Thanksgiving Pictures

Go Yankees!

The Yankees have not won a World Series since 2000 - Josh was age negative 8. He has been waiting his entire life for the Yankees to win a world championship.

Noelle on Floor

Here is Noelle doing her floor routine. You can hear her little bother cheering her on - or is that crying?

Noelle on Bars

Noelle recently participated in a gymnastics meet at United Elite. Below is her bar routine.

Josh is Walking!

Josh turned 1 on August 13th and just started really walking over the last week. This is a video from last night.

Shake it Like a Polaroid Picture . . .

Below is a picture of a recent Polaroid. Notice the thumbprint in the upper right hand corner.

Lindeen Wedding Pictures

On July 25th my cousin Scott Lindeen married a lovely girl named Adrian.  Triniti and Skylin were the flower girls.  You can find pictures of the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner HERE.  

You can find pictures of the wedding HERE.  

California Trip

Last week we traveled to LA and San Diego California for my cousin Scott's wedding. He married a lovely girl named Adrian. The wedding was July 25, but we went a couple of days earlier in order to hit Disneyland and spend a little time with family.

Our flight was scheduled to leave at around 10:30 pm. Believe it or not, we were almost at the airport at 8:30 when I got a call from American Airlines telling me our flight had been delayed until just after midnight. Because we were plenty early we decided to pull off and eat dinner. We took our time and ended up at the airport at around 11:00. When we walked in with our 6 kids and piles of luggage, we were disturbed to find the airport nearly empty.

Helms family kids and gear ready for lift off.

Empty airport. No American Airlines agents in site and no way to get our luggage checked.

There were a few other people standing around including an older gentleman in a uniform. I asked him what was going on and he told me that because the TSA was not getting paid overtime, they left when the last flight was originally scheduled to leave. That was before 11:00. With the security check-point closed, all the American Airlines agents apparently went home as well. I told him I was confirmed on a flight to LA for just after 12:00. He said - "Me too - I am the pilot of the flight!" Therefore, not even the pilot could get through without TSA security. Eventually the pilot had a special escort drive him directly to the plane. The flight ended up taking off at around 12:30 am. Unfortunately, we had no way to get our luggage checked or get on the flight. After talking to American Airlines for almost an hour, they told me that they could get me on the next flight to LA, but the only option was a 6:15 am flight. By this time it was almost 1:00 am. That meant we had about 4 hours until we needed to be back at the airport. After contemplating what to do with our piles of gear and 6 kids, we decided to just sleep at the airport. I know - crazy!

As we settled into a corner of the airport, Shawn Jr. asks "Where is my Colts bag?" We all look at each other. Shawn Jr. then says "I think I left it at home." Unbelievable! Shawn Jr. left his bag containing everything at home. He had no clothes, no tooth brush - nothing. What a start to the trip.

Morning came fast. I actually stayed up and got some work done.

Sleeping at the airport

The kids sleeping on the floor at the airport.

We were originally schedule to be at Disneyland the next day. After catching the flight early the next morning we arrived in California at around 9:30 am. The decision was - do we try to do Disneyland on a few hours of bad sleep with all the kids. Disneyland is a hard trip even if everyone is plenty rested. However, because of our schedule, we decided to do it.

Surprisingly, it turned out to be a wonderful trip. The kids were in good spirits. The older kids really helped out and the younger kids slept or were in a good mood. We did not do too much, but we ended up staying until after 11:00 - through the fireworks show.

The family at Disneyland

Misty, Sky and Triniti on Dumbo.

Brittany took the younger girls to see Mickey.

Skylin with her glowing Mickey balloon that she had to have. She was totally beat by this point.

A couple days later we were in Santee, CA (near San Diego) for my cousin's wedding. It was a nice ceremony.

The "I do"s

Sky with the ring barrier in the background.

Triniti and Sky playing in the fountain.

Josh liking the grass.

Triniti and Sky with Scott and Adrian.

The Helms crew with the bride and groom.

Sky looking cute.

The wedding party.

Another family picture. I think we have taken more this month than at all times in the past year.

Grandma Sherry (my mom) with her newest grandchild.

This is Josh William with his namesake - William (Bill) Lindeen.

The next day Misty, Brittany, Shawn Jr. and I went to a Dodgers game. The Dodgers lost, but it was a good game. It was fun to see Joe Torre and Don Mattingly in the dugout. It was odd to see Mattingly with Manny - talk about 2 people that could not be more different.

Shawn and Misty at Dodger's Stadium.

That night we stayed at a great Hilton hotel right on Mission Bay.

