In the Schutte House

Looth tooth

2007-12-01T12:19:00.000-05:00

Helena was just complaining she had a sore tooth.
Upon inspection it appears to be loose!
yippe!!

Though she's quite nervous about the idea.

BTW I think I'm ditching the schutte house blog. May start again as something else

When did they change blogger?

2007-09-30T17:55:00.000-05:00

So I was going to do some little update to say that yes we are still breathing when I discovered I had to jump through a few dozen hoops just to log into blogger.

I'm this close to heading over to tumblr
You hear me google?

about those Halloween pictures...

2006-11-10T22:17:00.000-05:00

From november pics

Yeah, I mentioned I'd post pictures from Halloween. Well, it turns out we only have a few. Seems again we sort of forgot to take the obligatory pics of the kids in their costumes. Click on the above pumpkin for some of the pictures we did get.

Our ideas are better.

2006-11-10T10:42:00.000-05:00

For the record I'm a self descibed left-leaning democrat. I'll proudly call myself a liberal and not surprisingly overall I'm pleased with the results from Tuesday's elections. Instead of gloating or sharing my opinions on what the election results mean instead let me share something a good guy I met a few years ago had to say a couple of years ago after the last election.

November 4, 2004

Well guys & gals,

This is it. This is how it feels a day after our efforts and hopes dissipated to the reality of four more years of George W. Bush's America. I say his America, because it certainly is not the America that I enlisted in the Marine Corps to defend. No that was for my America. An America that stood for justice, unity, thoughtfulness, and served as a beacon of light, a shining example to the world of how democracy should work.

So what now? Do we continue to wallow in the mire of depression? Do we allow ourselves to succumb to the feelings of fear and despair over the future of our Party, our ideology, our Nation? I've been searching for answers the past 36 hours. I click on the DNC's homepage and am greeted with only the concession letter Senator Kerry provided for his supporters. Even the ever outspoken Michael Moore has but a photo of George W. compiled with images of the fallen in Iraq. Our so-called liberal pundits are filling the airwaves with talk of reconciliation with the Republicans and the necessity of restructuring our party so as to appeal to "real" Americans. So here we are. Leaderless, without direction. Alone.

Alone? Well that's what the talk shows, AM radio, and the pundits would have you believe. But it seems to me that 56,000,000 of my fellow Americans voted the same way I did on November 2nd. That's nearly 4 million more votes than any Democratic presidential candidate has ever received. Alone? Hardly. 56,000,000 of us chose truth over lies and deception. We chose workers over the exporters of jobs. We chose the middle class and working poor over the wealthiest of the wealthy. We chose choice over the suppression of women. We chose healthcare for all Americans over the profits of the insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. We chose blood over oil. We chose compassion and intellect over ignorance and stubbornness. We chose PEACE over War! We chose change.

Well, where do we go from here? As powerful as we were, we came up short, true. Do we now lay down and sacrifice our morale convictions to appease the right? Do we scamper off to lick our wounds? Or do we follow the example of the prize fighter that hits the mat, his head aching, ears ringing, face bloodied, but his will remains unbroken, and he climbs back onto his feet to continue the fight?

See, unlike George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfield, Condoleeza Rice, Karl Rove, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, etc., etc., I know a little bit about war. And that knowledge reminds me that one battle does not win a war. Nor does it spell defeat for those that narrowly lost, lest they surrender. And I will not surrender this fight today or any other day. I will not cede OUR America to George W. Bush. We are 56,000,000 strong and OUR ideas are better. They're just plain better. They're worth getting up off of the mat.

God Bless you all and God Bless America!

Sean D. Huze

Marine Corps veteran of the war in Iraq

The only thing I would add is that winning feels better than losing.

We're invisible!

2006-11-10T10:27:00.000-05:00

Wow, this is weird.
individual posts show up, but the main page of In the Schutte House has gone blank. At least from my end.

Possible another Blogger screw up or perhaps I've miswired something on this end. Just because I can fix a refrigerator doesn't mean I can get everything to work all the time!

More later.

I hope.

Okay people was on this end. All is well.

November already?

