I remember the Christmas when I would wake up early and sneak downstairs to see what Santa brought.

I remember the first Christmas I got to play Santa.

I remember the first Christmas I spent without my Dad.

What do you remember about your Christmas. Leave it in the comments.

Gather your materials. A trick my Dad taught me is to use rolled up newspaper to build your base.

Roll it up just like this…

Build your base with the newspaper and then put some kindling on top.

Thanks to my neighbor Bill for donating some of his firewood for our yearly tradition.

An axe… every man needs one.

Strike anywhere matches… light them off your zipper but be careful not to catch your pants on fire.

Stack the wood in a criss-cross pattern to allow enough air to circulate through to keep the flames going.

The last required step… is a beer… Yuengling to be exact.

Happy fire making and enjoy your Thanksgiving!

My friend Chelsea and Baby C came over to help me decorate my tree and the house. We listened to Christmas music and made some memories of our own. I am blessed to have great friends in my life. Here are some pictures from the day of decorating. Enjoy!

Chelsea came over to help with decorating and she brought lunch. I ate some of the best chicken salad I have ever had from Tag’s Cafe

Baby C taking a nap.

Star Wars and M&M’s is there really a better combination? Yes, I know I am a nerd.

Storm Trooper!

The finished product… aint she a beauty!

Hope your all having a Merry Christmas with your friends and family!

But alas, there are some things I do want/need for Christmas.

1. The Kindle. This probably falls into the category of a need and a want. It will save me money in the long run since I won’t have to print out 1,000 plus pages of computer books. It will also save my eyes… I hate reading long books/documents on a computer screen.

2. Pearl Izumi. They make a wide variety of bike/athletic clothing especially for winter riding. I want to continue training during the winter so adding some base layers is essential so I don’t freeze my you know whats off!

I need these for when I ride.

I need a good winter glove for everyday use.

Baselayer for riding in cold temps.

This list could go on but I will stop there!

3. Gerber Bear Grylls Edition Knife. Included with the knife is a emergency whistle, fire starter, sharpening stone, and sheath. I want this!

4. Blackburn Flea Front/Rear Usb Combo Headlight

5. Video Games! I haven’t bought video games in a long time, so there are plenty of games I want.

In the spirit of the season I thought I would post some pictures of me playing Santa a couple years ago for the daycare…

]]> http://www.amongtherealm.com/dear-santa/feed/ 0 http://www.amongtherealm.com/easter-pics-2010/ http://www.amongtherealm.com/easter-pics-2010/#comments Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:03:22 +0000 Andrew http://amongtherealm.com/?p=688

Mom thought Mike needed an apron so he would not get his shirt dirty! I am sure he was thrilled.

Mike probably realizing that everyone is taking pictures and then he realizes that they will be posted on facebook!

Amie made her first cheesecake… it was awesome!

Amie cutting her first piece!

mmmm.. it was so good!

More desserts!

]]> http://www.amongtherealm.com/easter-pics-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.amongtherealm.com/easter-pics/ http://www.amongtherealm.com/easter-pics/#comments Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:26:13 +0000 Andrew http://amongtherealm.com/?p=484

Amie my niece, seemed like yesterday when she was a baby… she is turning 16 in June.

Clayton came over to my sister’s to enjoy some Easter dinner.

Emily my cousin and my worst nightmare (inside joke). She is going to Ohio State for Biomedical Engineering.

Emily’s new tattoo!

Sarah my niece, she loves it when I take her picture.

]]> http://www.amongtherealm.com/easter-pics/feed/ 0 http://www.amongtherealm.com/random-picture-post/ http://www.amongtherealm.com/random-picture-post/#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 19:04:48 +0000 Andrew http://amongtherealm.com/?p=411 These are some pictures from Christmas eve from my sister’s house.

Outside shot of my sister’s house

Another house in the neighborhood.

Pics of the bar

The theater room

]]> http://www.amongtherealm.com/random-picture-post/feed/ 0 http://www.amongtherealm.com/new-years-eve-shennagians/ http://www.amongtherealm.com/new-years-eve-shennagians/#comments Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:37:01 +0000 Andrew http://amongtherealm.com/?p=354 New Years this year was fun. Here are the pictures from the night… enjoy!

Meet Claudia… she is Clayton’s cousin and she is from Germany. She was in town for a family wedding. Jen loved her because she brought her favorite kind of wine.

Brooke is going to love me for this!

Bill and his lady friend (aka Edith). Her name is Mary. Clayton made her fit right in to the group by farting on her… the best thing was is she called him out on the fact that he farted on her… classic!

Not really sure what is going on here…

Jen boozin it up

Random

Clayton trying to play guitar and sing. Songs that were visited this night… the doobie song, nudie bar, and a brand new song that Clayton made up that night. That is all I will say about that.

J Biz… the freshest gangsta around.

I always bring fireworks on New Years. This year I brought 4 artillery shells but no tube. The tube is essential to being able to light these dudes off. So since we did not have one… we did what every American would do in a dire situation and crafted one. **I don’t recommend doing this, it is not the safest thing to do, but it worked rather well… kinda**

Before

Getting ready to light the first shell… and getting ready to run like hell to safety.

The aftermath… we were able to light off 3 out of the tube. It only went about 15 feet in the air. The last shell I just blew up on the ground.I think we successfully lighted 15 bottle rockets at once… a feat accomplished by only the best.

Meet Josh Emerson. This is not from New Years, this was my partner in blowing up stuff. He also supplied the pictures for this blog post.

]]> http://www.amongtherealm.com/new-years-eve-shennagians/feed/ 5 http://www.amongtherealm.com/christmas-slideshow-2008/ http://www.amongtherealm.com/christmas-slideshow-2008/#comments Mon, 29 Dec 2008 08:41:08 +0000 Andrew http://amongtherealm.com/2008/12/29/christmas-slideshow-2008/