Confessions of The Mountain and The Sea

This is why you come to Chicago, Dad...

2012-02-07T13:21:00.000-06:00

Click here for an awesome article on the best Chicago sandwich
And...for convenience, we live about 10mins from this joint ^_^

Photo blitz

2012-02-06T09:41:00.001-06:00

Help Eden save hearts!

2012-01-25T15:32:00.000-06:00

Check out my website!

Youareinvited:WatchMyCard

candid

2012-01-23T20:00:00.001-06:00

shot of Chloe and I at my cousins wedding ^_^

Sisters

2012-01-20T22:37:00.002-06:00

night sleddin'

2012-01-20T22:32:00.001-06:00

snow patrol

2012-01-20T17:09:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday from Eden & Vicki

2012-01-20T16:47:00.001-06:00

Some videos

2012-01-14T13:50:00.000-06:00

Click "read more" below to get to the videos...didn't wanna hog the front page with
youtube stuff.

Sleddin & chatting with the fam

2012-01-14T13:43:00.001-06:00

Lovely ladies ^_^

2012-01-10T23:24:00.002-06:00

The best girls in the world...I'm such a lucky guy.

Eden doing some cookie sales,

and then some state map homework.

And btw.....what did we do before the internets? :P

Grandma Vicky present time!

2012-01-09T09:35:00.000-06:00

Super spectacular seasonal extra big post & stuff

2012-01-06T22:00:00.000-06:00

Winter Wonderland

2011-12-04T08:37:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving and Christmas cheer

2011-11-27T12:31:00.001-06:00

Our special tree at Brookfield Zoo

2011-11-27T12:24:00.001-06:00

Eden's a Brownie now

2011-11-14T22:34:00.000-06:00

Salvage One

2011-11-11T20:26:00.000-06:00

We really like this place :)

Fall fires

2011-11-07T23:56:00.000-06:00

Catching up...

2011-11-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

Ghouls at schoooooool

2011-11-02T22:56:00.000-05:00

Sisters...

2011-10-29T00:28:00.000-05:00

Our ghoulish girl ^_^

2011-10-25T23:12:00.000-05:00

Weekend fun

2011-10-24T11:56:00.000-05:00

The girls playing soccer...

2011-10-14T16:35:00.000-05:00

Picture Day

2011-10-04T09:37:00.001-05:00

Eden's first horse lesson!

2011-10-01T23:07:00.001-05:00

Presents from Grandma

2011-10-01T22:52:00.000-05:00

I think someone told her about these two outfits,

Eden was looking for them before I could even get the box open. :)

Date night

2011-09-29T12:20:00.001-05:00

Can't wait...we're going to see a play tonight together ^_^

Emmy nominations are in...^_^

2011-09-28T11:12:00.002-05:00

One of my entries got a nomination...yeahhh!

Category #11-b Outstanding Achievement for Special Event CoverageChicago's Mayor: The Daley Years: Wilson Toy, Executive Producer; Cheryl Burton, Ben Bradley, Paul Meincke, Charles Thomas, Chuck Goudie, Reporters; Barbara Markoff, Ann Pistone, Producers; Ron Magers, Kathy Brock, Hosts/Reporters; John Silvey, Ann Marie Esp, Jacqueline Denn, Richard Hillengas, Tim Kelleher, Carleen Mosbach, Co-Producers. WLS
:)

School stuff

2011-09-26T11:51:00.000-05:00

Some of Eden's school stuff and her chilling with her buddy Kegan.

Awwwwwwwww...

2011-09-24T11:37:00.002-05:00

So many reasons...

2011-09-17T20:05:00.000-05:00

...we love Michelle :)

She makes the coolest lunch notes is just one.

Disney on Ice

2011-09-17T16:08:00.000-05:00

As always, Vicky rocked the pics :)

it's like one of those ads...

2011-09-07T00:47:00.000-05:00

....where they use a really small child to make a toy look insanely large

but here, it reversed. that's an incredibly small pony, seriously!

Ukelele upstaged!

2011-09-07T00:43:00.000-05:00

Someone found Michelle's axe :)

hot solder saturday!

2011-09-07T00:40:00.001-05:00

those are some sweet joints...Eden's rockin' her iron!

for grandpa

2011-09-07T00:37:00.001-05:00

just look at that follow-thru!

better get ready!!

