Drumroll Please

Well warm up the drumroll... get it in high gear... a little faster now... our project is finished!

They didn't think we would get our project done and that a weekend crew would have to finish our job because it was such a large project. We had solid teamwork, made sure everyone was included in the project, and had a great time along the way. We covered some of the details before but here is a recap of the project.

This home was damaged in a fire, and our family purchased it at a mega discount. They sunk all they had into the house, but it looked like it might not be enough and they could possibly have to walk away. So here comes team IU... IUSB tackling outside projects, and IUB tackling laying down floors. The IUSB job would be helping keep wind and water from under the house and house to keep it warm, the IUB crew would be getting the house ready for the family to move in. I don't have many pictures of the IUB portions except in areas that we helped out (like when we killed our saw blades and work outside stopped) in the afternoons.

Here is a chronological look at the home and our work...







We also want to highlight a little of our time with the IU Bloomington crew. They were all from the Kelly School of business and were a great work team to be paired with for the week. We bonded over lunch time, struggled on projects, and helped each other. We wish them well on their travel home, and the time spent working on flooring built great memories.



We hope this home is a great foundation for a new young family and that it creates opportunities for the children to have space to play, to study, to explore their world and create a solid future. It was our pleasure to help, to learn, and to leave with a feeling that we helped make a difference. So here is the before and after shot... we are really proud...


Tomorrow we hit the road nice and early for home... See you in South Bend!

Appalachian Time

Several people have asked about how our schedule is daily so today's post is all about our normal day.

Each day a team has a chore... some help with breakfast, or clean the grounds, organize tools or other random jobs needed around the camp. So each day we have a chore to do, those are sprinkled throughout the day. Our camp has around 100 people here, we have Univ Minnesota, St. Louis University, IUB, IUSB (Go Titans!) and then two youth groups here and a couple other random volunteers. The camp is run by 5 staff who live here full time and a couple other part time/seasonal staff, and two cooks... Kay and Serita take great care of us and our stomachs!

Here is our typical routine:

7:15 AM - Optional Devotion Time (this is a religious camp)
7:30 AM - Breakfast
8:00 AM - Lunch Prep (make sandwiches and pack lunch)
8:30 AM - Tool Shed (get more tools/supplies)
9:00 AM - Leave for the site (we have a 35 min drive)
12:15 PM - Lunch break
1:00 PM - Back to work
4:00 PM - Pack Up and head home
6:00 PM - Dinner Time
7:30 PM - Nightly Activity (Educational or Cultural)
11:00 PM - Lights Out in cabins (people can stay outside as long as they want)

So here are a few pics from us from throughout the day. One morning we caught a rainbow, our crazy drive through the mountains to our site, lunch breaks, of course a pic each time we finish a project, nighttime music or bonfires, etc.







It has been a great trip so far, hopefully tomorrow we will have some great before and after shots to show. I think even if we don't finish, the powerful conversations we have been having each night about poverty, politics and how to help make the world a better place will make a ripple effect on these issues...

Play Us Some Mountain Progress

Today we made progress... we worked hard, and then played hard as a BlueGrass band came to camp and we enjoyed some down home country music.

We made a lot of progress at the house today. We took three metal cutting disks, and did manage to mangle the last one, but not until after 3PM. So we got a full days worth of work on the underpinning. Then we helped the IUB crew inside the house with their flooring job. Progress inside the house was also really noticeable today, and everyone left in high spirits. Enjoy a few pics of our crew hard at work:

Each night we do something educational. Last night was the educational programming about the area, which as I wrote about added to our frustration of an already frustrating day at the work site. Tonight was once again the perfect blend to our day, local BlueGrass music. We got to dance, hear some traditional southern music played on a banjo a bass and just got us in a good southern mood.
We heard some mountain music, we made progress on our mountain home, and now we have two days to bring our mountain sized projects to the finish line. May the force be with us....

Frustrated in Jonesville

Today was a day of frustration...

Outside we battled potential rain in the morning, which for power tools spells sure delay... and then in the afternoon we battled the sun and many of us didn't apply enough sun screen. So the weather frustrated us...

