What has happened?

I have no excuses. I’m not going to claim an active lifestyle on my lack of blogging.

I guess I’ve cashed in on the nice string of weather. For one thing, days on end of 80 degrees in March have finally come to an end. And that’s only because we are now in April.

Thank goodness.

I was getting tired of always being outside, drawing on the sidewalk, playing baseball or soccer in the backyard, going to the park and not wearing a jacket.

Seriously, what has happened?

Well, to sum it up easily, life happened.

Amy returned from Europe earlier in the month.

We played outside.

I mowed my lawn 3 times in the month of March.

Amy and I bought bicycles and actually tried to use them. I guess exercise is important to good health, who knew? Amy does, but I’m still getting used to it.

We actually used vacation days with the boys in a trip to the QC. As you can see in the picture, we just sit in hotels playing on the iPad and DS.

It was on that trip that I learned a good friend from my Girl Scouts Night on Broadway, died. Brian Nelson (tribute story by another great friend David Burke) was such a great person and talent. It was awesome to stand next to him to get my part. No one can replace that voice in the show and it makes my decision to return last December all the more meaningful, as that was my last time talking to the copy editor of the QC Argus/Dispatch before he passed on March 17.

We saw old friends in new places and entertained along the way.

Then there were trips to get frozen yogurt.

I suppose Call Committee at church took a little time. We are looking for a new pastor for care and discipleship.

We hosted two members of the Ritterchor from Wartburg College. Our guys were communication arts majors. They weren’t even at the house 10 hours, but we still managed to bore them to tears with tales of Castle Singers and KWAR. The group was well received at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. We hope they remember us in Ankeny the next time they drive by.

I did get to meet the new director, Lee Nelson. He’s an incredible talent and Wartburg is lucky to have him.

And now this week, baseball begins. The Iowa Cubs will open the 2012 season to some of the coolest weather we’ve had in weeks. The boys are summer are getting the same luck as last year, great weather in Des Moines when the team was on the road, but when at home, bring the cold, rain and snow.

We did have some family health issues with Grandpa Bob Lehmann attempting to play Superman and ending up in the hospital. Mom and Dad survived a month together in Florida and Kris was able to return with them, hitting every 3rd McDonald’s along the way back to Iowa.

And maybe I play Words With Friends a little bit….

But being a dad is what I love to do. Spending time with the clowns is the best medicine for any day. Amy gets attention, too. You have to keep the boss happy.

Maybe next time we’ll get back to the business at hand, telling you who is pregnant on what TV station and maybe dig up some old hat pictures to keep you entertained.

Until next time, good knight.

Hymnals, Donuts and shots to the face

Levi works on stacking the new red hymnals. He would later stack them over the pew in front of him.

Sunday marked day two of the YBHA IX. If we can get through this day, the toughest will be behind us.

Levi adjusted well to the first hour of the end of Daylight Saving Time. He then decided to wake up around 3 AM. He went back to sleep before I realized what was happening.

He and I made it to church by 730 for our choir warm up. He took over the tenor section during church, but mostly, he was quiet. Now, I know how many new hymnals in the balcony. He really seemed to enjoy playing with those books.

If Noah can have a donut, why can't Levi?

We picked up Noah from his sleepover. It wasn’t until I got to the front door of Jenna’s did I realize that I forgot to pack PJs. Oops. Noah then told me he wasn’t comfortable when he slept.

Back to church for church school to see several former or current members of ALC in Jesup. It is fun to see old friends in new places.
We had our donuts, left our mess, and had lunch.

I did catch a few zzz’s with Noah. He was tired. He should be. I later found out there wasn’t much sleep in sleepover. He was up late, so getting him to nap wasn’t much of a challenge. It is fun to snuggle with him on Sunday afternoons. I do like that.

Noah is ready for soccer. Levi is ready for baseball. Morgan is caught in the middle.

Aunt Alane came over for an afternoon of fun. Morgan and Noah wanted to play soccer. Then baseball.

Levi was kicked in the face with a ball and Alane caught a liner off the cheek from Morgan.

That about sums up our 20 minutes outside.

I turned to kick the ball and Levi was right there, in the path of the ball off my right foot. He cried for his Mommy.

Liner by Morgan. This shot would hit her mother. All would be fine.

