Holiday Light Show On Lake Coeur D'Alene

The night before we left Stacey's parents and the family headed over to the resort for their holiday light show. The hotel had decorated the hotel lake front with Christmas lights and constructed a North Pole on the other side of the lake. For about 45 minutes we chugged along the lake in our holiday boat looking at Christmas lights and the waterfront.

After some hot chocolate and light viewing, everyone gathered at the front of the boat to see Santa. He read Julia and Jonathan's (and every child's) name from the "nice list" and then we saw them light the large Christmas tree. The Christmas lights on the waterfront were very pretty.

Uncle P.A.T.

Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool

That was quite the entertaining match. Both teams really went for the win and attacked. We missed a penalty and had the ball cleared off of the line, but somehow found a way to score two goals. The winning goal was in the 93rd minute - essentially one of the last plays of the game.

It's good to see Lennon score after being out for awhile. It's ironic that Lennon "did" Liverpool (insert Beatles and Titanic jokes here). VDV may be out a month with a hamstring tear. That's a big blow but at least it happened at the same time Defoe returned from injury. Perhaps the best thing about this last-second victory is that it places us 1 point out of 4th place and only 4 points behind 2nd and 3rd. We've been able to keep it close in the league despite playing in the UCL. This is good news since there will be a UCL break for a few months over the holidays allowing us to completely focus on the league.

Snowy Spokane

It's pretty much snowed the entire time we've been here. When we arrived last Saturday, there wasn't any snow on the ground at the house. I don't know how much snow has fallen in the last week, but there is about a foot of it still on the ground. We're going to have a little break early next week, but then another storm is coming mid to late week.

I've decided that I like snow as long as it melts. It's nice to have it falling and sticking for the holidays, but it also prevents you from doing anything outside. Add snow and the lack of sun, and all we've felt like doing is sleeping, eating, and watching (TV). We are getting a better idea of what a true winter is like after living in CA, HI, and now CO. Colorado Springs doesn't get enough snow for my taste but at least it melts quickly and it stays sunny. We used to get a lot more snow in the mid-1980s then we do now. Other places get more. Weather patterns change.

I'm glad we've got the 4 Runner up here. This past week a 4WD vehicle has been a necessity.

Roughin' It In Spokompton

Happy Thanksgiving

Julia is thankful for duct tape.

Tottenham 3 - 0 Bremen

Glory, glory Tottenham Hotspur! Tonight's solid win advanced us out of the group stage and into the knockout round of 16 for the first time in history.

Happy Sweet 16 Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. A few days ago you beat Arsenal away for the first time in almost as many years and as of today, are one of the elite clubs in Europe and the world. Success is fleeting, but tonight, you're up there with the best.

We have one more group game left. This last match day will determine whether or not we win the group or finish runners up. All we have to do is match or better Inter Milan. A win and we're first. The ideal finish would be Tottenham winning their group and facing one of the weaker second place finishers. At this point, trying to be as objective as possible, there are only a few teams that really scare me. I think that if we win our group and the draws go our way, the semi-finals might be attainable. Even if we crash and burn in the first knockout round though, this tournament has already been a success.

Goals: Kaboul (8), Modric (45 +1), Crouch (79)

Spokane Movie Night

The Joy Of Parenting

It's just slightly past 3 in the morning here in Spokane. A gentle blanket of snow covers the ground, the coffee pot is percolating, Stacey and Julia are cuddled up asleep next to the fire in the living room, and I have a snoring hot water bottle strapped to my chest as I type this blog. It doesn't get any better then this.

I decided to give Stacey a break this morning and let her sleep (she does it for me the other 364 days of the year). I wasn't in the mood to sleep anymore anyway. I decided to give the Snugli a try, since he does better when someone holds him. Even though he's small, he can get heavy really fast and it ties my hands up when I hold him.

Fast forward to almost 5 in the morning. I have surfed the web, updated our standings in fantasy football, and sipped some hot coffee. He's slept the entire time. I was just thinking how well this was going when "the urge" hit me. We're talking sit down, read the paper urge - not stand up, aim for the bushes urge. I couldn't hold it, so I had a dilemma. Do I take him out of the Snugli and deal with certain re-awakening, for which I had worked so hard to avoid? Or, do I suck it up and awkwardly "take care of business"? I chose the latter, of course. It's only fitting the roles get reversed every now and then.

I gingerly sat down and slipped my pajamas to my ankles. With the exception of his little feet dangling dangerously near the "death zone", it was surprisingly easy as long as nothing else moved. He squirmed once, when I moved, and I thought how funny it would be if he woke up due to other factors related to this process. Afterwards, it quickly became very clear that I had not thought about clean up and reassembly. To use a variation of an old flight instructor saying, I wanted to learn to fly but didn't think about learning how to land. I eventually figured it out. The hardest part was getting my underpants and pajamas pulled back up! I couldn't exactly bend over and grab them, since my leaning would put Jonathan parallel to the floor and probably wake him up. Nothing a little straight-legged dead lift move won't fix though.

