pictures with the cousins

the annual christmas bash at grandma's also means having some family photos taken. thankfully, these were painless as everyone straightened up and flew right. one take, one good photo. after this, it was carnage as the presents were opened and landfills were filled.

good old army men

eli got some army men and associated battlefield hardware for christmas. he and sissy set up a bunch of battle scenarios and then took photos. this is a good one with the tank rolling in to smash through enemy defenses!

christmas morning at our house

it started early at our house. eli woke up at 6:45 and it was on! first, the wii.
rock on, man! the leapster for eli! hanna and tyson barely look awake here.
and wow, more stuff!
she's starting to wake up.
...and i got a cool yellow fireman's rain jacket!
hey, i may have to grow into this!
look at that bed head. you think she needs the curling iron??

if i turn my back for a minute....

...rosco ends up being the guinea pig for the kids experiments. lucky for him, it was only a t-shirt tonight.
when they dressed rocky up, he looked like the canine version of jabba the hut.
afterward, a small pool table appeared on the dining room table. tyson is not quite up to tom cruise standards in color of money.

hanna's christmas video

so often, i find my camera missing. sure enough, hanna was using it to make a little christmas video. the two out-takes before this were pretty funny, but i won't post them.

chirstmas program

eli's pre-school christmas program was today, and he was really excited about it. the photos i took of the kids singing were terrible, as my camera just won't do photos that need a flash if the objects are far away. so i took these afterward. everyone wanted to get in on a photo with the little man!
aunt jane, of course, needed a little eli photo action.
then eli's big buddy, uncle keith, had his turn.
then his future bride, sydney, had her chance.
and finally mom and dad got in on the action! good show, eli!

eli on the treadmill, dad on the trainer

i had to get some video of eli running on the treadmill. his little legs were flying! then i find later that he had taken some video of me on the trainer. basement isn't as dark as it looks on camera!

spending time in the basement bike shop

i didn't think i would have time, but i made time tonight to work on the bikes. the beautiful mrs. k's bike benefited from a previous project that i moth-balled. i installed a new sram X-9 2 x 10 drivetrain on the homegrown tonight. it shifts as smooth as butta.
and i got the flash carbon together (mostly) tonight. it will be a work in progress. it will get a longer, lower stem this weekend. and i have some stan's crest rims to lace up. and i'm sure i will find a seat post in black sooner or later. as i said, a work in progress.

driving is something some people do better than others

i had been given the lay of the land for the newest closet layout by my wife over the weekend, and i knew that sooner or later i would need to hit the hardware store for the supplies i would need. my local hardware store, of course, did not have the variety of quality wood that i wanted for shelving. that required loading up the flex with the boys and heading to home depot. that also meant getting gas at quik trip.

that's when i took this photo.

the woman piloting this abomination of a minivan was short and impossibly stout. that probably meant that when she was backing up over the piles of windshield washer fluid, she couldn't crane her fat neck around to see what she had hit. so, she kept going until the convenient and yellow concrete safety poles stopped her dead.

there was a cop parked just out of the photo, and he had his lights on. he motioned several times for her to pull forward, but we could see that she would row furiously at the gear shift lever on the column whilst causing no forward motion. it appeared as though she was impossibly stuck.

we got our gas, some snacks, and waited a very long time for eli to buckle his seat belt, but the rotund little woman in the ugly minivan was still there when we left. let's hope that the tow truck can un-stick her from the cardboard, washer fluid bottles, and wooden palettes.

it's here

after a not-so-patient wait, my cannondale flash carbon 29'er arrived today. i'm very excited to build it, even if it does have a munchkin stem on it. i'll be ordering up the proper size in a couple of days. doesn't look like i'll be riding anyway.

but at least the bike is here.

an adult outing

after birthday party festivities, those that professed to be adults braved the cold and wind to have a little outing. deanna and i have been out precious few times since new years eve, 2009. we took this shifty crew to joey b's for dinner. we ate and laughed until the wee hours (9:30pm) or so when it was reported that jim fell asleep sitting up at the table. this photo was taken before the alleged incident, when all were still awake. it's hell getting old.

rare photo opportunity

there are not very many photos of the beautiful mrs k and i together. i took the opportunity to have my shirt unbuttoned at much as possible. i think we make a handsome couple.

