Thursday, December 18th, 2014

    Since it has been a month since my last update, and free time is becoming a rarer and rarer commodity, I am going to keep this short and simple! Per usual, feel free to go to the Current Events page and look for the Update! or New! icons, or go to the Update List page for the listing of all of the latest updates. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures and the site!

Wednesday, November 19th, 2014

    A quick update today... by now you know the drill. Our life is beyond busy, so I am not going to take the time to list each update individually. Feel free to go to the Current Events page and look for the Update! or New! icons, or go to the Update List page for the listing of all of the updates and when they occurred. In the meantime, enjoy!

Tuesday, November 11th, 2014

    What do you know... a second website update in a mere four days! It was a busy four days, however, so I don't want to fall too far behind before I update the site once again. I'll make this quick and easy - the updates today involve Samantha's indoor soccer season, which got underway with two games this past Friday. I have also posted her volleyball schedule. I have also added Jayden's newest sport to the site, basketball! She decided that she wanted to participate in a clinic put on by the girls basketball team, and they will be having practices and "games" that I will be sharing. There really isn't a schedule, so I will post the additions after she plays. Finally, Drew played in his team's 6th hockey game of the season, and it may have been their best game ever. All of these updates can by found on each of their respective Current Events page.

Friday, November 7th, 2014

    My last update to the website took place just a week ago, so I don't have a lot of additional information to share with you at this time. I am coming off my first week as a non-hourly employee, as I started my new position as a process engineer on Monday. Beyond that, everything is pretty much status quo.

    I have a couple of updates to the site and one addition. First, the Halloween festivities took place in the rain this year, so while I don't have an abundance of pictures to share, I do have a few of the kids in their costumes for you to look at. In addition to that, Samantha played three more soccer games over the Halloween weekend, and I have added those to her soccer page. Finally, I added several new selections to the Wallpaper page for your enjoyment.

    Until next time!

Thursday, October 30th, 2014

    This past weekend was a busy one for us, as Drew had a hockey tournament in Sault Ste. Marie. He had a game on Friday, two on Saturday, and another game Sunday. In between we tried to find some new places to eat and fit in some sightseeing. Tyler and Samantha opted to stay home with their grandparents so that they wouldn't miss school on Friday, and they got to hang out with their friends as well. I have added two new sets of pictures today - on on Drew's '05 Lapeer Storm Fall hockey page for the Boo in the Soo tournament, and the other on the Current Events page (titled, appropriately enough, Sault Ste. Marie).

    Short and sweet today... until next time, enjoy!

Thursday, October 23rd, 2014

    Another week brings another update. I have been doing my best to keep adding to the site as the events occur, and so far I have been able to squeeze in an event or two a day to keep things relatively recent. It has been seven days since my last post, and in that time the kids have been busy. Tyler is working hard at open gym at his basketball skills in hopes of making the JV team. He isn't very sure of his chances, but if he continues to work hard and show that he really wants it then he has a chance. Samantha wound up two different sports seasons this week, as her U14 soccer team and her 8th grade basketball team wrapped up their seasons with victories. She has one more team sport to finish up, as she has been asked to close out the season with the U15 Michigan Impact soccer team as well. Drew is staying busy with his hockey practices and games, and has a big tournament coming up this weekend. Jayden also finished up her season, as her soccer team won their final game this past Tuesday, their only win of the season. That leaves her with dance class one night a week. Tara and I keep ourselves busy running the kids to and from practices and games, and Tara is still volunteering for the Holly Athletic Boosters as well as still getting accustomed to her new(ish) full time job.

    That pretty much sums it up for now... enjoy!

Thursday, October 16th, 2014

    Since I just posted my most recent update two days ago, I am going to make this short and to the point. I have added the two latest games for the kids - Samantha's basketball game and Jayden's soccer game. Each of these games can be found on their respective Current Events page. Also, for your reference, I am leaving the previous commentary posted below...

Tuesday, October 14th, 2014

    A quick update today, with six new game additions to the site. Drew's hockey team played in two games this past weekend, while Samantha played in two games for her soccer team, one for the older U15 team, and a basketball game yesterday. All of the new additions can be found on their respective pages under Current Events.

    Oh, and I added two new wallpapers to the site as well! That's all for now... enjoy!

Thursday, October 9th, 2014

    I'm on a bit of a roll right now, with two updates to the website in the month of October! I have been able to add all of this weeks activities to the site, but more are coming fast as this is going to be a busy, busy weekend in our household. Because of that I am going to keep this short and sweet...

    I have added updates to each of the kid's pages, so I would start there to see the latest pictures. I have also added a bunch of wallpapers, which can, of course, be seen on the Wallpapers page.

