Michael McClure Family Commentary

A couple weeks ago, Juli and I, The Thomes and The Stuteys headed off to Cancun for a bit of rest and relaxation. After about a year of talking, planning and anticipating, the day finally came (and just in time). The night before, Juli and I took the kids and Andi over to Mom’s and dropped them off. There they would be having the times of their lives, as we were having ours.

We all stayed at an all-inclusive resort called the Dreams Resort Cancun (which we all highly recommend). For 5 days and 4 nights we did nothing…and had the best time doing it. All the food, drinks and entertainment you could ever want, all located right there at the resort. Some highlights of the trip include: Juli swimming with the dolphins; a massage on the beach; a show featuring fire-dancers; and kayaking in the ocean.

The best way to experience our trip is to book one yourself, but if you’re running a little low on cash, you can check out these photos of Cancun.

Kennedi turns 4-years-old today and Juli and I are excited for her. We are planning a birthday party for her on Sunday at 4pm at our house. The theme is “Fancy Nancy” which happens to be her favorite doll/book character.

Kennedi would love to hear your birthday wishes. Leave Kennedi a message.

I now realize why I have yet to put Mikayla’s softball schedule on the site. Usually I spend a bit of time finding all the times, dates and field numbers, then post to our website for everyone to view. This year, however, Erin did us a good deed and created a schedule before I could get to it. Since she did that, my mental task list became that much smaller. But what I failed to do was post her schedule to the site. The following schedule highlights games for Mikayla and Isabella’s softball games (thanks Erin) from today moving forward:

• Thurs 6/11 - 7:30pm - Field 10
• Mon 6/15 - 7:30pm - Field 12
• Thurs 6/18 - 7:30pm - Field 10
• Mon 6/22 - 7:30pm - Field 12
• Mon 6/29 - 6:00pm - Field 12
• Fri 7/3 - 6:00pm - Field 10
• Thurs 7/9 - 6:00pm - Field 10

To date, the All-Stars (Mikayla and Isabella’s team) have a 2009 record of 4 wins and 1 loss. They are well on their way to a first place finish for the season. Go All-Stars!

Need directions to the fields in Goddard? Check out this handy-dandy map.

A few weeks ago we adopted a puppy from the Kansas Humane Society. Andi, a whippet/pointer mix, is 1 year old and completely black (except for a small patch on her chest and toes). We found her on the KS Humane Society website on a Saturday and after thinking about it over night, we made the decision to expand our family. I picked her up Sunday afternoon.

Andi is well on her way to becoming fully crate-trained and does an excellent job of going potty outdoors. She loves squeaky chew-toys and being able to run freely in the back yard. I think I can speak for all of us when I say, Andi is a great addition to our family. View More Photos of Andi.

Like Andi? Leave us a message and let us know.

About twice a year I become very lazy with our family website while becoming overwhelmed with life’s daily twists and turns. The long stretch between the last post and tonight marks the first for this year.

I was approached by family this week that there has been a lack of attention to our family website in the past month. The only rebutle I have is, “Is anyone out there?”. Does anyone even visit the site anymore? With the lack of participation by recent visitors, the motivation to continue to maintain this site becomes low…real low. There are two things that motivate me to continue to update the site with information and news about the kids, Juli and myself. 1) Crowd participation 2) Outstanding and incredible news about the family.

Now that we’re done with the introductions, on to some news.

Late last month Julian turned 2. We had a big party for him here at our house and all of the family were invited. He had a blast entertaining everyone and playing with his cousins. During the past month Julian has really started to talk more…and clearer. His sentences are still short, but the words are easier to understand. We are still working with him to get sentences out of his mouth, but for now, clear words will do. As of tonight, I can clearly understand him when he says “I love you” at bedtime (this is something he and I have wroked on secretly for the past week or so).

Today Kennedi took a field trip to the zoo with her preschool class. Juli chaperoned the trip and from what Kennedi tells me, they had a blast and saw tigers (LUCKYYY). She continues to be strong willed and determined to be independent (all of which are great attributes for adults, but I’m not sure about 3 year olds). She is stoked that she has one day of school left.

Mikayla has been busy with soccer and softball, which means Juli and I (and the kids) have been busy driving to soccer and softball. This could have a major influence on the lack of commitment on my part to devote some time to our website. She has been to a couple soccer tournaments, games and practices as well as pitching practice, hitting practice, team practice and other misc. Little Flowers events. She is thrilled to be “this close” to the end of school.