We chewed through an entire metal cutting blade on our saw, which put our work at a stand still. We found a few other tasks to do on our outside construction to get ahead on other projects but unfortunately we ran out of things to do. With a 40 minute drive to and then from the hardware store getting supplies during the day doesn't work. So lack of worksite accomplishment frustrated us....

Then we helped out our fellow IU Bloomington crew inside the house. The IUB crew was working on putting down flooring where more hands wouldn't help. We sanded some drywall mud, to help with the future project of painting the walls. We didn't bring drywall supplies so we really weren't able to make an impact and just limped a few things along until quitting time. Not having the supplies to do our jobs frustrated us...

In the evening we cleaned up, had dinner and had an educational activity and learned about Lee County Virginia. Here over 50% of the population lives in poverty. That is defined for a family of four as less then $22,000 per year. We had some activities to learn about educational issues in the area, factors impacting the employment rate, and then talked about ways to help break the cycle of poverty in areas such as this... Knowing that issues like this exist right in our own country and that few people know frustrated us...

So needless to say it was a long, hard and frustrating day.

Today reminded us that just because we have disposable income doesn't mean we should dispose of it, but how can we help others with it? Or just because we were born into a certain position in life doesn't mean we don't need to care about those born with less.

Tomorrow the promise of new tools, new metal cutting blade, and new hope that our hands are making a difference will motivate us. Hopefully by educating ourselves about these issues we become part of the solution and a little less frustrated.

No Pics from Jonesville

Last night the slow internet took me about 30 minutes to upload pics... so today I will skip pics and just post a quick recap.

We are working on a house that was nearly destroyed in a fire. The gutting was all done already and some of the rebuilding. We have one crew working inside the house helping with the drywall today and prepping the floor for new flooring to go back in. They will put in a floating floor and baseboards hopefully in the next few days if we stay on schedule.

Then we have the bigger crew working outside on the the mobile home underpinning. You might ask what that is... so here is our quick construction lesson. When a mobile, or modular home, is placed on site it has spaces all around under it. So once the house is in place they frame (or some even do brick) around it and hammer up material (vinyl or metal) to cover all the space. It is done for a few reasons, one is to help insulate the house so the cold air (it does snow here) doen't get in around the bottom of the house. The other reason, of which we are all too familiar at my house (stupid groundhog) is to keep animals out from around the bottom of the house. Partially because animals are annoying, but also because they can chew up wires, tear out insulation, etc. Here is a picture of what underpinning is (thanks Google): Many of the homes around here are missing many of these detail items. Which means they are harder to keep warm, which for people on a tight budget can mean they can't keep their homes warm. Or for those who have animals destroy parts of their home, which they already could already not afford to upkeep sets them down a vicious cycle.

We got to work along side our home owners today and learn more of their story. They have three young children under the age of 6 and have struggled back and forth to find work. They currently live in a tiny apartment and last fall came upon the opportunity to purchase this home which had a fire. They sunk their life savings into it and planned to flip the home for them to live in... well one thing after another, costs of materials, building problems put them way behind. Nearly to the point of having to walk away... and continue to stay in an apartment that doesn't meet their needs and they can barely afford.

So here is where ASP and we come in... they pay for the materials and we provide the labor. The family has just over a month left on their lease and they need to move into the home they paid for... I hope that we can help provide this family a home where their kids can do homework, play in their yard and have more opportunities.

Our fingers hurt from skills (or lack thereof) with the hammer, and shoulder hurts from swinging a sledgehammer or running a saw. Tonight we rest... tomorrow we do it all over again.

Live from Jonesville, VA

My Alternative Spring Break class has arrived safely in Jonesville, VA at our Appalachian Service Project (ASP: www.asphome.org). We had a great drive down and are ready for a powerful week of volunteering here in the Appalachian Mountains. I will try to Blog from here as best I can about our trip, what we are learning and how we are helping the community.

We left South Bend with packed vans and started our trek... our fearless group of 11 Titans hit the road! We had some fun plans for the trip down and we wanted to try and enjoy some sites en route. Our first adventure was fitting all our stuff in two small mini-vans... luckily it all fit and we learned a lesson in space management (not originally part of the curriculum).
Our dinner was a typical southern stop at a Waffle House in Kentucky. Our waitress Rita was entertained by our Hoosier antics and the story of where we were going. "Well isn't that nice!" she said when she heard about our trip. Everyone enjoyed dinner and a break and we continued on...

