Here he is!!!

Liam Matthew Engel has finally made his appearance! He was born on June 23, 2006 at 5:15 PM. He weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and was 20 inches long. Everything went very well with the delivery with both Holly and Liam doing very well. The little guy started screaming right away and is very healthy.

Here are a few photos, I'll post more later.

So far the little guy is very calm. Hopefully he keeps this attitude... I'm sure we will have some Parenting 101 Blogs with him as the focus in the near future...

Parenting 101: Quick List

Currently the blogger site does not have an option to group blog entries by category, I'll put this notice out with links to all of the current Parenting 101 Blogs and any others that are similar with Calvin and Hobbes on the scene. Hope you all enjoy these!
Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes
Pre-Parenting 101
Jonah in the funny papers... Friday, February 24, 2006
Jonah, Once again in the funny papers Monday, February 27, 2006
Jonah / Calvin at dinner Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Sometimes, they are just too smart for our own good... Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Jonah was hoping... Thursday, March 02, 2006
Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes
Parenting 101 Blogs
Parenting 101 Friday, March 03, 2006
Parenting 101: Dinner Monday, March 06, 2006
Parenting 101: Dinner table manners Monday, March 06, 2006
Parenting 101: Listening Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Parenting 101: Bath Time Thursday, March 09, 2006
Parenting 101: Reading between the lines... Friday, March 10, 2006
Parenting 101: Snacks... Monday, March 13, 2006
Parenting 101: True.. But Why?!?! Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Parenting 101: Mornings Friday, March 17, 2006
Parenting 101: The things we do for our kids... Monday, March 20, 2006
Parenting 101: Where do babies come from? Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Parenting 101: Dinnertime Fun Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Parenting 101: Tonight's Bed Time Plan... Friday, March 24, 2006
Parenting 101: Housework Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Parenting 101: Starting a Club Thursday, March 30, 2006
Parenting 101: Finance Monday, April 03, 2006
Parenting 101: Home Improvement Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Parenting 101: Where do they get these ideas? Thursday, April 06, 2006
Parenting 101: Testing Boundaries Friday, April 07, 2006
Parenting 101: Shaping their minds Friday, April 14, 2006
Parenting 101: Television Thursday, April 20, 2006
Parenting 101: Labor Pains Monday, April 24, 2006
Parenting 101: Driving Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Parenting 101: Only the facts... Thursday, April 27, 2006
Parenting 101: Shopping Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Parenting 101: More Questions Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Parenting 101: Bed Time Friday, May 05, 2006
Parenting 101: Meal time Monday, May 08, 2006
Parenting 101: Questioning your reasoning... Monday, May 22, 2006
Parenting 101: Summer Vacations Friday, May 26, 2006
Parenting 101: Just a little fun... Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Parenting 101: Couldn't be closer to the truth... Thursday, June 01, 2006
Parenting 101: Writing stories Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Parenting 101: Lunch on a daily basis... Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Parenting 101: Reading and what they learn... Thursday, June 15, 2006
Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes Matt Engel Matthew Engel Matt Engel Matthew Engel Matt Engel Matthew Engel comics
I hadn't realized how many of these I've made so far. Once again, Enjoy!
Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes Parenting 101 Calvin and Hobbes Calvin & Hobbes

Oh, Oh it's Magic...

My buddy Cliff sent me this video today... I hadn't seen this magician before. I guess I haven't spent much time on A&E lately...

I've seen David Blain and his act of levitation, which appears to be more camera trickery mixed with astonished reactions from onlookers who are in a specially selected angle for view.

This guy has a different way to do it. I'm impressed.

Enjoy!





I found another of his videos that gives you an idea on how he does some of his tricks...

Parenting 101: Reading and what they learn...

Since Jonah has been learning to read, he is absorbing so much information. While we are driving he is reading the signs as we pass by. He even tries to read to his sister every now and then. Most of the time she enjoys it, other times she just wants to rip the pages apart. I guess that's part of the "Terrible Two's" we are going through right now.

I found a series of Calvin and Hobbes clips that fit this situation pretty well. I can see Jonah doing this at any moment.

Enjoy!

Parenting 101: Lunch on a daily basis...

Setting up school lunches can be a pain...

It's a lot easier to throw some money in a baggie for the kids to get lunch at school, but it's a bit more economical to pack a lunch for them. Whether they eat it or not is another thing all together.

We make a weekly trip to the Warehouse center nearby to pick up many grociery items in bulk. The bulk pack of snack chips for lunches, the puddings and of course drink box/pouches.

Invariably the wrong choice has been made in drink or sandwich ingredients.

Jonah: "I don't like these drinks."

Mom/Dad: "You picked them out at the store,
so you have to finish them before we buy more."

Jonah: "I hate them!"

Mom/Dad: "Sorry, you will have to make do."

What we usually find out at this point is that he chose this particular drink because of the cool pictures on it. Not the flavors.

The same thing goes for Cereal. We recently went to the store and Jonah really wanted the Cocoa Pebbles. No complaint from me, I grew up on the stuff (although fruity pebbles in my opinion are much better.)

