B-Blogit

Love You but Not as Much as...

2012-02-03T00:44:00.001-08:00

Parents live for and love the tender moments with their kids. Many is these moments come as you are putting their kids to bed.

A similar scene took place at my house. Baby J said good night to the baby, to sister, to me and gave us all hug and kiss. Mom then said to come and give her a hug. He walked up to her bent down to the iPad on her knee and gave it a hug and kiss. Then he ran to his room!

So much for tender moments!

Belated Christmas Photos

2012-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

I havent really posted any pictures from Christmas and have been off on my editing lately. I did get a chance to sit down and do a few. These are just a few of the kids. Here is the first present on baby's first Christmas.

Perhaps the best present for Baby J. Perhaps the best picture of him and a present too. (below)

Im gonna be in trouble in years to come for posting this photo. But she loves Tangled and her reaction is priceless! It makes me laugh!

Our family photo in our Christmas jamies in front of the tree and the rest of the presents. In years past these pictures dont turn out. It is amazing that we got everyone to smile here, especially the boys. Perhaps it is because everyone loves jamies.

Warning, dont let your kids play with plastic! HAHA! You might get contorted faces!

Dont worry no children were harmed in the taking of these pictures!

Look at Me...This is Torture

2012-01-28T11:58:00.001-08:00

This is what happens when you are the only boy with girls left in the house! My boy is being tortured!

Little Bits of Excitement

2012-01-27T16:21:00.001-08:00

Some people say that life is fun and good. Some say life is hard and painful. I think that life is life. It is just a combination of good and ba and we have to choose to seek and hold on to bits of excitement.

My daughters older friend has an iPod and it seems everyone else has an iPod. They all have an iPod touch so she asked for one.

I was cleaning out an old drawer and found a tall an slim iPod shuffle. Does anyone remember those. Yes there is no screen...I know ancient right.

Well I charged it and synced Adele on to it and I gave it to her the other night. She was so excited she listen to it all over the house. She put one ear phone in my ear and the other in hears and I picked her up and we danced around the room to Adele.

That was exciting for me and here. These bits of excitement I love!!

If All Else Fails...Resort to Brownies

2012-01-11T22:08:00.000-08:00

There is just something irresistible about brownies! They are things that everyone seems to love and by gully they are something you can fall back on!

I have been pondering what I can do to keep my house clean and not trip over the toys anymore. It drives me insane that they just cant pick up at the end of each night even if I tell them to do it. Two nights ago when I the fantasy children's books Fablehaven on the brain I thought of Brownies.

Yes, thats right not the gooey delicious chocolaty squares that are to die for, but the little mythical creatures that live in walls and steal shiny things. I felt silly and somewhat inspired so I told my kids that the apartment managers in our office sent me a notice that they had Brownies living in the walls. I told them that brownies love to take left over toys. This prompted gasps from the kids and J'alee asked "do they take clothes too". I said "I dont think so but we better just make sure those are picked up too so we dont lose any". Baby J had ask more questions about what they would and wouldnt take as if he was going to be selective about which toys he was willing to leave out and have taken by the Brownies.

I did say that they usually give a notice that they have moved in but we should just start picking up so that we dont have to wait for their notice. J'alee seemed to not be too worried but she definately wanted to pick up so nothing was lost. Baby J was a little more upset by the news of the Brownies. There were toys all over the floor and bursting out their closet. He said "I have to pick up right now so they dont take my toys". It was late and I said no they will give notice remember?". He said "what if they dont? Dad will you guard my toys?". I assured him two more times that I would guard his toys.

Morning came and as soon as Baby J was awake he was assessing the floor like a dedicated surveyor to see what was taken. I told him nothing was because I guarded them just like I promised! So we started last night. Everything was picked up before they went to bed. I feel an inexpressible joy because again tonight it is all picked up.

If all else fails resort to Brownies I tell you! It works.

Visit to Monstropolis

2012-01-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite rides (yes I'm a prude) is Mike and Sulleys ride in California Adventure. I took a picture next to the CDA last time we went so I obviously had to do it again!

They had a little Monsters Inc parade which was kind of fun to watch. All the popular characters where there, except the big slug lady. All you heard of her was her voice.

she got to hug the 2319 guy! No they didnt shave him down after words!

Hi Sully! Your bright colors are about to capture the attention of the baby!

There it is...watch out he might grab a horn. Well at least he tried to grab it.

Yes my favorite place to take pictures...well funny place to take pictures!

Pulling Swords out of Stones

2012-01-06T07:34:00.000-08:00

Of course everyone has to try and pull the sword out of the stone. Sometimes I feel like this is life everyday, pulling a sword out of a stone.

Oh tough guy do it one handed!

Auntie thinks she can do it one handed too!

She is just cute!

You almost got it sweetie!!

I pretty much just look mad or nuts...not like Im pulling anything out!

well that was nice but Im not exactly a knight in shining armour!

Skinny Jeans Strike Again

2012-01-04T22:16:00.000-08:00

There is a fantastic sale going on till Jan 8th at Old Navy. I rarely go there but when I go I usually only go to get pants for under $10 bucks. We just so happen to go there and got some shirts for $2 bucks which great. We took J'alee into the store and she tried on some pants. They just so happen to be skinny jeans and they were a size to small. We didn't realize this when she tried them on of course. When she tried them with K she said OK take them off it is time to go now. She couldn't get out of them. She was stuck.

After the came out we went for home for dinner and we talked about the trip to the store. I started talking about how she was growing older and taller and she said that she was getting fat! Yes, that's right, my almost 7 year old girl tried to tell me that she had fat calves!

Skinny jeans strike again...I am completely convinced that these were made to make normal people feel fat, fat people to feel minuscule and skinning people turn blue from a lack of blood flow! I really think they should be outlawed!

First Day at California Adventure: Part 2

2011-12-19T01:07:00.000-08:00

It was a good time our first day in California Adventure. I think I already posted some pictures from our cell phones that we took. Here are some with our SLR camera that I took and edited. We got to go to a character meet and green and it was Chip and Dale. They are funny little rodents.

Even Aunt KT got in. Look at those two flirt. You would think she had some nuts or something since they are so flirty.

This was a shot I had someone take of me last year and I love it. So i figured I would get K this time and it is funny that she is holding the baby at the same time. This poster hangs as you are going through the line to Mike and Sully's ride.

At the end of the Back Lot they do a little shot and mini parade for Monsters Inc stuff. J'alee got to meet Mr. 2319 himself! No they didnt shave him down after this!

Of course what trip would be complete with out a Cars shot. A big section of the park is blocked off. If you pay attention to the signs on the walls it tells you what is there. If you also ride the Ferris Wheel on Paradise Pier you can see some of what is going on. Here is the low down. There is going to be some kind of race car ride, Flo's Diner and a huge rocky backdrop that looks like the scenes in the movie where Doc teaches McQueen how to drive. Should be done for Summer 2012 so if you want to go might want to wait till that is finished!

Disneyland Trip Part 1: Mikey's Birthday Party

2011-12-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

We got to Disneyland after a rough start in L.A. but were excited at all the fun things that we could do. A good friend of ours told us that you can make a birthday cake with Mickey. Since it is J'alee's birthday soon and since we figured we might not get a chance to see Mikey again we went for it.

So we got to decorate our own cakes. It was quite fun, just dont ask about how much it cost cus that is expensive dry icky cake. Here are a few shots of us on the way in.

Waiting outside the Plaza Inn just at the end of main street on the right hand side before Tomorrowland. We even got some party hats. Dont we look awesome?

Can you tell that someone just isnt amused by the hats? Can we say sour face?

There are some smiles! Alrgiht! Grandma JS and KT came with us too! It was great to have them. Check out Gma sportin her lovely black arm bag!

Not sure if there is excitement on that face still, but at least there is some concentration on the face so there much be some enjoyment for him.

Apparently both kids take their cakes serious and their cake decorating ever more serious...Im starting to think that these two should have their own show on TLC.

Now theres a smile! Im sure my sweetie isnt gonna like this picture so enjoy it!

Here we have my cake. I know that the it is a disgrace compared to TLC standards...but dont make fun of my cake or you are gonna get it....

See I told you! You gotta watch out when I am around frosting unsupervised! I just might smear you with it! Since I was at the happiest place on earth my mood was already happy so K didnt get it bad...this time!

Hurray for mice with good hygiene. You can tell my little girl was excited and happy!

Auntie KT holding little Jamis who wouldnt stop staring at the girl. What a flirt!

Many more photos to come so dont worry. But for now, the baby is asleep and I must be as well!

Our Hollywood Trip Part 2: Squares and Stars

2011-12-13T19:37:00.000-08:00

We got to see some of the cement squares and the stars on the "walk of fame". theses are right off Hollywood Blvd. I took a lot more pictures than I am posting but here are just a few. These are edited. First is Mel Gibson's square. Apparently we have the same shoe size, but I don't drink so that's about all we have in common.

Next off is my little princess with the "Little Princess" square. Shirley Temple was wonderful. Don't worry she also has a star not just a second place cement square.

My feet have been compared to skiis. What does this mean about Will Smith's feet? Maybe thats why Jaden Smith was so good as karate kid. He got huge feet inherited from Will so he could keep his balance. Will, sorry for the puns, love the movies Big Willie Style!

Oh my word, they did not get a square! Oh well here is my Belle and our little love child....but we dont suck! ;)

Hurray for the cast of Harry Potter. Look at J'alee measure up to Daniel Radcliff's feet.

Clint, you the man and we have the same size of banana hands! Your fingers are just a tad thicker. Perhaps that is what makes you an excellent gun slinger!

Many people have told K that she looks like Judy Garland, she says she doesnt see it but we got a shot of her matchin up hands for all those who can see it!

