Five for Fighting - Slice

I received the latest album, Slice, from Five for Fighting. I remembered Five for Fighting back in 2001 with the popular song, Superman. It was a very popular song after 9/11 so I was interested in hearing what their new album sounded like. I was very pleased with the mix of songs that this new album brings. The big songs on it are the title song, Slice, Story of Your Life, and Chances, but I liked the entire album. After listening to this album, I went back to listen to "100 Years" off of their previous album, The Battle for Everything. Five for Fighting is a great group and my favorite band named after a hockey penalty. I would recommend this album to anyone. Thanks to One2One Network for giving me this opportunity to review this great album.

Brandi Carlile - Give Up The Ghost

I had the opportunity to review the new album by Brandi Carlile, Give Up The Ghost. Give Up The Ghost is an excellent album filled with folk-country-pop tinged songs. I was not familiar with this artist before I listened to this album. This album is very unique and unlike anything else I have heard recently. It has a universal appeal that could be classified in either a country-rock or pop genre. Brandi has a beautiful voice and her lyrics are very personal and touching. She has a variety of upbeat songs and some beautiful ballads. I would recommend this album to anyone that enjoys music. Thanks to One2One Network for the opportunity to review this impressive album.

Michael Buble - Crazy Love

I received the album, Crazy Love, by Michael Buble. I wasn't familiar with this artist before I received the album. When I looked at the playlist, there were a lot of songs that I had heard before (All of Me, Georgia On My Mind, Heartache Tonight, You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You). His renditions were a different spin on the classics. It's a solid, nice-to-listen-to album. He sticks to the character of the original songs, recognizing the quality therein. But he also adds a bit of modernization through some creative updates in orchestration. Although this isn't really my style of music, I let my Mother-in-Law listen to it and she really enjoyed it. If you are a fan of Michael Buble, you will like this album. Thank you to One2One Network for the opportunity to review this impressive album.

Harry Connick, Jr. - Your Songs

I was given the opportunity to review Harry Connick Jr's latest album, Your Songs. This album really showcases his fantastic voice. This is not the classic Harry Connick Jr. album, but it is still enjoyable. My favorite songs off the album are "Some Enchanted Evening", "The Way You Look Tonight", "Smile" and "Your Song". Since a lot of these are older songs, it is easy to listen to and appreciate the style that he brings to these songs. It took a little time, but this album has really grown on me. Thank you to One2One Network for the opportunity to review this impressive album.

We Made It!!!

The kids in a classic hostage pose (holding today's newspaper).

Another scrapbooking weekend in the books (for Angie, not me)! The kids survived another one alone with Dad. I got a few "when is Mom coming back", but other than that, things went pretty well. In a few hours, she will be back and things will be back to normal.

Yoplait Whips

I was given the opportunity to try the new Yoplait Whips. As most of you know, myself and healthy foods are not a natural match. I have never been a big fan of yogurt, but I got some free coupons so I decided to give it a try. I put them in the freezer as they suggested for a frozen treat. After letting them thaw for 5-10 minutes, it was a really refreshing treat. I tried the chocolate mousse, however they have a lot of flavors. Here's the best part: You can try them too! There is a downloadable coupon for Yoplait Whips! - where you can save $0.60 when you purchase three cups of any Yoplait Whips! Flavor: Click here to download.

Additionally, right now, new members who sign-up to become subscribers of Betty Crocker's newsletter, will receive a free coupon for Yoplait Whips! **Click here to join.**

This free coupon is not valid in some states, including California, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota and Tennessee.

BUT HERE IS THE BEST PART....................................

MyBlogSpark has allowed me to give one lucky reader a Summer Cool Down Yoplait Prize pack that includes: 1 insulated tote, 1 set of 3 popsicle molds, 12 color changing spoons and 2 free coupons for Yoplait Whips.

This is a great prize pack and a way to keep summer going. To enter, either comment on this post (or email me) with your favorite summer treat (Yoplait?), what you did this summer, or your favorite summer memory from the past. I am going to select one person at random to receive this prize package. I'm sure Yoplait Whips will become a part of your summer (and all other seasons) after you try it!

A Little Disappointed, But.....

I'm a little disappointed that the Illini laid an egg against Purdue today, but how can I complain about this year's season? The Illini have had a great season and will find themselves in the NCAA tournament tomorrow. The future is looking good too. The clip above is of Brandon Paul (2009 Illini Recruit) hitting 3 free throws to put his team up by one with 4 seconds to go. Then Jereme Richmond (2010 Illini Recruit) calmly nails a shot from half court to win the game at the buzzer. Paul finished with 27 points and Richmond had 31 in the Class 4A Sectional title game. Here's another view from behind the basket. It's not as good of a video, but the audio of the crowd is pretty wild.

