So did we miss anything

Des Moines

2010-08-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

some summer pics

2010-08-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

Elsie playing softball

2010-08-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

2010-08-11T15:25:00.000-07:00

2010-08-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

The kids making mud pies.

Slip N' Slide Part XII

2009-07-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

Slip N' Slide Part XI

2009-07-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Slip N' Slide Part X

2009-07-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

Slip N' Slide Part IX

2009-07-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Slip N' Slide Part VIII

2009-07-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

Slip N' Slide Part VII

2009-07-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

Slip N' Slide Part VI

2009-07-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

Slip N' Slide Part V

2009-07-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

Slip N' Slide Part IV

2009-07-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

Slip N' Slide Part III

2009-07-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

Slip N' Slide Part II

2009-07-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

Slip N' Slide

2009-07-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

2009-04-10T05:46:00.000-07:00

Your so Vain...where do you get it.

Drake lost his first tooth.

2009-03-20T15:48:00.000-07:00

Playing with Picasa

2009-03-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

Just found some old pictures...

Some fun B&W

2009-03-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

My entry for the Idaho Potato Display Contest

2009-02-05T15:37:00.000-08:00

I had the chance to enter this contest at work and when they told me that I would get a portable DVD player just for entering I figured why not?! Anyway, I had to use what was available at the store which wasn't much since it's a grocery store! :-) I had no idea where to even start until I saw a black pallet that a shipment came in on. Those of you who have been in my house or seen pics of it know that I love black, so I rounded up some black crates and went to work. If the company likes it, I have the chance to win some cash. If not....well, I always have fun doing displays. Plus, it gave me break in my normal routine at work. I like what I do, but it's always fun to mix things up every so often.

For those of you who don't know.... I took a job as a Produce Manager. So far everyone likes what I have done to the section as far as the looks go (that's the easy part!), but I have a long long road ahead of me when it comes to knowing everything about fruits and vegetables. It's been interesting though and I swear I learn something new every day! The best source that I have found for information is the little old ladies. Whenever I see a lady buying a rutabaga, a turnip, or a parsnip I always ask what she is going to do with it. I love to watch their faces light up as they give me their "secret family recipe!" I haven't been as brave to venture into cooking with those items yet, but I have now fed my family eggplant (not exactly a hit in our home), Jon gets mushrooms on a regular basis (even though I don't like them which he loves!) and fresh guacamole and soy nuts have become a regular in our house! The health benefits of me looking at all this yummy fresh produce all day is great!!

Another fun side note to my job is seeing my regulars each day or week. There are a few old men who come in every single day to buy their two bananas and small bunch of grapes. Then there are the weekly regulars who informed me during my first week that they shopped every Wednesday afternoon. They introduced themselves to me and wanted to know my name so we could "get to know one another." It was obviously incredibly important to them and the funny thing is....I have come to watch for them on their shopping day and notice when they don't make it. What funny creatures of habit we are! :-)

Well, I think that's one of the first times that I have talked about myself on this here Rogers blog of ours. It's kind of weird feeling. But fun!! Maybe I will have to post my craziest grocery store story sometime. It's really kind of gross!!:-)
Well, I will leave you hanging with that!!

Rogers Christmas!!

2009-01-05T14:46:00.000-08:00

The Mighty Hunters

2008-10-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

Drake and I ready for Pheasant opening day. We ended up walking 5 or 6 miles and Drake made it the whole way. Unfortunately we saw more miles that day than birds, but it was still a great to be out as father and son.

Scarecrow and Pumpkins!!

2008-10-14T14:26:00.001-07:00

We've had lots of fun doing Autumn things as a family!
Here's a bunch of pics of our projects!

Random Weekend Pics!

2008-09-30T06:34:00.000-07:00

This swing has apparently stood the test of time. The lady who lived in our house before us stopped by and said they put the swing up in 1971, and from that point on it was considered "the neighborhood swing." We put up a new rope (thanks to Uncle Jordan) and Jon made a new seat for it, but the branch is obviously standing strong. (see above picture...incredible huh?! Who knew it could hold all of that?! he he) This swing has been played with more then the entire swing set we had at our old house. It's the simple things in life that end up being the best things!

The hopscotch that goes up to 119. Now that will give you a workout!

Silly Faces

The hot football Dad!

Jon, Elsie and Drake playing 500

The "diet" cookies. Yum!

