Laugh

Every day needs to have a laugh. To help me with this I tune into The Bob and Tom Show every morning! I just thought I'd share this with you all!
Not only do I get anywhere from 20 minutes to about an hour to laugh out loud in my car each morning thanks to Bob, Tom, Chick and Kristi Lee, I also have one of the most amazing little kids in the world. I know every parent says that. Some even prove it like at a once a week post called Ava Thursday on a fun blog called The Ward-O-Matic. Which by the way never ceases to amaze me. But if nothing else, I think my Lexi is wonderful and she tends to provide so much comic relief! There are times that Jenn and I can't even contain ourselves.

click image to enlarge

Remember to laugh and love!
Cheers!

My young lady

I'm only about a week late, but my daughter recently turned 4!! She had a variety of small parties. A little luau at home, a fun time at both preschool and daycare and then a small family party at my parents house. Way too many parties for a 4 year old!?!?!
I just couldn't keep this photo to myself. She just looks like she is in such deep thought! Jenn and I both just took short internet based IQ tests today and we both somehow scored the same. 133...woo hoo! We be gud at thinkin'. So, she comes by her thoughtful and attitude naturally.
I have also started a new thought provoking daily task with Lexi. I have become frustrated by her telling me "I don't remember" when asked about what she did today. We made a deal last night before bed that each night she will tell me the most fun and memorable thing that she did during the day. I'm hoping that this will foster actively thinking about her daily actions and also provide another creative outlet in putting thoughts into words and stories.
Remember to focus on your family and foster deep thoughts by those around you!
Cheers!

Like passing notes in class

Well...currently I sit in Marketing Management class. Granted we just had a concept check and are waiting for everyone else to finish up and get through a 10 minute break before we really get started but...Oh and you heard me right. We had a concept check. NOT a test. Remember I said it was marketing! One phrase that I've taken from this class is "Perception is Reality". I guess if you don't think you're taking a test, then you're not. Yeah right! But at least it was open book-open notes. Although, I'm not sure if this makes it easier or harder. Sometimes you spend more time actually looking for the exact wording of something than actually just pulling the general concept from the vast regions of your brain.
My wife scanned a picture and emailed it to me today. It was my little Lexi's very first school photo. She turns 4 in about 1 week and just started preschool in late August. They took pictures on Tuesday 9/20. My wife was able to pick them up today!!! Wow! I remember when I was in school and you pretty much forgot you had taken pictures and what you had worn in them.
I really am going to try and be a little more frequent with this thing. I apologize for the lack of postings.
Everyone love your families and CHEERS!

Knock Knock

Knock Knock
Who's there
Banana
Banana who

Knock Knock
Who's there
Banana
Banana who

Knock Knock
Who's there
Banana
Banana who

Knock Knock
Who's there
Orange
Orange who
Orange you glad I didn't say Banana!

Isn't the first joke a 3 year old learns great?!?!? Of course don't forget to knock in the air each time you say "Knock Knock"!!!
Of course after several days of hearing this joke multiple times...well you get the idea. I tried to teach her a new joke (Knock Knock of course) and now I have a two joke pony!

Knock Knock
Who's there
Boo
Boo who?
You don't have to cry about it! (Endless 3 year old chuckles)

Cheers!

My Little Trooper

This is a picture of Lexi from a month or so ago. I feel absolutely horrible today as she had a check-up to get ready for Pre-School and it was realized that she was missing some of her immunizations. She unded up with a finger prick which determined that she is anemic and 5 (yes I said 5) shots. Two in one leg and three in the other. The part that I feel the worst about is that I didn't attend the appointment with Jenn and Lexi. Since this was supposed to be a routine trip to get paperwork filled out I didn't re-arrange my work schedule. Instead I rushed out of the house, after watching the shuttle land (Congrats NASA, nice to have you back) and drove off to work. Granted I did have a semi-important meeting with my manager and was introducing a speaker at a corporate event over the lunch hour, but those things were easy to either reschedule or find someone to do for me. I kind of feel like I let my daughter down. Of course, like any good over compensating father I snuggled her on the couch while eating Cheese Pizza and watched Pooh's Heffalump Movie. The moral to this is and forever will be to me that FAMILY COMES FIRST!!!
Now on to the new vehicle that my daughter has named "Velma the VUE". Click on the link and it will take to to Saturn's website for the VUE. The Mavin family vehicle looks very similar to the one on the main page. I highly recommend doing this type of shopping before going to the dealership. It makes the process some much simpler in my opinion.
Anyway, I wish you all the happest of times and remember to love your family!
Cheers!

Summer???

Well, I now have about 3 weeks of summer left. Last Thursday, 7/28, was the last night for my summer class. I am now a master at the Dynamics of Negotiations. Of course, maybe not a complete master as I got a B+ in the class. Just shy of "master" status!
I then celebrated completing my 5th of 15 MBA classes by purchasing a Saturn VUE. Other than a slight electrical issue with the sunroof, we absolutely love our VUE! It is not quite a Lexus RX 400 hybrid, but...that will come with the post MBA promotion that I'm bound to get. Right???
Now, comes my 3 weeks of freedom. We have many happy family memories to create the next few weeks. We are traveling to Chicago in two weeks to see my brother-in-law's girlfriend off for the school year to pursue her Masters' degree in dance in New York state. Jenny we wish you well! We are then going to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago with Uncle Jason. I'm sure Lexi will have a blast as she just adores her Uncle Jason.
The next weekend we are celebrating our 10th anniversary, only about 2 months late. We are going to a very nice looking B&B in Mineral Point, WI. It should be a very wonderful and much needed 3-day weekend with my lovely wife!
Then my summer effectively comes to an abrupt end when classes start again in late August!
I'll try to get pictures of the new VUE out for all to enjoy.
Cheers!

MBA and movies

OK so watching movies and trying to apply concepts used in my Dynamics of Negotiation course is not a good idea. Except when about 1/3 of the grade depends on it! We were to do a group project on a negotiation sequence. While it would have been a much better experience to look at a real life negotiation, like Maytag v UAW or on a smaller scale the local college vs the facilities management union, the time frame of our course made that impossible. We only had 5 weeks from beginning of course until final exam, that left a very limited time frame to form into a team and get any "research" done. Therefore, my team decided to write our 10-15 page paper on the movie "The Firm". Now I'm never going to be able to watch that movie again! Or really any Tom Cruise movie. That may be because of over evaluating "The Firm" or because he is really annoying!!
Anyway, my five weeks of Negotiation immersion is almost complete, the group paper is due on 7/26 and the final exam is on 7/28. Then my life will return to "normal" for about 4 weeks and then right back into classes two nights per week. The life of a student:)
Cheers!

I'm on board

Well after some prompting by my wife and reading of some other blogs I have decided it is time to become an active member of this wonderfully unique community. I hope that I am able to provide some interesting insight into the playground of the mind.
Plan to share more later, but I just wanted to get this all up and running.
Cheers!