A Ketchup Post

Catching up on May:

The School Carnival: Carl’s Junior provided food and Hunter’s friend got to take three friends on a tour of the inside of the truck since his Dad manages the store.

Hannah had cotton candy for the first time.

Sabrina has dubbed this her favorite dress and cries when I pry it off of her to wash it.

Hannah planted strawberries at preschool and loves to water them. She only does this angry face when I make her pose. She also loves dressing up and playing princess.

Rob and Hunter sitting on the tailgate after packing the trunk for the Father & Son Campout. They had a blast on their one night adventure in a great big tent that we just got. They got in some fun bonding time eating s’mores and playing games while the girls and I hit Taco Bell for dinner, met some girl friends at Yogurtland, played and chatted there, and then came home for a sleepover in the living room while we painted our nails and watched High School Musical 2.

Except for some help with the saw for shaping, Hunter made his pinewood derby car completely on his own.

Hunter modeled his car after a speeding bullet train, and won the “Most Rocketlike Design” award.

Hunter also finished the requirements for and was awarded his Bear patch.

Daddy lead Hannah on a pony walk at Irvine’s Regional Park on Memorial Day. She was beaming the whole time.

Emma went for the pony trot, and loved it even though is was pretty bouncy.

Hunter in the Orange County Zoo.

Sabrina got help from Emma when she needed a better look at the animals.

All of my monkeys babies.

My cutie pie husband.

Emma and Hunter on the water bikes.

Rob and Hannah in their paddle bike.

Sabrina hated having to wear a life jacket, and whenever the kids would pedal over and ask her if she was having fun, she would grunt a whiny nasal “uh.” But as soon as we were finished and safely on dry ground she said to me, “that so fun Mommy!”

 

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We’re All In This Together

You know those people that annoy you by always telling their own story when you’re telling one? Today I am one of those people.

When Hunter was a baby, Rob and I were living in a two bedroom apartment that was part of a fourplex. We were starving students and I was going to WIC to get peanut butter, breakfast cereal, and baby formula. We went to the local utilities office to get a subsidy for our utility bills and had to take a class about how to lower your electric bill. One thing they suggested was draining the water heater. Sediment builds up inside the tank making the water heater work harder because it cannot hold as much. We thought it sounded straightforward enough and hooked up a hose to the water heater, which was in a closet in the living room/kitchen of the apartment. We let it drain all day long and saw the sandy colored sediment all over the parking lot proving that it was actually working. We felt like grown ups doing this and congratulated ourselves for the money we would save.

At about midnight we were ready to go to bed, and Rob said he would disconnect the hose from the water heater so we could close the front door and lock it. He turned the water valve off and unhooked the hose. Water started spraying everywhere! He was instantly soaked from head to toe and yelling to me, “Go get Damon!” Damon and Becky lived above us and I hated to go wake them up, but ran up the stairs and started pounding on their door. I scared them to death as I tried to communicate the problem but all I could think to say was, “Our water heater just exploded! Will you help Rob?” Later they told me that they thought there would be pieces of the water heater lodged in Rob’s head by my reaction. But Damon tried to turn the water off as Rob tried to get the hose back on so the water would at least be directed out of our living room. The water knob wouldn’t budge so I had to go wake up the on site maintenance guy and he got out his big plumber’s wrench and with one hand turned the water off. Luckily we didn’t flood the apartment too bad and it cleaned up with towels and few days of fans blowing on the carpet. (Thanks Kirsten for sparking this memory with your water heater story.)—–

I pulled into the car wash last month to get a shampoo of my mini van’s carpet and seats. We’ve had this van for about seven years and I’ve vacuumed many times, but never washed the carpet. The Hispanic man working there slides open the door and says pleasantly, “What can I do for you today?” Before I have a chance to answer he looks into my car and says, “Oh you need everything!” I laughed, and he must have felt some pity for my situation because he offered me a free upgrade on an exterior wash. It took almost two hours for the crew to scrub the insides of my family’s home away from home. It took a few days for everything to dry out completely and I was starting to worry that I was going to have to drive around in a van that smelled like wet dogs forever. Luckily the smell faded as things dried out and now it just smells like dirty kids again. (Thanks Korby for jogging my memory of this with your post about how to “Mom Your Ride.”)