Peekaboo Elsie!!

Our house, after spending all of Saturday trimming bushes and doing yard work. We hauled two truckloads of branches away, but it really cleaned everything up. If you notice we also took the ancient air conditioner out that was sticking out of the front of the house. Jon and I can now officially say that we can do siding!

Don't let the big sad puppy eyes fool you. Touche' spent the weekend chewing two holes in the rug, so I threw him outside where he then dug two holes in the yard! Good thing he's so cute. :-)

Jon playing with dry ice and having entirely toooo much fun!

Jon had the bright idea to bake not 1 but 2 batches of yummy cookies just after we decided to start a diet. Needless to say.... the cookies won. :-)

A pirate walks into a bar......

2008-09-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

and the bartender notices that the pirate has a steering wheel in his pants. So the bartender asks the pirate "whats with the steering wheel?" The pirate looks down and replies "arrrrgh it's driving me nuts".

For those of you that have been wanting to see Drake in his "pirate patch" here you go.

Elsie's First Slumber Party!

2008-09-16T06:39:00.001-07:00

I just realized that I put the pictures in random order, but I am to lazy to start over, so you get to see the evidence of the fun slumber party first!

Elsie chose to have a slumber party with her friend Macy rather then having a birthday party. This was the first slumber party for both girls, so there were high expectations! It was hilarious to hear them giggling and talking throughout the night. They almost sounded to much like teenagers! At one point I went in to check on them because it was amazingly quiet and found fifteen barbies getting hair cuts! I guess you could describe them as "punk barbies" now! So edgy! They watched Hannah Montana in 3D and ate pizza, popcorn and candy. I wonder why they were so wound up at 11:00? :-) They finally passed out around 12:30. I slept down on the couch just in case one of them woke up scared or if Macy decided she wanted to go home. But I didn't need to worry because they slept through the night and woke up without missing a beat. Drake was such a good sport about it all. He got special Dad time, so he didn't really care what the girls were up to.
The funny thing was the highlight of the evening seemed to be when I took them to the video store in their pajamas. That was the first thing Macy told her Mom when we took her home. Who knew that's all I had to do? Well, I know this is only the beginning of many slumber parties to come. It was a lot of fun, but I think it took me a good 3 days to recoup! Hopefully I get better at that part of it! :-)

Check Out the New Specs.!!

2008-09-15T15:37:00.000-07:00

Drake got glasses just like Dads!

Last week the school nurse let me know that while the kindergartners were getting their routine eye exams at school, Drake's right eye was flagged. They just wanted us to be aware of it, but it wasn't a real big concern. Apparently his right eye turns in just a hair and they saw it. Anyway, since I was going to the eye doctor today anyway to pick up my contacts I decided to make a day of it and bring Drake and Elsie along. During the exam I thought Drake was hamming it up by saying random letters like "it's a C" when in actuality it was an X. He almost got in trouble by me, but I figured the doctor would handle it. Anyway, by the end, the doc said that because of his right eye turning in just a little bit he has been relying almost solely on his left eye to do all the work. The result is that his right eye has not developed. So, he wasn't being goofy. He really couldn't see the letters! I'm just glad we caught it now!

Thankfully it can be strengthened by glasses and wearing a patch 2 hours every day after school. If any of you talk to him about it just remember that the "pirate patch" is super cool! We want to keep it that way as long as possible!

Well, that's the jest of it! I just think it's hilarious that Jon really
does have a"Mini Me" following him around!
They're both pretty good looking guys!!

2008-09-13T13:58:00.000-07:00

Just a glimpse of what we have been working on......

Birthday pictures....

2008-09-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe I am old enough to have a 7 year old daughter but here is some proof.

Some new Pics.

2008-08-31T20:43:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a while, but there has been a lot going on in these last couple weeks. First of all, last Wednesday was a big day here in the Rogers' house. It was the first day of school for both Drake and Elsie. Which included the traditional waffle breakfast with both Mindy and me. I was the camera happy father so here are a couple pics. Enjoy.

The Big Event!!