2006-11-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

Quick note -
Halloween went great, girls made out like bandits and will be on a sugar high for the rest of the week.
Helena informed me today that she has a boyfriend in her class.

apologies for the lack of posts again. I began writing an epic post describing my adventures in refrigeration repair but alas I've gotten hung up on editing and distilling it down to where it takes less time to read than the actual repair took.

If it rains tomorrow I'll post some trick-or-treat pics.

A funny thing happened on the way to school....

2006-10-20T15:52:00.001-05:00

Okay not funny ha ha or for that matter not really funny, gee that's strange but it is something thankfully I don't see everyday and rather than try to come up with a post title more fitting I just went with the first lame cliche line that came to mind.

On the way to picking Helena up from school this afternoon I saw a guy on a motorcycle get hit by a truck. I didn't actually see the impact, but I did see the rider airborne for about five feet.
As is not the case in most truck verses motorcycle accidents, there were not any serious injuries but you look at the pictures and you just shake your head and think...Wow.

They were finishing cleaning up the accident after I got Helena and we both agree that no matter how much they save on gas, or how fun they are to ride and even no matter how safe of a rider you are the fact remains motorcycles and traffic do not mix.

In the column of finding humor in most situations note the sign above the motorcyclist's head. And yes for those of you wondering, my first instict when I say the accident wasn't to rush to aid or even to call for help but rather to grab the camera.
What a guy.

TGiHD!

2006-10-20T06:49:00.000-05:00

Thank Goodness it's Hat Day!
Helena's homework for today was to bring a hat to school because today is hat day.
yeah, hat day.
Who thinks up these things?

Of course Megan had to get in the act as well. 'Little sister see, little sister do' and all.

We've made it through a week without any illnesses, major breakdowns or unusual crises, which explains the light posting for the week. Looks like we'll have a full weekend though with Megan going to her first birthday party with her daycare classmates. Always an event ripe with opportunity...

Equilibrium

2006-10-16T22:03:00.000-05:00

We love us some Netflix here in the Schutte House. With only the chance to go out to the movies once in a blue moon and being too cheap to spring for the movie channels on cable were it not for Netflix we'd be singing along with the girls Disney movies (oh, wait I DO sing along with those Disney movies). And while there is a link here on the blog you can use to sign up with netflix, our praise for the service is sincere and as a way to thank them (in addition to the $18 a month their already getting) I figured occasionally we could share our thoughts on some of the recent movies. Mostly when I can't think of anything else to write.
So with out further ado, here's my review for the movie Equilibium.

The cast was decent, there was some good action sequences and the idea behind the movie was at least as thoughtful as others in the genre but somehow Equilibium completely bombs.
The movie was about as good as your standard late-night cable Sci-Fi show just without the advantage of having commercials to break up the monotony.

Bale does a great job as the stoic hero and convincing kicks butts in the too few action scenes but even out doing the Matrix shoot-out isn't enough to save this movie from the terrible writing and unbearable slowness that pushes Equilibrium into the snooze column.
If you're a Christian Bale fan, the movie isn't too bad to sit through. If you're a action movie freak fast forward to the Gun Kata scenes. If you're in the mood for a decent movie that you likely missed at the theater, you can easily find much better.

She ain't whistling Dixie!

2006-10-16T14:46:00.000-05:00

This morning Helena showed off her newest skill: Whistling.

Now she not able to whistle a tune but it's really whistling. In fact she's better at it than her mother.

What gets me is the fact that I remember when I first learned how to whistle at about the age Helena is now. And if I remember stuff when I was that old than there is no reason to think she won't remember these things. So from now on we have to be real careful. The memories she's making now she'll carry on for the rest of her life and she can use those against us.

Cotton or China?

2006-10-15T09:32:00.000-05:00

Traditional or modern? According to Chicago Public Library the conventional gifts for 2nd anniversary are cotton or china. I'm not sure which would be more appropriate for the blog....

Second Anniversary?!
Wow.
The whole redesign just happens to coincide with us hitting the 2 year mark. Two years ago....
730 days old. 180 posts. Scores of visitors. And like most blogs, nearly devoid of meaningful content. Not that the last two years haven't had a few milestones but judging by the visitor logs the most popular post was not about our trials and tribulations but rather about cooking butternut squash.
Personally my favorite was this one with this post coming in as a close second.

