Hanna is closing in on 12 years old

 Hanna turns 12 in a few days, and as a special treat, we asked her to vacuum the living room!  Ok, not really.  But she is a very good housekeeper. 

 Like in past years, we got together with the Buck family to celebrate because cousin Max's birthday is within days of Hanna's.  And all the cousins get together and play stuff.

 Eli can have fun with anyone, anywhere, anytime.  Here, he just finished tormenting one of Max's friends.

 I took six or seven photos where Hanna's eyes were closed.  I just decided to go ahead and use this one.  Hey, nice coat!

 Deanna made sure her eyes were WIDE open for this one!

 Ah, finally a photo of Hanna with her eyes open!  And, I think Max's eyes are open, but it's hard to see with the abundance of hair.

Max had no trouble blowing his candles out.  Hanna tried multiple times.  Maybe they were trick candles?  Happy birthday kids.

100 Bike Parts for 100 Days of School

Eli has a project at school that involves 100 of something.  On Friday, it is the 100th day of school for him, so the project can be anything that represents 100.

It was a pretty easy concept for me to wrap my head around.  Eli is always riffling through my parts and tools while I'm working downstairs, and I'm painfully aware while I clean up after him that there are hundreds of small parts and pieces that I currently have little or no use for.

So here it is.  100 individual bike parts, bolted together in a small work of art.  Eli was so proud of it.  It was very exciting for him to go through the counting process, as well as figuring out ways to put them together.

If you look closely, you can see chainrings, bottom brackets, cranks, chainring bolts, headset top caps, star nuts, brake shoes, brake calipers, cables, suspension remote lockout switches, XTR pedals, XTR skewers, headset spacers....it was actually really fun. 

I hope it's at least unique.  It is to us.

Happy 13th Birthday Rosco P Coletrain!

This is the killa.....

January 16th, 1999.  That's when it all started.  Rosco P Coletrain was born on that day.  He came home to my house on my birthday a few weeks later with his angry little face, his huge gremlin ears, and his mean little bark.  Through the years he has held such a special place in my life.  He and his brother Rudy changed my life forever. It would have been hard for my selfish heart to have learned anything about love or sacrifice without them.

Happy Birthday, Rosco.  I love you.

It's January 16th....

...and I had the top down.  It may be dirty, but dammit, I had the top down and my hair blowin'....what little there is to blow.  I washed it on the way home tonight, by the way.

Ice Skating with a BFF

Eli is always bored and looking for fun when his older siblings are not around.  Thus, he called his BFF Sydney to go ice skating with us at Webster.

Sydney and Eli were chomping at the bit to get onto the ice.  In the meantime, we watched the Zamboni machine.

With his walker...er...ice walker in hand, eli blasted around the rink.  He was doing quite well.

I was standing next to the glass and this came up.

The beautiful Mrs K was tearing the ice up.  Here she was helping Sydney with her...er...ice walker.

The rink became rather crowded and the ice walkers became quite the rage.  If you didn't keep your eye on your ice walker, it would be gone.

I have no idea what Eli is doing here.  Can you tell he's wearing Tyson's gloves?  We left soon after this because the kids were so darn tired.  Apparently it's hard to skate around with those walkers.

New bed, maybe a good night's sleep??

Neither the Beautiful Mrs K nor myself have slept very well in the last 6 years.  That's because we made a poor decision when we bought our last mattress.  Well, the mattress, kids, dogs...you know, they all conspire to make sleep a elusive pleasure.

Maybe that changes after today.  We bought a new mattress, a memory foam thing.  She researched it to the Nth degree, as she does everything, and I have high hopes.

If I no longer have bags under my eyes the next time you see me, it's probably because of the new bedding.

A Bad Blogger's Look Back at 2011

I keep saying that I am glad that 2011 is over.  So far, 2012 is looking pretty darn good, even if judged simply by weather standards.

2011, The Good
The kids are growing like weeds, and each started new grades in school.  For Eli, it was his first year of school, as he started Kindergarten.  Tyson and Hanna started 5th and 6th grades, respectively.  And just like every good parent, I tell everyone how smart they are. 

