Guitar Hero II

There's nothing like winding down at the end of a long day and shredding to some rockin tunes on Guitar Hero II.

About a week ago, we bought it and have been melting faces with pure rock adrenaline since. Even Amy has been into it... I have some pictures of her playing, but she won't let me post them :)

Dave, the next time I'm in Charlotte, you're going down!

Let's get rockin!

New friend for Kerrigan

The little kitty on the left is Princess Kitty Cat. She is forever attached to Kerrigan. Amy got her for Kerrigan a while back when she and Jude went on a trip to New York City.

When we realized how in love with her Kerrigan was, we searched for another one just like it... just in case she ever lost it.

Well, she never lost her, and the 'clone' was waiting in a bag in the closet for the fateful moment when Princess Kitty Cat came up missing. Amy and I thought that rather than leaving the new one in the dark, we'd tell Kerrigan that Princess Kitty Cat's sister came to stay with her.

Needless to say, Kerrigan was beside herself. She named her Princess Kitty Meow-Meow, and both of them are now forever by her side... so much so that she pretends to be a cat as well, her name is Princess Kitty Kerri.

Beyond the back yard

Not sure if I've mentioned this before, but the Neuse River runs just a few hundred yards from our backyard. The cool part is that there is an excellent trail that runs along it's shore. If you follow it long enough, you'll run into a great park.

Along the way the other day, we took a detour on a less traveled path that we'd never been down before. On the way, we ran into a small waterfall. The kids loved it and we'll probably be taking that detour from now on :)

Jude & Kerrigan

Packers' Favre to return for his 17th season

Packers' Favre to return for his 17th season
February 2, 2007

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Brett Favre will return for his 17th NFL season, undeterred by his injuries and hoping to lead the Green Bay Packers back to the playoffs.
"I am so excited about coming back," the 37-year-old quarterback said Friday on the Web site of the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss. "We have a good nucleus of young players. We were 8-8 last year, and that's encouraging."
Packers general manager Ted Thompson confirmed Favre had told the team he plans to return.
"The Packers are excited by his decision and look forward to a successful 2007 campaign," Thompson said in a statement.
The team scheduled a 4 p.m. EST news conference Friday.
"My offensive line looks good, the defense played good down the stretch," Favre told the Biloxi newspaper. "I'm excited about playing for a talented young football team."
The news came as a surprise to Packers CEO Bob Harlan.
"I hadn't heard it, and I hadn't seen the Biloxi paper -- not that I read the Biloxi paper every day," Harlan told The Associated Press on Friday.
Favre last left the field in an emotional scene in Chicago after leading the Packers to a victory to finish the season 8-8.
He has started 257 consecutive games including the playoffs, an NFL record for quarterbacks. Favre broke Dan Marino's record for career completions (4,967) in 2006 and is closing in on Marino's marks for career touchdown passes (420) and yards passing (61,361).
As he has done in the past several offseasons, Favre returned to his home in Mississippi after the season to deliberate about his future. Last year, Favre waited until late April to tell the team he was returning.
Favre complained about nagging injuries and the drudgery of practice toward the end of last season, then choked back tears as he talked about missing the game and missing his teammates in a television interview immediately after the regular-season finale in Chicago -- leading many to believe he intended to retire.
Apparently, he couldn't resist one more chance to try to lead the Packers back to the playoffs after the Packers won their final four games and were in playoff contention until the final weekend of the regular season.
Favre has led the Packers to 10 postseason appearances, six division titles, three NFC Championship games, two Super Bowls and one championship following the 1996 season.
Favre was acquired in a trade by former Packers general manager Ron Wolf after one season as a backup in Atlanta in 1991. He completed his first NFL pass -- to himself -- on Sept. 13, 1992, catching a deflection and losing seven yards.
The following week, he replaced injured starter Don Majkowski in the third quarter and led the Packers to a come-from-behind 24-23 victory over Cincinnati.
Favre started in place of Majkowski on Sept. 27, 1992, beginning the streak he often has called his biggest personal accomplishment. The 237-game regular-season streak is nearly six seasons ahead of the Colts' Peyton Manning at 144.
Favre's accomplishments include winning three league MVP awards -- he shared 1997 honors with Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders -- and throwing two touchdown passes in a 35-21 victory over the New England Patriots in the 1997 Super Bowl to give the Packers their first championship in 29 years. Earlier in that championship season, Favre spent time in the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kan., battling an addiction to painkillers.
Favre led the Packers back to the Super Bowl the following season, but they lost to Elway's Denver Broncos 31-24.