After another stop for gas we got to visit Richmond, KY. Not the biggest tourism spot in the south, but it was on our route. It made for an interesting stop to see some historic buildings and we checked out the campus of Eastern Kentucky. We snapped a lot of photos and then got back on the road.
Just before leaving the state of Kentucky we made our final pit stop in Corbin, KY. For those not familiar with the city, it is home of the Colonel.... Colonel Sanders. We could not pass up the opportunity to eat Kentucky fried chicken, at the original Kentucky Fried Chicken.

A few hours later we drove through a tunnel, got dizzy on some winding mountain roads, and of course got a little lost... we arrived at our host site in Jonesville, VA. We got our orientation, made friends with fellow college participants from IUB, Minnesota, St. Louis University, Slippery Rock and a few other volunteers. The site leaders went and checked out our work sites, made plans for our work week, and then turned our vans into work trucks instead of family transports.

Tomorrow we will be working up in the mountains. We have been paired with a work team from IU Bloomington. The home we are working at was nearly destroyed in a fire and needs help to be rebuilt for a small young family. Hopefully we can help this family get settled back into their home and moving forward with their life soon enough.

Wish us luck... tomorrow we get to work.

Yeah... I know.

I know, I know... I get behind on posting pictures. Well this year the holidays snuck up on me, and then changing jobs and then we took so many pictures of Cruz that going through them all took time...

So here we are... two big albums (with four pages each) of pictures from December of Cruz. We cover everything from Christmas to his birthday, from visitors in South Bend to New Years Eve.

Enjoy!

December 2011 (1) - Busy Busy Boy
December was very busy for Mr. Cruz. We had lots of visitors for the holidays, he got new shoes and started in the toddler room and we made it up to Saginaw!
Visitors : SB Xmas : The Kicks : Saginaw

December 2011 (2) - Birthday!
The second album from December has some random pictures of Cruz as well as our time in Bad Axe and his Birthday!
Curious Cruz : BA Trip : Birthday! : ONE

Two Days Left

The last couple weeks were hectic... Cruz was sick and had to stay home from daycare for three days! Heather has been sick and not feeling well, and then this weekend my back started to hurt so bad I basically spent a whole day on a heating bad... yeah I know, I am getting old.

So top it all off... I am still trying to wrap up work at IU South Bend. I officially only have two days left of full time employment. Wow... it will be weird because I am not leaving, not moving away, and even more so I am still going to be teaching at IUSB so I will still be part of the family there!

Well this past week it was mixed emotions; the phone calls to wish me well, the emails from students... and on the flip the no fun of sorting my papers, cleaning my desk and remembering which books were mine on the bookshelf. Plus I can't find my rubix cube... who took it?

Some of my highlights were when a professor called, and told me that in his 30 years at IUSB he never saw anyone do so many great things. Wow... and the honor of coming back from lunch to an AMAZING surprise party thrown for me by the Students Government and my staff. Then of course the humbling speech given by Karen White about when I started and how much I will be missed. Then SGA said they are naming an award after me... I think that is a bit too much so I will be a kabash on that... too young for anything to be named after me (and too poor to buy something to be named after me).


It was a solid week... I hope Monday and Tuesday will squeak by and I can relax and finish cleaning my office out.

One Week Left

Well I have one week left at Indiana University South Bend... It is bittersweet leaving. I am getting lots of thank you emails, congrats on the new job, we will miss you, and of course IUSB won't be the same without you. All those comments make it really hard to leave. In my four years here I was blessed to work with some great students, supportive staff and learned a lot about myself. I hope I have taught others as much as they have taught me, impacted lives and left an imprint and programs in place that will help students even after I have left and no one remembers what's his name... The one no one could say correctly... Yeah that guy.

I have been cleaning my office, writing instructions for all the things I did and trying to wrap up some projects. Its hard going through drawers and reading notes, reviewing old emails, and taking pictures off my wall and from around my computer. Packing up the coloring books I stocked for when I brought Novali to work and taking down all the post-it-notes she put around my office.