We went to Mission beach the next day.

Another family picture. Man - I feel old.

These are the name tags from the wedding on the beach. Neat picture opportunity.

All and all it was a great trip. It is always hard to travel when you have a big family. But I am thankful we had the opportunity to go. We created some great memories.

USSSA World Series Results

The Dallas Colts (Shawn Jr.s baseball team) ended up finishing #4 in the 11 and under USSSA World Series!  It was a great result.  They finished with 7 wins and 2 losses for the tournament.  Their two loses were by a combined total of 3 runs.   If the ball would have bounced a little differently, they had a chance to win it all.  Maybe next year.  

Great job guys.

This is a picture of Shawn and Evan with their 4th place trophy.

USSSA World Series

Our family is heading up to Kansas City for the USSSA World Series next week (July 12-18). Shawn's team, the Dallas Colts, is playing in this tournament. It should be a good time. You can keep up with results by clicking HERE.

* Update - The Dallas Colts have won their first 3 games and will be seeded as one of the top 5 teams in bracket play, which starts tomorrow.

July 4th in Windsor Missouri

Misty and I grew up in a small town in rural Missouri named Windsor - population of around 3,000 people. Each year Misty and I take the kids back to Windsor for the 4th of July celebration at Farrington Park put on by the Lion's Club of Windsor. This is a fun all-day event filled with games, food, music and fireworks. The events include:

• Frog Race
• Turtle Race
• Egg Race
• Sack Race
• Egg Toss
• Water Balloon Toss
• Softball Throw
• Watermelon Eating Contest
• Nail Driving Contest
• Cardboard Boat Race
• Local Music
• Fireworks Extravaganza (so to speak)

Our family enjoys participating in the various costests throughout the day. The egg toss, waterballoon toss and the softball throw are a few of our favorites. The kids generally do really well. This year our results were as follows:

1. Noelle - First Place in the Egg Toss
2. Noelle - First Place in the Softball Throw (65 feet)
3. Noelle - Second Place in the Water Balloon Toss
4. Brittany - Second Place in the Softball Throw (120 feet)
5. Shawn Jr. - First Place in the Softball Throw (132 feet)
6. Shawn Sr. - Second Place in the Egg Race
7. Shawn Sr. - Second Place in the Egg Toss
8. Misty - Second Place in the Egg Toss

Click HERE to see pictures from the day.

iScore

Yesterday I filed a lawsuit in Dallas, Texas. The lawsuit is related to a software application that I designed which allows a person to keep score at a baseball game on an iPhone or iTouch. My application was designed in October 2008. An application with the same name and functionality was released in early 2009 by a California company named FasterThanMonkeys. The lawsuit alleges that FasterThanMonkeys misappropriated my application design. The complaint was filed yesterday and was picked up today by Courthouse News.  See the story at http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/06/09/New_Complaints.htm#iPhone_Apps

You can read the entire complaint at http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/06/09/iPhoneApps.pdf

Hawks Win and Helms is MVP

Brittany is a member of a basketball team that plays in various AAU tournaments around the Dallas / Fort Worth area.  The team is a collection of girls from her middle school.  Her team struggled a little at the beginning of the season but has really started to improve.  

This weekend her team went 4 and 0 and won their first tournament!  The girls played well.  Brittany won the MVP of the tournament.  Brittany is now tied with her brother at one MVP trophy a piece. 

Last Day of School

As many of you know we homeschool our children – except for Brittany. Brittany started the 7th grade this year at Cain Middle School. Cain is a large middle school in Rockwall, Texas. Over 700 students started Cain in Brittany's 7th grade class. She was a little apprehensive about the new experience. See my blog entry about her first day of school.

Today is Brittany's last day of school. I believe this year was a (nearly) unqualified success. Brittany did great academically, athletically and socially. Below are some of her more noteworthy accomplishments:

• Received straight As in every class, on every report card
• Was "commended" for her TAKS score in all subjects (math, reading, and writing)
• Her lowest final grade was a 95
• Her average final grade for all classes was a 97
• Recognized as a "Cain Scholar"
• Had the highest grade in her class on numerous tests throughout the year
• Was selected for A-team in volleyball
• Was selected to the A-team in basketball
• Was the starting point guard on the basketball team
• Was the starting middle on the volleyball team
• Received the award for "Most Outstanding Basketball Player" (7th grade girls)
• One of 16 students selected for PALS
• One of 3 students to be awarded the Loan Star Leadership Award

I also think Brittany challenged some of her teachers' views of homeschooled students.