Then Alane pitched a ball that Morgan hit right back up the middle. More accurately, the middle of her left cheekbone.

Game over.

But Morgan does have a nice swing. And she’s a lefty. Scouts please contact me. I’m the uncle that’s looking out for her best softball interests.

We had a couple of shots to the chops, but the no-blood streak continues.

Jinx.

July is gone, but not forgotten

Paul and Amy at Castello di Amorosa or Castle of Love in the Napa Valley.

Hopefully you noticed this page hadn’t been updated much in the month of July.

I didn’t intentionally take time off, but took time to do some other things.

Amy and I celebrated 10 years of marriage at the end of June. We took the party on the road, with a trip to northern California. We flew in to San Francisco, drove to Napa and came back to the city by the bay.

I could bore you with all the details like I did to Michael Graham, the best friend a guy could ever have, but I won’t.

Ok, here’s a few things we did on our trip.

Beringer preps for Michael Buble.

Recapping, we went to 9 wineries (Castello di Amorosa, Robert Mondavi, Beringer (they were getting ready for a Michael Buble concert on-site later in the week), Beaulieu (near Rutherford Grill where we lunched the day before), V Sattui (where we had a picnic lunch and Amy was again reminded how much she loved birds), Darioush (looked around, but no tasting), Black Stallion, Van Der Heyden (small is an understatement for this winery) and finally Luna.

Napa was hot. The wineries are at every turn. We should have gone into the Sonoma region to sample more of the white wines. Napa is more known for the reds. Lesson learned. We did have a good time along the Silverado Trail.

Cousins Paul Yeager and Sean Nash together again.

Then came San Fran. My cousin Sean and I reconnected for the first time in about 25 years. Just like the mid-80′s, he’s still a trip. He’s an artist, I’m a producer. We both have some abstract concept skills, but he’s the one who should get paid for talking. He was quite the host for our afternoon. We got a quick city tour and the back roads to get there.

The next day, we took in a ferry ride to Sausalito, Fisherman’s Wharf/Pier39/HumanCluster area, trolley car ride and Ghirardelli Square.

The view from the upper deck of AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Oh, and a trip to an awesome ballpark, AT&T. The home of the World Champion San Francisco Giants is a true gem. Tv’s Eric Hanson says it is in top 5 of ballparks. I can imagine two others above it, but that’s stretching it.

The park is on the bay, the views are incredible and the fans love their Giants. Specifically, the Beard. Brian Wilson has the city in a trance. We got to see his entrance twice and it didn’t disappoint. We learned the stadium plays “Lights” by Journey as its “Sweet Caroline” moment. If you’ve been to Fenway Park in Boston, you know what I’m talking about. The Twins play “Livin’ On a Prayer” and the Royals play “Friends in Low Places.”

I did get a chance to go to Waterloo and visit John Bergman a happy 60th birthday. His family and ours are the same. We’ve done a lot of things together and have a lot of memories together. It was good to see so many people gathered for his birthday.

Noah and Levi playing in the sprinkler.

The rest of the month included time with the boys (hairline fracture in Levi’s left leg), ice cream runs, bike rides, hot weather and tending to our ever-growing garden of tomatoes and raspberries.

We’re regulars at the pools, which are doing great business this year, making up for any lost revenue the last 4 years. Noah passed his first year of swimming lessons and is ready for more. When not at the pool, we turned the sprinkler on and let the boys run wild and into each other.

He's going to school this fall?

August brings the Iowa State Fair, the start of high school football for another year of calling Dowling Catholic football, meetings, straw polls, and Noah starting Kindergarten.

Yes. Our little baby is ready for school.

But are we?

Summer is fading fast

We all have to finally admit, summer is over.

The kids are back in school.

Football season is here.

The Iowa State Fair is over.

Now minor league baseball is done.

We went to the final Iowa Cubs regular season game on Monday. That was the bookends for us on the season as a family. We made it to the first and the last. Sure, we hit a lot in-between, but this is a good chance to see how the boys have changed in the season.

Noah at I-Cubs opener 2010.

This is how Noah looked on opening night back in April as we were bundled up for the Iowa Cubs home opener. He was in a stocking hat, a winter coat and he needed it as it was cold that night. We also were there to see that Sandberg fella. Ryne was in his first game as manager of the team. There was a bit of extra excitement in the air.