Me and My Girl

The 'Deserted Island' music question

Have you ever heard of the old question, "If you were stranded alone on a deserted island and could only have 10 cd's to listen to for the rest of your life, which ones would you pick?" Well, the question is a bit silly, as electricity would have to be part of the equation, but the point is not lost on me. What music could you live with forever? It's a formidable task to list only a few titles, especially for the music-lover. Before I give my list, a confession:

A couple months ago I posted a picture and message of my 'biography' (Thursday, August 17, 2006 to be exact). As thorough as I tired to be, I was remiss in not making my love for music more prominant. I think all I had was my djembe drum... oh, Doug, what were you thinking? I grew up with music, lots of it! Two of my older brothers were in rock bands when I was still in middle school and I remember mom and dad taking me to the bars and clubs back home in Oshkosh to go see them play. Music was always on in the house, and loudly. Often, mom's Willy Nelson would be cranked upstairs while my Van Halen was shaking the walls downstairs (yes, I was a cellar-dweller).

So, with a little consideration, I came up with a list that I think I could live with forever on a deserted island with my miracle hi-fi. I did, however, cheat; I could not bring myself to stay within ten, so I stretched it. It's my list, so there... and since we're on that note (pun intended), this kind of question is all but obsolete anyway, what with the ability to just download any song you want from iTunes. The new question may soon be, 'What 20,000 songs would you download to your solar-powered iPod if you were stuck on a deserted island?'... anyway on with the list:

1. A Perfect Circle, Mer de Noms (2000)
2. The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan (2005)
3. John Coltrane, Blue Train (1957)
4. Incubus, Make Yourself (1999)
5. The Beatles, Revolver (1966)
6. Faith No More, Album of the Year (1997)
7. The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Time Out (1959)
8. Beck, Mutations (1998)
9. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II (1969)
10. System of a Down, Toxicity (2001)
11. Vivaldi, Four Seasons (1725)
12. Cake, Pressure Chief (2004)
13. Queen, Queen II (1974)
14. Morphine, Cure for Pain (1993)
15. Mad Season, Above (1995)
16. Hobex, Back in the '90s (1998)
17. Blonde Boy Grunt and the Groans, All Folked Up (1998)

I tried to write a short explaination on each one, but (1) I didn't want to bore you any more than I have already, and (2) it was taking forever.

So, if you're still reading, there you have it. It will probably be different next year...

Jude's teeth

This picture was taken this past Saturday at Chloe's birthday party.

Sorry it took so long to get a picture of Jude's missing chicklets... He's bought a couple Hot Wheels cars with his Tooth Fairy money so far. :)

Kids & Santa

No Marines this time to keep Jude from seeing Santa.

The line was long, but Amy had the brilliant idea of grabbing Happy Meals and eating in line. It was easier than you'd think and when the food was done the kids had a little toy to keep 'em occupied.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas

Hello Friends and Family!

I was able to get out a number of Christmas Cards, but not nearly as many as I would have liked. I realize every year how few addresses I actually have written down. I found myself getting addresses from the envelopes of folks who sent us Christmas cards first (the ones who planned and sent them out early, unlike myself).

Anyway, please forgive me if you didn't get a card.

Love and Peace to all of you, and a sincere hope for an excellent 2007!

~ The Smiths

The Tooth-Fairy

I regretably do not have a picture of this yet but Jude has now lost his bottom two front teeth. Not only that, but his top two front teeth are loose as well (one of them he can bend straight out). Within the next month, he'll have all four of his front teeth out.

Can't believe how big he is getting. [sigh]

Santa vs a Marine

Something interesting happened today. Stay with me for a minute because this may take a minute (and more than a little sensitivity) to explain.

Before Amy and I started dating, Amy's brother, Eric, died while in the Marines. In fact, Jude's name is in honor to him as Eric's middle name was Jude. Jude knows him only by a few pictures and many of those pictures are of him in his dress uniform. Obviously, everytime he sees a Marine he says they look like Uncle Eric.

Anyway, this afternoon we head out for Kohl's for some shopping. In the lot, a truck for toys for tots is there. We decide to pick up some toys to donate and go over to see the Marines. It was a nice little set-up: Santa was there, someone was taking poloroids of the kids with Santa and giving them out for free, an elf making balloons for the kids, a little train making laps around the parking lot and a couple Marines in their dress uniforms receiving the donated toys. Kerrigan wants to go see Santa while Jude was a bit shy and didn't want to. A woman took a poloroid of Kerrigan giving a hug to Santa so I asked Jude if he wanted a picture with a Marine instead, to which he smiled and said 'yes.' The Marines were great and were so nice to Jude and took a great picture with him. They said it was the first time a kid wanted to be with them rather than Santa.