Thanksgiving Feast

Peoria Wildlife Park

We went to the Peoria Wildlife Park on the last weekend before they closed since we had free tickets that were expiring. As you can tell, it was very cold. It was really nice, but it will be better to visit when the weather is better. We talked with one of the rangers there that was working in the visitor's center. He was telling us about his least favorite animal in the park. It was the large bear they had. He showed the kids his missing leg because the bear attacked him several years ago. It made a big impression on the kids!

Grogan Groupies

Last fall Brandon and I were both reading books by John Grogan. We had a contest to see who could finish it first and I won! I did cheat by hiding his book from him. He is definately a better reader than I am!

2/100's of a Second!

Brandon (and Daddy) completed his first Pinewood Derby with his Cub Scouts Pack. We were late getting our kit so we did not have a lot of time to plan it out and make it. Brandon selected a design of one of his Hot Wheels cars and I used one of Angie's Creative Memories templates to replicate the design. Robert helped a lot by using his band saw and drill press to be able to cut it out smoothly and to drill holes in order to load it full of weights to get it up to the 5 ounce limit.

Everything seemed to be coming together as I checked it out with the postal scales at work and was right at the 5.0 limit on Friday for the weigh-in and test runs that night. We weighed in a 4.9 ounces (close enough) and Brandon waited for his first test down the track. He was all excited to see how it would run. He waited at the end of the track as they let them go only to watch it stop about 5 feet from the finish line! Panic set in! I was hoping that maybe it just got off track and Brandon was anxious to run it again. This time it was probably four feet short! Dad starting trying to figure out the physics while we gathered everything up and headed out of the building. It was hard to concentrate with an upset son in the backseat and a wife questioning what was wrong with MY car.

We made a mad dash to make it to the hobby store before they closed in case I was going to start from scratch the night before the race. I started retracing all of my construction steps in my head on the way to the store to figure out where I could have went wrong. I finally settled on the axles that was on the car. I had bought some metal polish at the hobby store and it came with axles with it. In examining those axles, I thought they seemed to be smoother than the ones that came in my kit so I used them. I filed down the ridges, sanded them smooth, and polished them so they were very slick. After the disastrous test run, I compared them to the others and found they were slightly larger in diameter. I sent the kids to bed and began the process to prep the original axles to make them as smooth as possible. I could clearly see that the wheels now spun better than the others, but would it perform much better than the test runs. That night, I didn't sleep well as my mind keep analyzing and reanalyzing all the physics involved and steps that we took in building the car. I could just pray that we make it all the way to the finish line and maybe beat a car in the process.

The way the derby was set up was that it was a six lane track and each car went down it once in each track in six different heats. They throw out your slowest time down the track and then add up the other 5 for your cumulative time. There were 38 cars in the Scout division and then they took the Top 12 cumulative times to go on to the finals that would determine the Top 3 finishers. Brandon was in the third heat of the day and my heart was beating fast as they were getting the cars set. I told Angie that I was nervous as they were getting ready to race and she asked if I thought it would make it to the finish line. I was recording video of the race (see below), so I couldn't tell anything other than it finished. I was so relieved to see that it finished third in the race! My hope was that it could beat one car the whole time and it beat three in the first race. Angie and I smiled at one another and I decided that I no longer needed to find an exit in order to sneak out.

The car continued to perform pretty well. He finished fifth once (although his time was still good), third one other time, twice came in second, and came in first in one of the heats! If they had an award for the biggest improvement from the night before, we would have won by a landslide! They announced the 12 cars that were going to the final and he didn't make the cut, but we were just happy that we didn't embarrass ourselves. Later, we saw the overall standings and he was 13th! He was less than 2/100's of a second combined over 5 races from 12th place and making the finals! After it was over we went out to lunch to celebrate. I couldn't get over missing the finals by less than 2/100s of a second, which was such a change from our expectations that morning.

Pint-Sized Paleontologist

Brittany dressed as a paleontologist this week as they were studying about dinosaurs. She looked good, didn't she?!?!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I couldn't resist using this week's Random Picture of the Week of Brandon to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Things are starting to settle down around here after Christmas and New Year's. I'll have to post some pictures from the events soon. I got sick the night of Christmas that knocked me out of commission for several days and messed up our original travel plans. Once I recovered and we got a chance to continue those trips, we traveled south on the 30th. Along the way, we detoured to St. Louis to have dinner with the Kreidler's. We enjoyed late Christmases with Angie's Dad's family on New Year's Eve in the afternoon and my family that evening. On New Year's Day we celebrated with Angie's Mom's family before we headed back home. It was a quick trip, but was long since the kids stayed up past midnight on both nights. They had fun playing games with their cousins and barely acknowledged the new year come in. On one channel shortly after midnight they had Robbie Knievel jumping the Mirage volcano in Las Vegas. Brandon wasn't sure if he wanted to watch because he thought it was too dangerous. He went back to living room to play games while they were waiting for it. When I told him it was coming on, he said "Just tell me if he lives!" He decided to watch anyway and we were all glad to see he was successful. Hope everyone has a great 2009!