Levi's first baseball game.

Levi was in a winter get up as well. This was his first professional baseball game. He was born in late September, so he had to wait almost 5 months before he could attend his first game. Levi was very bundled up that night.

Fast forward through hot days and a lot of fun with Ron, Bill, Gordon and Chandler and we’re at the end of the season.

The boys of summer entertained us well as the season came down to the last game Monday. Win, and the I-Cubs go to the post-season. Lose, and the opponent, the Memphis Redbirds advance to the play-offs.

Noah's last baseball game of 2010.

Here’s Noah as we walked up to the stadium on Monday. He had a few nights where he didn’t want to go, so I left him at home. He did say as we were leaving Monday that he wants to go to more baseball games next year. No foul balls or t-shirts for him this year. But, he did get his picture with Cubbie Bear.

He did get to be some of the entertainment of Section 10 as a group noticed he was a confused child most nights wearing a Cubs hat and a Cardinals shirt. I guess I can get blamed for his issues that he’ll resolve in therapy later.

Levi's without his winter hat.

Our youngest boy Levi will have the most noticeable change. He did not make a lot of games this year as the grabby hands stage doesn’t do well in sitting through a baseball game. I did take Levi to the fountain today to cool off a bit.

Levi spent most of the game day ‘drinking’ puffs. He didn’t want to sit, but he did enjoy his brother. But, I’m not sure his brother enjoyed him.

You be the judge.

Brothers don't shake hands....

But this will be the picture I remember. Me and my boys at a baseball game. At least one of us was happy. Will we see Ryne Sandberg as manager next season in Des Moines? Did we see Jason Dubois and Bobby Scales play their final professional game? We’re not sure. But we’ll check it out next season from Section 10. The Yeager boys will see you then.

Me and my boys.

Finally some blood in Day 4 of YBHA

Noah gets a little ice cream after supper.

Just about 3 minutes I after I hit publish on the account of Day 3 saying we’d had no blood, Noah started crying.

He had a bloody nose.

He’d been asleep for about 2 hours when he woke up somewhat scared and bleeding. He got through it and we made it to the morning with no more bloody noses.

I’d say we had a few other things go our way, but I won’t jinx myself by writing what those things are.

Levi was wearing his Cardinal shirt for the first and probably only time.

Levi slept until 545, so that was a good thing to not have to get up with him several times overnight. But, tonight will be a new adventure, I’m sure. It already was a challenge in getting him to sleep tonight. That means I better get a move on this post to get finished.

Levi was all smiles this morning as we found in this video. Also, Noah decides to tell his joke as well while eating breakfast. Hopefully he’s got his Grandpa Yeager’s joke telling ability. By the way, today is Kent Yeager’s birthday. Here’s a birthday greeting to Farmer Papa in this link. Below is the fun times this morning in the Yeager household.

This video is almost a response to the first time he told it on camera which is seen here.

During Easter dinner, my father didn’t hear Noah telling the joke. So, he asked Noah to repeat it. Noah did and recited the lines very slowly. Classic. That was almost funnier than the original.

Principal Park, Memphis Redbirds at Iowa Cubs. April 13, 2010.

Anyway, I got the lawn mowed and a couple of things done before heading to Principal Park to see the Memphis Redbirds play the Iowa Cubs. The Memphis team is the AAA affiliate of your St. Louis Cardinals, so that is the one series I try to make it to all the games. A few co-workers made the trip, so that was fun. Jay even made the network some money while were there eating up some vacation hours.

Good night and we’re almost half-way home to having Mama back in the house.

Quality of Life on the next Iowa Journal

We are holding our Music Education show for a couple of weeks until May 6. This week we look at some of our best stories from the last couple of years that contribute to the Quality of Life in the state. This show will feature the Midwest League teams in Iowa, Columbus Junction, Daytrotter and other fun stories.

Next week we will look at some of the green stories we’ve done. Beer comes your way April 29.

Quality of Life in Iowa

On the Thursday, April 15 edition of The Iowa Journal

(Johnston, Iowa) –Thursday’s episode of The Iowa Journal will look at several characteristics that contribute to the state’s quality of life. This program airs Thursday, April 15 at 8 p.m. It will be rebroadcast Friday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. on statewide Iowa Public Television and Saturday, April 17 at 8:30 a.m. on IPTV WORLD. It is also available online at iptv.org/iowajournal.