My favorite old time actor Cary Grant! I believe he has a star too but I didnt see it. We didnt see all of them though.

Johnny Depp is the man and he got a cement square. He is fantastic actor! Stay tuned for more Johnny!

The only robots to have a star or square, here's to Star Wars!!

Yes Johnny you are deserve this...to heck with the academy awards man, Oscars are for chumps anyway!

Total randomness but I like the shot of the two boys...even though you cant see Baby J's whole face. There is a smile there which is rare.

Perhaps one of J'alee's favorite characters. She was so happy to see this one. Too much flash gave some wash out on the shot but I was able to edit most of it out.

Like I said there were so many more but I didnt put them on. We saw John Travolta, Robert Zemeckis, Martin Scorcese, Bing Crosby, the cast of Star Trek with Leonard Nemoy of course!

More pictures to come. Next up more Disneyland and California Adventure pictures!

Our Trip to Hollywood Part 1

2011-12-11T19:55:00.000-08:00

Get ready for a lot of photos. I have tons and tons to share and most of them I cant remember what was famous about them so I didnt include them. HA! Oh well. So here it is our little tour of Hollywood.

After a horrible first day we called it a day early and checked into this historic hotel. It smelled like mold, didnt even have a phone, windows wouldnt even lock but it had security cameras and it was close to lots of famous things on Melrose Ave. Needless to say I was sleepless on Melrose Place... I mean Ave since there is no actual Melrose Place except on your tv reruns.

The next morning we got up and took a tour bus around Hollywood to see some of the sights and not have to drive around ourselves. This was a good idea. It was entertaining and provided a lot of unless knowledge and tons of pictures! Im not totally into the star/tabloid thing but it was fun. Here we are getting on the bus on Hollywood Blvd right outside the Kodak. Yes you Idol fans the same place as they sing and the same place as the academy awards. Believe it or not this is right at the base of the hills all the stars live on so why the *#%^ does it take them FOREVER to "arrive" at the awards?

Famous theatre was home to Paramount Pictures holdings and place for big debuts and screenings such as Citizen Kane. It more recently is owned by Disney and hosts many of its premier showings. It is Kitty Corner from the Kodak.

Home of the first Academy Awards was the Roosevelt Hotel. It has a night club "Teddy's" which brought popularity with the stars to the hotel. Fred Farmer stayed here and Marilyn Monroe was a resident when she was first getting started.

Now you can go bowling in the Spare Room which is a new popular place at the bottom of the Roosevelt Hotel.

Im not a fan but right off Hollywood Blvd is where they do the show for Jimmy Kimmel.

Recognize this as Ghostbuster Headquarters? It is almost from a lot of other famous movies...do you remember them?

This is the most famous corner for all rich and silver headed bachlors and also for all ladies of the night...yes that's right. This is the corner that Richard Gere picked up his "Pretty Woman", Julia Roberts in the movie. Believe it or not just to the right of this shot is a boot store which fashion boots...perhaps she even bought her hooker boots there...

No need to explain the impact of this record company on music. Capital Records building is easily recognized from many points in and around L.A.

The Hollywood sign and the Hollywood tower which is what the Hollywood Tower of Terror is built after.

Paramount Pictures has so many many movies here is the famous water tower on their filming campus.

Here is the famous gate for Paramount Pictures just off Melrose Ave. Too bad we didnt see anyone filming there.

How could you visit Hollywood and leave out little old Lucy...I Love Lucy that is. This is her restaurant from the show. Do you remember?

This picture seems so random but this is the home of the writer for the tv show MASH. He lived here over 30 years in the same old little plain ugly place just off Melrose.

This place has been featured in the movie Mullholland Drive, the tv show Entourage and an episode of Food Network. They have some nasty hot dogs named after famous people. People wait in line for 3 hours at a time to get some...this was the shortest we ever saw the line it was just a little after 11am.

The original Johnny Rockets I beleive, but this is also the one where Jay Leno does his little outside bit. He just approaches random people.

This perhaps is the most popular hangout for Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, Wynonna Rider and others... apparently it is so hip they keep coming back.

This place brought popularity for Whiskey, rock music and go go dancing...who doesnt like that?.... okay moving on.

This apparently is a big place for stars to stay went they come into town and temporarly live here as well. There are a lot of them that come for the Oscars and stay here party here afterwords.

Lots of famouns people stayed here James Dean, Judy Garland, Jim Morrison, and Keanu Reeves.... Many starts have suffered heart attacks and drug over doses here. Marilyn Manson met his wife here and it is rumored that this is the hotel the Eagles wrote the song Hotel California about.

This was Walt Disney's home after he died Steven Spielburg bought the place but doesnt live there. They use this for filming for a lot of movies...can you name one?

Everyone loves a man who can stand on a corner wearing a big huge burrito costume trying to get customers. Better yet we love one who is tall and handsome and then catches his big break and we know know him as Brad Pitt. Yes he did that...right here on that corner.

Would it surprise you that the Hulk owns a gym? That;s right Lou Ferrigno who played the hulk owns this place and apparently it is the hip place for stars to go sweat it out!

Thats really all I have editing and done for now... stay tuned for more.

First Day in California Adventure

2011-12-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Our second day at Disneyland/California Adventure and we spent it in California Adventure. It is always the best to go to the parks on Tuesday and Wednesday because the lines are shorter and there are less people there.

First off, it is all weird because they are redoing the "main street" down this park so it was all closed off. You have to wind all the way close to where the River ride is (failing to remember the name now) and then wind your way back to get to the Back Lot area.

There will be more pictures to come these are just shots from my cell phone and are uneditied. Started out by Monster's Inc stuff and got to meet Chip and Dale and saw Sully and Mike in a "parade" of sorts. J'alee got to hug the 2319 guy who got shaved down int he movie. Those pictures are on my big camera so more to come on that. We did Soarin Over California several times with fast passes and K and KT did Screamin California several times with fast passes. I consented to finally do the ferris wheel with Baby J. You all might think that is lame but for this old geezer who is afraid of heights, fast speeds and things that arent really inclosed that is a big thing for me. It was actually a nice time. I was still nerverous and didnt take any shots while up there though.

I actually did Goofy's Flight School three times which is the second roller coaster I have gone on and the only one I have done more than once. It was afraid for sure and K said to me "you sound like Goofy" while I am on it. It is probably true. Thats about my max for rollercoasters. Sorry kids!

J'alee went with KT and K on Tower of Terror and she didnt like that so she came back to Bugs Land and join us. Here are a few shots of me and Baby J and then J'alee joining us later

Flicks Boxes (above) waiting for the ladybug spin (below)

Bumper Cars (below)

Inside the Ladybug spin (below)

Back to Flick's Boxes (above) and at Paradise Pier (below)

Threw this picture in because this is how we start our days (below)....read on tomorrow to see how we end our days...

We did get to see World of Color and my word that is a FANTASTIC show! It is amazing to see how they can put images onto the water like that. Obviously the part about Pirates was my favorite it had fire water lights and images. I am so glad that we got to see that. There was even a special bit at the front from Prep and Landing for Christmas. If you go to Disneyland you HAVE to stop and see World of Color!

Second Day at Disneyland

2011-12-08T07:33:00.001-08:00

It is actually the third day of our time at Disneyland/California Adventure and it was a good one. We spent it in Disneyland and we basically did everything that we didnt do last time which was Fantasyland and Mikey's Toon Town.

The crowds where lighter there because it was a Wednesday and the parade was starting so there was only a 15 minute wait to see Mickey and Minnie. I think we made Minnie a few minutes late to the parade because she waiting to take a picture with us. How nice of here! I swear that lady is the most busy lady in all the world.

We took Jamis on some of the rides in Fantasyland and he really enjoyed that. It was fun not to have to leave someone with the stroller and all go together.

Heave Ho Heave Ho...We got it to wiggle only!

Chip and Dale's Tree House (below) in Mickey's Toon Town

Mickey's House (below)

Now it is time for Minnie at her house (below)

Meet Goofy outside his house (below)

Got to see small world with no wait at all because it was after the fireworks and 3 minutes before closing time (below)

Decidedly Not Big City Material

2011-12-05T08:17:00.001-08:00

Well I have always said that I have wanted to live in a big city, but after my day on Saturday I most definately do not want to live in a big city and I think I would really rather not travel to a big city anymore.

My first days in Boston, New York City and now Los Angeles have been among the worst days of my life. We flew into L.A. with the kids being a little crazy on the plane (as if that wasnt enough). Then the airline broke the wheel off the new luggage we bought just for this trip and wont claim responsibility for it. Then the rental car company said I was required by state law to purchase insurance after waiting in line for a hour to get a car. Then we waited another hour for the manager and the agent to figure out who the heck was going to refund us that money.

Then we found out a relative died (sort of unrelated to L.A. but still horrible).

I swear you cant drive anywhere in L.A. and it is pointless to try. It is the same in Boston and NYC as well so I should have just given up before I started. All the while the kids fighting in the back of the car. Birth Control for sure right there!

We finally got to the hotel and just stayed in, except the pizza we ordered made me sick the next day, but thats another story.

So all in all with a few other details left out it was a horrible day. Our next day was better. We slept in a little bit and then hurry and got read and headed out to a bus tour of Hollywood. We saw lots of different sights in the Hollwood area and learned a few things. One pointless thing we learned is Jennifer Aniston has moved out of he house while it is remodeled and is living in an apartment building right off Hollywood Blvd.

We got lots of pictures and ate at the Hard Rock right in the Kodak Theatre. Of course we saw the stas and the hand prints. It was a great time.

I will load up pictures another time. Right now we are about to get ready for our first day at Disneyland. Should be exciting right?!