The next morning I get breakfast ready for everyone and Jonah doesn't want the Cocoa Pebbles. Holly and I remind him that he chose them. The then he discloses that he just wanted the toy that came with it...

Blast from the past...

My office mate came across this video and I thought I'd share it with you here as well.

It reminds me of when I was younger and watching television with the family. Enjoy!

4 Years Ago Today...

Today, Holly and I celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. Looking at that number 4 makes it seem like it wasn't that long ago at all that we took our stroll down the aisle back in Frankenmuth Michigan with all our friends and family in attendance. It feels like we have known each other forever. Which, I guess, is what marriage and family as all about. Well at least a part of it at least...

A lot has happened in our lives since we were married. The day after our wedding we spent part of the day watching the Bavarian Festival Parade which fills my old home town with tourists of all ages. Consumption of much beer and Bratwurst is a prerequisite for this event. The next day we left for our Honeymoon in South Beach, Miami. Our initial plan was to stay in South Beach for a few days then drive down to the Key's. This didn't really go as planned.

We planned our trip at the same time as Monsoon Season, not on purpose. Not exactly the best time in terms of weather, but we were Newly Wed's... We had a Suite overlooking the ocean. That's about all we really needed for the duration.

There were several days where it was nicer and we were able to venture out without being drowned. There was one particular morning where I decided to walk to the nearest Dunkin Donuts. We had driven past a number of times and it didn't seem all that far. It wasn't that far by car. By foot it was a bit further in time. It turned out to be a mile away. About halfway there it started to rain. Of course I had no umbrella, which is probably just as well because the wind would have blown it apart in no time. My cellular phone was left charging in the room. It was one of my more brainy days...

I made it to Dunkin Donuts, ordered our food and asked for extra bags to bag everything up in for the walk back. This time I was walking into the wind. Now this wasn't as terrible as you would think. The rain was very warm. It actually felt like I was walking in the shower, it was that warm. I kept watching for Holly to pull up in the Convertible we had rented and pick me up out of the rain. She never showed up, but I made it all the way back to the Eden Roc after being gone for 2 hours.

Walking through the lobby was a real treat. My clothes were completely saturated. What was interesting is that the wind had dried my back off while I was walking into the wind. The rain was hitting only the front of me on my walk back. I received some rather peculiar looks as I left sandal shaped water puddles on the marble clad floor.

Upon arriving to the suite, I found Holly on the bed lost in a television show. She looked at me and started to laugh asking what happened to me. Apparently she had no idea that it had been a down-pour outside... I glanced at the wall of windows and watched as the rain ran down in a sheet.

A puddle grew at my feet as I stood there dripping with the bags of Dunkin Donuts treats. They say a picture is worth a thousand words... Here you go.

Looking back, the walk itself was not all that bad. It's a memory I will carry with me for the rest of my life which will always make me smile.

We had a great time on our Honeymoon, rain storms not with standing...

So far I hadn't posted wedding details and honeymoon details. Some of the details of the last four years together are chronicled in the Moving blog entries which can be found below:

The Move (Packing)
The Move (communications) sidebar
The Move (on the road)
The Move (the rest of the way...)
The Move (the morning after)

Holly has been the best wife I could ever ask for. She has brought Jonah, Brielle and the new addition (6/23/06) into my life which has brought me much joy. I Love them all dearly.

Happy Anniversary Babe!

I Love you,

Matt

Parenting 101: Writing stories

Jonah has really gotten into creating his own books. We recently went shopping for office supplies and bought Jonah his own ream of paper to write his books. Considering he had already gone through several reams of our printer paper, we figured this to be the best idea.

He starts off by drawing the pictures of the story and then goes through and writes out the story. He has several stories written already. All of them are quite good, of course being his father I guess there's some bias there. But for just turning 7 and still in the early stages of reading, both Holly and I think he's doing very well.

The first story of his that I have scanned in is a variation of the Three Little Pigs that we all grew up with. I'll post some of his original stories soon. I haven't had the opportunity to scan them all in yet. Please forgive the quality of this first book. I'm working out the bugs between Adobe Acrobat and my scanner.

Here's the story in Adobe PDF format. The Three Little Pigs - By Jonah Hercules (More stories to follow...)

If you don't have Adobe Acrobat reader, you can download it from here:

Parenting 101: Couldn't be closer to the truth...

It's always a pleasant surprise when the kids do something by themselves that you usually have to ask them 5 or 6 times to do.

Brielle is still in the molding stage. Holly says that because she is a girl she likes to help. I'm not sure if it's because of her gender or not, but she really does like to help. Generally the help is counter-productive, but she's happy to help and is excited about the praise she gets.

On the flip-side of this is Jonah. There are times when he takes care of all the things we normally have to ask several times for. These times generally have use getting to the point of a time-out or loss of some kind of privledge. It's always a pleasant surprise when he does things when he is not asked. If only it was that way all the time, but I don't recall doing that either as a child, so I guess I shouldn't expect it from my own children.

This Calvin comic fits this situation perfectly. Enjoy your day!