Juli is continuing her Yoga classes, striving to attain her instructing certificate so she can teach her own classes. She has helped teach a couple at the Northwest Y over the past two weeks. She is busy at Cessna with contracts and clients. When she’s not working, she’s driving kids around or relaxing in yoga class. Tonight she asked me out on a date. We plan to hit the drive-in (wink, wink) this weekend (alone) for a triple feature showing Star Trek and two other movies that sound interesting (although I’m not sure at this time what they’re called).

I have been busy at work, creating new web designs for multiple clients around town (like Star Lumber (launching soon), Genesis Health Clubs (launching soon), Wichita Technology Corporation and 360ideas (launching tomorrow morning. this is the company I work for). When I’m not at work I spend my time in a car, driving across town to and from work, playing with Andi (see next paragraph) and playing with the kids. I’m looking forward to the drive-in this weekend with Juli. Lately I’ve been thinking about some new tattoos to get but haven’t settled on anything yet (plus the economy isn’t the greatest…so, you know).

Andi, our new dog, is adjusting well to our home. We found her at the Kansas Humane Society three weeks ago and fell in love immediately. She is a whippet/pointer mix. A whippet is a descendant of the grey hound. She is tall and skinny, has short black hair and is very well behaved. She loves squeaky toys to chew on and plays fetch very well (although we’re still working her dropping the ball when she brings it back). At the moment she is quietly laying in her crate (which tells me she feels safe there now) with the crate door open. Kennedi is still freaked out by her at times, but is slowly coming around to loving Andi. Andi is about 12 months old.

Now, after all of that, I would hope at least 70% of you would have something to comment to us about. Share your thoughts. We love hearing from you.

Over the past several weeks I’ve heard several comments from friends, family and co-workers about different options for recycling around town. Some good, some bad. Some costly, some free. As usual, I’ve chimed in to give my two cents about our recycling service, Eagle Recycling, and how it benefits our family. If you’re interested in lowering your monthly trash service bills and obtaining a reliable recycling service, keep reading.

Eagle Recycling is a recycling and trash service based out of Hesston, KS. A couple years ago we came across their name after doing a bit of searching for good local recycling options. Of course we could have just opted to keep our then current trash service and pay an additional $5 per month for limited recycling (by limited I mean, only certain types of recycled materials would be accepted). However we were not interested in paying for limited service for an additional cost.

After speaking with friends and family and searching the internet, our friend Swilly told us about the company they used for their trash and recycling. After listening to the benefits, the conclusion was simple. We could have more, pay less and feel better about recycling a ton of material on a weekly basis. To us, it just made sense.

So how do you go about getting service setup with Eagle Recycling? It’s easy.

1. Call Lyndon at Eagle Recycling, 316-207-1048.
2. Tell him you are a friend of Michael and Juli McClure (who are current customers) and would like to setup recycling/trash service for your household.
3. Call your current trash service and tell them they stink (no pun intended…well, maybe) and that they cost too much.
4. Go to Lowe’s and buy a mid-sized plastic garbage container (preferably one made from recycled materials) and a couple of larger cans for recycling material.
5. Start recycling your heart’s out (according to the materials Eagle Recycling accepts (which ranges from cardboard, paper board, newpaper, cans, aluminum cans, glass, plastic, etc.)).
6. Sit back and start feeling good about saving your planet.

You’ll notice the difference in the first couple of weeks of recycling. We did. On average, we have half a garbage can of trash per week, while we have two full cans of recycling every other week.

Need help? Leave me a message here and I’ll help you out as much as I can.

Last Monday mom watched Kennedi and Julian for the day. Juli dropped them off around 7:30am and from then on, the adventure was on. They spent the day playing, coloring/drawing, cutting paper and doing fun projects. In addition getting Sonic for lunch, mom also helped them make Easter cookies to take home.

When I arrived at Mom’s to pick them up, I was greeted with two plates of Easter cookies to take home and share with the family. Needless to say, they lasted just a short while. Kennedi and Julian did an amazing job of decorating these cookies (you too Mom). Not only did they look festive, they were incredibly delicious (the cookies…not the kids).

Wish you had some delicious cookies? Leave a message for Jay and Kennedi and maybe they’ll make a batch for you!

Mikayla’s art class has added, yet another, piece to their online art gallery. According to their art teacher, “The 4th graders studied modern artist, Wassily Kandinsky. After a presentation on the artist they were asked to pencil in a design using shapes and lines to create a Kandinsky-like feel. I added 3-D paint to their penciled design before the next class and then they used techniques they had learned in our watercolor basics class to watercolor their design. Truly beautiful!!”.

Like what you see? Leave Mikayla a message and let her know how much you like it.