After I awkwardly returned my pajamas to their correct location, albeit still on backwards from when I had put them on in the dark, I poured myself another cup of joe and continued playing on the computer. The great thing is, despite how tiring and inconvenient this morning was, I wouldn't have traded it for the world. This is what it's all about. In between holding sneezes, choking back coughs, and trips to the bathroom, I got a lot of things done and got the full parenting experience at no extra charge.

Gotta run, bathroom break.

Major Football Weekend

Congrats to Tottenham Hotspur and the Colorado Rapids!

I'm sure you already knew that though since it's been plastered all over the news (sarcasm). For the first time since 1993, Spurs beat North London rivals Arsenal at their ground. Another championship is coming to Denver after Colorado beat Dallas in the MLS championship game (their first title).

Since the Tottenham game was shown on ESPN 3 while we were driving to Spokane, my plan was to watch the replay online Saturday night. I thought ESPN 3 replays every game they show - I guess not. It's killing me that I missed them come from behind 0-2 and steal the win. I caught the Rapids game on ESPN 3 from about the 70th minute on, but the internet connection we have here (for which we are EXTREMELY grateful for, by the way) isn't quite good enough to stream sports video. I know the Rapids and Dallas were the maroon and blue blobs, respectively, though. The ball and people's heads were hard to distinguish.

I am a bit bummed I missed all the action (both were in HD too). However, when I stop and think about it, I realize how much things have changed. A few years ago, seeing the games probably wouldn't have even been an option. A few years before that, I wouldn't have even known they were going on. I'm glad I have a DVR waiting for me when I get home...

We Made It

Well, we made it to Spokane in one piece. I'm not going to lie though, it was a pretty long drive since we had two young kids, drove at night, and had to take the long way around to avoid the weather. Our route was almost exactly 1,300 miles, about 150 more then the standard route. It took us 21 hours of driving time when you count stops (just over 60 mph average), but only 24 hours total. That's pretty good, all things considered.

Julia has officially won the "Easiest Kid In America" award after the trip up. She slept most of the night and otherwise listened to music, sang to herself, or played with Jonathan. She never once got irritated while she was in the car and never once cried. Jules was able to find something to keep herself entertained. She's unleashing her pent up play energy right now though.

Jonathan doesn't like to be confined at any time, let alone in a car seat for a very long period. He did really well as long as Stacey sat in the backseat and held him. So, that's what we did. Safety nuts and people that have never had kids probably think that's a really bad idea...all I can say is that I'm sure every parent has done something similar for sanity's sake. That also meant I did all but about 2 hours of the driving, but I was happy to do it since it was the best arrangement for everyone.

It was a good decision to go the long way around. With the exception of some wet snow that didn't stick to the road, we had perfect weather all the way here. It was about 2:30 a.m. when the flurries started to come down around Twin Falls, ID. Since I was tired, we pulled off at a gas station/truck stop to rest. If the snow was going to continue, I wanted to be driving it in during the day when the temps were higher and the visibility, greater. Luckily, it cleared up. We hunkered down and got some rest for a few hours. Jonathan cuddled up to Stacey and for part of the time Julia slept on my chest while we reclined in the front seat.

We're pretty much settled at Stacey's Grandma's house now. After a quick run to Walmart and dinner, we all went to sleep at "bedtime"...around 7 p.m. Pictures: Julia playing and Jonathan asleep (still chewing the strap).

Oregon (Spokane) Trail

Well, the weather today and this weekend has altered our travels plans. Montana has already been blanketed by a couple of inches of snow and more is expected. There is a pretty good storm that is moving in today. In addition to the snow, the temps aren't going to get much above freezing (if at all), making the I-90 route to Spokane inadvisable. With a 5 month old and a 3 year old, I'd like to avoid the snow and bad roads as much as possible.

It's a good thing I recently finished Oregon Trail for the iPad. Would you like to ford the Montana rivers? Jonathan has dysentery. Blizzard conditions: lose 2 days. Although it's about 150 miles longer, we're going to take a route very similar to the Oregon Trail. We're going to take I-80 across southern Wyoming past Independence Rock, dip down to Fort Bridger, and possibly stay overnight at Fort Boise on I-84. Around Whitman Mission we'll pick up Hwy 395 up to I-90 and the Spokane trading post.

The fact that we have go the long way around to cross the mountains farther south is a little bit of a bummer. I really like the drive across Montana. At least we are borrowing the banker's 4-running oxen and wagon. Otherwise, we would have to make the trek across in a farmer's 2 oxen Tercel. Stacey has suffered a broken arm. Would you like to rest? Let's hunt some buffalo.

Lilo And Snitch

Note to self: don't take Julia along when shopping for Momma's birthday. She only lasted 30 seconds before she spilled the beans...

Old Navy Commercial

Jonathan was in a really good mood today and I liked his threads. That meant pictures.

No Animals Were Harmed...

...in the making of this news story. I'm not sure this qualifies as the type of free media advertising you want. Stacey and I got a good chuckle out of the news story though...KKTV made sure that everyone's fears were calmed about the safety of the animals. No pets were injured. THANK GOD.