Friday, October 3rd, 2014

    Although I have been trying hard to keep the site up to date, I haven't been very successful as of late. And by "as of late" I mean the past two months. Well, I am pleased to say that I have finally (finally!) managed to complete all of the updates to the events that we participated in over that time frame. There are far too many updates to describe them all here, but they are all listed on the Update List page for your easy reference.

    There are a couple of exciting things to share that aren't included in the updates. First, Tara has taken a new job. After several years of working at the school district, she has gladly moved back to the corporate world and full time work. It's been an adjustment for the entire family, but she is really enjoying her new role. Second, I am going to be making a career change soon as well, but I can't give away too many details at this time. Needless to say there is a lot of excitement in our house right now!

    Well, that's all the time have for now. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I make the next website update!

Monday, August 11th, 2014

    I have finally managed to find the time to sit down and make another update to the website. Although our summer months are relatively slow, there are still activities worth sharing. For this update I can finally say that we've snuck in our first camping trip of the season, which you can find out about by going to the Current Events page and clicking on the Camping link. In addition to our camping weekend, we also celebrated Tyler's birthday early with family, and you can see the pictures from the party by clicking on Tyler's 15th Birthday on the Current Events page. The final addition to the website is the schedule for Samantha's new soccer team, the Michigan Impact. She is playing in a tournament this coming weekend, so keep checking back for more information. You can see her schedule by clicking on Samantha's Current Events page and clicking on the Michigan Impact Fall Outdoor link.

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2014

    The kids activities have slowed to practically nothing during the summer months, and I am enjoying our downtime. The only event that we have attended since my last update was Samantha's baseball championship game, which finally took place on July 16th (nearly a month after the completion of her season). In addition to the photos from her game, I have also added 5 new wallpapers to the site at this time. Time to go back to basking in the warm weather!

Thursday, July 10th, 2014

    A continued heavy dose of sporting events, along with long hours at work, surgery on my wrist, home repairs and general maintenance has made it extremely difficult for me to update the website on a regular basis like I would prefer to do. I have finally managed to sit down and update the site with everything that we have done since my last update way back on June 7th (over a month ago!).

    A lot has happened over the course of that month, as one would imagine, so I will do my best to touch on the highlights here. Tyler has managed to play and entire session of basketball at the Cage, a total of 10 games. Those have all been added to his Current Events page. Samantha, Drew, and Jayden all wrapped up their baseball regular seasons, and Drew and Jay have completed their playoffs as well. Sam, on the other hand, still has one game remaining - the championship game - that will be played on a date that is yet to be determined. Also during that time, Sam celebrated her 13th birthday with family and friends with two separate parties. I also managed to secure a car through a program at work for a week, which has also been added to the website. Finally (I think), we celebrated America's independence with several of our friends, and I have added pictures of that special day to the website as well.

    On a more personal level, Tara & I are still plugging away at our jobs. The kids, meanwhile, celebrated their last day of school and our thoroughly enjoying their summer break. Tyler is planning on playing soccer in the fall for the school once again, and is keeping busy training for that over the summer. Sam attended soccer tryouts and has decided to move on to a new club after several years with her old one. She is extremely excited about this change, and I will bring you more information on that in the fall. Drew decided to stick with the '05 Storm hockey team, and after trying out for them he made the team. That too will get underway in earnest as fall approaches. Jayden has likely played her final baseball game, as she has decided to stick with soccer and replace baseball with dance. More on that to come as well.

Saturday, June 7th, 2014

    This update thing has been a lot more difficult to stay on top of as the kids have become more and more involved in a variety of activities. With multiple seasons happening at once for most of the kids at this stage, I am simply running out of time to post regular updates like I would prefer. With that being said, I think that I have finally "caught up" to the point where I can post the latest additions to the site. Since there are so many updates, I am not going to attempt to list them here, and I will instead refer you to the Update List page where you can see the updates listed for each website update, or you can go directly to the Current Events page and follow the links with the Update! or New! icons next to them.

Friday, June 6th, 2014

    This update thing has been a lot more difficult to stay on top of as the kids have become more and more involved in a variety of activities. With multiple seasons happening at once for most of the kids at this stage, I am simply running out of time to post regular updates like I would prefer. With that being said, I think that I have finally "caught up" to the point where I can post the latest additions to the site. Since there are so many updates, I am not going to attempt to list them here, and I will instead refer you to the Update List page where you can see the updates listed for each website update, or you can go directly to the Current Events page and follow the links with the Update! or New! icons next to them.

    Of course I'd be remiss if I didn't say Happy Birthday to Samantha, since this update happens to fall on her birthday! Enjoy it kiddo!

