Garriss Family Blog

Wildflowers

2012-04-20T17:58:00.002-04:00

We live in a rent house, and the yard is, well, a bit boring. So to liven things up, I planted some wildflowers in front and back. The very first of the flowers are starting to bloom. Anyone know what these little guys are?

TKD Tournament

2012-03-31T16:12:00.003-04:00

For the second part of the tournament, Jacen had to spar against an opponent. He drew a boy who was older but shorter though faster. The other boy scored 3 points quickly with rapid kicks to the chest, but then Jacen took advantage of his reach and connected twice to the head, worth 2 point each. When time expired, Jacen was up 4 to 3 and won the match.

Emilee

2012-03-26T17:18:00.003-04:00

Here's a recent portrait I took of Emilee:

TKD Tournament

2012-03-26T17:16:00.001-04:00

Jacen participated in his first TKD tournament last weekend. In his first event, he worked the forms for the green belt. He took first place in his division.

Smacked by probability

2012-03-20T14:31:00.003-04:00

I'm taking Dan Boneh's online course on Cryptography, and today I got smacked down by his crash course review of discrete probability. Painful what I can't remember.

SVN

2012-03-15T16:38:00.001-04:00

There are few things in life that I hate more than working with source control systems.

Emilee

2012-03-13T20:02:00.002-04:00

Here's a shot I took of Emilee tonight:

And Jezzy gets the bone

2012-03-10T19:09:00.003-05:00

When Ann and I went out for our anniversary date, we got an amazing steak at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. And we brought the bone home for our dog, who enthusiastically licked it clean.

Green Belt Testing (part 3)

2012-03-03T08:45:00.005-05:00

Just in case you were still wondering, I'm happy to report that Jacen did indeed earn his green belt in Tae Kwon Do:

Cyber Conductor

2012-03-01T21:03:00.000-05:00

I admit, I want one!

Trampoline

2012-02-28T18:49:00.000-05:00

As you many remember, the kids got a trampoline for Christmas. Yeah, you should expect to see a lot of trampoline pictures this year. Anyhow. Emmy's trying to learn how to do a front flip. She's most of the way there. Here's a couple pics of her trying:

Green Belt Testing (part 2)

2012-02-28T18:38:00.004-05:00

A good deal of his testing was sparring against another student. They both suited up with padding on their head, chest, hands, and feet, and then went to town attacking each other.

Jacen also had to break a board with his foot.

Green Belt Testing

2012-02-25T16:40:00.000-05:00

Jacen began taking Tae Kwon Do lessons at our church over a year ago, and he's faithfully working on it. In January he tested for his green belt, his 5th belt. The first part of the testing is demonstrating his knowledge of various forms and techniques, series of punches, kicks, and blocks. Some of these forms are done individually; others are done with another person.

Anniversary Dinner

2012-02-25T10:09:00.002-05:00

We have been married for nearly 19 years, so last night Ann and I went out to dinner to celebrate. We ate at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Durham and had an amazing porterhouse prime rib steak, the best we've ever eaten. (And at that price, it had better be the best!)

Techno-Son

2012-02-24T12:37:00.000-05:00

I'm proud of my son, Jacen, he's created up his own web site using WordPress on a local copy of MAMP. Next week he'll load to our web host so you can see it.

Yummy Thai food -- cheap!

2012-02-17T13:10:00.001-05:00

We found a new restaurant today that has real Thai food prepared by real Thai speakers! The food was delicious and the prices were very good (about $8 for lunch and $10 for dinner). We will definitely be going back!

You should try it. It's called ~~Asian~~ Saigon Bistro, and it's on S Main in Wake Forest between 98 and the Walmart.

Homeschool

2012-02-17T08:19:00.000-05:00

I can't claim credit for creating it, but I like!

Remove After Impact

2012-02-14T17:24:00.001-05:00

Jezzy tries (unsuccessfully) to remove a dart stuck to her head:

Brace For Impact

2012-02-14T17:20:00.002-05:00

Don't Try Path

2012-02-07T16:15:00.000-05:00

It's kinda like Facebook or Google+, but it's supposed to keep you interacting with actual friends, not 5 bazillion pseudo-friends/acquaintances/people-you-don't-really-care-that-much-about. I had read some good things about it online, so I tried out the iOS app. Now I'm sorry that I did. They've been caught uploading everyone's address book. Without the user's knowledge or permission. They've admitted their practice and defended it.

Path uploads your address book

So I've deleted the app and recommend that you not install it.

Lame Super Bowl Commercials

2012-02-06T06:51:00.001-05:00

Am I the only one who thinks that the Super Bowl commercials were just lame this year? I wonder if companies spent all their advertising money buying TV slots and didn't have any left to hire a decent ad agency. The only one I liked was in the 3rd quarter! It made me laugh out loud.

Know Your Opponent

2012-02-05T16:38:00.003-05:00

One afternoon the kids decided to try their Nerf guns out on Jezzy. She ran and jumped and barked, and she always keep an eye out on them!

Jumping

2012-02-05T16:30:00.002-05:00

Despite the chilly weather this time of year, the trampoline has been a hit. Here's one of Emmy jumping. (Check out those socks!)

Twilight White

2012-02-03T19:41:00.001-05:00

Playing Killer Bunnies with our newest expansion set for Family Time!

New Toys

2012-01-31T17:09:00.002-05:00

The day after Christmas we went to see family and exchange some gifts. Not surprisingly, the kids got some new toys and wasted no time trying them out!