This edition looks back at several episodes of The Iowa Journal produced over the previous two years that underscore some of the core values that makes Iowa a great place to live.

Featured segments will explore:

-baseball’s Midwest League that has teams in four eastern Iowa communities.

-the community spirit of citizens in one southern Iowa town who helped each other recover from the 2008 floods.

-people who moved to Iowa by choice and have set down roots.

-Iowa’s evolving music industry.

-the prevalence of art in public places.

For more information about The Iowa Journal, visit http://www.iptv.org/iowajournal or call (515) 242-3146. For information on how to watch IPTV WORLD in your area, visit Iptv.org.

Home Alone II Day 2

The office of the President of the United States keeps a daily schedule of President’s day. Then, there’s the document called the Tick Tock which is the exact thing the President is doing at any given moment.

Here is Sunday’s Tick Tock. How can it be any better than Day One?

0459 Levi decides he wants to be a member of Van and Bonnie’s 4:59 club. I tell him the WHO Radio duo get Sunday morning off from work.

0509 Levi wants to eat since Van and Bonnie are not on the radio.

0520 Levi asks if we can watch Jeriann’s forecast, or maybe Jim Mertens and Julie Sisk on Good Morning Quad Cities.

0530 Levi wants to know if Charles King is still on TV. Dad says no, he’s retired.

0545 Levi falls asleep for a few minutes. Immediately wakes up when set back in crib and realization that mom is nowhere around to help.

0616 Dad gives in trying to get above mentioned 6-month-old back to sleep. Now just trying to keep quiet enough to not wake 3-year-old.

0637 Levi flashes smile to say, “Dad, you still love me, right, even though I got up at 5am?”

0647 Noah hears the party that has started and wants in. He’s ready to be a part of the fun.

0803 Yeager boys arrive at HTLC for 8a service.

0806 Noah is the only speak during the reflection time. However, he does keep quiet the rest of the service, even telling me to shush a couple of times.

0813 Yeager boys head for choir loft to allow Paul to sing in the choir. Levi helps Paul sing by grabbing his face during the anthem.

0820 Levi downs bottle, falls asleep to Pastor Rick’s sermon. I guess he doesn’t like stories about bears.

1002 Levi falls asleep on stroller walk around church neighborhood. The podcast of Rick’s sermon did the trick.

Noah and James riding around on the neighborhood JD Gator. Look out world.

1047 Neighbor boy James comes over to ask Noah to play. The boys now terrorize the neighborhood in their mini-gator. Neighbor girls run for cover of soccer nets.

1200 Attempt to put Levi down for a nap the traditional way.

12:00:20 Levi cries.

1209 Noah tries to nap.

1214 Levi nap attempt aborted. We instead play around and he’s all smiles. Until Noah comes in thinking his 45 minute nap is over. The moment was captured on this video.

Levi and Noah are ready for baseball.

1305 Loaded up for baseball game at Principal Park. Levi wears all Cardinal gear. Noah wears a Cub hat. A house divided? Not sure if going to the game is the brightest idea. But we made it and no one fell over the railing like the crazies in Section 5. Always Section 5.

Noah stares down the batter from his new glove.

Thanks to the stadium worker with our prize for being so late. Huge ups for that. I think Noah likes his prize. He’s got the pitcher’s stare down perfect. I may have to use that this week if he acts up for me.

1500 Depart for home. 4 innings in the books. Longer than Dad expected. We did like the prize and got a nap from Levi on the way home. This time it was just fresh air that did him in. Either that, or Cubbie bear cast a hex on him because he was wearing a Cardinal outfit.

Allie, Paige and Noah playing in the sand.

1530 Prairie City reinforcements arrive. Also Known As The Wood girls. Paige, Allie and Aunt Julie to the rescue.

1745 Camp Yeager established in basement. Noah is in good hands with his cousins.

2045 All boys accounted for. All boys asleep.

Levi’s first baseball game and that Sandberg Fella

Thursday night marked the first game as manager of the Iowa Cubs for Ryne Sandberg. The ‘new guy’ is going to stand in the coach’s box at 3rd base for the season. Ryne says he wants to manage in the major leagues. So, this stop in Des Moines may be a short one.