It has been approved that I will be hired as adjunct faculty to teach the Alternative Spring Break class trip to Virginia, so I won't be gone just yet... I also am going to help with the Feb 2nd launch of the new IU System MyInvolvement. It is sad that one of my major accomplishments will launch once I am gone... But I am glad I was able to be a part of such a great project.

So anyhow... The countdown is on... Wish me luck in cleaning out the rest of my office.

For those that asked, here is the article from the school paper: IUSB Preface

New Year. New Job.

Well the news is getting more and more public now, so I wanted to make it "Facebook Official" for the rest of the world. So here is some important news...

On February 1st, 2012 I will be starting a new job at Ivy Tech Community College. I will be the Director of Student Life, Development and Leadership for their North Central region. That means I will supervise staff on three campuses; South Bend, Elkhart and Warsaw. My main areas will include Career Services, Diversity Programming and of course Student Life (Clubs, Programs, Student Government, etc.). They have a growing program and I am excited to come in and help continue to build their programs.

It is a great professional move for me, and it doesn't require us to move... so we are staying right here in South Bend and will continue to be involved in our community. Professionally I will supervise a cross functional team on three campuses and am looking forward to that challenge. I also will be reaching out to all my professional contacts with community college experience to get ideas and for support during my learning transition to this new system.

Personally it is sad for me to leave a great team of staff and students behind. I have loved my time at Indiana University South Bend, and Novali is equally sad as she (and I have appreciated it) has grown accustomed to campus and is a well known by all my students and staff. She will continue to do basketball camp at IU in the summer though, so she is excited about that!

I have a busy month as I am wrapping up things here at IUSB, trying to pick our health benefits again (why is it so complicated!), and making sure I transition all my work projects successfully before I go. I hope to always consider myself part of the IUSB Titan Family and hope our inter-campus partnership continue to grow, I will just be on the other side of the table now.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me professionally... I have too many great mentors to list that have helped my career grow and flourish. Also thank you to Heather, who deals with my craziness and all the time I will be spending on this transition trying to learn new things, while wrapping up old projects.

Whew... news is public now, nice weight off my chest.

Directions for Santa

It has always been tricky for Santa... Novali has two homes, and he has an annual dilemma of where to leave all of her presents. Being the great Claus that he is he always manages to leave presents for her in the right spots.

This year we threw Santa a curve ball... We decided not to have our 9 foot tall Christmas tree out because of Cruz. He tends to tear into everything in sight, and a tall indoor tree might be too much for him to bear not being able to touch. So we went treeless, but did end up getting a small 3 foot tree that Novali and I put on the writing desk in our foyer.
Novali helped hang the stockings, and pick out and light the little tree with me. She loves Christmas and helping Heather decorate the house.

Well then Novali thought what if Santa can't find the tree? What if he doesn't know where to put presents? I told her that he knows, but she brainstormed and thought she should love him directions. So she got a memo pad, some scotch tape and made signs from our fireplace into the foyer.... just in case.The final post pointed to where presents would go. Then on Christmas Eve, her Christmas Elf Noah (Elf on the Shelf) came to the foyer and sat by the tree, taking note to tell Santa that evening where her presents would go...

And it worked! Merry Christmas!

Man Cave Christmas

The never ending saga of where to put kids toys is something I am sure alll parents struggle with at home. As soon as we clear out a space, he has it filled with more toys (grandparents love spoiling). A couple weeks ago Heather cleared out when of our built in cabinets below our TV. We stored a bunch of his boxes of toys and bigger items that fit in there.

Well true to form... Cruz went over, pulled everything out of it, and sat in side of it. He also liked closing the doors and sitting inside the cabinet in the dark. Heather called it his man cave... and then Novali had the idea that we needed to make it "more comfortable" for him. Well that turned into her Christmas present for her brother, she wanted to pimp out his man cave.

So Novali and made it our task to find things for his cave. We discussed wall paper, new flooring, installing lights in there... you know all the essentials that a man cave would need.

First thing we did was to prevent finger pinching we installed some handles on the inside of the cabinet doors. We re-used some old handles from our old windows I luckily saved this summer. We polished them and Novali used the power drill to install them (she is getting very handy).

So we cleaned the room up and did some upgrades. Novali wanted to tuck the cable line up in there so we hammered some clips in and then we fixed the cabinet hardware. Once it was all fixed up, we went shopping...