Luckily, no one was seriously hurt. According to the female driver of the Lexus, the gas pedal stuck. At the end of the day, this turned out as well as it could have - all things considered. In addition to no one being seriously injured, there was no structural damage to the building and the car was relatively undamaged. My dad thinks that the 2,000 pound medical records cabinet that was located between the parking lot and the receptionists stopped the car and probably prevented it from plowing completely into the hospital (and really hurting someone).

The fireman cleaned up the site of the accident. News 11 and News 5 were there on the scene. News 5 interviewed my dad and had a reporter broadcasting live from their hospital on the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. news. Julia wanted to see Grandpa and Grandma talking to the fireman and the tow truck a few times on TV...and then wanted to call and talk to them on the phone.

Happy Birthday Stacey!

We celebrated Stacey's birthday with my parents early since we're leaving for Spokane on Friday. Julia made her own pizza (and helped with others) and kept telling Momma "Happy Birthday" over and over again, hoping we would hurry up and get to the cake.

Dank Opa und Oma!

10,000th Photo

We passed the 10,000 photos mark! I've been watching this the past few months but just realized it. Of course, I've taken 2 or 3 times that amount, but I have only kept the good shots and discarded the poor ones. So, without further ado, the winner of the Sudduth 10,000th photo is:

Jonathan At 5 Months Old

Road Trip

We leave for Spokane a week from today. It's the first big road trip Stacey and I have taken together since we've been married. We drove from Washington to California, Boston to Colorado, and from California to Colorado on separate occasions, but we've never actually taken a real road trip together.

We are going to roll the dice and try to drive at nighttime so that the kids can sleep. I think it might be hard to drive 16-18 hours with them during the day. The good news is, we have some flexibility and can take as much time as needed to get there even if that means stopping somewhere for a few hours so Stacey can work at a coffee shop - should it take us into the work week. I'm going to try and change my sleep schedule for a day or two before we leave since I'll be doing most of the driving. It's an easy drive...take I-25 north until it ends in Montana, then take a left and head west on I-90. Technically, I-25 sort of curves and merges into I-90 so there really isn't even a turn between here and Washington. It's so easy a caveman can do it.

The weather is a wild card in addition to the kids. This trip could be easy but it also has all the ingredients necessary to be hellish. Maybe I could get a sedative or two from the veterinarian...I'm kidding. I would never give an animal sedative to my kids - half a pill works just fine! We will be able to spend the Thanksgiving holiday will all of Stacey's family. We plan on sticking around another week after that. It's nice to be free from any set schedule though...we can play it by ear.

Here's to the Sudduth family's first road trip. Wally World here we come.

Dentures?

Julia: I'm baking cookies Grandma!
Grandma: Oh, yummy. Are you making some for B?
Julia: Um...no. B can't eat cookies because she doesn't have any teeth.

Jailbreak

My chains are gone, I've been set free.

My God...I'm in love with my iPad again. Today, while thinking about our upcoming trip to Spokane, my curiosity led me to search Google for a way to control my iPad with a bluetooth mouse. Since a keyboard works, why not a mouse? One would think this (and many other things) would have been part of the iPad from the start...but, alas, are not. I didn't know how many things I could be doing with my iPad until my search popped up with "yes, you can use a mouse with the iPad...as long as you jailbreak it".

I don't know why I never thought of jailbreaking my iPad. It's easy, it's free, and I did it with my old iPhone. When I did it with my iPhone I eventually restored it to the manufacturer's settings because at the time I didn't get much use out of it. It was early on in this process and I'm not a big game person, which is what seemed like most of the jailbreak apps at the time were all about.

I've been playing with my iPad ever since, searching and installing some of the most useful and fun little tweaks to my system. It's amazing what people can come up with if they are given the opportunity to be creative on their own with no limits on what they can and can't do. I understand why a large company like Apple won't ship their products wide open...but it sure is a lot more fun when you have full control over a system. That's long been one of the reasons Apple has been popular in the "underground" - it uses an operating system that has historically been pretty easy (open) to customize.

So, what have I done? Take a look at the screenshot of my iPad below. When you jailbreak an iPad, it installs the Cydia App Store icon on your device. Think of Cydia as the App Store for hackers. I've downloaded things here and there from Cydia to make the desired changes to my iPad. I've done fun little tricks like change my title bar at the top of the screen. It now displays the name (and IP address, if you tap it) of the current network I'm on. The Spurs reference is for fun - the point is, you can change it to whatever you want it to say instead of the standard clock. I've thought about even rotating Bible verses for memorization purposes. At any rate, these things are mere toys when you compare them to some of the major changes.

Essentially, I've turned my iPad into a true portable computer in many senses. I'm not going to list all of the things I've already downloaded to customize my iPad. Just go to You Tube and search for "Top Jailbreak Apps for iPad" or something similar and you'll see what this can do for you. All I'll say is that it's a lot of fun and the possibilities are endless. After all, that's half the point of getting a toy...fiddling around with it to see what it can do. With the device unlocked, all I need is free time to browse the thousands of options.

Snack Time

Monday afternoon snack time is nothing special...unless it's done in a pillow fort.