Only 1 Day Left of January

January marks the very official opening and start up of BSquared26 Photography. I registered my Assumed Name with the State, applied for a Federal Tax ID number, and brainstormed on marketing, so I'm really official!

I entered some of my travel photos in a Frommers Cover Page 2010 contest. They were scenic photos of the San Diego, CA area, Wyoming, and one of downtown Minneapolis. You can view them at www.frommers.com, click on the camera where it says "Photo Contest", and search for BSquared26. Recommend my photos if you go there.

January also included talks of vacations for 2010,some home renovations (new couch, new kitchen floor, and window work), and plans to help out with Ken's parents cabin that we will get to use from time to time. It's been a slow process and it's a fun place to go, so Ken and his parents talked and decided to get things done, so we can all enjoy it more often.

Kevin was super busy with Lego Robotics practices for his team to prepare for the state tournament that was today. Apparently, the high school kids accidentally took their robot, and the kids made a new one. After they finished making & reprogramming their new robot, the high school kids returned their old one too them. The kids were laughing about it today, but they were frustrated at the time. They were missing one kid from the team for the tournament today, so they had to adjust for that as well. Turns out the kids didn't do so well, and they didn't place in the top 10 or get any awards. We were pretty proud of them though, as this was everyone on the team's first year doing Lego Robotics and they made it to the state tournament. I think the kids were so excited, nervous, and frazzled that their robot was acting up. At least they got the experience of working together as a team under pressure.

The last week of January has been hard on everyone. It's been very cold and not much sunshine. We are all getting a case of cabin fever. We're glad January is almost done with.

Hopefully Feb brings some warmer weather so we can go out and do some fun things!

ABCs of 2009

Algebra - In 5th and 6th grade math. Yikes!

Braces - Kevin got braces at the beginning of the year. He's doing really good with them.

Cats - We added a new cat to the house. All 4 of our cats have been truck driver rescued cats.

Devil's Track Lake - Ken and his parents started work on the family cabin.

Elementary School - This is Sam's last year in Elementary School. It is hard to believe the kids are getting so grown.

Football - Kenny is really happy Brett Favre is helping the MN Vikings Football team win.

Girls Trip - Bonnie took a girls vacation to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico in February.

Homework - It's harder for us to help the kids with their homework. They bring home some pretty complex work sometimes.

Ignore - Our kids are getting really good at ignoring their parents.

Juggle - It is amazing how we juggle all 4 of our schedules.

Kickball - Bonnie made a proposal to the city athletic board to add youth kickball to its venue of sports. It was passed and 2009 brought the first organized youth kickball league to Eagan, MN. It was a very proud accomplishment for her.

Laguna Beach - Ken & Bonnie took a vacation with out the kids to California for her niece's wedding in California.

Middle School - Kevin entered Middle School in 2009.

NaNoWriMo - Bonnie finished her National Novel Writing Competition challenge of writing 50K words. 2010 will bring edits and trying to get it to a publisher.

Ocean - How we love to see the oceans. Bonnie saw the Caribbean & Pacific. Ken saw the Pacific.

Photography - Bonnie opened a Photo Studio in our home. She built it on her own, built a portfolio, and had 3 clients by the end of the year.

Quilt - We had a lady in MT make us a quilt using clothing from our kids when they were toddlers.

Robotics - Kevin's 6th grade Robotics team took 3rd place at their Regional tournamet, which qualified them to compete at the State Tournament in Jan 2010.

Softball - Ken continues to play softball with his brother. This is something they really enjoy.

Thanksgiving - We hosted Thanksgiving at our house. Bonnie got out all the old fancy dishes and we had quite the feast.

Used Piano - We got a free used piano (in very good condition) from Freecycle.org. Now we just need to learn to play it. Perhaps a 2010 venture?

Vitamin D - Bonnie was diagnosed with severe Vitamin D deficiency. She controls it by taking 3000 units of Vitamin D suppliments daily and tanning.

Weddings - 2009 was the year of weddings. We attended 5 weddings. One was in
California and Bonnie was a bridesmaid in one in MN.

X-Box 360 - The kids got X-Box 360 for Xmas. We haven't seen much of them since.

Youth Camp - Kevin went to CYC again this summer for a week. He really enjoys that week of summer.

Zoo - Bonnie saw her favorite actor Kevin Costner play in his band at the MN Zoo.