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.

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.

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.

Time To Plan Your Vacations

It’s only the beginning of summer and gas prices have already hit $4.00 per gallon! That makes vacations especially pricey this year for flying and driving. Are you looking for some ideas to keep you busy near home? Check out this new download called “Pack Your Bags, We’re Staying Home”. For less than the cost of a gallon of gas you get a whole ton of ideas for “staycations” (the latest word for vacationing near home or even at home). Here are some topics covered in the 33 page booklet:

The Rules
The Week Before
Treat Each Day as a Luxury Hotel Experience
We’re so Lucky!
International Travel
PJ Day
Family Olympics Day
Crossword Puzzles
Spa Day

Counting By Fives

“The 5s Tag” I was sort of tagged by Tami :

10 years ago: I was ready for my first baby to be born! I hoped I wouldn’t have to miss Scott & Korby‘s wedding, and Hunter was glad to oblige arriving two weeks early on the morning of my baby shower.

5 years ago: We were living in North Carolina. Rob was just finishing his first year of law school, and starting a summer internship at a District Attorney’s office.

5 months ago: It was the beginning of the New Year and I made a few resolutions. One of which I can cross off as of last week: I got my passport.

5 things on my to-do list today: 1) go to park day 2) fold the laundry 3) do girls night with my daughters 4) sort the piles of papers and junk 5) pick up Emma from school

5 snacks I enjoy: Yoplait yogurt, a bowl of cereal, trail mix, grapes, M & Ms

5 things I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire: 1) pay off student loans!! 2) find Rob a more rewarding job 3) visit Italy 4) contribute to or start my own charity 5) Get a full time chef.

5 of my bad habits: 1) putting off the dishes 2) putting off starting dinner 3) not exercising 4) falling asleep on the couch at night 5) Taking really long naps whenever I can

5 places I have lived: 1) Central California 2) Central Utah 3) North Carolina 4) Los Angeles area 5) Orange County

5 things people don’t know about me: 1) In seventh grade my history class wrote a book about the Civil War 2) I was hoping the top three on American Idol would be David, David, and Brooke 3) I love to watch Masterpiece Classic on PBS, I bet that isn’t too surprising though 4) I bite my fingernails when they get too long and drive me crazy 5) I hide the Wii remote and tell people I don’t know where it is

5 people I tag: Erica, Kirsten, Ciel, Meshelle, Marea – I think some of you may have already done this one? Oh, well. Whatever…

Have You Seen My Son?

When he left for school on Thursday morning he looked like this:

At dinner last night, this boy ate with us:

I think we may have gotten cousin Adler by mistake!

Organizing My Food Supply

As you may have heard or noticed at the grocery store, the price of food is rising and it isn’t predicted to go back down any time soon. I decided it was finally time to take food storage seriously. Yes, my mother is the queen of this kind of emergency prep stuff, and I was still way behind. I blame it partly on moving around so often that I never wanted to get too much knowing that I would just have to move it all again.

I was trying to think of a place to store the food, because the garage gets pretty hot in the summer and my kitchen cabinet space is adequate for our family of six, but not to try to stuff in any extras. So of course I was discussing this with my mom on one of her visits here. We were sitting in the office at the time and she looked at the open closet that looked like this:

She suggested I move the storage boxes into the garage and I wondered why I hadn’t thought of that. So one day I took everything out, and looked in every box to make sure it was okay to store in the garage. There were some photo albums that I moved to my bedroom closet upstairs and a few things that I found I really wanted out where I could use them, not lost in the cardboard boxes. I then went to Sams Club and bought some cool shelves with bins, and then to Lowes to get a cabinet with doors for the garage. So now the office closet looks like this:

and the garage looks like this:

I’m working on getting paper products and nonperishables like soap, diapers, etc on these shelves. I also have our 72 hour kits on the top shelves so if we need to leave our home quickly we can grab and go.

It feels good to know that if the truckers go on strike or the inevitable big earthquake hits, my family will stay fed and clean, (even if we are living off of pasta and PB&J)… At least for a few weeks. I’m working my way up to three months eventually.