For Christmas Danny got me a sewing machine. I have not touched a sewing machine since I was probably 8, but I am determined to start learning again. So I decided my first project would be a superman/batman cape for the boys. I thought it all out and had it completely visualized before I ever took my sewing machine out of the box. Brandon has really been into being a superhero lately and he had a small apron that he kept turning around to his back to be his cape. So yesterday I decided would be the day to attack my plan. We loaded up and went to Joanns fabric store. I told the kids they would have to be patient with me. We got all the fabric loaded up in the basket then headed over to find  some other sewing neccessities. I found a sewing machine kit with thread, pins, measuring tape, bobbins, scissors, and more. It was perfect! Then I decided Anna would need something too, so I grabbed some elastic and some tulle for a tutu.  I finally got my fabric cut and payed. Whew! First part of the plan was successful. DJ and Brandon were so excited.  We headed home and took DJ to Preschool. Then I put Anna and Brandon down and started the cutting. I found a batman logo and a superman logo online and blew them up to the size of a page and  printed them off. Those were  my patterns. The other cloth I just cut into rectangles. That part was done. Then the sewing machine part. I got out my handy dandy users guide. I figured out what everthing was called, and started following directions on how to thread the bobbin and the top thread. 45 minutes later I had it all figured out. Now I was ready to sew. The first lines went really well. Not beautiful, but I was happy that the thread was actually working. That means I understood the directions! Brandon and DJ helped me cut out and push the pedal. They were thrilled with themselves. By dinner we had all but the top part done. I wasn't quite sure how to do this. After the kids went down Danny and I used our combined brain power and sewing skills (both of which are not much) and by 1:00 in the morning we were done! Here is the finished product.

 

Not bad for first time sewers. Danny really pulled through for me. He was a trooper! 

I got Anna's elastic sewn together last  night but that is it. So today we worked on her tutu. We had to go get some more tulle and now we have the finished product.

 

She loves it! So that is our fun for a while. I am worn out but the kids are thrilled and I learned a lot and so it is worth it! Here is to fun stuff!

I just created a Facebook group for Michelle and my high school graduating class. If you read this blog and you graduated with us or know someone that did, go on over to the group and join. I just want to get as many of us as possible. There were hundreds of us, so we should be able to get a bunch pretty quickly. Also, if you were in this class and have a blog that others read, I ask you to post a link to the group. Let's see how fast we can fill the group.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=48123728789&ref=mf

 

Here in the King home we are big Phoenix Suns fans. Last night they played their first preseason game and lost to the Atlanta Hawks. With a new coach and a few new faces it will be interesting to see how the Suns do this year. Tonight they play the Utah Jazz, so it is on a local TV channel. We are planning on watching the game and hopefully see some good signs for the rest of the season.

We ran a Marathon Relay last Saturday where 5 of us each ran 5.2 miles to add up to a marathon distance. Overall our team did pretty well. Below are the results:

Team Results
Time: 3:33:56
Overall place: 12th (out of 54 teams)
Category place: 2nd (1 minute 39 seconds behind 1st place)

Individual Times
Tim - 35:12
Michelle - 52:00
Steve - 48:23
Jeremy - 41:00
Danny - 36:57

So basically if I had run as fast as Tim we would have won our category. Sorry team, I let you down.

Overall we had a good time. Thanks everyone for giving your best and cheering each other on.

I said that Game 1 of the Suns/Spurs game was disappointing. Well, Game 2 was even MORE disappointing if that is possible. The Suns were looking good in the first half and then just completely shut down in the third quarter. There weren't any excuses for their self destruction in the third quarter. The Spurs turned up the heat on defense, but the plain truth is they just couldn't get into their offensive rhythm for some reason. It was pathetic. Then in the fourth quarter they started making a run and didn't get much help from the officiating. Several times Stoudemire went to the basket and was stopped by slapping, pushing, holding, etc... and nothing was called. It was frustrating, because when they finally started to get something going, they were stopped by physical play that should have been fouls.

I doubt this foul was called. You tell me if it should be a foul.

After a disappointing Game 1 where the Suns had the game won on several occasion before it was taken from them by a series of incredible shots from different Spurs players, the Suns look to rebound and take one away from the Spurs in San Antonio before heading to Phoenix for Game 3. They have to be able to close out the game. It is never an easy task against a proven and experienced Spurs team that continues to perform at a high level in playoff games. The I have confidence that the Suns will come out in Game 2 and put on a good performance.

We have a couple videos of the boys that I am going to try to figure out the best way to display on the blog in the next couple of days.

So those that know me know that I am a huge Phoenix Suns fan. I subscribed to NBA League Pass this year so was able to watch all their games on TV this season. It's what a fan has to do when he doesn't live in the city where the team resides. Well, this season has been a crazy one. With the trade for Shaq I was skeptical at first, but it seems as though they may have a pretty solid team put together for the playoffs. Stoudemire has been unstoppable and the rest of the team has been able to step it up. The just need to be consistant and bring their best game every night and every quarter of every game. We will see how it ends up because the West is pretty tough this year.

Well it has been a few days since I have started researching and learning ASP .NET code. I have to say I am impressed with the versatility and stability of the framework. That is a good thing and a bad thing. It can do a lot, but then there is a LOT to learn. I have yet to make anything permanent. I have mostly been trying different features out and learning how to tie them all together. Unfortunately when I am done I won't have much to show anyone because the pages will be available only to certain people within the company for their use. I may have a local version with test data that I can take screenshots of and show. I know Micah, you may be interested. The thing with .NET is that there is so much that happens behind the scenes with authentication, and code management, just looking at the page may not be very impressive. Oh well, we will see how it turns out.

 Danny

So it was a pretty good year for me in the Madness of picking tournament winners. I can't say I picked the most winners, but I picked the right ones. I won two out of the three bracket competitions I entered. In two brackets I picked all four of the Final Four and I picked the final two correctly in all three brackets.