He received a major league welcome as he was introduced. He was signing autographs almost 4 minutes before first pitch. He’s vowed to sign as much as he can and Thursday, he lived up to his word.

Here’s a slideshow from the night.

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Going to Iowa Cubs games is like old hat for Noah. He was excited as I mentioned in this earlier post. He did pretty good and served a good blanket for me as he was sharing a seat as our row was full.

This was Levi’s first game. He didn’t last long, but had a big set of smiles in his parka.

See you at the ballpark in Section 10.

And thanks to the ICubs for having the tunes rocking tonight. Big ups for great music. Keep it going.

It is Opening (Day) Night at the I-Cubs

Levi Yeager is ready for his Iowa Cubs debut. Photo by Paul Yeager.

Tonight Levi will be going to his first baseball game. Mind you, we could have taken him to the see the St. Louis Cardinals in the playoffs last year, but we all know how well that ended and how quickly it ended, so that didn’t happen. Plus, Levi would only have been 10 days old.

So tonight, Levi will go to his first baseball game at six months. He’ll be in Section 10. He’ll be wearing his Iowa Cubs shirt. This will be a chance for Bill, Ron and Chandler to meet Levi. Amy was very pregnant the last time we saw our Row 1 seat-mates.

Noah and Levi are ready.

The baseball boys are familiar with older brother Noah. He too, is excited to go tonight. I said only good little boys at school get to go to a baseball game in Des Moines.

Noah wants to wear his Cubbie shirt. By summer, we’ll be ready to wear a Cardinal shirt. Then he wears a Cubs hat and a Cardinal shirt. It usually gets a few double takes and people calling DHS to report confusion of children.

We also did a little video this morning to talk about the upcoming game tonight. Enjoy.

If that clip doesn’t work, try this Ustream link here.

We’ll see you tonight at Principal Park and the Iowa Cubs game on this opening night. Amy is excited about Ryne Sandberg. She will likely go to more games this season and wants to sit near the dugout as often as possible.

Cardinals Winter Warm Up

Tony LaRussa with Cardinals radio announcer John Rooney

Last year at this time I was wandering around the halls of the Millenium Hotel in downtown St. Louis for my first Cardinals Care Winter Warm-up. It was my first experience of seeing the Cardinals operation up close off the diamond.

It was a fun time and I got to see a lot of Cardinal players and former players.

Tony LaRussa was there answering questions and later signing autographs. As was the Cards GM John Mozeliak. I went with my uncle Gordon, who helped bring me into Cardinal Nation, who had gone to this event before.

The event is a fundraiser for the Cardinals Care charity. You pay an admission fee and then get to see speakers, stand in line for free autographs (heavy hitters require a paid ticket, sometimes more than $75 for an autograph) and sessions with managements, staff and stadium operations.

Pat Parris of Fox Sports Midwest was there. Parris used to anchor at WHO-TV in Des Moines if you go back before the Keith Murphy era at 13. I try to keep in touch as I was an intern under him during my first WHO tour.

KTRS radio has a set up that allows to pick players who come to the event a chance to talk to their radio audience before or after addressing the big crowd in-house.

Does this man need a caption?

The event lasts Saturday through Monday. It is the same each day, just the names are different that are signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans. One fun thing is hanging out in the lobby to see who you can see. Here, true Cardinal fans are sitting with books and books of baseball cards waiting to see if an up and coming player walks into the lobby to chase down for an autograph. I played named that Cardinal several times with Gordon as we guessed who was whom.

My favorite was seeing back up catcher Jason LaRue walk in with his cowboy boots, camo and wild wardrobe.

Monday night is the Baseball Writers of St. Louis annual dinner. This is where the players receive season awards, Gold Gloves or MVPs. This year, Albert will be getting his MVP at this dinner. Other team awards are given away as well during this dinner.

One additional note. Like many hotels, there’s a lounge area with a bar for fans to sit in and relax. The Sunday night of the ’09 Warm Up was the Arizona Cardinals NFL playoff game. The Arizona part still bothers many in St. Louis. You can tell whenever Bill Bidwell was shown on TV, the crowd would boo. But the majority of the fans were cheering for Kurt Warner. Even though he’s no longer the QB in STL, they still love their Iowa Boy.

I would imagine they’ll be cheering again tonight for Warner.