After dinner every night we do Helper Jobs at our house. One person is in charge of cleaning up the dining area, and the other is in charge of the family room. Hannah and Sabrina usually help out by putting toys or shoes away. One particular night in our last house, Emma was supposed to be working on clearing the table. She said, “I have to go to the bathroom!” At the time, this was an excuse we heard a lot when the kids wanted to avoid chores or some other task. I usually would allow the break by saying, “Go! And hurry back!” followed by a continuous string of calling out, “it’s time to come finish!” until they returned. On this night Rob was feeling tired of the game and said she couldn’t go until she had finished her job. Emma continued with, “but I really have to go Dad!” To which he called her bluff with, “I guess you’ll just have to wet your pants then.” I rolled my eyes at his sarcasm and made some comment about kids not getting sarcasm. Well, it wasn’t a bluff this time, because she proceeded to stand there next to the table and wet her pants (Thank goodness we had wood floors!). I turned to Rob and said, “You’re cleaning that up.” And in a way I was happy that Emma had proved me right. (Thanks Audra for reminding me of this incident with your post about kids taking things literally.)

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Update on Our American Idol/TiVo Incident

We saw this clip on tv tonight and just had to share it. It’s nice to know that we weren’t the only ones to be let down by TiVo.

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Wii (Are Not So) Fit

I have never been into playing video games. I felt like they were huge time wasters and just another reason to sit on the couch and be lazy. The main reason I agreed to let a video game system into our home was to take advantage of the chance to play games that would get the kids moving. Rob preordered the Wii Fit, and it arrived last night. Rob and I tried it out while the kids were sleeping.

First you do a sort of body test where your height, weight, and Body Mass Index are measured. My Mii was changed to reflect my height and weight; a little creepy, but a good motivator to get my Mii-self looking svelte. Then there are a few short tests of your balance. All of that information is taken into account and you are presented with your Wii Fit Age. Apparently my balance is really off, and the Wii even asked if I find myself tripping when I walk. My Wii Fit Age: 45. I’m so embarrassed. I felt a bit better this morning when Emma and Hannah both measured at 32, and Hunter at 29. I’m hoping as I work through the games my age will improve quickly. The games are pretty fun. I have mostly done the balance games so far because that seems to be my weakness, but there are also aerobics, strength training, and yoga games. A bank keeps track of the minutes you play and after you clock in a certain amount of time (it seems to be about 15 minutes) a new game unlocks for play. I think it’s a great way to keep things interesting, so that there is something new to try if you’re getting bored with the few options there are at the start. So far I like this one, and I hope it will get our whole family moving a bit more.

 

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I Love TiVo, I Hate TiVo

Grrr… It was almost 10:00 pm by the time I had the kids in bed and did a half hearted tidy of the kitchen. Rob walked in from work just as I was finishing up and asked after his long day, “did you already watch American Idol?” I told him no and we settled down to unwind after both having had long days to watch the season finale. It wasn’t recorded! Why not?! Oh, the Tivo was recording a rerun of Lost instead. Ahhh…

I admit that the face off on Tuesday night was only bearable because of the actual singing of the two Davids. The rest of the show was torturous from the cheesy boxing analogies to Paula’s crazy comments interlaced with lyrics from the song they had just sung. But I still wanted to see who would win. So we went to the news sites online and read all about David Cook’s big win. I think it didn’t really matter who won anyway because they will both be huge successes in their careers. David Cook was always interesting because he could take an old song, and make it sound current. David Archuleta was just so cute and pure both in his personality and his voice. Both have great talent and I’m sure they are relieved to be done with the competition.

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