But whether you've stopped by for recipes (hmmm maybe we'll start that weekly feature up again), pictures of the girls or you just love my witty banter thanks for sharing some of the last two years with us.

In the Schutte House 2.0

2006-10-14T12:06:00.000-05:00

Notice anything different?

So I got rid of the "Dr. Seuss" inspired theme and just with a nice clean template.
Oh so much easier on the eyes.

A few more tidbits to work out but this is the new and improved In the Schutte House.
If only remodeling was as easy.

Get up ev'rybody and sing!

2006-10-13T12:38:00.000-05:00

Last weekend my family was in town.
It's a little bigger deal than it sounds. The last time all my siblings were in the same room was well over a decade ago. Not that we purposely avoid each other but over the years we've ended up scattered across the country and finances and time have always ended up as hurdles.

From Family Gather...

But due to apparent alignment of the stars and the generosity of my mom, my brother and 3 sisters and various spouses and offspring were able to have a meal together and snap a few pictures. Also great was the fact that Megan was able to meet four of her cousins for the first time. You can see some more snapshots of the gathering by clicking on the picture. It'll take you over to the Picasa Web album.

For those confused the post title cam from the Sister Sledge song.... And yes you aren't seeing things, I'm posted twice in less than a week. I'm in the middle of the new design changes for the Blog but thought I'd best post something to prove (to myself) that I'm really going to get this another go.

Which Post title will it be...

2006-10-11T20:43:00.000-05:00

To be or not to be.... or Cue the Clash...

I got a notice yesterday that if I didn't update this blog, google was going to take the space away from me.* Apparently they're doing some expansion and need any extra space they can get.

So I actually tossed the idea around for a few minutes - Delete this poor oft ignored blog? Go back to increasing entropy of the blogivese by adding more random tidbits? Just continue to neglect the virtual Schutte House? Put a poll up and let the few stragglers and haphazard wanderers decide?

hmmm...

From Family Gather...

Of course the fact that I'm writing this ought to clue you in that I'll keep the old blog around for a bit to suffer a few slings and arrows of re-tooling over the next few ~~days~~ ~~weeks~~ ~~months~~ increments of time. Maybe a new look will rekindle that spark that gets us back into blogging mode. Hopefully the biggest change will be we'll post more often...
heard that one before haven't you?

*of course google is not taking away anyone's abandoned blogs away but the word gullible is not in Webster's dictionary.

really.

Look what I found!

2006-08-11T12:20:00.000-05:00

So I was cleaning up in the attic and ran across this blog.
Wow, blogging... remember that fad? That was so 2005.
But you know I'm a nostalgic kind of guy so I figured I'd go all retro and make a post here-

It's August and in a few weeks Helena will start kindergarten.
She's still a bit uneasy about it. She has some concern that all the other kids will way ahead of her. Turns out she was under the impression that her future classmates were already in Kindergarten, learning to write their ABC's and read books.

With Helena starting school it was decided it'd be best for Megan to get some more kid-on-kid interaction. Let her hang out with more kids, keep her distracted - anything so I won't have to hear "Where Helena?" "Where Helena" "Where Helena" throughout the day.
Yep, she's going into daycare.

~~More time for eating Bonbons and watching soap operas for me!~~
okay, I've been informed I'll be returning to the world of those working stiffs next month.

No full time work however. I'll be here when Helena gets off the school bus and Megan will be home in the afternoons. But those kids are growing up. Starting their journey out of the nest. Next thing you know they'll be going off to college and bringing laundry home on the weekend.
So if Lisa or I seem to be an emotional mess in the next few weeks, you'll understand. Show us some sympathy. And send a few bottles of wine our way.

And don't worry I'm sure we'll be sharing loads of kindergarten/daycare stories with all.

Whoa ho ho - you expected a post?