Novali is very creative... and thought of doing a stripe in his room and using duct tape (she loves duct tape). She picked a fun tie-dye duct tape and then picked fun colors items to go in his man cave. She picked a shaggy purple rug and a fun orange/red pillow for him. We added a little LED light in the ceiling and VOILA... New Man Cave for Christmas.

For more pictures please check out her website at: Novali

Merry Christmas Cruz!

Buelos and Thanksgiving

I am way behind on my blog, yes I realize that all my blogs start with an apology about being late... well I guess this isn't an apology... ha.

Anyhow my parents arrived back in the states and came up to South Bend to visit for Thanksgiving. It was great to have them visit, and it was great timing because Novali had a week off school so I had her for the long break.

We had a lot of fun... its might not sound like fun, but she loves working with me around the house. Novali helped me build my new closet organizer in my room (Sorting Blog) and then helped me put the snow tires on the Jetta.Novali and I spent time at my office, doing some shopping and errands and had a great time. Once my parents arrived even more fun kicked off. They brought Christmas presents since we might not get to see them before the holidays. So not only was it turkey time, Novali off school, but also presents... so needless to say the house was busy!

My parents are always excited to do fun stuff with their grandkids. Novali had just gotten her report card, so they went out to lunch to celebrate her straight As! They had fun keeping Cruz from daycare and spending all day with him at the house. Novali is a great help with Cruz as well and its fun having our house full of family.

We took the time to get some nice pictures with my parents and the grandkids. We got some nice shots and we will post more later.Of course it was Thanksgiving... so Cruz had his first thanksgiving! He enjoyed a nice turkey leg (he at least held it so I could take a pic) and Novali enjoyed cooking (even though she doesn't like eating her green bean casserole). Glad my parents were able to enjoy that first holiday with Cruz and our family. I have posted more pictures from the visit on Cruz's site: November 2011

Sorting and Organizing

Lately life has been hectic... Work has been busy, fraternity board is hectic, volunteer work, and this little guy called Cruz takes up a lot of time. Well finally this week I got to relax a little. I had Novali all week, my parents came to visit and I took some time off work (plus the holiday time off).

One project that has been eluding me is organizing my closet and clothes. Luckily Novali likes helping me do work around the house so on our day home together we worked on building my new organizer. She was a great help and even used the power drill a little (later she helped me changed snow tires on Weather's car and used an impact wrench!). My dad helped wrap up the project when they arrived but I am glad I have more space for my stuff on my side of bedroom now. It also means I am clearing stuff from the closet in Novell's room and giving her more space... As she gets older she will need more and more room...The project also helped me get through some organizing I have been needing to do. This year I have been trying to purge more clothes that don't fit and donate other things that I just don't need. Heather and I both have kept the local second hand stores stocked. I think this winter we will finally donate all the items we have been planning to sell in a garage sale... Which we now realize might never happen.So my side of the room is a whole new place... Hopefully I can keep it that way!

Midnight Snack

This weekend was a lot of fun, but also a time that Mr. Cruz showed us more of his personality. He showed me a whole lot of Centellas this weekend so I thought I would recap.

Saturday we went to the mall... at the mall while in the kids play area he wanted to 1.) sit in the blue race car and 2.) chase girls all over. In the rest of the mall he enjoyed people watching and starred at everyone walking by us.
Later on that evening I cooked rice, not as good as my moms of course, but not too bad. It went along with some nice steaks that Heather got us. Yum... well Cruz showed his Centellas roots and smashed almost two bowls of rice! Which took a while with his tiny spoon, but he loved it.

Sunday Cruz enjoyed some yard work with me... well he was in his intellitainer... but he loved being outside and "helping" me do yard work. By helping I mean jumping up and down excited every time something made a loud noise. He wasn't happy that he didn't get to eat all the leaves though... maybe next year he can actually help me. I can teach him how zen doing yard work can be...

Sunday night he pulled out all the stops... he woke up at 11:30PM... hungry. He wouldn't go back to sleep so I took him downstairs and fed him. He destroyed two bowls of cereal, and then knocked out for the night. He needed a midnight snack...