Amy cried and Santa let out a comical comment about getting passed up for a Marine, to which we all laughed. Jude may not know how special that moment was right now, but I'm glad we got a picture. It's something Amy and I will never forget.

Miss you, Rick. As far as I'm concerned this is a picture of Jude with you.

Merry Christmas.

Nearly 11 years ago...

I was in our closet yesterday and I came across a card I had given Amy to say 'Happy 1 year & 10 months' since we had started dating. It is dated 3 October '97.

In a few days, Amy and I will have been together for 11 years. I'm looking at her right now as she's asleep on the couch and she's as amazing now as when I first met her... no, more so! I am so grateful for her and wish I could be with her another 90... then another 900!

Below is the card I had given her then. It was blank, so I created a story to go with the cover. It barely fit, but I remember how fun it was making that story up.

"Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in the countryside in a small house. He occasionally would play in the trees surrounding his house, or perhaps walk along the stream that slowly stirred down the rolling hills.

"Although he was a content boy and happy, there was a world of emptiness inside. He had the trees to play in and his friends, the rabbits, but there was a pain and loneliness deep in his still heart that even the deer and butterflies couldn't fill.

"There was no color in his world. The boy had never seen color before; at least not in the rich, full color that comes from true joy that you or I may see. One day he saw a small puff of pink and splash of bright blue while he'd been laughing and playing with the rabbits. He stopped laughing and looked at the sky in awe at the new sight, but it had faded away as quickly as it had come. Questioningly, the boy sighed and sadly plopped down beside a tree and cried, thinking about the wonderful thing that had lit up the sky for a sweet moment.

"That afternoon, just before his mother was about to call him in for dinner, he was wading his feet in his favorite part of the stream, looking for playful fish or perhaps a smooth-sparkly rock he could skip. His child-like eyes widened as he sighted a conch shell propped up against a large rock at the bottom of the stream.

"A shell? he thought. In my stream?

"He knew that conch shells only came from the magic places his father would tell him about during his bed-time stories, but he never thought he'd see one. Especially in his stream.

"He excitedly rolled up his sleeve and dipped his small hand into the cold water. His heart welled with tears as he picked up the wonderful, colorful shell. Colors of every kind danced and flowed over the surface of the shell and as he looked inside there was a pool of color so deep and wide, so deep and bright that he thought it was heaven. As he was holding the shiny shell, it began to change; it became a beautiful brush. He himself began to change as he took on the very colors the brush was radiating. On the opposite side of the stream was the ladder his father had left where he'd been picking apples before he had gone back to the house. The boy ran to it, brush in hand, and climbed to the very top of the ladder. Stretching his arms out and smiling as wide as the sky, color as beaming and as beautiful as his wildest dreams shot from the brush across the dull sky. It was amazing.

"In that blanket of color, the boy saw a girl as radiant as the rainbow itself and he reached out for her. She came to him smiling.

"Soon the whole land was filled with the rainbow's radiance and the two sat together with their feet wading in the stream's brisk-blue water.

"He never heard his mother call for him, for he had found his friend. His heart was now alive and he felt it beat for the first time.

"He was with Amy.

xxoo

3 Oct 97 Happy 1 year & 10 months!

D.

Happy 11 years since we started dating, Ames.

I'm still holding that brush. You and the kids give me so much life and the color you paint my world leaves me open-mouthed. I am so grateful for you. I love you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone,

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Given our recent extended travels, we stayed at home for this holiday and had an amazing dinner for two here at the house (the kids had PB&J). Amy's cooking is top-notch! Friends of ours came over for dessert later in the day and that was great as well, albeit it didn't end well. Thier daughter, Chloe, took a tumble down our brick steps on their way out and she got a good scrape on her upper cheek and a nasty bump on her forehead. We drove to the closest hospital in cased she was concussed. They called a short time ago to let us know she is fine, but a possibility that she may have slightly fractured her cheek. Just glas she's okay...

Only a few weeks till Christmas!

Last Part of Our Vacation

Abbey, Kerrigan, Jessica & Jude at the park in Elyria, OH the day before we headed back to Raleigh.

Kids in Elyria

Brian & Sam's girls with Jude & Kerrigan.

Thomas' and Smith's

Abbey, Jessica, Jude & Kerrigan.

Thomas' & Smith's

Jessica, Kerrigan, Jude and Abbey in Elyria.

In Elyria, OH

The last leg of our vacation was a stop near Cleveland to visit dear friends. This is taken at a park close to Brian and Sam's house where we played for what seemed like hours. Visiting the Thomas' was the perfect ending to a great vacation. Amy suprised me with a date and the four of us went to my favorite live blues restaurant, Fat Fish Blue, and had a blast.

Camp Randall Facade

This is the facade at one of the end zones in Camp Randall.