I’m kinda geeked about that. It’s just one more sign or step in putting down roots here. So that’s cool. We also joined the Champlain Country Club a few weeks ago but have yet to play there with all this stuff going on. Don’t be too impressed. Facility wise it’s comparable to Terra Verde but terrain wise it’s more like a cross between Spring Lake and Fruitport with hills added. If you’ve played at Muskegon Country Club it is similar to there in physical features. We should have a bit more time once we fully move out of the lake house on the islands this weekend. Jo has been slowly hauling stuff from there every night on the way home. We need to be out this weekend though. My conversion van, which has sat motionless since November, is still there complete with dead battery. Hopefully we can get it jumped tomorrow and avoid having it towed.

Overall things are looking up and we are hoping to keep it that way. I hope all is well with all of you and please feel free to keep in touch. Now that we have high speed instead of dialup it doesn’t take a half hour to answer an email!

L8tr,
JimB

A house, a house, we have a house!!!!

Well, it's not ours yet, but we have it under contract. It is certainly a whole lot more complicated in Vermont to buy a house, way more than it needs to be. Here is a link to the listing

http://www.poquetterealty.com/details.asp?key=171&key_m=2700399&Category=residential

We are pretty excited and looking forward to our stuff getting out of storage. Our tentative close is on May 16th and that is certainly pushing it. It's been fun trying to put together a house deal and financing while on vacation. I'll try and get some more vacation pics posted tonight.

Jim, Jo, and the boys.

Havin' fun with the mouse

We are having fun here in Orlando. We were very delayed out of Philly and didn't land until after midnight. We recovered, and did a quick shell finding stint on the gulf. We then went to Orlando and did Animal Kingdom at Disney. Grandma Dorothy flew in that evenning and arrived while we were taking a break at the condo. BJ stayed back with grandma to go swimming and the four of the rest of us went to the magic kingdom from about 8-11. We hit a bunch of rides in a very short time, it was a blast! I've put a picks in here. A side note, I went on the Expedition Everest ride and then BJ did it with me and he had fun but he was partially scared out of his mind. We bought the picture and it says it all. We will scan that when we get a chance. It's priceless.

The lights are back on at 1607 Sheldon

Several items to report:
1 - The continuing story of Sean - He did break his foot. It is not serious and will heal without a cast. He has a post surgical boot that he wears and needs to keep on during the day. So he will be fine but hobbled a bit.
2 - The lights are back on at 1607 Sheldon Rd. in Grand Haven but not by us. Yep, we sold the house. It closed Tuesday afternoon and we are both happy and sad but now we can move forward. We are hoping to make an offer tomorrow on a house here. When it's accepted we'll post pictures. Happy days!
3 - As stated we hope to put an offer on the house tomorrow which should get us closed around May 16th at the earliest. So that gives us a week of prep and then move in over Memorial weekend. The only drawback is we have to negotiate while at Disney this coming week. We leave Saturday and are darned excited to go.
4 - Zack started baseball pracitce so thats cool. I didn't get to see it, but he was pretty amp'd up when he got home and insisted we go out and play catch. So thats cool.

Stay tuned next week for some disney pics.

Quick updae on the Seanster

Adding one more thing to deal with........Seany was jumping on a hippity-hop ball and landed on his foot wrong somehow. We let it sit overnight and he was even running around on it ths morning in an attempt to avoid 'The Doctor!!" So we went looking at a few houses today and decided to bring him into the ER just to make sure he didn't ull a BJ and break something. Turns out he did something that made his X-rays not look quite right so the ER guy ut a formed splint on it and Sean and I will be headed into the orthopedic guy tomorrow morning. So we don't kow for sure if it's broken but we will find out tomorrow. As Grandma Dorothy pointed out, ifit is broken we'll be jumping to the front of all the lines at Disney next week with gimpy.

Check out the quick video below, I posted it of Seany skiing but didn't send out a notification. I'm trying to post another one of him skiing but this websight and our dial-up are not liking it.

Seany Skiing

Engineer in training.....

These are creations by BJ. They are just a few examples of what he does everyday. It is truly amazing to see what he comes up with and also how proud he is of each thing regardless of how big or small, simple or complex.