Picture Day, First Grade

2011-11-16T21:14:00.001-08:00

It was a good day for pictures in her First Grade class. I think she was very excited and got all dressed up cute. She is very very girly sometimes and loves to look nice with her hair all done. We had some trouble with getting all of our pictures that we ordered last year from the company so we didnt order more than 1 picture. It came and are excited. It is very cute. Granted this is a scan of the original only at 600dpi so it isnt the greatest quality but the print looks fantastic.

Tale of the Smarty Pants

2011-11-15T23:45:00.001-08:00

All of us have used the words smarty pants in our daily speech. I have done it loads of times. But do we even know what that looks like? Let me paint you a picture of what a smarty pants looks like.

No that's Pale Green Pants with Nobody Inside Them (curtosey of Dr S and illustrator). I think that I have found what smarty pants looks like! Here it is.... are you ready?

Yes that's right Baby J is smarty pants. We were eating dinner and like a typical kid he wasnt eating it all. So we did the typical parent thing and said "you have to eat however many bites for how old you are". A look of deep concentration came over him for just a moment then with a slightly evil smile. Then with smarty pants brilliance he help up one finger tentatively close to his face.

Of course we had to laugh at how smart he was. So when I say smarty pants it is good he is so smart to think fast like that and be more clever than his parents. Dad learned his lesson to not try that typical parent trick a second time.

You Baby Me!

2011-11-10T22:07:00.001-08:00

My wife went to get my daughter from the bus today and he was upset. She said that we treat her like a baby and that she is old enough to walk home by herself. Granted it is only up a short hill and between some apartments in a decent area.

To my BABY girl (yes thats right you are my baby girl still). You wont understand this and perhaps one day you will read this and know what we mean.

It isnt you we dont trust! We dont trust everyone else. You never know who would try to hurt or take you away and something terrible would happen. It happens even in seemingly decent areas. We do it to ensure your safety #1. #2 we do it so we can greet you right away after school. Get a few minutes of one-on-one time to ask how your day was and find out what you did at school! Interaction with mom/dad. It shows our love and concern for you. It shows our interest in the things that you do.

We love and trust you! We are very proud of you! I will admit a small part of me doesnt want to let you do it because of "Peter Pan Snydrome (PPS)". Yes we dont want you to grow up sometimes. But I promise I wont let my PPS issues prevent you from doing things.

It's Time for Christmas Music

2011-11-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

Yep it is true! I have my treasured Christmas music up on the blog. It is set at random so you can get a variety. There may be some broken links to songs so I will be updating it every now and then.

Sorry for those who think I am skipping a holiday or that it is too soon. I can please everyone and Im not gonna try!

Halloween Time

2011-11-03T00:06:00.000-07:00

It is the time of year again where the parents stress about pumpkins, decorations, costumes and taking kids around who whine about their feet and how tired they are so they can just fight about whose candy is whose. Isnt Halloween great? Well, it is for me since I exercise a "toll" on the kids candy!

Here are some pictures from our Halloween with family and friends. First stop is a week or two ago at Northwest Trek with Aunt S and Little Cousin J.

Northwest Trek haunted bus, check out the freaky face! I love it, who taught her how to pose?

Ahh! Hold me!

Stopped in Logan to see my grandparents. Got a 4 Generation picture! The camera didnt take a very good shot and my son cant smile to save his life I guess.

Back to trunk or treat with Grandma JQ

Isnt this the cutest picture of mama and baby!

Went trick or treating with KT, Auntie Ki, and Uncle B

A little timid to approach this door mama helped out!

Uncle B was laughing at Auntie Ki with this creature following her around.

Family Photos in July

2011-10-25T01:10:00.000-07:00

Back at the end of July we took some family photos on a very hot and very sunny day out at a park where there wasnt a lot of shade. Despite my best editing there are some shots with a little too much light and I cant help the squinting that happens either so here are some of my favorite shots!

Just me and my babe (above) and me and my girly girl (below)

The boys together for a picture! None look excited for the pictures.

nice little family pose in front of the falls.

Sibling love!

WAHH! THESE TWO STEAL ALL THE ATTENTION AWAY!

Momma and her baby boys!

cute little girly girl!

Momma and her girl!

Fun in the sun! Staring contest didnt work.

This is the real us!

Okay maybe this is really us (Below)

My favorite picture of all the ones from this "session". Handsome pants!

Whoa look out, might be the last time in a long time you see this!

Jumping picture looks so funny! You should see the series of photos

The Soucie girls in front of the falls.

Finally asleep after an hour of screaming!

Bridge walking.

Family with new Bro in Law, both grandmas

Pumpkin Time

2011-10-23T01:23:00.001-07:00

It is that time again to cut up pumpkins feel the oozing slimy feeling of the inside guts and slippery flat seeds!
We like to carve pumpkins. Well scratch that the kids and K love to. I on the other hand get grouchy cus i cant tape the stencil on the pumpkin exactly straight and i always mess up anyway.
It seems standard that you have to have villians on your pumpkins if they arent ghoulish in some kind of way but apparently that didnt matter in our house this year.
We did all the good guys. Rapenzul from Tangled, Ho Ho the monkey from Ni Hao Kai Lan, and of course the Autobots sign. Please dont ask who they are or i might just throw a hissy fit.

Odd Places to Fall Asleep

2011-10-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

Many of yo know that it is difficult to be a parent. With all the things we have going on and multiple kids there just isnt enough time in the day. A lot of times you find yourself only sleeping a few hours each night and sometimes not sleeping for 48 hours or more...or maybe I am alone in this.

I personally love sleep! I could sleep virtually anywhere and espeically within the last few years. I have not wanted to wake up again and I even turn fun things down in order to sleep.

Sometimes it just gets the better of you. Monday was one of those mornings you just didnt want to get up. The baby started crying so you have to wake up pat his belly till he sleeps again. Then child 2 comes in and falls asleep with his head at your feet. Yep he is a wild sleeper and ends up kicking me in the face multiple times so I couldnt sleep. Then I hear banging sounds and after I was paranoid for a few minutes and grabbed something heavy to hit with, I looked in the bathroom and the dog was playing with the toy boats in the tub. then back to bed where the baby is stirrng again so I have to pat his belly till he is alseep. Oh and then would you look at that....time to get up.

So I went to work very tired and irritated with the events of the night. Mondays definately are like Office Space. So I must confess that I did fall asleep at work. Only I fell asleep in a very VERY unusual place. Apologies in advance to my mom who mignt want me to tell you this but I think it is funny and by no means am I embarrassed by it.

Yes that is right. I fell asleep on the toilet. (just an image I found online this isnt the exact toilet). I woke up and didnt realize how long I was there for either so it was sort of crazy. After washing my hands I looked at the time on my phone and it was only a couple of minutes. But it is true I feel asleep there.

Have you been that tired? Have you fallen asleep in a crazy weird place before? Tell me about it!

Pumpkin Patch People

2011-10-19T01:10:00.000-07:00

We definitely are pumpkin patch people. We have to go every year and sometimes we go twice a year. We usually like to make it out to Black Island Farms where we are from but since we might not make it this year we went to a little local one. Over the weekend nearly all the good pumpkins were taken. Also with it being the Pacific Northwest there is a lot of rain which makes for rotted pumpkins. So you had to look carefully to find some that didn't have some kind of rot.

Of course the kids wanted to just fill up the barrel with every single one they thought looked good, cute, or interesting color. I would love to get whatever they wanted but that isn't practical. So we put some back before we bought.

We did get a first pumpkin for our baby. He was looking at it pretty intensely for a while. I love the picture below because I caught some good sun flare for the first time in my life and I did it from my camera phone! Go Me!

But since his was bigger and cooler color that one just had to end up as J'alee's and then baby got defaulted to this little one here. Mom's sporting him in a pack with her killer glasses!

Baby J kept running up and down the patch screaming "pumpkins pumpkins pumpkins" all over. Everything he said had some kind of pumpkin reference to it. We had to take him to the potty and he was having a little trouble with #2 and he said it was hanging from a vine. Maybe a little TMI for you, sorry but it was SOO funny for me.

J'alee just loved to be there and was looking at everyone trying to find the perfect pumpkins. Dad wanted a Cinderella Pumpkin and there were very few there and most were all rotted out. She was awesome and tried to help dad find a good one. We didn't really find one but that is alright, they cost more anyway.

Here are a few more shots for you. I didn't edit any of the images since I didn't have time. We definitely enjoyed our little time and we got in and out of there with 10 bucks so that was a pretty good deal. Usually things cost more than that. It was chilling and we didn't want to do the corn maze so maybe we will do that later. At least we know not to call 911 in the maze if we get lost though! LOL!

Want your Votes

2011-10-16T22:41:00.000-07:00

Im calling out for your votes on which picture you like better. Given the paramaters of picture quality and over all baby cute-ness which would you pick? Vote in comments or via facebook comment, or like the individual pictures.

Family of Four Eyes

2011-10-15T23:43:00.000-07:00

We went down to the optical today. After some great service we hit a snag with insurance. It is so wonderful how the whole system works out. They make it so easy...just as easy as Facebook security I tell you!

At any rate we discovered that our perscription hasnt changed much except for J'alee who now needs reading glasses. So she joins the family of four eyes! Of course she got some glasses with no nose pieces like mommy and of course it HAD to be purple! So she is sporting a pretty little look!

We already talked about "CASE/FACE" (shout out to my mom) but I seriously down that is going to happen. Plus she will be hauling these back and forth from school so chances are Im going to be replacing these an awful lot more than I want to but such is the life of children. We sure do love them anyway, even though they take all the time. At least I have good eye insurance on first pair of glasses...we paid nothing for these!

Of course we all needed glass. I just wish that the insurance company would take one look at my policy and see I cover several toddlers and young kids as dependants and automatically cover me for frames every year, alass that isnt gonna happen.