Deanna started with US Bank and is going along very well.  She says I can't have a Lamborghini just yet but I'm holding out for early retirement.

I was graciously tasked with the position of Manager at Big Shark's new West location in Chesterfield Valley.  It has been the best work experience of my life and I'm thankful for that opportunity.  I can see big things for the store in the near future...hopefully very near because, as stated above, retirement should be just around the corner!  

2011, The Bad
The year started out pretty badly with both the beautiful Mrs. K and I having medical issues.  For me they are ongoing and I pretty much struggle every day with stomach issues.  I feel petty complaining about it, because I know so many more people that live with so much worse.  Nonetheless, it's made for a very challenging year.

We lost our wonderful friend, Rocky.  He's been a huge part of our family, and it's still tough.  At the same time that Rocky became ill, Rosco began having stomach trouble, probably sympathy pains for me.  He still struggles with bladder problems, but we have requisitioned  Grandma's dog Carmel to keep Rosco (and us all) company.

Going Forward
We have a lot to look forward to this year.  Hanna is on a select volleyball team, Tyson is playing basketball and will play baseball in the spring as well as do a few mountain bike races.  Eli...well, Eli has nothing but good things ahead.  Deanna is doing a half marathon in April, and she and I are going to France for a week long riding tour of the Tour de France bicycle race.

....and, I hope to be a better blogger, whatever that means.

Christmas Eve 2011

 Eli and Hanna were very chummy tonight.  She with her new iPad and Cookie Crisp cereal, and he with his shaggy hair.  Not much under the tree, as this was before they went to bed.  She still had on her dress from the Christmas program at her church.

This is the tree AFTER they went to bed.  Lots of carefully wrapped (by the beautiful Mrs K) presents await the kids.  I wrapped a few of them, and I am glad that Christmas wrapping paper is torn off so viciously by children so that no one sees just how bad I wrap presents.

Merry Christmas, everybody.  Remember, it's not how nicely the gift is wrapped, it's who wrapped it.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Cliff Cave with the Dogs

After much housework and chores, the weather dictated that we do something with our day that didn't suck.  And that something was Cliff Cave.  Last year, Deanna, Eli, and myself took Rocky and Rosco to Cliff Cave for some hiking.  I did 99.9% more riding than hiking, but Eli and the dogs had a smashing good time.  This year, our dearly departed Rocky wasn't available, but our dearly borrowed dog Carmel came along.  The first photo shows Eli and Carmel catching some unsuspecting biker on the bluff side of the trail.  I rode the new Hei Hei full suspension bike, and despite my 21 hour day Saturday that culminated in the infamous Sharkmas Xmas party, I had a great ride.

Rosco just loves a good hike.  Especially in the winter.  Carmel loves hiking, too, and he showed his border collie roots by bounding up and down the rocks. Eli took the beautiful Mrs K on quite an adventure by climbing up some of the rocky walls that lead up to the bluff side.  The dogs clambered up with them.  Apparently it was epic, all ending with the dogs resembling canine mud wrestlers.

This is now Rosco's default position, much more so today after the grueling hike and the subsequent bath.  Not a bad place to sleep, I guess, but would not have been my choice with the super soft dog couch across the room.

Later, the dog couch was put to fantastic use, as much stronger sleeping methods were called for. Even super dog Carmel could not hold his eyes open any longer after his bath.  Nothing that happened in the house for the following 90 minutes after this photo was taken could shake the dogs from their slumber.

All in all, it was a great day.  I even braved Craigslist to get rid of some junk to compliment the newly cleaned garage.  And tonight, I parked the Mustang indoors. 

Christmas Tree!

The beautiful Mrs K. does a bang up job with the tree, eh?  The kids helped.