2006-06-15T19:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, so the once a week post was a little ambitious. But here I am again, doing a little update. As usual, a lot has happened in the last few weeks. Helena has been accepted into one of the traditional elementary schools here (we tried for a year-round, but didn't make the lottery), Easter visit from Bruce, Lois, Rowan and Holly, a good friend, Ed, got married, we visited Tom's brother and my Mom and stepdad, Tom performed a wedding, and my grandfather is getting married.

We have several pictures from the Easter event and also from the wedding/visit with Don and Mary/visit with Micheal. So let's start with Easter. I don't know about anyone else, but Helena and Megan loved it. They loved the baskets, the egg-hunt, and I think most of all, the company. Helena and Holly were almost inseparable. Rowan took over big sister duties for Megan and did a bunch of babysitting (with parents in the house). All of them ran each other ragged - it was absolutely wonderful. Since all of the girls were hanging out together, us adults go to do some talking. For those of you who don't have kids or had them a long time ago, you may not realize/remember how precious adult conversation can be. We got to do some catching up with the whole family, which was great since we have been missing our close friends since they moved away. On to the Easter pictures:

The early morning, Easter day.
Helena (with basket hat) and Holly.

Coloring eggs with Holly and Helena

Rowan making her masterpiece colored egg creations.

Helena's and Holly's eggs.

Rowan's eggs.

Breakfast Easter Day (how could they eat with those baskets of candy sitting in front of them?)

Megan on her first egg hunt.

Holly, on the hunt for eggs.

Helena has spotted one!

Megan with her first lollipop.

Playing in the sandpile.

Well all, be here next time and I'll cover the trip to the mountains.

The Circus Came to Town

2006-04-10T18:34:00.000-05:00

And no, I am not talking about work. That circus is in town all the time!

I am talking about the Cole Brother's Circus. The circus was all part of the larger Wilmington Azalea Festival, which is held here in Wilmington, NC every spring. There are other events, like the 3 hour parade (luckily skipped this year), the street fair (kids not old enough to enjoy this yet), some concerts (Tom and I aren't quite old enough to enjoy these yet), and the horse show (perfect place for Helena to get some horsey time in).

We made the big step this year and decided Helena was ready for the circus. I know that we have said before that Helena can be a little timid, so I wasn't sure how our child that is afraid of heights, loud noises, and people with their faces covered would do watching spider-man ride a motorcycle over a high-wire. But hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Helena and I along with my friend "Ms. Megan" (not to be confused with pumpkin dirt) got to the show around 4 PM (circus started at 4:30) and walked around the place. They had an elephant outside the big-top which kids could ride ($5 for about 3 times around the circle - which, did you know that they were very gracious about giving out a refund when the child in question has a near hysterical fit?), a face painting booth, and some concessions stands (what do you mean cotton candy is $4?). Before leaving the house, I had told Helena that she would definitely get a "not good for your body snack" and I held up that end of the bargain. In addition to the cotton candy, she also got a powder sugar coated funnel cake (but that she had to share - Yumm!)

Helena noted that cotton candy, "Feels like eating fuzz, but tastes ok." (she did end up eating the whole thing!)

After getting the cotton candy and watching the elephant, we decided it was time to find our seat. We made our way into the big-top. (After we came back, I heard Helena telling Tom, "And now I know why they call it the big top tent. It had a very big top and was a tent") Tom had been kind enough to get us reserved seating so we didn't have to fight the crowd to get 3 seats together.

As for all good sporting events, the circus started with the National Anthem. It was at this point that I wondered if a mistake had been made. Have I noted that Helena really does not like loud noises? To say the music was loud is like saying the ocean is a little wet. The anthem had Helena crouching in her seat, ears covered, and tears flowing. All was not for naught (is that a double negative?), as the tears stopped at the entrance of the first act - a frisbee catching dog (you'll note that the ears were still covered, though).

This is pretty much how Helena spent the entire 2 hour circus.

She held this pose through the frisbee dogs, the first and second trapeez acts, the dancing poodles, and most of the clown acts (including the "strongest clown" act). She, amazingly, didn't scream when Spider-man came out and did a balancing act in the giant spinning circle. However, she added in the hiding of the face in my shoulder when the acrobats were jumping over and limboing under the pole on fire.