So naturally we all got some glasses, except Jaden who has great vision. Mom got some great looking glasses and contacts which she has wanted for a while. I was silly and forgot to get a picture of her with her glasses. Guess that is cus I was entertaining a baby boy and a 4 year old boy. Somehow I thought it wouldnt take from 1230-5 on a saturday afternoon. Good gravy that was long!

I got to get some glasses as well. I departed from my regular thin metal glasses and went with trendy thick plastic that has been in the grave since the 60s. But here I am sporting a new "trendy" look. My fear is that I look like a Jonas Brother...you know the one that wears the black glasses taken from the 60s that practically eat his face...yeah that one. I think they look fairly decent. (picture taken by my daughter)

We had to get our eyes dialated to check for issues. That was trippy to go from seeing alright and then bam blurry, headache and feeling motion sick. I went out side to get the diaper bag (which I previously left in the car) and forgot to take my little sun glasses with me and this is why. My little man decided to try and pull a Flynn Ryder on me "Let me say...Hi, How ya doin' ".

He did have a lot of fun with those on his eyes for a minute or two. But it kept him quite for a few minutes which is all we needed to stop and think about what was going on.

Hurray we all have eyes again and apparently between the 5 of us we have 16 eyes!

The Dreaded Day is Arriving

2011-10-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

I came home from work yesterday and I was informed by my wife that J'alee said she was going to marry a boy. OK well no big deal right she said this before when she was little just because she was friends with a neighbor boy. So I said alright who is it. She told me his name.

Upon hearing this my little girl says that she is going to marry him. Me and my little self just couldn't leave it alone so I asked why she said that. She said she didn't know until I found out that one of her best friends likes him. She then tells me that her friend thinks he's cute. I said do you think he is cute she said "uh huh".

Here is an example of my mental picture:

I said oh OK and turned to my wife grabbed her arm and buried my face in her shoulder and said "oh dear heaven this cant start already, I'm not ready for that, she's not ready for that, she's too young"

So, I get by everyday feeling rest assured that she only thinks this boy is cute because of her friend. That's where I'm gonna leave it.

Evolution of my Brain

2011-10-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

Baby Brain

Adult Brain (prior to cancer, completing college, marriage, having kids, and seizures)

Brain After seizures, cancer, job, house, wife, kids, church, activities, volunteering, pets, cars, etc.

Brain after the end of everyday

HTC Titan Announced

2011-09-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

It was announced not to long ago that HTC will release their phone the Titan on the AT&T Network. It will be a 4G phone. It is going to be 4.7 inches and for a smartphone that is the biggest there is.

It is a windows 8 phone and looks a lot like previous windows phones. It will have zune and xbox live built into it, 8pm camera lens.

Looks pretty sweet!

Remembering September 11th

2011-09-11T22:41:00.000-07:00

I was on my mission in Connecticut. I woke up and walked out the door and someone told me what happened and I thought they were pulling my leg. I went to visit a man who had was struggling with some family matters and we were there to comfort him. He had the TV on and we couldnt believe our eyes. I watched the replay of the second plane as the news talked about how they werent really sure what was going on if it was an accident or not but since there were two planes they figured it was an attack. It was only rumored the Pentagon was attacked and that another plan was int he air set to attack as well but they werent sure exactly where it was. This was before the passengers took United 93.

I went to comfort someone and I just sat there glue to a TV like I never have before in awe, disbelieve and a little horror of the tragedy that was unfolding. When I thought it couldnt get worse I saw the towers fall on the news. Not entirely sure how to feel about the whole thing we tried to give the man we were with some comfort about the events of that morning and what was happening in his life and we went on. We had nothing else to do but tracking. Everyone had all the doors and windows open with the radio and TV news blasting loud. We couldnt even hear ourselves knock on most doors since things were turned way up. I think we got 5 people to answer the door in 3 hours. One man that answered the door said "not now guys I'm on the phone with the airline my wife is dead". His wife was on one of the flights from Boston to L.A. and at that time they didnt say what flight numbers they were but there were only 2 unaccounted for so he knew he she was gone! So sad!

We kept going back but he never would come to the door. I dont blame him I would be like Adam Sandler's character on Reign on Me. Totally go nuts and struggle!

The area seventy which was Elder Craig Zwick at the time he contacted all the mission presidents, stake presidents and bishops and we dropped everything and visited every member to make sure they were accounted for and find out if they knew loved ones in the towers and immediately get them home teacher, bishop and relief society help! He wanted done in 48 hours. Virtually every member of the ward knew someone in the tower or knew someone who at least used to work there in the towers that they might not be in contact with currently though so it was a shock to everyone.

It was horrible time there. Everyone was depressed and sad that week. for days after people had their windows and doors open every morning, radios on the front lawns with groups of people standing there listening or watching to find out if there were more attacks through the airports and to find out how many people lost their lives.

We had haze by the afternoon of the 11th in Hartford, CT area from the smoke that came. Since it is only 3 hours away we were very close to people there.

I went to NYC in 2003 (I think it was) and got to see Ground Zero. It was still a huge gaping hole in the ground and some debris. We saw the barges still afloat out by Staten Island with the majority of the rubble and debris on it. But mostly the hole was an excavation so they could start building a foundation for what now will be the Freedom Tower. You could see where the subway was when I saw it. It is breath taking. There is a huge plaque along one all honoring the NYFD and NYPD as well. It is incredible! All that was capped by the cork board they had along the wall facing the fencing where the hole was that had "missing" posted of people that have never been found. Brings tears.

Thank you NYPD, NYFD, all the known and unknown heroes and heroines that helped people that day. Thank you to those who made difficult choices and took action to serve our country and the world in this matter to protect us and freedom! Thank you to all who continue to make that sacrifice today!

I hope and pray for peace for those effected by the attacks directly and indirectly!

LaPush Beaches: First and Second

2011-09-11T03:50:00.000-07:00

Over the Labor Day weekend we got to go out to Forks, WA and LaPush to see Second Beach and also First Beach. The hike to Second Beach is pretty good although both my young kids were able to do it. It might stink when carrying a lot of gear to go camping there but the beach and views are worth it! After that we went to First beach which isnt as nice but still pretty nice!

Gotta love footprints in the sand!

I think Jacob was here before us!

OH! There he is! Nope, it was just cold water!

Cool Anemone

Playing in the water....before swimming suits of course...why would we wait?

Sittin in a tree K I S S I N G !

Beach Bum Baby!

Matching Forks hoodies. Can you believe I almost had to buy that blue? Thanks babe for giving in and letting me have the brown!

This starfish I swear was gonna die it was out in the dry hot sun. I tried to take it off so I could reattach it to a place where water was but couldnt first of all and second thought that if detatched it wouldnt reattach so I left it alone.

There have some amazing old wood there that the sun, waves and wind have weathered. It is fantastic for pictures!

Peek-a-boo!

EWW their kissing!

I spy my love with my little eye!

On First Beach really trying to make footprints...or pootprint has the kids used to call them.

Here Baby J was running down the beach as the water went out and then up the beach when it was coming it. When the water was up he would bend down pick up a rock and then throw it back into the ocean screaming "BAD WATER". He sure showed the water!

First Day Fashionista

2011-09-11T02:56:00.000-07:00

There are a few things that I really don't like. #1 is school (unless my kids are reading this in the future and YES I LOVE SCHOOL). #2 the word fashionista. Seriously it is a weird word. But here is my little girl who loves to dress herself and doesn't always take advice! Ready for her first day of first grade!

Luck Changing

2011-09-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

I spent a lifetime of not having very good luck on anything. In fact it was Murphy's Law with the assumption that I wouldnt win anything, from a silly raffle to spinning the wheel at a jewelry store to win a cruise. It was all true I never won anything.

Well it seems that has changed the last year. I won a phone Samsung Infuse 4G from work several months ago. Well at a company party we had some extra phones from vendors promos. I entered the raffle hoping for a tshirt, towel or what I really hoped for was a little sunshade umbrella.

Well I got lucky and they pulled my name for a phone! The HTC HD7S. It looks like a great phone with some great reviews and windows 7 OS.

I am actually looking to sell the phone since it is still in the factory box with the factor seal on it. Never been used and brand new! Let me know if anyone wants it. It does only work on AT&T network of course so you need to be a AT&T customer unless you want it just for a mobile wi-fi device.

AT&T Merger...Letter to Seattle Times and the World

2011-09-02T00:54:00.000-07:00

I read a few articles in the Seattle Times and online from Yahoo, MSNBC, and others. I wasnt bothered until I read the Seattle Times articles that said they were for the blocking of the AT&T Merger. While I think it is fine the people at Seattle Times can think what they want I thought they should hear some facts they neglected to write about at all. So I wrote to the the editor and to the specific columnist who wrote one of the articles. Here it is:

I am writting in response to the articles "The Effect on Workers, Customers" and "Justice Right to Block AT&T's T-Mobile Grab".

I really thing that the first article Effect on Workers, Customers was fairly good but missed a few things. AT&T historically has kept contract and pricing terms the same for customers who came to them through a merger until they were ready to switch over or unless technology change made it necessary for instance switching from CDMA to GSM (like the conversion in some areas from the Alltel aquiring from the Verizon break up).

T-Mobile was already moving to implement LTE and their cellular network architecture is similar to AT&T because both were UMTS and HSPA+ networks that have an easier path of upgrade to LTE. Thus making the acquiring of it and the expansion of LTE to 97% of Americas the most plausible. If Sprint or Verizon were to acquire T-Mobile they would be face with must more expense, network improve and a much longer time frame to roll out LTE and more conversion of customers devices.