2008-08-21T11:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it was a looooong day, but a Fun day!! The kids were such troopers! Through the course of the day Drake fell down a flight of stairs, got kicked in the jaw and got a high heal rammed into the top of his foot while dancing. Elsie had a full girls day lasting over 12 hours, and didn't cry about her huge blister on the top of her foot or her sore knees from standing in her dress shoes until we walked out of the back of the sanctuary after the ceremony. They both deserved those webkinz that Jon held hostage all day! :-) Drake was the most handsome boy there and Elsie was simply gorgeous! Oh yeah, the bride and groom were pretty good looking too! :-) Kidding Sarah! You were beautiful!! There is so much more I could say about this crazy day, but will leave you with a bunch of fun pictures to look at instead. :-)

I love THIS OLD HOUSE.

2008-08-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

I have been promising to put some pictures up of the house for quite awhile and have finally gotten around to taking some of the outside. I also took some of the inside, but will post those later so I can find some "before" pictures to post along with them.

It is a work in progress and will be that way for awhile (especially the upstairs bathroom...right Jon?!:-)), but I wouldn't trade it for anything! I love the character and puzzles that old houses give. It's always fun to take off the outlet covers to paint and see what colors the people before us chose. I always end up yelling at Jon to come see the disgusting colors the room was in the past and some day when I'm old and wrinkled some other family will be saying that about my color choices. Their opinion of my colors will be wrong of course, but hey, they're entitled to their opinions even if they are ridiculously wrong! :-)

Well, here are the pictures of the outside. I hope to paint it gray with white trim and black shutters in the next summer or two. Of course, those colors can always change at any given moment! That's the way of decorating right?! Jon loves it! :-) I also hope to get a porch swing. This house won't be complete until it has a big lazy swing for the lazy summer days. What could be better then a big glass of sun tea, a brainless romance novel and kids playing in the yard?! Want to come over?! :-)

Ahhhhh.....Now This is a Sunday!

2008-08-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

Elsie and Landon: Kindergarten buddies!

As I was looking through these fun pictures... all I could think of is how thankful I am for Sundays. Counting the great things in life on this particular Sunday: Family, Friends, Sun, Sand, Boats, Laughter and Beautiful Sunsets!

On the boat with Tim, Jen, Jen's parents and all the kiddos!

Drake taking in the sites with his cool sunglasses.

Jon showing off his mad skills! He even skied doubles!
(Sorry about forgetting the camera for that one.)

Summer Fun! Landon, Elsie, Drake and Mya

Elsie and Mya digging for treasure!

The boys.

What a cool picture!
(Taken by the famous Jon Rogers)

Ramone

2008-07-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

Photo by: Elsie Rogers
Why don't they make adult underwear like this? I would sport these all the time.

Finding this will make you pucker....

2008-07-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago I went to refill the salt in our water softener. When I was finished filling it I tried to manually start the cycle, but it wouldn't start. Over to the breaker box I go. At first glance I notice that none of the breakers are tripped, so I start flipping them. Still nothing. Well I'm kind of at a loss at this point so I decide to take the cover off of the box for a closer look. I quickly learn a couple very important electrical lessons.

1. If you can "hear" electricity, that's bad.

2. If you are planning on working on an electrical box, take your phone out of your pocket and take it off of "vibrate" mode. A badly timed phone call from Mindy took a year off of my life. I'm not an easily scared guy, but if my bladder had been full before the call, I would now be telling you about yet another rule: Don't stand in a puddle and work on anything electrical.

3. If you have experienced both lesson 1 and 2 you flip the main breaker and don't take any chances.

That's when I found this breaker. Somehow it had failed, melted a couple wires and the breaker above it. In fact there is residue from the "spark" up the side of breakers filling the six spaces above it. So today I will be putting on my electricians hat and digging in to replace all of the affected, or just plain old breakers.

-jon

Young Buck.... Old Bitch

2008-07-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hahaha! Sorry, I just couldn't resist!

Announcing the Arrival of Touche'!!

2008-07-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

We have a new member of the family! Touche' is a miniature goldendoodle, which means he is half golden retriever and half miniature poodle. He is 6 months old and weighs in at 32 pounds. He should stay right around this weight and size give or take a couple of pounds. So far so good on the potty training! I'll keep my fingers crossed if Touche' can keep his legs crossed!

In my opinion My kids are better than yours

2008-07-18T18:40:00.001-07:00

-Jon

It's the first one.....

2008-07-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog world. I just wanted to express my thanks to all who might find this (as if there are a lot of people out there who look for the rantings of a regular joe) for taking the time to read about my insignificant thoughts and opinions as well as the rest of what ever may end up on here.
-jon