Wikapedia says this about Free Comic Book Day:

Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. Retailer Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics in Concord, CA brainstormed the event in his “Big Picture” column in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer magazine. Free Comic Book Day started in 2002 and is coordinated by the industry’s single large distributor, Diamond Comic Distributors. The next event will be on May 4, 2013.
Free Comic Book Day is scheduled on the first Saturday of May. It has often been tied to the release of a major theatrical film adaptation of a well known superhero property, in order to take advantage of the film’s heavy promotion and related press about the comic book medium. On Free Comic Book Day, participating comic book store retailers give away specially printed copies of free comic books, and some offer cheaper back issues and other items to anyone who visits their establishments. However, retailers do not receive the issues for free; they pay 12-50 cents per copy for the comics they give away during the event. In addition to comic books, some stores also give away other items, including mini posters for live-action superhero movies, keychains, Green Lantern promo rings, etc.

For me, it is like a mini-Christmas in the spring. April, the kids and I headed out to one of our local retailers Books Comics and Things in the Georgetown area. They were having a local division of the 501st on hand to help support BCT and their blood drive.

We also picked up several comics a piece that looked interesting and knowing how Ella is with character costumes, she was in love with Chewbacca the second we showed up.

All in all, this was another success day for the world of comics in our house and my kid’s enjoyed it which makes them continue to be interested in comic characters and the worlds of comics. I say mission complete for 2012.

Here is a link to the rest of the pictures with Ean singing his little heart out:

2012 Lancaster Elementary Music Program

Some of you may be aware and some of you may not be, but in January I started the “Couch to 5k” program. Jenna Sanders posted on Facebook that she was thinking about signing up for the Fort for Fitness in september and for some reason I signed April and I up for it as well and began planning out my training.

This year is the 5th annual Fort For Fitness which encourages folks in the Fort Wayne area to focus on one thing they can change in their lives to take steps towards a healthier lifestyle. The event that we signed up for is the 4 mile run/walk, but there is also a 10K, a half marathon, and a kids marathon.

So with that said, knowing Newton’s First Law of Motion that a body at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts  on it, and aware that if I don’t force my body into motion, my body will never start moving so I made the call to start my running training early January instead of waiting until it was warmer. All of my training has been outdoors in snow, fog, sun, and some light rain and I’ve not been an indoor treadmill sort of person. I also think the colder weather helped me out as I did not become a massive pool of sweat.

The start-up was easier than I thought, however with work schedules, weather, and life’s appointments, I decided to get up early (like 4am) and run in the dark most days on a somewhat lighted country road. Things were progressing well and I completed week 5 of the 9 week training and then I stepped into a pot hole and put a descent sprain on my ankle. That took me out of action for just over a month to heal to the point that I could put pressure on it.

So in March, when I resumed my running I decided to skip going back to the couch to 5K program since I was 2/3rds of the way through it anyways. I’ve finally worked the distance up to 5K and can complete a 5K with little to no walking. My current plan is to run in a 5K race in June, July, August, and 4M for Fort for Fitness in September. Beyond that I haven’t really looked out too much. However, that is not bad for a guy that used to be out of breath going up one flight of stairs.

I’ve been keeping track of some times and distances and I keep making improvements every month.

January: I ran 25.74 miles with an average pace of 14:21/mile
February: I ran 4.33 miles and then I sprained my ankle
March: I ran 20.7 miles with an average pace of 13:23/mile
April: I ran 27.14 miles with an average pace of 11:53/mile

I’ve dropped 2:28 per mile off my average pace since I first started, but I’d like to get my average down by July to 10:01/mile which would put me at a 31:04 for a 5K. That is about 5 minutes less than what I’m currently doing in the past couple two weeks.

All in all I’m feeling pretty good about my progress and plan to keep it up and have some fun goals for next year like racing in the Run for your Life 5K (www.runforyourlife.com) and others races.

From Daddy Daughter Dance

I surprised Ella with her own corsage, which she treated tenderly and did everything she could do to keep it out of harms way.

From Daddy Daughter Dance

It was a rather chilly day, but once we arrived she was totally amazed at the music, the lights, and the number of people at the dance. At first, she just stared at the lights in amazement and I thought she was going to want to leave. However, one of her jams came on and it was pretty much dancing the rest of the night or snacking on a few cookies.

From Daddy Daughter Dance

From Daddy Daughter Dance

Both her and I had a great time and hanging out with Mike and Heather helped out as well. Ella has already informed me that we will be going back next year no ifs and or buts.

From Daddy Daughter Dance

This year’s theme was Princesses and Ella was her favorite princess Rapunzel. All of her guests were asked to dress in their princess (or prince) best for an afternoon of coloring, making their own crowns, stories, cake and ice cream.

Everyone had a good time and enjoyed the enchanting afternoon.

Below you will find a few of the photos as well as link the complete album on picasa.

From Ella's 4th Birthday

From Ella's 4th Birthday

From Ella's 4th Birthday

From Ella's 4th Birthday

Here is the link to the full album:

Ella's 4th Birthday

If you tried to access the site earlier today, you would have noticed that I have blacked out Lost-man.com and 4mcintoshapples.com today along with hundreds if not thousands of other large and small websites in support of the protest of nasty legislation in congress nicknamed SOPA and PIPA.

Although everyone will agree that theft of a creators content is wrong and protective measures should be in place, the current legislation will give too much blanket power to government. This could hurt free speech and some of your favorites website such as Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter could be shutdown.

Here is a link on the Wall Street Journal article that explains more of SOPA and PIPA that I ask you to read to inform yourself: What is SOPA & PIPA

I know that I’m tardy of posting the pictures, but life has just been like that. This year, we mixed it up from the normal birthdays that we have done in the past. We did a seperate family birthday lunch at Ean’s favorite restaurant Buffalo Wings and Ribs, and we allowed Ean to have four friends to have a sleep-over. The boys got to make their own personal pizzas, play the wii, and basically terrorize Ella, the cat, and the parents.

Unfortunately one of the boys got sick the day of the sleepover and couldn’t make it, so Ean only had three. I have to say it wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be and once they settled down after the initial madness. The boys and Ean all had fun as Ean celebrated his seventh birthday.

From Ean's 7th Birthday Party

From Ean's 7th Birthday Party

From Ean's 7th Birthday Party

From Ean's 7th Birthday Party

Ean's 7th Birthday Party

Here are a few pictures and a link at the bottom for the complete photo album.

From Pack 3419 Tigers Firestation Visit

From Pack 3419 Tigers Firestation Visit

From Pack 3419 Tigers Firestation Visit

Pack 3419 Tigers Firestation Visit

Sir Ean, Knight of the Square Table and Lady Ella Rapunzel.

From Halloween

From Halloween

The only thing that kinda stuck for us was Leslie Hall and DJ Lance read a book to the kids and while they were reading a couple of the characters snuck out the door to not return before we could get our picture. It broke my heart watching Ella asking “Where is Foofa? I want to hug Foofa.”

Anyways here are some pictures back stage after the show.

From Yo Gabba Gabba Live 2011 The After Party

From Yo Gabba Gabba Live 2011 The After Party

From Yo Gabba Gabba Live 2011 The After Party

From Yo Gabba Gabba Live 2011 The After Party

From Yo Gabba Gabba Live 2011 The After Party

From Yo Gabba Gabba Live 2011 The After Party

From Yo Gabba Gabba Live 2011 The After Party

From Yo Gabba Gabba Live 2011 The After Party