The article mentions that AT&T will bring over 5000 jobs from overseas back to the U.S. but it failed to mention the committment to keep and convert all T-Mobile call centers and their 25,000 employees. There have been studies the article failed to mention that estimate that LTE will bring 700,000 jobs and that the merger will help fuel that at a faster rate. Since the networks are similar and the need to maintain and expand those networks is there. Will the role out of LTE coming there wont be time to lay off employees retrain new ones. This benefits T-Mobile employees who are more than likely to keep their jobs. With the annoucement to keep the call centers AT&T has demonstrated it's desire to keep a strong presence of T-Mobile workers.

The article "Justice Right to Block AT&T's T-Mobile Grab" is false. The basis behind the antitrust concerns is that there are currently 4 carriers covering 90% of the country. This will create 3. The fact is that T-Mobile would go out of business anyway if this deal didnt happen leaving 3 carriers anyway and a lot of customers scrambling to find a new carrier. Verizon took bailout money and cannot afford a deal of this magnitute. Sprint has it's own problems with Comcast and Clear Communications and is struggling financially ever since before the Nextel deal. Since both of their networks set up so different it wouldnt benefit them to take T-Mobile.

The best possible solution is AT&T and T-Mobile merger. This will extend out coverage to 97% of Americans and businesses. The technology community and business are backing the deal. Phone, tablet and other device makers all have sworn statements that this will not hurt their innovation and they will continue to provide their innovations to other carriers.

The fact is this will cover more people, give more options, bring more spectrum, bring more possibilities and innovation to Americans. Basic economics tells you more supply brings costs down. Sprint when they launched their 4G service brought down cost to customers, Verizon offered discount plans as well. This will bring down cost. AT&T spends more capital that most companies in the country and they are among the most innovative and hold thousands of patents and won prizes and awards for their innovations.

In Asia carriers have to cater to the phone companies. They see the features the phones have and they want it so they adapt their network to the phones. The major innovations are the phones and devices. We are seeing a shift to that here in the U.S. with iOS, Android, Windows, WebOS. It is greating benefiting customers and bringing more innovation to the carriers, customers and businesses.

Historically, if you look back at the break up of Bell/AT&T and the amount of innovations and then look at see what has happened to the next 20 years. Look at the break up of Microsoft and what happened before and after it. Innovation for both companies slowed and delayed a lot of what we have now. It is no secret that bigger companies are more innovative.

The last fact is no one else is willing to expand their network to cover of the country. It is desperately needed for customers, business, prices, jobs and innovation. All these will benefit from it. There is no doubt.

Thank you for your time,

Blake

Redmond, WA

Makin Me Feel Uncool!

2011-08-30T23:18:00.000-07:00

Well my daughter is fast approaching 7 years of age and she "is in FIRST GRADE!!!" starting next week. The last few weeks have been "interesting" to watch. Well it all started when she first wouldnt hold hands with mom walking into the store and she wanted to do it on her own. Then I noticed that she was doing it more and more. Ok, no problem, this is normal and Im ok with that. Then when I would talk to her she wouldnt answer and even started to roll her eyes (this was only at my jokes, which she used to laugh at). She doesnt want to tell us that we are cool or uncool now.

It is like I have a little girl who is trying to claim her independence and already thinks her mom and dad arent cool. Now I know I am not supposed to be "cool" im supposed to be a parent. That isnt what I am talking about. I just thought that I wouldnt get to this stage till teens!

Perhaps this is a stage with going to "FIRST GRADE"?

My iPhone R.I.P!

2011-08-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

Well we went camping out to a church own property this weekend with the ward camp out. It was a lot of fun. We got to slide down a giant slip and slide and we even rented a canoe and went out on the Yakima River. That was a lot of fun too. Well mom and the two oldest went out in the canoe first and it looked like they were about to crash. Well, me thinking....wife and kids...capsizing...drowning ran right out into the water clutching the baby in one arm reaching for the canoe on the other. Well needless to say I am now left with asking this question.

(please dont click I dont know where the picture will take you)

Yep, totally forgot that my phone was in my pocket and now it wont turn on. So $400 mistake and now we have lost some great pictures!!! And what do I have to show for it...nothing my act of heroism was for not since they weren't even close to capsizing let alone drowning...I was extremely too overprotective in that moment.

So, now the thing that keeps my calendar for work and I get all my work emails on gone! Lets hope that the company has paid for insurance/apple care on it and that it will cover a soaked phone!

20s Images

2011-08-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share some images from the 20s that seem to be relevant for people today and some to me specifically.

Everyday I get to see the strength that women have that can be used for so much good! Back in the 20s they provided a lot of support for Prohibition. While I believe everyone has the right to drink I personally think no one should for lots of reasons. With the push for new liquor laws in my state I find this relevant.

Of course this is relevant today. Perhaps it is happening on the same scale as today but we find people asking this in houses all over the country today!

Since I am big into cutting spending for most things and expanding spending for Education among a FEW other things this really seems appropriate. The state government has cut millions from the schools in my state and it is ridiculous! How do we expect to get a return out of anyone when we cant even provide enough money for schooling. Should our schools have to spell ad space to McDonalds on their lunchroom walls and table tops? NO!

Spires that Inspire

2011-08-21T18:18:00.000-07:00

"Our inborn yearnings for family connections are fulfilled when we are linked to our ancestors through sacred ordinances of the temple" (Russell M Nelson; "Generations Linkedin Love"; General Conference April 2010).

Took these shots the day my sister-in-law went through the temple for the first time! I have always been inspired by the temple, pioneers and their struggle to build the temple and the stunning pictures that people have taken of it. I have always wanted to get some excellent ones and now I have them!

Network of Possibilities

2011-08-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

I havent commented on the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile thus far for some good reasons. I will leave it to everyone to make their own decision about the merger but here are some facts that you should be aware of.

First AT&T is one of the biggest companies, stable companies and telecom providers. The spend the most capital than most any other company
AT&T has historically been among the most innovative companies in the industry and has been a leader in telecom since before the Fed break up in ancient times.
Their innovations and parternships have been monumental in mobile advancements in healthcare, business, and everyday life.
They have vastly expanded their network into areas where there were problems and where their wasnt as much service as before.
Their HSPA+ network on a CAT 5 device will get just about the same speed as a competitors LTE service. Translation from "geek speak" is AT&T with their 3G network on a iphone or one of the latest andriod/windows phones will get 4G speed within the same range as Verizon claims their 4G (LTE) to be at.
The current plan is to have 93% of Americans (consumers) covered by 2013 on their own network.

So what will this merger do?

Increase the coverage of 3G and 4G service to 97% of Americans. No other company will be able to claim that and has no plans to have and I'm willing to bet wouldnt ever do it. It is incredibly bold to push your network out to that size.
This will allow for better speeds for urban and rural areas that are in need for it. It will increase the speed of communication for consumers and businesses.

Two Major Facts to Note:

AT&T has sworn under oath of perjury that this will be more affordable for customers and they also sworn under oath that T-Mobile pricing will remain the same.
Your attitude toward AT&T effects your idea about the merger more than the facts probably do and that is wrong. The fact is good or bad views of AT&T wont make these facts untrue.

Playing Ketchup

2011-08-18T00:09:00.000-07:00

Ever since we had the baby stuff just piles up even worse than it did before. Then we left for a few weeks and came back and things got even more behind. So we took off camping over the weekend and came back to even more stuff in disorder and with the smell of smoke and other things baby's and sick kids leave behind.

Needless to say the last few days I have felt like I have been not only living this but eating it too!

Popsicles and Juice...mmh my favorite!

2011-08-17T00:48:00.000-07:00

Ok here I go again with a few of my favorite things! Perhaps many of you know that these really just are the best Popsicles in the world. But all good things must become better right? Sorry Root Beer twin pops were demoted again in my rankings.

3. Root Beer Twin Pop
2. Strawberry Dreyer's Fruit Bar

I know many of you are asking the same question. What on earth could be so good as to pass up both of these? Could there really be such a thing? Well....there is. Let me provide you with some back story.

My favorite juice for the longest probably was most any multi-fruit Old Orchard brand of juice that up until recently only came in froze plastic jars.

Earlier this year that was bumped to the #2 spot when I discovered the power of blue! I never really was a fan of Ocean Spray stuff until I tasted the Blueberry and Blueberry Pomegranate juices. I was in heaven. Since delivery methods are so much faster and people have now discovered how great pomegranate is they put the two together and I cant get enough of them.

So there you have it my favorite juices

3. Old Orchard Apple Raspberry

2. Ocean Spray Blueberry

1. Ocean Spray Blueberry Pomegranate

Bringing us back to the beginning. What could possibly be better than the Dreyer's Strawberry Fruit Bar? Well I am pleased to say that none other than another Dreyer's fruit bar! Pomegranate! They are so good man I cant even tell you!

Dreyer's also has a Blueberry which they paired with Acai which Im not a huge fan of...how could anyone be the thing tastes gross on it's own. But the Blueberry makes up for it in a big way and I loved the flavor of it too!

Happy 50th BO!

2011-08-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

Today is a special friends birthday. Lets party and celebrate!

Because you know it is a special thing to celebrate the man who has done so much for us as a country.

Pedicure or Peticure?

2011-08-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

It was the 24th of July in Utah which means a couple of things. A lot of religious people celebrating their heritage coupled with legal fireworks. But that isnt good for animals. This little guy lost his owner and was cowering in the corner behind Grandma B's home. We got him some food and water and waiting for the fireworks to be over. J'alee was so concerned she said "oh no what are we going to do. Should we call the Peticure?"

We did find the owner of the dog a few hours later after a few walks around the area. Lets hope the owner takes care of the dog a little better from now on.

Dizzy

2011-08-03T23:07:00.000-07:00

Some say that life is a dance...I really think that it is the part when you are dancing too much and you start to get dizzy and perhaps don't know exactly what it is that you are doing.