For those who know my house growing up... an important family time was the midnight snack... and if you got there late... no left over ribs for you. During the day at the house we plan, oh save that for tonight...

So hopefully Cruz keeps that up, I will for sure be looking forward to midnight talks when he grows up over a plate of left over ribs, with a side of rice.

Fall Back

Well fall is getting away from me... quickly. So what are the new updates and what is going on in my life?

A TON.

Luckily it is all great stuff! So lets get a quick fall 2011 recap:

Cruz - well he is 10 months old. Walks like a toddler, almost talking... and gets into everything. Really couldn't ask for more, well might be nice if he was potty trained...

Novali - she is doing well in school. Is running more and did a 5k at her school. That means she has done four of them this year! Awesome.

Heather - just had a birthday... one year older, a mom, enjoying work and balancing a crazy life schedule.

Me - where to start. Work is hectic, but good and lots of new things going on. In fraternity life my board is rolling on some major projects, doing some traveling and trying to enjoy my last year on my board. In consulting work, OutSight had a solid fall semester with four gigs which is about all my schedule could fit, and I am working with some folks on some exciting new opportunities. In my local involvements I have been appointed by the mayor of South Bend to a city committee. I am very excited about that, and have my first official meeting tomorrow!

Whew... so lots going on! Glad I got that fall back hour to help a little. This weekend I need to put snow tires on the Jetta and rake some leaves... wish me and my back, luck!

How Do You Get Frosty Off the Couch?

This weekend it was just Novali and I together. Heather and Cruz went to Michigan for a family event, I couldn't go because I had some work events and so it was a good chance for a fun daughter daddy weekend (working).

Novali constantly reminds me that I have the coolest job, which I must say is fairly accurate. She likes coming to work and so its not a bother when I need to bring her along. She has gotten to know so many people that I work with and knows our campus better than most students I know!

Friday night was the second annual LSU Night at the SAC. Novali was excited for the Day of the Dead dance, some Zumba, pizza and of course Señora Cynthia and the LSU crew. We got there around 10PM (yes I know past her bedtime), I got some work done for my events the next day and she hung out, shot pool, danced, and had a great time. The LSU event was from 9PM to 9AM... we couldn't stay all night, but we managed to survive until a little past midnight (yes I know, WAY past her bedtime).

Saturday we got up mega early to make it for the 7AM Zumba class taught by none other than Novali's favorite student Sineyda! She ran down to do Zumba while I set up for Make a Difference Day. This was the first time we did it at IU South Bend, and we combined with another first time event "Scholars Give Back Day" as well. We had over 70 students signed up and nearly 10 staff to do service!

Novali has been wanting to do service for the Center for the Homeless ever since we donated clothes at CFH. Since I had lots of coordinating to do, she tagged along with that group and luckily as always my great students helped keep an eye on her. She enjoyed the experience and to my surprise later we had a reflection time about what she did and what she learned... yep, me the Service Learning guy... who'da figured?

I shuttled vans, got people places, made sure people didn't get lost, and then because we were short volunteers I ended up at Southfield Village, a retirement community. We were scheduled for a "Pamper Day" and I was knee deep in chatting up the old ladies and even did some back rubs. I was not however asked to help with nail painting, probably better off anyways....

We wrapped up volunteering, lunch and then Novali and I went home around 3pm... to only take some short naps and turn around and come back at 5pm to help set up for the Hallopalooza at housing that evening. Novali brought her Dorothy costume from last year and required me to dig up something... short on time I just grabbed some of my racing stuff (helmet, jacket) and some patches that Novali stuck on my Nissan Zippy.Novali enjoyed helping to wire up the lights. Her and Sara one of my staffers worked well together and maybe Novali has a future in stage production? She learned all about the light controller, how to flash and chase the lights, etc. She was a pro by the end of the night...

We left around 9PM (yes past her bedtime), we got some Wendy's Frosty's and went home to watch ND on TV. Well we were tired... so we didn't last the whole game before we both passed out. Unfortunately she hadn't finished her Frosty yet...

So today she is working on homework, I am doing some chores and trying to figure out the best way to get Frosty out of the couch...

