A Master of Science Mechanical Engineering

As of today at 2:00pm, Central Time, William Henson Purcell IV officially became a Master of Science Mechanical Engineering!

We only had  a few mishaps earlier in the day, but Bill was able to make it across the stage with all of his attire!  Bill forgot his cap at home, so Nolan and I had to make a quick dash back to the house to grab the cap for Bill.  Thank goodness we only live about five minutes from campus!

The graduation ceremony went as planned.  Of course, the first thing I notice upon entering the gym was the Nevco scoreboard with live feed, so I had to take a picture of it for Bill. Go Nevco!

The gym was packed, so Nana, Papa T, Nolan, and I grabbed a seat at the top of the gym for two reasons.  One being the only available seating was in the upper section, and two being a quick escape route in case Nolan had a meltdown.  Nolan did awesome for as long as he had to be there.  Papa T on the other hand was antsy and kept taking Nolan on walks.  I think the walks were part of the reason Nolan did so well, because Papa T had him on the move 24/7.  I was glad Papa T took him for walks, because I was able to take lots of pictures of Bill entering the commencement, accepting his diploma, and so on.

 Nolan looking for Daddy's name

 Let us commence....

Bill sat in the aisle seat

 Papa T and Nolan hung out on the balcony quite a bit

 Bill standing in line waiting to receive his diploma

 Yay, DADDY!!!

I asked Bill where Dr. Krauss was in this picture.  Bill started to laugh, pointed, and said, "The guy yawning with his mouth wide open!!"

 A snapshot of poot playing

After the commencement ended, we all met up outside to take pictures.  Grandma Donna and Grandpa Rick found us too.  Everyone is so proud of Bill.  He has achieved a big goal of his.  There was one student who was the first and only student to receive his Doctorate in the Engineering department from SIUE.  I could see Bill's wheels spinning in his head as the announcement was made.  I will always allow Bill to follow his dreams, but hopefully he will hold off for a little while and relax!!

 Nolan is trying to figure out how to rip the tassel off of Bill's cap

 Yummy

 A happy and PROUD family

My boys leaving campus!

Our big group had planned on going out to eat to celebrate Bill's achievement.  Nolan Henson had other plans.  He fell asleep on the way home, woke up 45 minutes later in a horrible mood.  The group decided to place a Curb Side to Go order from 54th Street and eat at our house instead.  Nolan had a bottle and came out of his mood 45 minutes later.  The little man was a trooper.  He had been going since 8am this morning.  Bill, Nolan, and I took our family pictures and Nolan's one year pictures at 9am.  We ran home to change and went straight to the graduation.  NO NAP!! Back to the celebration......

We had fun playing and watching Bill open his presents.  Nana and Papa T gave Bill a light for his Kindle to read at night.  Nolan and I gave Bill a Kindle case.  Grandma Donna and Grandpa Rick gave Bill a beautiful glass clock with an engraving on it.  Nolan enjoyed helping Bill open his presents.  Practice for tomorrow!!

 The Clock

 Chowing down on the dinner I prepared!! ;)

 Today is Papa T's 50th Birthday too!! Happy Birthday Papa T. We love you!

 Being his destructive self

I am one of the worst people to wait for surprises.  I'm proud of myself for withholding Bill's gifts for three days.  I gave Bill his gifts from Nolan, Nana, Papa T, and myself Friday night.

 Digging for more....

Finally, able to relax and take a deep breath! Congrats Bill on your accomplishment.  We love you so much!!

A Thesis Submitted, Is a Thesis ACCEPTED!!

Saturday is the day!  It's practically here!  Bill defended his thesis!  Now, Graduation is near!!

Today Bill defended his thesis, Update Rate Optimization to a Python Based Control Prototyping System, in front of the Thesis Advisory Committee.  But, let us back up a little bit to last night.............

Last night Bill practiced presenting his thesis in front of me twice.  The first go around, I made notes about what I thought needed to be changed and I timed Bill's length of the presentation.  Bill made changes that deemed acceptable and he presented his thesis to me once more.  The second time around was PERFECTION!!  I'm not the smartest person around, but by the end of the night I learned a thing or two about RTAI, Windows, Linux, and Low Latency programs, (just to throw a few impressive names out there).  Around 11pm I called it a night, and went to bed.  Bill stayed up later to finalize his presentation.

I want to give a HUGE shout out to Bill's Thesis Advisor and good friend, Dr. Ryan Krauss.  Without Dr. Krauss I don't think Bill would have been halfway sane throughout the TWO years of working on his thesis. That is right, two years.