I feel that way a lot. I wing it a lot and just get by on BS and sometimes get to have fun in between all that and work, church. So many people in my life have so many things to do and get a lot more done than I. I admire them and try to use them as examples to accomplish more. I really think I just need to shadow them for a few days each and maybe I can glean some things.

At any rate. With two weeks away I have lots to write about. I will be trying to do this over the next little while. Yes, this will include wedding pictures.

Out of Order

2011-07-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

This is perhaps the saying that we hate the most in life "Out of Order" and in the network world "down" is the worst thing ever. Well this is what I am like lately. We have lots going on with family and traveling and seeing friends that I havent had time to write on the blog lately so it is somewhat out of order for a little while.

I will be back hopefully this weekend to write more about what has been happening!

Netflix Alternatives for Free

2011-07-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

Many people are upset that Netflix keeps raising prices. This is because it has to. They have so many customers on such a small network that they will soon find their resources arent sufficient to hold that amount of traffic. Perhaps they already have found that. I bet you all have experienced slow downloads and shows that quite right in the middle of the show sometimes during "peak" hours of day/night/weekend. So the cost goes up to build their network out or find a better solution.

Here are some alternatives that are FREE!!! These are sources that you also dont have to worry about getting inundated with cookies, spam, porn, malware attacks, viruses, etc.

Apps
tv.com
Crackle
HBO
Xfinity (if you are a customer)
Time Warner
HGTV
Discovery Channel
TLC
ABC

On Computer of Flash Friendly device
fancast.com
hulu.com
abc.com
cbs.com
nbc.com
fox.com
usanetwork.com
tnt.tv
other channel websites

My particular favorite
AT&T U-verse http://uverseonline.att.net/home
Yes you read me right. If you aren't a customer you can access this website and still view shows and movies. Here are the best parts. They offer more shows and movies than Comcast, DishNetwork or DirectTV. Also they broadcast their shows in a higher resolution than Netflix or any other online source that I know of. It is broadcast over AT&T's fiber optic lines in their network so you will get faster downloads than Netflix. Only down side is some content is available for subscribers only and the areas that you can get Uverse is limited still. But you can get a vast amount now and stay tuned there have been so many request to have an online option only I wouldnt be surprised if they provide that sometime in the future.

Do You Need a Hero?

2011-07-12T23:13:00.000-07:00

As little kids we all find people that we look up to in our lives or people we wish we knew that we look up to. They are like heroes for us. They help us to motivate ourselves to reach out or to be better people. I think it is healthy to have a hero as long as you dont compare yourself to that hero and get down.

So I ask do have a hero? If not do you need a hero? If you do I have one for you. I would suggest you take a look at Srg. Petry. He was just awarded the Medal of Honor. This soldier who has served the country found himself stuck in a courtyard with terrorist shooting AKs at him and 3 other soldiers. He was shot in both legs and still managed to help the other soldiers get to safety. In the midst of the efforts a grenade landed right by them. Srg Pery picked it up and immediately threw it back. This effort saved the lives of 2 other soldiers but cost him his hand a the grenade exploded just after he let it fly back at the attackers!

What bravery to help soldiers even when he himself was "down" and braved imminent death by picking up a live grenade! Could you do that? Could you do that after being shot twice? I am amazed and honored to live in a country where men and women like this soldier are fighting to protect us and protect people all over the world!

Out To Woodland Zoo

2011-07-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

The kids went with mom, grandma JS and KT to Woodland Park Zoo while dad got to work from home. I wont lie it was great for the first 2 hours. Quiet time where I could work out of the office and with not kids around. After that it was a little odd and sort of lonely when the trip turned into almost 9 hours alone...dear heavens Im old because I actually didnt know what to do with myself. I even cleaned the whole house (minus one bathroom).

Here are some pictures that were taken from a cell phone camera. I believe these were taken mostly by K.

Crack kills huh! I like to give my J'alee a hard time about this picture. She lectured mom for taking it because it is a bad picture.

Not sure which ones are the monkeys! Perhaps you can cell me.

Ohh even mom and granny are monkeys too!

This is actually a bird flapping its wings so fast you can barely see them.

Feed the birds $1 a stick! Move over Mary Poppins and keep your toppins!

Saturday at Pt Defiance

2011-07-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

Along with some family members we made it out to Point Defiance Zoo over the 4th of July weekend. It was very warm and there were tons of people but it was a good time. Here are some of our pictures from our visit. We stopped at the hands on exhibit with the touch pools of starfish and other things. Here is J'lee and cousing China J looking at shark teeth ohhaha!

Baby J at the touch pool with a lot of starfish! He was a chicken though and didnt want to touch them. Not quite sure why he usually loves to do that.

I always knew she was a little _____ (fill in the blank). Just kidding she is one fantastic kid it just seems funny with this picture.

This is my 4th visit to Point Defiance and the third time with the Seahorse Exhibit and all three times it was closed except 1 tank. This is the best I could do with the glass between us.

The baby wasnt entertained at all for a while. He resorted to poking himself in the eyes he was so bored! Actually he was sucking his thumb too but you cant really see it cus the rest of his fingers are blocking it.

It is pretty intimidating to look through a small spyglass of a camera and see this coming at you even if there is 4 feet of glass between you.

these sharks were having a sleep over and Baby J wanted to crash the party!

Cute kids walking in a line together. They all had fun. (the girl in the front was China J's friend)

oohhh fast! So very fast!

Cute little beaver comin out of the pool

Now that is awrd....awrdvark that is. He sure does love his ants...guess that makes him a family man?

Oooh look up there. An eagle swooped so low to the crowd and perched up in the corner but the bird didnt make the picture. The second swoop also left me with a claw impression on the back of my head.

aww cute! Me and my boy...who started to fuss and then blew out his diaper all stinky! Thanks babes!

This guy always is in sticky situations and comes right to the point about them too!

YUM! Kettle Corn at the zoo! Eat and say hi to the camera!

Jo is Out of this World!

2011-07-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

It was so great to be with my little sister again! I sure love that girl. We had a great time doing various things in Seattle. Here we are at the spaceneed on July 2nd.

We start off with my kiddies and their cousin Corbs standing in one of the supporting pillars of the space needle. Did you know that the architect of the building thought that is what buildings would look like in the year 2000? Maybe he watched too much Jetsons cartoons.

I can see flying cars and robots with frilly aprons now, cant you?

My brother came up from Portland to be with his little boy, Corbs. He was the second tallest thing I saw that day! Good grief he barely fit in the space needle me thinks! 6'8" yeegads!

My silly sister with my lovely (and sometimes silly) wife! You should have seen the faces Jo was pulling. I didnt post them all here for her sake but it was funny to see them.

After we got underneath the walkway it was covered with glass on top that had these little grey dots. Kind of looks "modern" or "abstract" perhaps....to me I cant decide if I like it or if it is just a cappy looking picture.

Yes sister RaRa was here too, but she kept her feet where God intended them to be...on the ground! We waved and made faces to each other on the way up it was fun!

City view of Seattle looking south into downtown. Pretty lights eh? Concrete jungle here too!

the ever lovely Airwoman Adams, high u p in the air with downtown Seattle to her back. Yes and tons of secruity wiring to keep people from jumping!

Two lovelies, one with my little baby who at 2 months old got to go up the Space Needle...but he slept right through the whole thing!

I liked the accidental blur that was in this one. Since it was dark and I didnt use the flash it took longer to save and I moved the camera so it gave me some blur! I beleive this shot is looking southeast into Seattle.

Jamis Baby Blessing

2011-07-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

Our little baby Jamis had his blessing this past Sunday July 3rd. We had family from both sides from ID, UT and WA come to see it. We even entertained them in our 2 bedroom apartment of less than 1100 sq ft. There was about 20 of us in there. The kids decorated a flag with finger paints. The baby even lent in with foot prints.

Here he is with his given name and all blessed. The blessing was relatively short. I remember talking about listening to parents, family and priesthood leaders to gain and develop a testimony and to be healthy and strong and to love to serve other people. I remember thinking that there wasnt much that I felt I needed to bless him with. So I think he definately is a great child to come to this earth!

You cannot tell in this picture but the hair on the back of his head is longer than the front from all the rubbing and kisses he got from friends and family! It is kind of funny to have a receeding hairline at 2 months old.

Here is a candid shot of mommy and grandma at the lunch afterwards. Grandma JS was so proud and happy to be there. We love having here with us.

One of the only family photos we have had in a long time as the Adams fam (minus our papa). It was nice to have all my siblings there with me for the first time in a long time! Especially my lil sis who I havent seen for almost 4 years.

The Q family got together (minus uncle C who was totally crashed out on the couch after some good eats). It was great to have aunties, cousins grandmas and future brother in the mix.

Now we come to glam shots of the ever elegant grandmas in little Jamis' life. Grandma JS never gets tired of holding him...with the exception of diaper changing times.

Grandma JA didnt get to be here for the birth so she was thrilled to be here and hold Jamis. We sure are glad that she made the drive with aunties R and J.

Both Grandmas together in one picture is a rarity since they arent together much. So we took the change to snap a few of the lovely ladies! Jamis does have some great grandmas.

Photo Narrative catch up

2011-07-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

A lot has been happening and this smiley little boy is taking most of the time up!

We did make it out to Bellevue for Strawberry Festival. Which I find funny since they dont really grow strawberries in the area much anymore but it was for a historical society benefit so we are glad to help contribute.

I went to take the garbage out on Monday morning and I found this little guy out in the bark by the flower beds. The kids missed it but I got some good shots and they enjoyed those. My kids love little bugs and frogs.

While my family was in town I got to see my little sister who I hadnt seen in 4 years just about. She just got back from Afganistan and it was so good to see her. We did of course go up the space needle. You gotta do that if you come to Seattle.

