The 12 Palms of Christmas

Every Christmas is unique. This Christmas will go down as The 12 Palms of Christmas. On Tyson's list from Santa was an old school Palm IIIxe. Santa's search led him to a good deal on not 1 ... not 2 ... not 3 ... but 12 Palms for Christmas! Of course it wouldn't be any fun to put them all in one box so each one was wrapped individually in boxes of varying sizes. Oh the anticipation! Needless to say, Tyson was surprised on Christmas morning to see that the number of gifts under the tree had doubled! Hooray! He was estatic to see the first, excited to see the second, surprised to see the third, questioned the fourth, discouraged to see the fifth and so on ... till when the last one was opened, he was so frustrated and angry that he stormed out of the room kicking boxes on the way and tears streamed down his cheeks. He thought it was a mean joke and that each present would be something different. Santa's plan had backfired. It didn't help that Santa had also brought Paige the same cell phone that Tyson had wanted. Sigh. But we talked things through and after a brief hiatus, we returned to our Christmas and things got better and better. In fact, in the end Tyson was grateful for the 12 Palms that he received. He had them all taken apart and got 6 of the 12 working again. He loved 'em. Ahh ... and to think that there's only 12 more days till his 12th birthday.

Shop Projects by Tyson

Tyson enjoys dual-enrollment for his 6th Grade education - he does his core work at home via the virtual school, then he heads over to Tonganoxie Middle School for his industrial art classes. This semester he played the trumpet in band and made some cool projects with the 7th Grade shop students. There was a the candy machine (currently filled with pistachios), the Dr.Pepper lamp, the shelf (complete with routered edges!), candy dish and pencil holder. What talent! And while it's a talent that only a few of us can enjoy, his ability to whail on the trumpet is something the whole neighborhood gets to enjoy!

Ty's Computer Service

Tyson has opened his own "unofficial" home business. After a trip to city hall, he hopes to make it an "official" business. The name? Ty's Computer Service. The company motto? "The Cheapest Microchips in Town That Work the Way They Should." Working with an initial customer base of three, he provides just about any computer service that anyone will let him do. After all, he was able to successfully fix the Mitchell's computer when it wouldn't boot up or operate correctly. Viruses? Not a problem. He has a shop set up in the basement (rent-free ... for now) where he's laid out a few blankets as carpet or area rugs - we haven't decided which along with a few folding chairs for customers to sit and wait. What does a customer do while they're waiting? He's set up a tv and vcr (he hopes to upgrade to a dvd player soon) along with a radio from where they can choose the music of their choice. A webcam on the corner of his desk keeps an eye on them. He has one assistant named Justin, whose allowed to fire anyone, except for Tyson. His current assortment of computers (thanks to the local thrift store) include a handful of monitors, CPUs and enough memory to run a small firm. He has a financial program to keep track of his finances. He'll install Ubuntu on your computer for free. But you'll need to make an appointment, after all - he's downloaded a program to keep track of that as well.

Thanksgiving in Arkansas

Not only did we celebrate Thanksgiving in Arkansas this year ... but we celebrated with family. Of course, in Arkansas, isn't everyone family? Cody's cousin, Maria Hunsaker, and their family invited the Edwards down to their home in Fayetteville, AR for a few days of good grub and good times. It was as traditional of a Thanksgiving as it gets and good to spend some time with family.

Sub-Freezing Campout

The temperature Friday night? 27° ... Brrr! But what makes that so cold was the fact that Tyson was spending the night outside with the Boy Scouts at Wyandotte County Lake Park. According to Tyson, here are the 5 things that he liked the most about his 3rd Boy Scout campout with the 11 year olds ...

1. Burning sticks in the fire
2. Cooking foil dinners
3. Sleeping with 4 other Scouts in one tent
4. Wearing 5 layers of shirts, 3 layers of pants
   
5. and staying up all night
   

10K at 30 Degrees

If the early morning hours weren't enough ... and if 30° temperatures weren't enough ... or the snow flurries ... then maybe it was the wind that made Cody's first 10K run a memorable one. After running in the Kansas City 5K last month, he had to find another race to run in before winter set in. That's how the Pilgrim Pacer Run at Shawnee Mission Park found it's way on to the family calendar. As part of a fund-raiser for Harvesters, Paige filled up a sack of groceries to contribute to the cause. But it was Cody that packed on the layers of clothing and ran his way to the finish line, coming in 130 of 210 (male) racers. Combined with 300 some-odd lady racers, there was hot chocolate, cobbler, and good times for everyone.

Hibachi and a Movie

We shed some tears. We ate till we were stuffed. We laughed until we cried. All part of Friday Night - Date Night. Joining up with Nate and Krista Beyeler, the foursome headed out to Stix for an entertaining and delicious Hibachi dining experience. By the time we were done, we were wearing our shrimp and rice. Good times. Then it was off to the theater where we watched the movie Fireproof. A feel good movie that left us all appreciating our marriages. More good times with good friends.