A typical morning in our household

I've been meaning to get these photos posted for quite some time, but we've been super busy with finals wrap-up and then major home improvement projects (additional posts on that to follow). I decided to document my last morning of law school classes. I meant to take more photos, but these are the only ones that I ended up taking.

Without further ado, a normal morning in our house in black and white:



It wouldn't be a normal morning in the Wilson household without a meltdown from Sam. In this particular instance she was extremely distraught because she received the wrong color of cereal bowl!


Mmmmm....fruit shake for breakfast!


For some reason Zeke resembles an old man in this photo.


Drew is chowing down on some cereal.


Two of my biggest fans (and I'm actually one of THEIR biggest fans also)! They were very excited that Dad was done with school.


WE DID IT! (now all I need to do is pass the exam)

Snow?! At the end of April!!

Here is what we woke up to Sunday morning (actually, what we woke up to was Drew running in our room at 6:40 yelling "There's snow on ground! There's snow on the ground!"):




(click this one to see the snow on some flowers in our front yard...my attempt at a National Geographic-type shot)

I know, I know...it's not very much, but I actually took these photos after the sun had come out and it was melting rapidly. It's still amazing to have snow this late in the year!

A cloud of sickness seems to have settled in over our family

Lately, all of us except Missi (knock on wood) have been feeling absolutely terrible. Fever, headaches, achey muscles and joints, etc...It started with Sam, who got over it fairly quickly, then passed to Drew and me, who are currently battling. Drew has missed some school and baseball, and I've got finals next week, so hopefully this is a short-term ailment!



Doesn't Sam look absolutely pitiful!



Drew and Sam in his room listening to a CD.



Laying low

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

This weekend was the kick off of spring in our household~ baseball. Drew had his first two games. The beautiful weather aided in the enjoyment on the sidelines for his cheer section:) He has such heart out there. They play machine pitch, and Drew got to play pitcher for a few innings. I think that is like a dream come true for him. Right in the middle of all the action. Taking charge. Having a blast. We will be at games three days a week, and he has practice another two days. John is helping the coaching staff. He has such an amazing gift with kids. The boys really love him. I'm looking forward to watching Drew play out his last sports season in Eugene with some of his best friends... and improve as a ball player of course!

Sam counting

Here is a short video of Sam from last night working on counting with Missi as they read a book. I like her discussion of who the characters in the story remind her of from her own family.

And thus ends my LBA career…

I may have written on this blog on prior occasions about the Legal Ballers Association, or LBA. The LBA was started nearly three years ago by the talented and inspiring Jumane Redway, a current JD/MBA student at Oregon. Through Jumane’s perserverence and encouragement, the league has grown into what it is today – a recreational, but competitive, hoops league made up of nearly 100 law students (both guys and girls) and law professors. I think there were 12 teams this year, divided into two divisions (Civil and Criminal, of course). The teams have creative, witty team names like Rulers in Perpetuity, Hoopatheticals, and Amici Curiae (friend of the court). For the past two years I have labored on below-average teams, but this year I was excited to be drafted onto a really great team, the Runnin’ 1.8J’s (the explanation of our team name is for another day, but if you’re really curious, start with the Model Rules of Professional Conduct). Anyway, we spent most of the regular season at or near the top of the standings, so hopes were high when the playoffs rolled around.

After winning a grueling 5 game series (yes, we actually play best-of-5 in the semifinals and championship rounds), we were matched up in the championship with Bestlaw(Remix), the reigning LBA champs gunning for back-to-back titles. Bestlaw is, obviously, sponsored by Westlaw. After dropping the first two games, we won the third game and were only down 2-1. In game 4, a disputed foul call led to Bestlaw having the ball with 15 seconds to play, down by one. One of their best players managed to pass out of a double-team to an open player who hit the game winner as time expired. It was a tough, hard-fought game.

Reflecting on my experience in the LBA, I will certainly remember it as one of the most enjoyable experiences of law school. Besides giving me the opportunity to remain active, the LBA helped foster closer friendships through teamwork, and it helped release some of that pent-up competitive energy that so many of us have. We didn’t win the title, but it was still a great season.


Here is my team, the Runnin' 1.8Js.



Here are the league champs, Bestlaw(Remix)

Favorite Sites

Here's a quick list of our family's favorite websites~

John~
oregonlive.com
ducksportsnews.com
blogger.com
Missi~
yahoo.com
myspace.com
craigslist.org
Drew~
lego.com
webkiz.com
Samantha~
barbie.com
http://jodfijhoihjidofbjotiyuofgj.jfohbfyig/(ummmmmm, .com I guess!)
Apparently, Sam got on to the computer to practice her "skills". We went to our history on the Internet, and saw this on here. Couldn't resist:)

Ohhhh Sam...

...what a cutie you are! Today, she and I were having lunch at home with each other, and her mind was busy at work. She has been on a question kick lately, and this day was no exception. She was asking about heaven and how you get there. After talking about that for a few, she decided that when she does get there, she was going to ask God why he put our noses in the middle of the face. Loved it!!


And speaking of heaven and kids, one of my bestest friends and co-workers, Kirsti, had the privilege of being a huge part of her niece's baptism on Easter. And they got it on tape! Her brother is the worship pastor at Mars Hill in Seattle, where John and I will try when we move. It is the sweetest moment when he realizes that the last person to be going is his own daughter!! I had to share. Enjoy!!