Also stopped on Pike Place market and saw all the good eats there and flowers. These peppers were cool and I hadnt seen them before. It was very low traffic on the morning of the 4th of July right at opening. No crowds.

Me and my sister just below Pike Place standing in front of "the gum walls". It is quite disgusting this was the closest I could get.

Someone was even gracious enough to spell my name in the wall! It wasnt me because this is too disgusting to even get close enough to take this picture more than once!

Are any of you that know Seattle surprised that they were selling a bag that contained mary jane? I'm not but it is definately a shot you cant miss if given the opportunity. Now there was no drugs in it, it was just a bag from Columbia (the country).

We did take the Argosy Harbor Cruise. It is always a good time. We did get to see the DoD's floating radar equipment seen here. There is a security boat on the water there preventing anyone from getting close. This thing checks and tracks for missles over at least 1/3 of the whole earth. That is a lot of radar power.

Ok Grey's Anatomy fans. I am going to burst your bubbles right now. You see the tall black tower on in the picture? That is the Columbia tower. Next to that is a tiny white tower that has a triangle top that is Smith Tower on Pioneer Square. Just ot the right of it you can see a tiny box (in this picture it looks tiny). That is the building they took the shots of Seattle of in order to show on the show. Yes no McDreamy or Steamy here sorry!

After the cruise we decided to eat at Crab Pot in I think it is Pier 56 or 57. If you are a fan of the show Man vs Food you will know this place. This is the place where they throw down butcher paper give you a wooden mallet, a tiny fork and a huge bib and say have at it! Can anyone imagine my mom doing that?...Well I have proof!

Shrimp (heads, shells and legs on), mussles, clams, snow crab and dungeness crab along with pieces of corn on the cob and potatoes. It was delicious!

We also went to Bellevue to the park just off downtown for the Bellevue Philharmonic's last preformance during the fireworks show. there were little activities for the kids and booths there too. We got the baby all ready in his fireworks jammies for his very first fireworks show!

We all got to huddle in a little park no bigger than a church building with about 65,ooo other people.

You can see the towers of Bellevue in the background and the stage to the right of my head. It was fun! The fireworks would glisten off the glass on the buildings it was neat to see them that way.

We got to have Grandma JS with us and Auntie K. It was so fun for them to come too!

Independence Day is the Best

2011-07-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

Independence Day is the best. We get to think about the founding fathers, heroes of the past and present from the revolutionary war to the war in Afghanistan. This year it was quite real for me since I was able to hang around my little sister who just got home from her deployment in Afghanistan. She told me all about what was happening out there and the great needs. It did give me a different perspective on how things are being handled politically as well but I wont go into that now.

She came out to see me and boldly was telling many people what the needs were and why we were there. I say boldly since this is a "blue" state and many people dont think we need to be there and just wish we could bring all the troops home.

Many people dont know about "unsung" heroes but we dont always give credit to the women who made this happen. They helped sneak soldiers so they could escape in New York, clothed and fed them. They made flags and took care of the farms and children while their husbands were fighting till they froze off their limbs with no pay coming home because the continental army couldnt always pay them. I believe behind every great man and hero there was an equally strong or greater woman that made it possible for this all to happen and we dont think of that sometimes. There is a book out that tells about some of these women and their roles in the Revolutionary War time and I would really love to get my hands on it.

Thank you to these women and men who scarified and continue to do so. It is a great thing to have freedom. We are striving to keep it and help bring it to others. I know God played a role in the formation of this country and he has granted us bounteous blessings.

Favorite Sunday Music

2011-06-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

On Sunday it is a day to get away from the norm for me, and focus more on spiritual things. It is not only a break from the fast paced and stressful life but refills you in may different ways.

The best way to do that for me is through music. There are many types of music that are great for this but I think I have found my favorite. Part of me thinks I like it so much, because it was a dream I had to be able to play hymns on the guitar like this. I love how it is hymns twisted with the classical guitar sound, while still hip enough not to put you to sleep!

Chad Woolner kept the essence of the hymns for me and put it with the guitar! I love it thanks Chad for being so inspired I listen to this multiple times each week!

LISTEN HERE

Still Here

2011-06-23T18:12:00.000-07:00

Yes I am still here!

We have had end of year field trips, kindergarten graduation, end of year parties with friends, crazy work schedules, closing out the year for scouts, cleaning the house, finding a new place to live, adjusting to a 3rd child with reflux, doctors appointments, elders quorum service activities, and less than appealing employment terms.

The last week has been a crazy one. Here are some highlights...sorry no pictures this time

Kindergarten graduation...my oldest baby isnt my baby anymore. She is 46.5in tall and 45lbs and "all growed up, for reals daddy". She never had a single miss behavior all year and won an award for that. She did great with her kinder grades as I like to call them.

Ear test with specialist showed J'alee's ear drums are slightly further back in her ear so it is just slightly harder for her to hear lower tones but barely below normal so it isnt a concern.

The baby has reflux, we got some zantac for him. He is still growing over 10lbs now the pork-er what does he think he is doing growing...for serious!

We are going to move again.... I know...again! Not sure where yet but still in the Seattle area. We are hoping to find a place in the same ward and school but it isnt looking promising.

Holding the baby upright with a bottle with my left hand and arm while typing one handed isnt easy so thats all for now.

Love British Comedy!

2011-06-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

I am an American and I do love the British comedies. If you are fortunate enough to watch things like Keeping Up Appearances and others you might just find a few things like a good laugh, Hugh Laurie and this funny spot on a British show. Thanks to some friends I got to see this and thought it was very funny!

Let me cover a few key words you will here

Orange - Huge telephone and cell phone carrier in Europe
Black Spot - areas there is no cell coverage

Dongoal - think of it like a USB port.

Cereal for under $1.50

2011-06-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

People if have an albertsons near you they have a sale till the 14th I believe if you by select 10 general mills products you can get them at a low price. In my area they let me get Reese, Cheerios, Lucky Charms cereals for $1.88 if I got any ten combination of the other items.

So if you go to the site http://www.pillsbury.com/coupons-promotions and sign up. Print all the coupons you can for those cereals. Then head to other coupon sites (www.coupons.com; www.swagbucks.com) and print what they will let you you can get the cereal for cheap!

Example. Say I printed out 10 coupons for the Cheerios cereal. I could get 10 boxes for 1.88 with my albertsons card. I believe the coupon saves you 50 cents off one or 55 cents of one. That would make each box of cheerios 1.30 or 1.33. I would consider this a very good price for the average or beginner couponer especially considering they sell those boxes for 3.50-4.00.

So you will come out paying (before tax) $13 and saved $22 bucks (if the regular price is about 3.50).

Online TV & Movie Streaming

2011-06-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

For those of you who do or dont do netflix and hulu there is another option out there. AT&T has a tv service and as part of they have some online shows they let you watch online. There are many that you can go to view without having a log in or without being a customer...it is absolutely free.

Granted you get more by being a customer. This is a pretty cool tv service for many different reasons. So check it out!

http://uverseonline.att.net/home

Phone I Won

2011-06-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

At work we periodically have a "launch" event. Basically when I new product is launched out like a phone the vendor (company who makes the phone) comes and does demos in the town center here. I usually attend because they have free food sometimes. They also allow you to win things by just answering a few questions about the features of the phone.

The same day as my son was born they had one for the Samsung Infuse 4G. This is a pretty "tight" phone for those who remember the phrase. It is an android phone so it takes some getting used to but overall I am happy with the phone. There are a few things that I would change about it but there are a lot of things that I like it.

If you are wondering which phone that this is watch this...this is the phone I have. I dont have cellular service with it I'm just using it off wifi at home from my wireless network.

What's on My Phone

2011-06-08T23:34:00.000-07:00

Maybe these will be a recap for those who follow me on facebook but here is what is on my phone. Lately my kids, especially my little baby have been dominating my phone space lately with little snap shots of us sitting around.

Here are a few shots of dress rehearsal for my daughter and her dance class. It was a cute dance. I will have some recital pictures up soon I hope.

Chillin with the baby the first week or so home...you can see how this kid has grown in other pictures...it is nuts everyday I come home from work I swear he has bigger cheeks or is taller or heavier...it isnt right. I've told him all he can grow up is growing out of refluxing. He apparently doesnt want to listen to dad already. :)

The kids love the baby too and are so helpful. They all love to have their time with the baby. J'alee has been so helpful she even held Baby J on her lap today till he fell asleep. How many 6 year olds will hold their 4 year old brother on their lap till they fall asleep? I dont know any. She is so cute!

We discovered the chair! Sitting on the table top with the calming vibrations. Thanks Melissa for this little gadget it works well. He likes to have it on top of the table so he can look out the window.

Killin time with my son while sister is in karate class. He wanted me to snap a few shots of him so here they are.

Kissy face!! I swear he is a goof! I love that kid!

Progress belting for J'alee. Not a "real" belt but it shows that she has learned some things in class and ready to be taught more.

Falling for Commercial Advertising

2011-06-03T00:27:00.000-07:00

I'm usually not one to fall for commercial advertising. I think of the old computer game Lemmings when it comes to advertising. I do however sometimes fall right inline with Lemmings when it comes to late night burger commercials on the weekend. I can hear my arteries clogging.

I did get the change to see a commercial that sort of stuck with me. It came from an unlikely source. It was a commercial for a browser on your computer. Odd huh? I know. But it is a really nice commercial.

Yes, that stuck with me and it was probably an emotional response which the ad was designed for. But I did set up emails with my birthday for all three of my kids. Ever since the birth of our third baby 2 weeks ago I have been emailing messages, videos and pictures to the kids trying to express how I feel and what is happening. Cheesy I know, but it is late at night and that was my late night confession.