Block party weekend

2011-08-28T09:59:00.000-05:00

Emmy's for you Mom ^_^

2011-08-25T12:12:00.004-05:00

Two chances this year...this is purely submissions, nominees are selected on Sept 27th

– Spot News

Category #1 Outstanding Achievement for News Gathering

Blizzard of 2011: Wilson Toy, Douglas Whitmire, Anthony Shute, Richard Maginn, Executive Producers; Adriana Cortez, Jennifer Hoppenstedt, Assignment Managers; Andy Porte, Managing Editor; John Silvey, Ann Marie Esp, Tim Kelleher, Jacqueline Denn, Richard Hillengas, Co-Producers. WLS

Category #11-b Outstanding Achievement for Special Event Coverage - Edited

Chicago's Mayor: The Daley Years: Cheryl Burton, Ben Bradley, Paul Meincke, Charles Thomas, Chuck Goudie, Reporters; Wilson Toy, Executive Producer; Barbara Markoff, Ann Pistone, Producers; Ron Magers, Kathy Brock, Hosts/Reporters; John Silvey, Ann Marie Esp, Jacqueline Denn, Richard Hillengas, Tim Kelleher, Co-Producers. WLS

Time for some learning

2011-08-24T12:31:00.000-05:00

Chloe & Eden, 2nd & 4th grade, August 2011

These ladies rock!!!

Arrrrrr mateys!!!

2011-08-19T12:01:00.000-05:00

Our newest family member, Duke

2011-08-14T15:43:00.000-05:00

garden delights

2011-08-09T11:22:00.000-05:00

Our pumpkin flowers bloomed this morning...look incredible

so many tomatoes!

thai peppers

bell pepper

banana pepper

kohlrabi

Michelle & the girls hit Brookfield Zoo

2011-08-08T23:04:00.000-05:00

makeup & cookings

2011-08-08T23:00:00.002-05:00

i don't know who enjoyed this more!

2011-08-08T22:58:00.000-05:00

Big sunglasses...big plastic head

2011-08-08T22:55:00.000-05:00

Beauty and the Beast night

2011-07-25T10:42:00.000-05:00

Time for dancing...

2011-07-17T13:49:00.003-05:00

this is chloe's pre-birthday party warm-up dance ^_^

Eden turns 7!

2011-07-17T13:16:00.002-05:00

Michelle's fantastic greens!

2011-07-11T17:06:00.002-05:00

Broccoli, butter lettuce and sprouts

Edamame, beans and more broccoli

Tomatoes & lettuce

Pumpkins & peas

Eden having some fun

2011-07-11T14:12:00.000-05:00

We're all getting silly due to missing our Chloe ^_^

Sunroom

2011-07-08T13:20:00.000-05:00

Michelle explaining colors at night

Broccoli flower !

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa

2011-07-02T13:24:00.000-05:00

I was surprised she liked this, and she loves the

Jonas bros stuff..especially the skirt with leggings

This is her 'Michelle' dress

She's calling this her birthday party dress

Pool girls

2011-06-30T17:16:00.000-05:00

That time of the year again...Michelle's awesome btw :)

You don't catch fireflys, you tackle them!

2011-06-29T12:47:00.000-05:00

Sleepover at Vicki's ^_^

2011-06-26T18:15:00.000-05:00

in the girl's words..."AWESOME!!!"

2011-06-26T17:25:00.001-05:00

More beautiful pics courtesy of Vicki :)

They're totally outta order, my browser is all wacky today...

My little monkeys ^_^

2011-06-25T11:52:00.000-05:00

2011-06-23T14:20:00.001-05:00

Honolulu room views

Duke on Waikiki

Sundown with my sweetheart

Honolulu

Waikiki with Diamond Head in the background

TJ's backyard in Pearl City

Day hike with Vicki, Michelle and I

North Shore guidepost

Our awesome condo in Turtle Bay

Triple Crown signed board

Kulima Point in Turtle Bay

Awww... :)

Vicki & Travis post wedding laughs

The bride & groom entrance!

Excellent trip!

More pics to come in the next few days...

House party decorations

2011-06-12T22:28:00.000-05:00

The girls were SO excited about the housewarming party, I thought they were going

to pop! They literally counted down the hours.

preppin the patio

2011-06-10T23:55:00.001-05:00

This has become our favorite spot in the evenings...Michelle and I just sit out here

and talk and relax and dream :)

Our lil recent graduates ^_^

2011-06-08T17:05:00.000-05:00

Soon to be 2nd & 4th graders...wow!

Their first yearbooks...

2011-06-04T21:30:00.000-05:00

School picnics and home stuff

2011-06-04T10:04:00.000-05:00

Michelle gettin in on the fun :)

Had to vacuum out the funky crawl space.. :(

And then fill it with our stuff...reminds me of this...