Spiderman did this whole act with running around the inside and outside of the metal cage while the whole apparatus spun around. Now, several times he bobbled, once seeming to catch himself just before tumbling over the side while the cage was at the apex. Just part of the act or did we almost see a splat?

Then, the piece de resistance, horses. Nothing can make Helena smile quite like seeing horses and elephants. Strangely enough, whenever these animals made an appearance, the hands came off the ears and her face lit up with wonder. And after all, isn't that what the circus is about?

You can't tell here, but there was a little pony walking under this white horse.

This is Helena during almost any large animal act.

This is Tina, the elephant. She did some amazing stunts including doing a "headstand" on this platform.

After all the fun and excitement, Helena got to come back and tell her Papa all about it - reliving the experience. Even though she says now that she doesn't want to go back next year (because, "Megan isn't old enough to enjoy it yet. Let's wait until she can come, too"), I bet this will become something of a tradition.

Later,
L.

There are three types of people in the world

2006-03-22T12:20:00.000-05:00

Those who can do math and those with those with dyscalculia.

And now in some cases we know why.

Oh, look what you've done to this rock n roll clown

2006-03-21T22:44:00.000-05:00

We got our first digital camera in September '99 and have thousands of photos scattered on a couple of computers, backed up on DVD and even have a few printed out. Unfortuantly we've nevered gone through and labeled (or as those wacky kids say today - tagged) any of them. Sure they're organized by date but you can imagine trying a find a shot of someone just searching through folders based on dates.

If any of this reminds you of yourself take a look at Riya

Sort of a flickr meets face recognition. Still in beta right now, but in one day it has scanned through a couple thousand of our pictures and 1: it's really cool. 2: we have loads of pictures of people I don't recognize.

The title of this post? Of course is a line from Def Leppard's song.....Photograph

Time goes by

2006-03-19T13:52:00.000-05:00

So, we have come to the end of an era. Megan will no longer sit in the "baby" swing; now it is all about "big girl" things. She also wants to have all of the "big girl" options that Helena has been enjoying - like sitting in a chair with no buckle, walking in the stores instead of riding in the cart, going up and down the steps with no help.

As usual, our little one shows little fear when it comes to a new exeprience. She just blithely ignores her mother's fear.

We have also just changed Megan's bed over from a crib to a toddler bed. Megan adores it and Helena is getting a kick out of being able to read Megan stories in bed.

And now some pictures to show what stylin' is all about.

Where does that girl get her sense of style?

Helena likes to help us do many things around the house. She loves being in the kitchen - I can only hope she becomes as good a cook as her father. She also really enjoys the pets. We got this new cat brush and I think she is the only one who has used it. Also, she plays endlessly with them so that they "stay healthy".

And finally, this is what you do with an extremely messy child.

And they say North Carolina is backwards...

2006-03-07T08:46:00.000-05:00

It isn't so much as a ban on abortion in South Dakota, instead think of it as approving coat hangers as medical devices.

Updated Examples of South Dakota thinking about the children....

South Dakota ranks 44th among states in per pupil expenditures.

South Dakota ranks 46th among states in the percent of babies born to mothers who received early prenatal care.

South Dakota ranks last in the nation — 50th out of 50 states — for having the lowest salaries for public school teachers.

South Dakota ranks 5th worst in the country in the total taxable resources spent on public education.

Just as an aside, 34 more weeks until mid-term elections. You know just in case you have an opinion on how things are going.

Weekly Post?

2006-03-04T13:36:00.000-05:00

Well, at least this will be the second post in as many weeks. No guarantee that it will continue.

Last time I covered Helena's birthday and party. Today is really just an excuse to put up some more pictures of our adorable kids.

Aunt Helen reads Megan a story. We had the good fortune to have Helen here for Helena's birthday party. Helen gave Megan so much attention, Tom and I got to dote on Helena.

Helena and her friend Logan at the top of Jungle Rapids' indoor playground.

Megan in her "ladybug" shirt. And yes, that is her natural hair style.

Did you ever wonder what a 30 inch pizza would look like? Well, you now you can stop.

Well, that's it for now. Soon, perhaps Tom will tell you all about the new laptop.