A Few Recommendations

Here are a few recommendations I've been meaning to post for awhile:

Movies and TV:

The King of Kong: A Fist Full of Quarters - 9/10 stars. Absolutely great movie.
Dan in Real Life - 7/10 stars. Good date movie, light-hearted but funny. I'm a Steve Carrell fan, and he does a good job in this one.
Blood Diamond - 6/10 starts. Pretty good plot and good acting by Leo, but I think the film's real value was in the increased awareness it brought me about the atrocities that have been committed in Africa.
Ax Men - 8/10 stars. This is a reality show on The History Channel, and it follows loggers from Oregon. A really great show, especially for someone from the Northwest.

Books:

Blue Like Jazz - 10/10 stars. I'd heard so much about this book but had resisted reading it for such a long time, and I have no idea why. Just a ridiculously great book. I've been meaning to write a full book review of this for some time and haven't gotten around to it. One can dream. I HIGHLY recommend this book.
Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith - 9/10 stars. The only reason I don't give this book a PERFECT 10 is that I'm still reading it and so I can't pass judgment on it just yet. So far, though, it rivals Blue Like Jazz as far as readability and being able to describe profound thoughts simply.
Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills - 10/10 stars - I received this book as a Christmas gift, and I immediately spent the next three or four days pouring over it. If you have any interest in mountaineering or serious backpacking, this book is a must-have.

Music:

Sleep Through the Static by Jack Johnson - 8/10 stars. A solid album from Jack Johnson. As with all of Jack Johnson's music, it has a good summertime vibe.

Blogs:

Close to Home by Bob Welch - An interesting blog from my favorite Register-Guard writer.

A few recent pics

Last week our friends Travis and Mary were back in Eugene visiting from their home in Montana. They brought their all-grown-up-and-adorable son Mark with them, who was just an infant when Travis and Mary moved back to Montana last May. Travis is clerking for the Montana Supreme Court and will move on to other challenges in August. They are one of the nicest families you'll ever meet and it was so good to see them.

Mark Ahner, taking it all in.

The Ahner Family, with Mark digging for gold.


I got to see everyone's favorite cover band, Musk, last Thursday night. They played at the Eugene City Brewery and, as always, they were a huge hit.






On Friday night, Missi and I were fortunate to attend the Frohnmayer Awards for Public Service, an event put on by the Law School Alumni Association. It was a great evening, and I'll probably try to devote an entire post to this at some point.


Missi and my classmate Emily


Me and my buddy Matt

After the banquet was over, we met up with our good friends John and Kirsti and headed over to The Paragon. It had been a long time since we've seen them, so it was great to catch up.




Yesterday we had Drew's Opening Ceremonies for his baseball league. Sam was VERY excited the Oregon Duck was there to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, so of course we had to get a picture!

All About Samantha

Everyone in our family has been really enjoying the "All About" posts that the Zimels have been posting about their kids, so much so that we decided to "steal" their idea and use it for our blog! So, without further adieu, here are the answers that Samantha gave to a series of simple questions (I tried to type out her responses as close to her actual wording as possible).

What is the first thing you want to do when you get home from gym (where she goes everyday with Missi)?: Ride my bike

What are some words that describe you (she had a hard time understanding this question)? I'm not mad, not sad…hey that rhymes!

The best thing about being a kid is…being good.

If you could pick any type of food for dinner, what would it be? Chicken nuggets and chocolate milk. And ketchup with the nuggets.

What are your favorite songs? The Beauty and the Beast dancing song. When Mrs. Potts sings. It’s the beautifulest song ever.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A princess like Belle.

How come? I love princesses. So I could be in Disneyland and I could go wherever I wanted to in Disneyland.

What do you like about having a big brother? He pours my cereal because I don’t know how to.

What don't you like about having a big brother? If he doesn’t pour my cereal and if he doesn’t be nice.

What will your kids do when you are a parent? I will let them play, let them read books when they grow up. They will probably obey me, but sometimes they might not obey me.

What are you going to do if they don’t obey? Give them spankings and let them have a timeout.

What do you like about Mom and Dad? They do nice stuff for me.

What do you not like about Mom and Dad? They don’t be nice sometimes because they put me in timeout and I don’t like that.

New Name for the Blog

I just re-named the blog "Living the Adventure." At some point I'll try to write out a more detailed rationale for this change, but for now, it's enough to mention that this phrase has become something of a motto between Missi and I, and so I thought it was appropriate. As always, we welcome your thoughts.

Free at Last!

I know John already posted some pics of our project "house declutter", but I had to add my two cents as well. Man it feels so freeing to have a place for everything and a home that actually looks good!! Last week was such a gift to me. I have been so overwhelmed by the amount of work that was needed to do to get our house ready to be sold. I feel like a ton of bricks have been lifted from my load. And the fun thing is, the house is staying clean!! (OK, so I guess we are only a week into it, but I have so much motivation to keep it this way, I think it just might stick) (:

John showed you the pantry (one of my favorite outcomes), so I thought I would show you the other biggest clutter area~ our room/closet.