Last trellis is up too...

the art of delegation :)

Planted

2011-05-31T11:10:00.000-05:00

the blue room

2011-05-31T11:08:00.000-05:00

Vicky and Michelle did an awesome job on the front room :)

...all done, time to plant!

2011-05-28T23:03:00.002-05:00

Gardening...

2011-05-27T20:09:00.000-05:00

Last weekend

2011-05-27T20:05:00.000-05:00

We gotta spot for ya, Mom & Dad!

(...I'll even share my sangria)

Ms O craziness

2011-05-19T20:53:00.000-05:00

Photos from friend that shot the event for ABC

Chicago pano-nights

2011-05-19T20:51:00.000-05:00

two weeks of... um, fun right!?

2011-05-14T16:38:00.000-05:00

Stage props

Joe sewing set props-he's also the graphic designer for the special,

he's a great guy, we work together every week on healthbeat.

Set construction

Almost done...

Meanwhile, I'm cranking away on five of the seven pieces for the special,

I also did show assembly for the final offlining for the special.

Final special...although compression is kinda low.

We'll be spending these overtime $$ in Hawaii and some family debts ;)

our new home

2011-05-07T19:35:00.000-05:00

texas in town

2011-05-07T19:25:00.000-05:00

Hillary, Nora and their Mom stopped by Friday night,

they're in town from Houston, the girls best friends' from Wesley Ave place...

catch up...

2011-05-02T14:36:00.000-05:00

First off...some pics from Eden's class. Ms Kanavos has a blog and posts pretty regularly, unfortunately, Chloe's class does not so, don't get many pics of her in school... :)

Sorting solids, gasses & liquids

Hanging with the class

Pajama Day

The volunteer sheet from Friday's sleepover at the school,

which helped immensely with the unpacking.

Chloe liking the new house and getting a second to chill :)

academic fair project

2011-04-24T20:04:00.000-05:00

awwwww!

work stuff

2011-04-24T19:59:00.000-05:00

new set construction in main studio

Jan and I troubleshooting an edit system in one of the trucks

archive material for our mayor daley special I'm cuttin'

all sorts of growing

2011-04-24T19:50:00.000-05:00

Making some vegan egg cookies, loosing molars and our grow room.

The ills of cabin fever...

2011-04-17T18:54:00.002-05:00

Cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in a small space, with nothing to do, for an extended period (as in a simple country vacation cottage during a long rain or snow). Symptoms include restlessness, irritability, irrational frustration with everyday objects, forgetfulness, laughter, excessive sleeping, distrust of anyone they are with, and an urge to go outside even in the rain, snow or dark.

In extreme cases of cabin fever, one must be physically removed from the dwelling.

They will resist with every fiber in their body

And in some very unfortunate cases, the patient may not survive...

just kinda cool

2011-04-17T17:36:00.001-05:00

Taste of Irving & Bicentennial party

2011-04-16T21:39:00.000-05:00

Some fun at work...

2011-04-07T18:10:00.001-05:00

Diane Sawyer stopping through Chicago :)

Spring seedlings...

2011-04-03T15:54:00.000-05:00

The girls and Michelle are getting our veggies started this weekend.

Our soon to be first house... :)

2011-04-02T14:21:00.001-05:00

such a fun week!

2011-04-02T00:45:00.000-05:00

Some puppet sock show action

Knockin pins with Michelle's cousins

Hanging out with Grandma G (Michelle's grandmother)

just for fun

2011-04-02T00:34:00.000-05:00

OLEK AND THE CHARGING BULL ON WALL STREET from olek on Vimeo.

Fun with friends...

2011-03-26T21:54:00.000-05:00

Top of the Pops kiddie concert

2011-03-20T22:06:00.000-05:00

Went to a kiddie concert at Lincoln Hall this weekend downtown. It was hosted by a city program that brings young children and musicians together in a teaching atmosphere.

Pretty awesome and the girls had a blast.

In our prayers...

2011-03-14T22:40:00.002-05:00

Click here to donate

seikatsu...life, living, existence.

pictures courtesy of http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/

Skates, circuits and hot glue!

2011-03-12T16:48:00.000-06:00

Friday, Eden starts rollerblading again.

She's going really fast!

Eden's exploring the tree.

We are melting metal!

I'm reading your letter, Grandma.

I enjoyed it a lot, it was funny when you talked about Rudoph and

all his hats.

I am making stuff out of electronics

We are testing our buzzer project.

We are soldering our buzzer project.

Look at our super cool solder joints!

Eden is my little scientist!

We are done with our buzzer project...taaadaaaa!

Oooolalaaa!! A red led! Or, light emitting diode. :P

(a cooperative post from Eden & Daddy)