OK, so it has been a long time...

2006-02-26T12:59:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a long time since you have heard from us. But, we needed the break - I mean really, who can come up with this stuff all of the time. Of course, I usually depended on Tom to do just that, but that is neither here nor there.

So, what has been happening in The Schutte House? We have had several items of note. The biggest is that Helena has had another birthday. She had a great and extended birthday celebration. We had some immediate family over to the house on her actual birthday. Helena picked a marble cake with chocolate icing. She wanted a striped cake and told the person in the bakery to make sure that it "has at lease 3 yellow stripes - my sister Megan loves yellow." So thoughtfull that older daughter of ours. Of course, she wanted all sorts of stripes which includes at least those 3 yellow ones, but the baker took it as "she wants 3 yellow stripes on the cake". It was still tastey!

Then, a week later, Helena had a birthday party with her friends. She invited several friends from her old daycare as well as one who used to live across the street. She had the party in a great place called "Power of Play". This place is set up like a huge in-door playhouse. There are several play stations set up to look like a campsite, doctors office, grocery store, restaurant, bank, vets, library, fire station, space station, etc. (thanks to Mike Schutte, the lighting in the place looks great). There is also an indoor playground and a large room for pizza and cake. She had a blast along with her friends.And yes, that was Megan in the middle picture.

There are more things to talk about, but this is a good "getting her feet wet" start.

Later!

Cue Sally Field

2006-01-13T13:33:00.000-05:00

"You missed me, you really, really missed me!"

I had contemplated coming up with an elaborate story explaining my going MIA from the internets but there are times when the truth is so much more entertaining. This isn't one of those times but here's the gist of it:

I've just gotten a bit bored with it.

Of course everyone who has had a blog for more than a week has gone through it- Just going through a spell right now where posting witty bits of our life hasn't been a top priority. I know, I know, when has there every been any wit here? I'm just saving it all up. Pretty soon, I'm gonna post something and you are all just going to spurt milk out your nose it'll be so funny.
or not.

not be so funny that milk... I'm sure I'll get back to the regular posting but it may or may not be really funny... See I'm completely babbling here. Things are returning to normal already.

When dry spells like this came along before I had that AdSense account to sort of motivate me. Not that I was pulling in the big bucks, but it was almost a bit of a game- "ohh, 6 clicks today... let me try posting something completely ridicules and see what ads I get..." A few weeks into December Google e-mailed me and cut me out of the AdSense program "do to fraudulent clicks" I never (purposely) click my own ads but I may have implied to other's that it would be really cool if they clicked on them (especially those ads for Migraine treatments... $4 a click!)
It wasn't like the Adsense was the kids College fund or anything just a way to keep me interested when the same old, same old got a bit dull. But now that's over. No more small change to keep me writing.
Don't get me wrong, I keep the blog not to pimp tales of the family (but you'll note you can still sign up for Netflix here and we do accept donations....). This thing started out and still is a mainly to keep friends and family up to date with the minutia of our life because generally we're too lazy to sit don't and send a letter. Or make a phone call. Or write an e-mail.
I've made a number of what I'd consider friends through blogging. Don't take my break from stopping by your blog lately as anything other than me enjoying some fresh air lately.
That and your writings gotten a bit stale too.

With all said, Helena turns 5 this month and we're having a party in a few weeks. That's bound to provide material to write about for weeks right there...

What the ?!

2005-12-28T23:45:00.000-05:00

Granted I just finished a fictional book about dramatic climate change and I think it's a well known fact that no one really remembers the weather from more than a week ago but things have just gotten pretty weird here.

Christmas Eve/Christmas morning we had a thunderstorm come through. Quite odd. Who has thunderstorms in late December? But unusual weather isn't really all that unusual is it? A freak storm ought to happen once in a while statistically right?

Well we've got another thunderstorm moving through tonight. The thunder woke Helena once already and looks like there is more moving in from the west tonight.

But hey, what better way to end the year that there was a Hurricane Epsilon (as in " In the event that more than 21 named tropical cyclones occur in the Atlantic basin in a season, additional storms will take names from the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and so on." We got to the and so on.)