Home Sick (with my Boyo)

Today was the first time I called in "sick" to work... I had to stay home with a little sick boyo named Cruz. He was weazy all night, threw up in the morning and was a little hot. So I did the 7am email to my staff to be the stay at home parent. Luckily Heather and I could split the day and she came home at lunch and we swapped.

Aside from the extremely modest FMLA time I took (none of which IU offered as paid) this is the first time I have had to call in "sick" to work. It was kinda cool in a weird way. I was glad I have good support staff that I could trust to cover work, and that technology kept me connected enough to monitor work, but be able to focus on taking care of my little man.

Heather came home and I was able to run to campus to teach and cover my other work duties for the day. While at work plugged away on a few project to-do-lists and cleared up my plate so I could focus on him once I got back home.

So technology and my staff came through for me today, and that feels good. That I can balance work life and being a father is important and glad it worked today. Now let me get back home to my little boyo.

Baby Grows. Time Flies.

So needless to say for those who check out the website I made for little baby Cruzo have noticed... no updates. None. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Nada...

I know, I know... each month I promised this would be the month that I post photos, but since July 5th the website has looked the samo. Well I fixed that finally and put up pictures from July and August. September will be coming, well, at the end of September (or early October, give me some flex room).

On the flip side it isn't like I don't Tweet or Facebook updates of the little champ. So I hope everyone doesn't feel too neglected over updates on the progress of our little snuzo baby. So here are a few things going on with him in September that aren't in his new pics...

He is nearly walking! I am guessing my next blog will be about baby steps. For about a month now he has been doing the baby surf board, where he stands all by himself swaying from side to side. So for the past two weeks I try once a night to stand him up and get him to take a step towards me. So far I can get one, sometimes two... before he just dives at me. But we are nearly there and soon will have some video evidence of the guy.

Other important update was that he got baptized. He put on a good show at church, trying to grab the pastors papers, and got all excited when he saw the water. Cute pics of that also coming soon... in that already fabled September Album.

Well here are links to his two new months of pictures... it was a long time coming, and we didn't have pics of everything he did, but pretty dang close. Enjoy!

July 2011 - Summer!
August 2011 - Trips. Trips.

Enjoy and be back soon!

One Year Older? Wiser? Just a Birthday...

For me birthdays have always been fairly anticlimactic. First day of school in the USA (1st grade) was my birthday, and I barely spoke English but luckily did understand when they sung to me in class (I think everyone in the world can sing it in English).

First day of Junior High, first day of High School, and first day of College... yep... all on my birthday. So needless to say generally my birthday was full of busy prep time buying notebooks, planning outfits or re-arranging furniture in my first apartment.

This year my birthday was my first day out of 13 days in a row that I did't have to work... so as in previous years the days leading up to my birthday have been filled with thoughts of everything besides the fact that today I become one year older.

So the moral of the story is that I am not a big birthday person. Not because I worry about getting older, or I don't like parties (ha!) but just out of habit of keeping them low key. Plus the only thing I know getting older has brought me is buying bigger bottles of Ibuprofen and IcyHot.

This year I mixed up it up a little... Its a big fun weekend here for my birthday! Novali and I watched the Fighting Irish take on South Florida (see previous post). Hermen, Erin and little Pippa stopped for a short visit. Plus the DeCourvals were here for the weekend and we are enjoying some nice family time. Not to mention that Heather took me out for an awesome steak dinner!

I extended my birthday into Tuesday and treated myself to Karting with my car club (www.sbrscca.org) at MRP Motorsports Park. It was a fun night and I did well! After two rounds of qualifying I was put into the "faster" race group. Nice! I was worried as it was only my second time karting, but I ended 9th of 14. No too shabby! Good way to end my extended birthday celebration.

Hopefully I won't be a photo slacker and get pics up soon!

Epic ND Game

I had promised Novali last year that once she was ten she could go to an ND Football Game. I told her that the games are long, and we go to watch the game... not spend it taking 15 minute trips to the bathroom, wanting to walking around or leave early cause she is bored. So I said once she is ten she should have the patience for a long football game.

Well for my birthday her and I went to the Notre Dame vs University of South Florida game... it was set to be a hot day. We prepared for the heat with sun screen, shades and she wore a cap. There was potential for some rain and we figured a nice rain would help cool the game off.