Here is Brittany with a group of her closet friends on the last day of school.

Great work Brittany! One year down.

Participating in Stuttering Study

I have stuttered since I was a little kid.  As long as I can remember, I have struggled to carry on basic conversations in public, at work and even (at times) at home.  Stuttering is somewhat unpredictable.  This week I had a client ask me if I had a hard time with only "t", "s" and "f"s.  Those are certainly some of the more difficulty consonant sounds, but others are hard as well.  For example, my legal practice is outsourcing and technology transactions.  I often have a hard time with the word "outsourcing."  Sometimes I even have a hard time saying my own name. Names that start with a "t" - like "Triniti" - are particularly difficult.  Annoying.

When I was a little kid it was much worse than it is today.  However, given the nature of my job (corporate attorney), I talk all the time and my ability to communicate is key to my effectiveness and career development.  Therefore, the importance of effective verbal communication is more important at this stage of my life than ever before.  

Last year I signed up to participate in a clinical research study to evaluate the safety and treatment effects of a drug called pagoclone on stuttering.   In March I was selected to participate in the study.  I have been participating for a little over a month.  I take several pills a day.  Because the study is a double-blind randomized study, I don't know if I am getting the actual drug or just a placebo.  Because my stuttering is not really bad and it changes based on various factors, it is difficult to evaluate if the drug (assuming I am taking it) is effective. 

I will let you know later in the study.

Dallas Thunder Videos

I have created a few highlight videos for all 2009 Dallas Thunder teams. You can find them by clicking here.

NCHBC Results

March 16th - March 21st our family attended the National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships. It is an amazing event. This year it was held in Springfield, Missouri. Over 340 teams from all over the country participated.


Scouts from the following division 1 schools were in attendance: Georgetown, Tennessee, South Florida, Miami, Oral Roberts, Missouri State, Arkansas Little Rock and Alabama. Plus there were dozens of scouts and college coaches form other schools like Mid-America University, SE Missouri State, Crown Christian College, Barclay College, Pensacola, North Dakota, Pittsburg State, Drury College and SW LA.

Pictures from the week long tournament are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/shawnhelms/NCHBC2009

As you know, Shawn plays for the Dallas Thunder.  His 12 and under team went into the tournament ranked #1 in the country.  They did not play great, but played well enough to get to the championship game.  In that game,  they played the Oklahoma Storm.  The OK Storm is historically the strongest homeschool basketball organization in the country. They have won a ton of national championships and have had some great players over the years. For example, Blake Griffin, a player for the Oklahoma Sooners, was homeschooled. Blake and his brother Taylor both played for the OK Storm. Blake Griffin is projected to be the first pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Not bad . . .

Shawn's team got killed in the championship game. The OK Storm was just too big and talented. Four (or maybe all five) of their starting 5 were actually 13 years old, but qualified for 12 and under because of their birthday was after the cutoff. Shawn's team is a smaller, jump shot team that beats other teams with their quickness and defense. In this game, the OK Storm was able to put pressure on our guards and just killed us down low. In one possession the Storm had something like 7 offensive rebounds. There is no beating that kind of dominance down low.



Shawn's team ended up getting second place. The boys were disappointed but understood that it would have been a very tall order to beat that team.

Shawn was one of 3 kids on the Thunder chosen for the 12U All American team.

Shawn also played for a 10 and under USA team.  USA teams are made up of players that simply show up at Nationals and play together. Often these are younger siblings of players on other teams. Shawn still qualifies to play 10 and under because is birthday is late in the year. Shawn had a conflict in the first game and was not able to get there until the 3rd period. By that time, his team was down by 20 points to, none other than, the OK Storm. (I know, it is crazy that our family played them in every age division). His team lost that game. The OK Storm went on to win the national championship.

Shawn's team went into the lower bracket (5A). Shawn was able to make every other game, leading his team to the championship in the lower, 5A bracket. Shawn totally dominated the 10 and under division.  It was funny to see him in that age group. He was one of the tallest and clearly the best player on the court. Shawn was selected as an All American in the 10 and under division.

Noelle played on a 10 and under USA girls team. Noelle's team was made up of girls from Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kansas and Texas.  They had a low ranking and had to play the Oklahoma Storm in the first round.

Noelle's team played great and took out the OK Storm in the first game. That knocked the Storm into the lower bracket and Noelle's team moved into the championship bracket (6A bracket). When the week was done, her team, with one loss, ended up getting 3rd place in the highest bracket. An amazing accomplishment for 7 girls that have never played together. Noelle and her friend Brittany made All American in girls 10 and under.