I still remember taking a picture of Bill, sitting in the Coffeen house at his huge wooden teacher's desk he bought at an auction for $20, what a steal!!  If I remember correctly, a few door jambs had to be removed in order to fit the massive desk into a small "office" area.  The year was 2009 and Bill had recently proposed to me.  I snapped a picture of him working with our dog, Charlie, on his lap.  Charlie has since passed and lots of things have changed in our lives.  One thing has stayed the same for me, the pride I feel for my husband and the amazing accomplishment he has finished.  Bill has been a hard-working and dedicated person since the day I first met him.  Okay, enough down memory lane for one night.

I was able to attend Bill's presentation this morning, along with two other students and the Advisory Committee.  I was beaming with pride as Bill nailed every slide with ease.  At the end of the presentation, I wanted to stand up and clap and whistle, but I thought this might be inappropriate.  After two years, the stress, hard-work, and dedication have paid off for my love!!

 Chugging some Starbucks coffee after finishing

 Thesis Abstract posted outside the room where Bill presented

 Close- Up Picture

Bill's Thesis was ACCEPTED by the Thesis Advisory Committee!!  He is able to walk across the stage this Saturday, December 17 and be given his degree for fulfilling his requirements in the Master of Science Degree!

Congrats Boo!! Nolan and I are so proud of you!!

Nolan Meets Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, and a Reindeer

Thanks to our good friend Tiffany, we were made aware of the Santa and Mrs. Claus meet and greet at the library.  Also, we learned about the opportunity to meet and pet a live reindeer.  If it wasn't for Tiffany, Nolan wouldn't have any magical childhood experiences.  I don't know where she hears about all of these activities, but I'm sure glad she shares them with us!!

This afternoon we headed to the library around 1:00 to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus.  Santa and Mrs. Claus were snacking on some cookies, so we decided to meet a nice Therapy Dog.  I forgot the dog's name, but she was very sweet and dressed up as an elf.  Nolan thought she was funny and kept laughing at her elf hat.

Nolan finished playing with the dog's hat, so we went and stood in line to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus.  Nolan did amazing sitting on both Santa and Mrs. Claus' laps.  He sat on their laps and looked at them.  He kept staring at Santa's glasses and I thought he was going to rip them off of his nose, but thankfully he didn't.  Nolan didn't want to sit on Mrs. Claus' lap at first, but then warmed up to her as well.

 Nolan and Santa Claus

 Nolan and Mrs. Claus

We recorded Nolan meeting Santa Claus for the first time.

I wanted to take a few more pictures while we were at the library.  Glen Carbon has the neatest library!!  Bill asked another dad in the library to take a family pic of us by the fireplace.  I'm so glad he did!!  Too bad I already sent out the Christmas Cards because the family picture would have been great.

We finished hanging out in the library, so Bill and I loaded Nolan into the car and headed to see the live reindeer.  Nolan fell asleep on the way to Market Basket, so I had to wake him up to see the reindeer.  I was worried he would be in a bad mood, but as soon as he saw the reindeer he perked right up.  Nolan loves animals!! I'm so glad because I grew up loving animals too.

Nolan enjoyed the reindeer even more than meeting Santa and Mrs. Claus.  The first thing he did was stick his finger up the reindeer's nose, pull out his finger from the reindeer's nose, and laugh.  Typical boy!!  He loved petting the reindeer too.  I could barely take any pictures of him looking at the camera because his eyes were on the reindeer the entire time.

 Just removed his finger from the reindeer's nose

 I've never felt fur so soft on an animal before!!

 Nolan is trying to figure out how to ride the deer in this picture

Silly boys

I wanted to look around Market Basket before we left.  Luckily I did, there were Christmas Trees, which were perfect for picture opportunities.  Bill posed Nolan by the trees while I snapped away with the camera.  Nolan is pretty adorable, if I do say so myself. 

What a fun and adventurous day.  Thanks again to Tiffany for giving us the heads up on the activities going on around town.

Nolan and the Laptop

Nolan has grown up watching Bill work on the computer.  Nolan has grown up wanting to type and play on the computer too, but we do not usually allow this to happen.  This morning I left the laptop on the coffee table, turned off, so Nolan could play with it.  He was overjoyed, tapping away on the keyboard.  I thought it was pretty funny, because not only was he typing away, but his sippy cup was right next to the computer.  This is funny because Bill always has his coffee cup right next to his computer when he is working. 

 Having a blast

We recorded Nolan as well, so you can watch him in action!!