We walked up to the stadium just as the AirForce Flyby happened... she said... "Man that was loud, but it was awesome!"

We got some pop and headed into the stadium! Found our seats and settled in... Go Irish!

The game started off rough... actually rough might be an understatement. Two turnovers in the red zone, fumbled punt return... the game was a complete mess for the Irish. Then the real mess started at half time... weather delay just as the band started to take the field. Then they evacuated the stadium! We stayed in the concourse area for what we hoped would be a 15 minute delay...

Two hours later, and several refills into our "All You Can Drink Souvenir Cup" we were still in the concourse. Novali was resolved to stay, she didn't want to leave, but she did want a hot pretzel. The only happy people were the concession stand staff... they were raking in the money!

We finally got in for the second half and the Irish started with a FURY! It was exciting, we were getting yards, the new QB was getting it done and Novali was finally understanding some of the rules on downs.

Then as the game was looking grim... another rain delay! She still wanted to stay, we topped off our pop and waited it out.The Irish rewarded the faithful with a great touchdown to bring the game within 3 points with only seconds left on the clock... excitement filled the air as the onside kick looked good... but was grabbed at the last minute by a USF Bull. Game over.

We had a great time! We got two games for the price of one basically... a hot day game... and a cool night game under the lights. We broke a record for a 6 hour football game, we made some friends, and Novali got her wish of watching the Irish play. Hopefully next time we go, they win...

Daddy Daughter Road Trip!

For our summer trip Novali and I had a fun trip to visit my older brother Miguel's family in Oxford, MS. It is an 11 hour drive, so we planned an overnight on each leg of the drive. Mostly to split up the drive, but also to get to see some fun new things. Here is a recap of the trip we made.

We kicked off the trip with a late night drive into Springfield, IL. We spent a short morning visiting the State Capital and then the Lincoln Museum. There was a lot more to see in the area, so I am sure we will visit again some day. Novali said her school takes the 8th graders so she got a little head start. We saw all of that, got lunch and hit the road to Oxford.Novali enjoyed the drive and is a great roadtrip partner. She loves reading an Atlas and tracking where we are on the map. Listing cities with funny names, enjoying the new landscape and taking videos of us crossing the Mississippi River and state lines. We arrived in Oxford around dinner time.

Miguel and Kate are faculty at Ole Miss and we got a late night tour of campus and of course got to play with Javi and Zoe before their bedtime.

Saturday was out full day in Oxford. We kicked it off at BottleTree Bakery. Novali loved it because she wants to be a baker, loves pastries AND the place is on Oprah's List of favorite things...We spent part of the day enjoying time at a park with the kids, some time at home playing with toys (and trains), Novali and Miguel made ice cream and time just catching up. For dinner we want to Ajax Diner a place in downtown Oxford on their square. Downtown Oxford is called the Square and is very well maintained and has a great Southern classic look and feel. We ran into an impromptu parade with kilts and bagpipes, and the kids got to run around.

Sunday morning we had a delicious brunch at Big Bad Breakfast. Luckily we arrived in time to beat the crazy lined that formed after we arrived. It was an amazing combo of grits, locally produced meats, and other southern items. After breakfast we rolled over to the home of William Faulkner. Miguel and Kate were great hosts and we hope to visit them and the kids again soon!

Then we hit the road... on Miguel's recommendation we planned a dinner stop in Sikestons, MO for "Throwed Rolls" at Lamberts Cafe. Novali didn't believe me that they would actually throw rolls... I wasn't sure either, but man they did! It was a fun family style dinner where they brought around all you can eat sides, and of course threw rolls at you (to catch and eat). Novali refused to catch any at first... but finally before we left she caught half of a roll (the rolls were huge) thrown by our guy.

We spent the last night in St. Louis at a Double Tree... we munched on some cookies and got some sleep. We woke early to a big breakfast and trip into St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch. We saw some of the park, walked along the Mississippi and then packed back into the car...It was a fun roadtrip. We proved that sometimes an Atlas is better than a GPS. We proved that stretching out in a rest area parking lot will get you a lot of stares. We proved that a large Dominos pizza can be eaten while you drive (and makes a good in car table, and also a second meal...). We proved that you can have fun on a budget and short on time.

Full pictures at Novali's site: Novali