Thursday, May 15th, 2014

    Over the past three weeks I have fallen far, far behind on the website. I finally have managed to catch back up, so I am going to update the site before I fall behind once more. I think I have everything that we did since my last update added to the site, with the exception of Jayden's most recent baseball game. Hopefully I can get to that and the remainder of this weeks activities soon, so that I don't have to go another three weeks between updates! In the meantime, feel free to browse around and enjoy the site!

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014

    Short and sweet today. Check out the Current Events or Update List pages for all of the new additions to the website. I am going to do my best to keep things up to date, but the upcoming sports schedule for the kids is looking pretty brutal for Tara & I, so...

Monday, April 14th, 2014

    Somehow I have managed to keep current on the website updates over the past weekend, and that means that I am able to post a second update to the site within a week's time! I'm not sure exactly how long I will be able to keep that up, however, as the "busy season" for the kids is just getting underway. Tyler is the least active of the four kids right now, as his only sporting activity at this time is track through the high school. Samantha takes up his slack, as she is currently involved in three different sports - track at school, travel soccer, and baseball. Drew is involved in two sports, with both travel hockey and baseball taking place. Jayden is also a two sport star right now, playing soccer and baseball at the same time. Tara & I? Our activity comes from driving from place to place!

    I have three updates to the site to share with you this week. Up first, I have added a bunch of wallpaper photos to the site from our Atlanta weekend (42 pictures to be exact!). As you would probably expect, you can find the new pictures on the Wallpapers page. The next addition to the site is a set of photos from a hail storm that we experienced on April 12th. Those photos can be found by going to the Current Events page and then clicking on Hail Storm. The final addition to the site this time around is a set of pictures from Sam's most recent soccer game. These can be found by going to La Forza Spring Outdoor page on Samantha's Current Event page.

Thursday, April 10th, 2014

    Well, it has been almost a month since I last found the time to update the website. I have been attempting to diligently update the site this week, and I think that I have finally succeeded. There are too many new additions to the site for me to list individually (and it is rapidly nearing my bedtime), so I will let you visit the Update List page to see them all listed out or you can go to the Current Events page and look for the Update! or New! icons. I have added a bunch of sports schedules for the kids. Both Tyler and Samantha are also running track this year, but until I really get a handle on how the meets work I am refraining from listing them on the site. In the meantime, enjoy!

Friday, March 14th, 2014

    Holy crap... where has the time gone? I have had the best intentions of getting the latest updates online this week, but I just haven't been able to find any free time to work on it. I've been working 12 hours for the past two weeks (which itself isn't terrible - it's the 1:30am alarm combined with near 9:00pm bedtimes that is catching up to me, despite a near daily nap) and I've also taken on some more responsibility at work, which has cut down on my overall free time. Needless to say I don't see things getting any better anytime soon, either. Oh well, I'll do what I can, when I can, and hope for the best.

    I have three new additions to the website today, all of which are of Drew's hockey team's Pepsi Tournament games. You can find the new pictures by going to Drew's page under Current Events.

Monday, March 3rd, 2014

    Despite my best intentions I have still managed to find myself far behind in posting my updates to the site lately. Since my last update on February 19th the kids have participated in several different activities and Tara & I ran our first 5k race of the year. Since I have managed to find myself behind, I am going to leave it up to you to find the newest additions by following the "Update!" and "New" icons...

Wednesday, February 19th, 2014

    Time for another round of updates to the website... I have several additions to the site today, all of which revolve around the kids sports! Up first is the addition of Tyler's last two basketball games, followed by the weekend tournament that Drew's hockey team participated in, and finally Samantha's indoor soccer schedule. I also have a page of sights of Detroit that Tara and Drew took in while waiting between hockey games. All of these updates can be easily found by going to the Current Events page and looking for the New or Update icons. Also, as noted below, you can see all of the additions to the site since your last visit by going to the Update List page. In the meantime, enjoy!

Tuesday, February 11th, 2014

    It has taken me a few days to find the time to post these, but I have finally managed to catch up with the weekends activities. Today you will find updates to Drew's hockey and basketball as well as to Tyler's page, as he attended his first Snowcoming dance. You can see all of the pictures by going to either the Current Events page and looking for Update! icons or by going to the Update List page. Sorry to be so brief... Enjoy!

Thursday, February 6th, 2014

    Just a quick update since 1) it has only been three days since my last update and 2) I only have one addition to the site today. Tyler's freshman basketball team played in their long game this week on Tuesday, pulling out a victory. Tyler made his return to the court in this game, so feel free to check out the pictures by going to Tyler's page on the Current Events page.

Monday, February 3rd, 2014

    Finally we were able to enjoy a "lazy" weekend! The kids sporting activities were minimal this weekend, with only Drew having a basketball game on Saturday morning (aside from a couple of practices Friday evening). Of course the big happening this weekend was the Super Bowl, which we watched as a family while celebrating my - uh, 40th - birthday. Tara & I had the opportunity to dine out alone on Saturday (someplace other than McDonald's), which was a rare treat for us. I got to have a lazy day on Sunday thanks to Tara and the kids. I want to thank everyone who took the time to wish me a happy birthday. It was greatly appreciated.