1987 Lamborghini Countach

Ah, father time.  It waits for no man.  It waits for no car, either.  In 1987, I was bedazzled by the Lamborghini Countach.  What teenager wasn't?  It was the stuff of legend.  Just how fast WAS it??  It didn't matter.  Most people thought it was the biggest, baddest, fastest car ever to grace public roads.  And the feeling it gave all that it passed by was lust.  Car and Driver, in mid-summer 1986, tested the then-new Quattrovalvole (four valve) Countach at 5 seconds to 60mph and a top speed of 179mph, 184mph without it's optional wing.  Not the fastest ever...and it didn't matter.  I lusted after one, but at over $110k, it would have to wait until I worked for more than minimum wage.

Now it's 2011, and the Countach, while still outrageous looking, appears a bit dated.  And V6 Mustangs and Camaros are nearly as fast.  The march of time has relegated the Rambo of cars (dubbed Lambo by Car and Driver) to museum status.

But I still want one.

Read what AUTOBLOG has to say about this model that up for sale on Ebay.

Yeah! 8th place!

It may sound petty, but I'm pretty proud of my 8th place in the Bubba Cyclocross series.  The results were posted today and I see that the line judges gave me the sprint finish for 9th on Sunday, which was the difference between 8th and 9th in the series.

I'm pretty proud because with the exception of Faust Park (my one DNF), I finished top 10 in every race, which for me was only 6 events (8th, 8th, 6th, 3rd, 6th, 9th, 9th) and I did not do the State Championship race in Kansas City, which was double points.  I was nothing if not consistent.

Onward and Upward.

Spanish Lake Cross Race

I snagged this dollar running over the barriers at Spanish Lake on Sunday.  It was one of three attempts, and the only successful one.

I was pretty happy to end the 'cross season yesterday.  Not because I'm tired of racing.  There are just too many barriers to racing, including the fact that I don't like the cold.  Despite being mostly a power course, me and the ol' mountain bike pulled out a 9th.  Maybe 10th.  I didn't stick around after my sprint finish with Rock Wamsley to see which one of us won.  I was excited to have a race come down to a sprint, even though it was for the minor placings.  That makes me top ten for the series.

I am so totally shooting for a top 5 next year.

A little Christmas Cheer

Deanna and I spent the better portion of the day on Saturday putting up Christmas decorations.  I think it turned out pretty nicely.  We're not done yet, but it's a great start.

I've never been one to celebrate the winter holidays.  I know, I know.  I sound like the Grinch.  Or Scrooge.  It's just been more of a depressing time of year for me, what with the cold and all.  However, the beautiful Mrs K is much more into the holidays than I am, and it's hard not to be infected by it.  So, gradually, year after year, I get a bit more excited by it.  One day, I may be driving Santa's sleigh.

Nah.

I can't make this stuff up

I was cleaning Eli's room today when I came across this pile of stuffed animals...and one sleeping dog.

My three babies

I think this was photo was from a couple of weeks ago at Bandana's.  They are all so completely different, but all so completely goofy at the same time.  Tyson is winning the battle for goofiest at this particular moment.

Kona Hei Hei 29er

The Hei Hei is pretty much finished.  There are some tweaks to be done, but nothing major.  I still have yet to decide if I will hook up the Pop lock, so it's dangling for now.

Eli and I rode our bikes together for a little while, and he gave the Hei Hei a BIG double thumbs up!

Yamaha Y125 Moegi

It's not often that a motorcycle can catch my attention.  But some do.  This is a Yamaha concept bike shown at the Tokyo Motor Show.  Click here to read about it on Autoblog.

Jefferson Barracks Cyclocross Race

 Not nearly as muddy as Mount Pleasant last weekend, the race at Jefferson Barracks was not a course that played to my strengths.  It was mainly a power course, with long, slow, sticky straights and rather easy technical sections.  I dismounted in "the pit" every lap but the last one.  It just seemed like it took too much energy to pedal out of than to jump off and stretch the back.

I started like a monkey on crack (thanks, Pat Collier!) as usual, narrowly missing the guard rail at the end of the first straight.  After that, the power left my legs and I figured out how to lose 14 places in a 1/4 lap.  Wow.  That was my worst implosion yet this year.  I found my climbing legs half way through and got back up to 9th place.  My cheering family was the difference, I think.  They can yell like no one else!

Thanks to Chris Creed for the photos.