Bake Shop

Me and waiting just do not go together. I'm patiently (as much as I can for me) awaiting the UPS man to bring me my Christmas present. I've been debating on upgrading to a full boinger for quite a while and the test ride on the rig from Rassy's sealed the deal.



Christmas was good this year. The family room is packed full of toys scattered everywhere. Both the kids are really enjoying all the new stuff that family spoiled them with. My camcorder went pooey on me so I have no video of Christmas '06. Tonight we're off to Adventureland Inn for a short night away. Kiersten loves pools and is extremely anxious to get over there. We got Kiersten an activity table for her wooden train set and Kai is constantly tearing apart any tracks she puts together.

Found these two pictures courtesy of Ryan Hanser on my HD from the Dirty Duo I did back in Nov with my dad. I really enjoyed racing like that and hopefully we can find a few more races to do together.

Lap 1...still feeling squirrely enough for a stupid pose.



Next time thru. Really displaying some bad form here. Elbows locked and shoulders up in my ears. Donny gave me some pointers that I need to follow better.

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This is Kai in celebration mode after getting ahold of something he's not supposed to have...in this case Kiersten's crayons were the prize of the moment. What the camera didn't catch was his getaway scamper.

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Sent my camera along to Faith's with Kai to get some pictures of my boy during the day. The other boy his age is Noah and she says they play all day long and are extremely busy. Kiersten is a busy child but Kai is 1o times the goer. Last night Stacie was out getting her hair highlighted (thanks for going a little more blonde than usual honey) and Kiersten and I watched an old stop animation Santa movie on ABC Family and that boy just was all over for almost two hours.

We're getting some painting done in the house so our family room is all in upheaval. Only a couch sits in the middle of the room. Kai just loved the open space and spent yesterday evening checking everything out.











Thanks Faith for all the cute pictures.

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It's 9:10 AM on a Monday and with no jobby job it was off to the trails to clear the head and enjoy life. After 9 years of pounding a keyboard every Monday morning it was nice to get out and just have fun on a Monday. The trails were nicely frozen and I had them all to myself, I thought. Came across two different people out walking their dogs. I had plans to put myself in a hurt box and try for three laps but temps warmed up too fast and I only managed two. Getting fat and slow and need to change that.

Dang, this sure is a pretty bike. Thanks to Greg at Rasmussen's for letting me take it out for a few test rides over the weekend. It's the Specialized Reps bike that he has for sale so it's technically "used" but not much. I'd like to get it but my budget only allows me to get a frame after I sell a few other things.



Came across some handywork courtesy of Kyle Sedore. Gotta love how we make the best of anything out there.



Had to take one more picture of the bike and trail. I think I'll head out Wednesday morning for one more ride before Mother Nature sends some rain our way.

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Got my chubby butt back out on the bike Sunday afternoon. With temps in the 50's it was time for a ride after playing "coach" for Kiersten's basketball thru the YMCA. We thought she'd have more fun with bball but she didn't enjoy it at all. I think we'll complete the last day next Sunday and then not continue with the next session. We're going to try tumbling/gymnastics somewhere for her. I will say I've have had fun coaching the kids and watching their eyes light up with they make a basket. Kiersten (bless her heart) is more apt to run around the gym kicking the ball like a soccer ball. I just let her go and smile to myself.

Hollered the buddies on Sunday and Jeff Kiel and Sean Perryman made it out for a afternoon of riding Sycamore. We had a great time and ran in to quite a few other riders, runners, hikers and trucks out there.

This is supposed to pass for a bridge. Gotta check with PCCB on doing something about this.



We explored some trail north of the trailhead (thanks Pete!). It's actually coming to life fairly nicely. I think with a little work we could have a 3/4 mile loop on that end.



Catching a breather at the 1/2 way point.



Pictures don't do this justice. This fallen tree is massive.



In job news my last day with CDS will be Dec 13th. I will be starting a new job with Visiont Consulting Service out of Des Moines. My first contract is with Wells Fargo in West Des Moines. At this point I'm extremely excited and nervous about the change. I've been with CDS for 9 years and this will be a big change for me.

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Okay...I'm perplexed. Who is CorrieKate? I'm guessing Corrie Hanson since that'd be the only Corrie Stacie and I know.

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Today I submitted my resignation to my current employer. On Jan 1st I will begin life as a consultant on a contract basis. Funny how this was today's Dilbert.

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"Knowing what you can not do is more important than knowing what you can do."
- Lucille Ball

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Today was the day for Donny’s Cranksgiving Alleycat race. A first of it’s kind is Des Moines we were given a grocery list 10 mins before the start and had to buy one item from a different store each time. All the items were to be donated to the Food Bank of Iowa.

Donny throwing down the info before the race.



Throwing down a few samples of brew in the Hy Vee liquor store.



Jacob unloading his goods at the end.



The winner Lou Waguaman all pimped out in his freshly dry cleaned duds after the race sports the “gold” painted winners crank bling.



The ladies.



Lou sporting some bling after winning another category.



The haul of goods from the day.



Fixies galore in the trackstand contest.



After a disappointing finish Squirrel goes for a rematch the right way with a cold bevy in hand.



Taking a spin on a fixie to see what all the fuss is about.



Squirrel trying to get er done in the skidding contest. No idea on the pink piggie like van in the background.



This gent(sorry don’t remember his name) won the skid contest after burning a hold in his tire in the process. He continued to skid about another block after popping the tire.

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Went on a wander about with the family on Saturday. We originally had planned on heading up to Radcliffe but some paperwork wasn’t at the bank so we went with plan B. And that involved Lake Panorama. It was beautiful day and it was nice to drive around and look at the lake.

After a lunch break we wandered into Panora and found a nice little park for the kids to play around. Kiersten loved throwing rocks in the water and we kept busy trying to keep Kai from eating sand.



Kai just insisted on trying to eat the sand.



Kai trying to walk on sand…didn’t work too well.

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Happy Halloween!



Headed out with Kiersten and Kai for some candy grubbing. This stinkin cold front decided to get here early so Kai didn't last long. I took him back home to Stacie after hitting a few neighbors. Kiersten and I kept on and went after more candy.

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With a brief respite from below 50 degree temps I like Kiersten and Kai play in the leaves in front of house. Kiersten just loves kicking the leaves and making piles. Kai was entertained watching her.











This is the closest I could get to them posing together.

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I'm okay at the current moment but I think it's only a matter of time before Kiersten and I get what Stacie and Kai are already battling. Link

Not much news otherwise out of the Baker household. I'm still trying to kick this chest infection which is basically causing my bikes to collect dust. On the plus side a stomach bug is always a easy way to jump start a diet plan. Last time I had it I dropped 12 lbs.

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It was pumpkin picking day for the Baker's. We headed west to Winterset again this year. Apparently I was half asleep on the way out and blew by the exit by just a few miles. Doh! Don't know what I was thinking but we overshot by about 40 miles. This is even after we stopped in Stuart for lunch and continued on. It worked out okay as both kids took a nice long snooze.











Stacie, Kiersten and I are all fighting a lovely viral chest infection. If I even think of walking it's cough city. Stacie is preparing to leave for Orlando for work for a few days. I know she's not looking forward to being away from the kids...only a full night's sleep.

Kai is growing up very fast. He can crawl in two speeds now and also is starting to take some steps. He hasn't taken more than 3 so far but walking is right around the corner. I'm pretty sure he's saying "da da" so I'm putting it down that his first word was "dadda". He also is starting to clap if you clap and wave goodbye.

Kiersten is doing awesome also. We got thru potty training and life is so much better. It's kinda wierd just hanging out and she'll just get up and go the bathroom all by herself.

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