images of saturday

the big air hockey game in the basement. mrs k spent a lot of time clearing out some of our junk and in doing so, cleared out a space for the long neglected table. i think tyson won this round.
the little princess and i.
the beautiful mrs k spends a lot of time on hanna's hair. in fact, i would wager that women spend an awful lot of time on hair, period. and yes, girls, it's always beautiful.
she looks devious, although i can't say exactly why. i'm pretty sure she kept the practical jokes and pranks under control this weekend. she is in love with that sort of stuff.
before we left to go out with the adults, i gathered our offspring for a photo. how did i get them to sit there like this? did i offer money? snacks?

fresh face

i took a pic of a pic of the beautiful mrs k as she was just after graduating high school. she's a hot one.

exhausting ride outdoors

hmmm. no bike in the trainer??
that's right, because it's hanging in the garage. it's in the garage because i rode outside today. it was so nice that i couldn't hold back. i rode about 30 miles. now, i know that's not much to you high milers, but at least i rode. and i hit it pretty hard, too. i was completely spent when i got home, mostly from hitting all of the climbs hard and keeping it going over the top.

i may need to go to bed early.

eli likes to play harry potter

eli has cousin gus' harry potter kit on, and he's running around saying "expeliamous!" and "expecto-patronous!" and "stupify!" and a nice added touch to the kit is deanna's newton running shoes, don't you think?

the last day to have the top down

i know that it was only 59 degrees today, but to a convertible owner that's enough. it's december 10th and most likely the last time i will be able to have the top down. i had to do it.

hanna was into driving early in life

hanna was very interested in cars and driving very early in life. she had some pretty bad habits whilst driving, as well. keep your eyes on the road, at least!

she was a chubby little thing, huh?

rosco was a rebel

one day, probably back in 1999 when rosco was but a 1 year old puppy, i came home to this. somehow, i had a camera, with film in it. and somehow, he didn't move. he was always doing things like this. the entire stuffing of the pillow was pulled out onto the couch and floor. i couldn't even be mad. i just laughed and grabbed the camera.

oh, and check out his hippie hair!

old mom and dad photos

this is a sketch someone did for my mom a LONG time ago, may 16, 1961. she looks beautiful!
here is my dad, lower left corner. no info on the photo, but i believe it's from the 50's.

hanna! bugatti is looking for intern

from autoblog: bugatti looking for intern. i'd better tell hanna!

life on the trainer

i've got a love/hate relationship with this thing.

i mean, i really hate riding it. it's boring. while riding it, i sit in a pool of my own sweat. the world goes on around me, i get stuck watching the same dvd's, my ass hurts, and truly, i'm pedaling and going no where.

on the other hand, i love having something to ride when the weather is harsh. let's face it...i'm not riding outside much when it's 30 degrees. no way. i'll off-road when it's that cold, but i'm not bundling up with all of my hi-tech gear only to come back in an hour later when my fingers and toes are numb. so i do have a love for this stupid device. it keeps the pounds off and keeps my legs speed up. and, it lets me get the heart rate up and keep it there in pretty controlled fashion, something that isn't always possible on the road or trail.

one year, 2000, i didn't touch a tire to the ground outdoors until i took the bike off of my rack in columbia for froze toes. hanna was born in january, and i just couldn't force myself to get out. i ended up having one of my best racing years, EVER. i won't go so far as to say that there is causation here, but i will say it works to keep a bloke in reasonable shape.

now.....where are those dvd's??

it's warm RIGHT HERE

rosco, still seeking warm spots to rest, seems to have found THE warm spot in the house...right next to the 100+ degree dalmation. rocky, meanwhile, is practicing his satanic stare-down techniques.

christmas at our house

the beautiful mrs k has always been a wiz at home decorating, and christmas is her specialty. she brought our charlie brown christmas tree to new heights tonight, along with a bit of help from eli.

flash carbon 29er

it's coming. i was hoping it would arrive this week, but no luck. the weather has gone to hell, so i guess i can wait a little longer. maybe monday??

karaoke kids

the boys were jamming along with hanna montana on the karaoke machine. eli was belting it out, for sure. all they need is to have hanna sing along and they could have quite a group.

dog in a bag

i'm not sure what it is lately, but rosco is finding more odd places to curl up in lately. maybe because it's cold? here, he's found his way into the top of a dierberg's reusable grocery bag. he was snoring hard, too.
after giving him a bath, he was pissed. he searched around for a while, but decided that my zipp gear bag would be great to warm up in.
i was trying to get a view of his eyes so you could see him when he's mad. he was giving me the stink eye. i guess i would be pissed too if i was forced into a kitchen sink hosed down with the dish squirter.

arrr, matey!

hanna and casie. very convincing pirates, eh?

gilrs loose with a camera