    As you may have guessed, I have two updates to the site this week. Up first are Drew's basketball game pictures. You can see them by going to Drew on the Current Events page and looking for the Update! icon. The other addition is the Rodney's 40th Birthday page, which contains a few photos of me on my big day. You can find this page by going to the Current Events page.

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

    Another busy weekend is in the books, so I better update the website before the next round of activities hits and I am completely overwhelmed! We had 7 games over the weekend, but were only able to participate in 6 of them. On Saturday we had to skip Drew's basketball game in order to attend his hockey team's first playoff game of the season. After leaving hockey it was time for Samantha's basketball team to play in two more games. Sunday was more of the same, except the overlapping schedule meant that Drew's hockey game and Sam's basketball games left Tara & I to separate for part of the day. While it was busy, it was fun. We even managed to find a bit of time to head to Red Robin to celebrate Drew's birthday!

    To see pictures from this past weekends games, go to the Current Events page and look for the "Update!" icons next to Samantha and Drew's name. Enjoy!

Friday, January 24th, 2014

    Just a quick addition since I updated the site yesterday... I have added pictures from our last-minute birthday celebration for Drew to the site today. Click on Drew's 9th Birthday on the Current Events page to see these photos!

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014

    I have a few new additions to the website during what has been a relatively slow week for us. Drew hasn't had a hockey game in quite some time, so he has been keeping himself busy with basketball instead. His team played and won their second game of the season this past Saturday, and he managed to score his first points during the game as well. Samantha is keeping herself busy on the basketball court as well, as her Michigan Avengers team played in three games on Sunday. Like the previous weekend, they went 2-1 on the day, moving them to 4-2 on the season. Tyler is also playing basketball, but due to his forgetfulness (he forgot to turn in his academic paperwork) he has had to sit out his team's three games this week. Finally there is Jayden, who gets the honor of tagging along to all of her brothers and sister's sporting events until her baseball and soccer seasons resume in the spring.

    We did manage to squeeze in a trip to the North American International Auto Show on our one activity free day, Monday. We toured the show before hopping on the People Mover for a ride around Detroit and dinner in Greektown.

    Go to the Current Events page and look for the "Update!" or "New!" icons for all of the latest additions to the site.

Wednesday, January 15th, 2014

    While I have time to go into more detail here on the home page, I am really not in the mood to do so...

    Feel free to look around the website for both "Update!" and "New" icons. I hope you find something interesting while looking around...

Tuesday, January 7th, 2014

    Just a quick update today, and I am keeping this brief... I have added the pictures from Drew's most recent hockey game to the site, as well as some pictures from our trip to see the Michigan Warriors play hockey in Flint and a few pictures of the latest "snowpocalypse" to hit the state. Enjoy!

Friday, January 3rd, 2014

    A lot has happened since my last update, which took place a long time ago (last year, as a matter of fact!). There was a brief period where the kids activities slowed down and Tara & I thought that we were be going to be able to get a lot of things accomplished, but an ice storm caused a power outage that took away much of our expected free time during our Christmas break. Needless to say I am now running behind on the website, but I am hoping to catch back up with this update.

    I have managed to squeeze in a lot of updates this time around, all of which can be found by going to the Past Events page and then clicking on the 2013 link. I will attempt to go through the updates in a (somewhat) chronological order. Up first is the additions to Drew's hockey page, which you can see by going to the Current Events page as well as the Past Events page. Drew has played in three games since my last update, and I finally managed to post his team pictures to the site as well. Next on the list is the addition of several photos of the aforementioned ice storm that hit our area during the Christmas break, which you can see by clicking on the Ice Storm link (appropriately enough). I have also added several pages worth of Christmas activity pictures to the site this week, including the Allen Family Christmas, as well as pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. All of them can be found on the Christmas page. We also managed to squeeze in a trip to Toboggan Hill sledding after one of Drew's hockey practices, and those pictures can be found on the Sledding page. Finally, the end of the year means it is time to celebrate with family and friends, and I have pictures from our New Year's Eve celebration on the 2013 page as well. As I said, you can go to the Past Events page to find the photos, or you can click on the Update List page to see all of the updates listed in order since your last visit.

    Finally, have a safe and happy new year from the entire family!

    As always, please click on the Update List page if it has been quite some time since your last visit to our site. This page contains a chronological listing of all of the updates that have been made this year, allowing you to easily find anything you may have missed since your last visit. Please enjoy the site and come back often. Thanks for visiting!