Baby Photos

2011-06-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Ok I finally did get some time to gather the pictures we took of our new baby that we took at home. K helped do the poses and she took some of these so Im not sure which ones are hers. But together we did an alright job. With the cloudy day we had the lighting was a bit dull so that was a challenge to work through. But here some of my favorites for you to see.

Sweet Things and a Teaser

2011-06-02T01:58:00.000-07:00

We all love sweet things in life. Babies are definitely one of them. I just dont know many people who dont love a little baby. I do have to say that we have wonderful babies. We did set some poses up with our little tike and here is teaser for you so you know what else might be coming from "the session". There is more to come of these.

More sweet things in life are sweet to the taste but arent lasting in their sweetness...in fact they leave us with bad tastes, heartburn and fat. I am definately thinking that this place could be worth it. It has made my list of top places to visit on the east coast. If you dont know what this place is. Turn on TLC and watch Cake Boss!

2011-05-28T23:22:00.000-07:00

Things are going well. Mr Jamis is doing good and mom is doing well. We still have our coughs but we have a bit more sleep and energy thanks to the combination of Mom in Law and Diet Coke. Life has been quite busy but it has been very nice to have Grandma JS here.

We have had a few outings to the store and we found a chocolate factory in Issaquah and they have some delisous goodies there, but expensive. We got a chance to go out on a date K and I. We got Jack in the Box and watched Jack Sparrow in Pirates 4. It was just as good as the other 2 sequals but not as good as the first. Still I wasnt disappointed.

We did get to head out to the Pacific Science Center today. It was quite a bit of fun too. But I snapped a few good pictures some better than others.... are you ready for this?

ITS........
.........THE
..........SHARPTOOTH!

more pictures later.

Hired some Help

2011-05-25T23:05:00.000-07:00

As many people who have had a baby know the first little while can be very stressful once you are home. With me going straight back to work and with the issue of breast feeding no sleep and sick family we have been in some desperate need of help.

We have been lucky we have had grandma here with us. K's mom has been so wonderful. Taking the baby, letting us try and sleep more, taking the kids to the park, to the bus, dishes, food, laundry and watching the kids for us. She has been wonderful.

Somehow she got my kids to also help her willingly and even asked to help in advance with dishes and cooking and things. So my children really have stepped up. It has amazed me how well they are acting through this part. I didnt have to hire anyone my family is enough slave labor for me. :)

New Addition: Jamison is Here

2011-05-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

Well he is here and we are home! Little Jamison MicRoy Adams. Mic from one grandpa (Michael) and Roy from a long lasting family name on my side also from my dad (LeRoy). K went into labor just after I posted that nothing was happening so it was kind of a fake out. This was about 8am. Arranged a sitter and were off to the hospital. About 1:15 she was 6cm and had quite a lot of painful contractions. She did the honorable thing and got some great relief! The baby started having d-cells and the were messing around with the baby monitor to see if that would pick up a better heart rate when they decided to lift the blanket and low and behold...there was the bag of water just chillin on the bed unbroken. Quick check and he was about to crown. They lifter her legs and he just started to slide out on his own no pushes. He came out still in the rest of the bag of water and it broke coming out and he just slide out. Apparently they call this being born in the caul and it happens less than 1% of the time. Besides being really odd it apparently is an old wives tale that this is a sign of good luck and that the baby will either be a sailor or a midwife. The luck I will take, but I would rather have him be a midwife than a sailor.

The offer from the midwife was extended and debated for a while but he was crowning so I just made a quick choice. I took the deal. They asked me if I wanted gloves and again a delemia came to my mind...mostly I was just still wondering how I would get picture, video and deliver a baby. Well the head started sliding out so I just and to start helping no gloves. I got to help turn the baby so the shoulders come out right and I got to catch him, hold him while they did suction and then cut the cord. IT WAS AWESOMMMEEE!!!! Coolest thing ever. I did have to sacrifice no video for it but I am happy with my choice. I will remember that forever.

Many of you got some pictures by text and/or facebook. Some of you got phone calls and texts from us. We apologize if we didnt get to everyone. So here are some of the pictures. Sorry but you may see a little bit of baby botty here but not a whole thing so we can keep it BabyG rated. I tried to cut out everything else.

I have other pictures but blogger isnt loaded them. There are some of the kids holding them and of Grandma too so I will try loading those again later. time to go hold my baby!

Another Kid in the i-Gen

2011-05-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

I think that my son is one of the i-Gen (generation). Let my son watch toons on the ipad in my bed so I could get a break from the children. It was quiet for too long and I got to thinking perhaps I should check up on him. You know how odd those few moments are until you find out what they are up to. Is it a disaster that I have to clean, marker on the wall, food thrown everywhere, paint all over sisters face, pee all over the bathroom floor, toys clogging the toilet...or whatever. You all know what Im talking about.

Well I walked in and busted up laughing! Yes, laughing because this is what I saw...

He is an i-Gen kid!

Other People's Children

2011-05-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

There are some saying that you just love to say with some emphasis that also bring you relief by allowing you to express your frustration. "Other People's Children" is just one of those sayings. I admit I have probably said this before in a negative form one way or another.

Sometimes though there are things that happen that renew your believe that people can actually raise good children. A few weeks ago my daughter tells me she was the only one in her class that couldnt do the monkey bars. Despite my best efforts I was never able to get her to get across them.

A few days after this we were at the park and a little oriental girl comes to the monkey bars and just starts cruising across them at first with no regard for others trying it out. I would have asked her to take turns but she was so darn cute. Then my daughter started to interact with her. So I stood by and just watched. This little girl with little verbal communication kept doing the monkey bars with my little girl till she could do them!

It was so awesome that this little girl, younger than mine, was able to teach her. I do feel like my fatherly duties were taken from me a bit since "I (puffed chest) dad, teacher of all things outdoors"couldnt teach the simple act of monkey bars.

I pause and look at it differently. I did get a lot of chances, which I did take to try and teach her. I did teach her and she did do it all the way once. But, there was just something about learning it from another child that worked for her and I couldnt be prouder.

Well last week we were at the park again and I was about ready to go but I noticed that a little hispanic girl, older than J'alee was there and was trying unsuccessfully to do the monkey bars. So what happened? You bet ya...kids paying it forward. My little girl did the monkey bars till that girl was able to do it. She also paid the price with several blisters on her hands too! But she loved it and as a dad I couldnt be prouder! I also got to live my child being "someone elses children" in a good way!

I sure love ya baby girl!

My Pod Pics

2011-05-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

I havent taken any pictures lately with my phone since I got rid of the smart phone, but I have a few things from the ipod so I will share those. Here are two from the kids just around the house.

This is almost what a typical weekend is like in the early am in my room...a man cant have his own space anywhere..."little kids little kids everywhere you look little kids" (modified from Annie)

Easter pictures, here are a few eggs the kids dyed. That is always fun and we made it first year with out a major spill or color issue!

Girlie girl on the local easter egg hunt. She had fun and the pig tails are adorable huh?

To the One I Love

2011-05-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

The day that is set aside just for mothers all over the world. Sometimes I wonder if this day really is set aside or if this day is just a day us men can claim to "pamper" or give our mothers a "break". This thought occurred to me as I was making dinner for my wife, while she gave me the directions and ingredients. I wasnt doing it right so she needed to help me. Despite all the reserving of the day mom's really dont ever get a break.
My special sweetie truly hasnt had many breaks. Our life together started a little turbulent with some situations with family. Neither of us had a penny to our name, in fact we started with a bill collector calling and wanting to report us to credit! Our first mothers day we were on a phone call with a grandpa who said when are you going to have kids? I went to the store later that same day and we found out we were having our first. Another mothers day she was working full time and I was working 2 jobs just to make ends meet with her sister as a nanny. Her life has been one of work, work and more work.

My special sweetie has worked extra shifts, long shifts, and very hard even after both her kids were born and while I tried to go through. She has supported the family, financially, spiritually, emotionally, and even physically. She is there for every bump, bruise, blister and band aid. She is wise beyond her years in parenting, teaching, care and comfort.

Every year that goes by and every struggle I find more things about my special sweetie that reveal more strength and depth to her soul and character. In good times and hard times I have come to realize her deep capacity of love, strength, and friendship of this mother! She has amazed me, and helped me. She helps me and the kids through our impatient times, hard times, school times, seizures, sickness and tired and cranky times. There arent always the thanks and credit as she deserves. She has done this all with providing the extra support we have needed.

She is the one responsible for random holding when someone is tired, wants/needs to be held.

She gives armfuls and endless love to her family, me and our children.

She has a wonderful smile and always willing to go out and have a good time together just about anywhere and everywhere.

In fact she is the main and sometimes sole planner of nearly all the fun things we do. She does sometimes with grumblings and prudish attitudes from me or the kids. She still knows how to make it fun and plan it for everyone!

She finds the greatest things, takes great pictures, and has a great sense of humor that she can maintain and use even through the hard times and extra difficult things she has had to do.

She is the one behind all the pictures even when she doesnt get many pictures of her. She even is excellent at making sure the pictures are taken in just about every moment so that we can have all the treasures and memories that we do!

She is my special sweetie, my confidant, my hero, my best friend and my love for eternity!

This is what a mother is to me! Love ya babe! Thanks for all you do! Me and the kids love you more thank you might know!

More Easter Photoshoot

2011-05-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more of the photos we took of the kids for their easter pictures. Some of them were taken in a very intesne sunlit area so the arent the greatest. I am having trouble with blogger uploaded a few more so maybe you will get 3 or 4 more another day.

Egg Dye...Belated

2011-05-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the pictures from the egg dying that we did for easter. We took some tissue papaer and did it like a paper miche and use water and vinegar to make it bleed through so it gave a tied eye type of color on the egg. It was nice!

Here is the paper miche stuff I was just typing about.

J'alee dyed her egg that she got from a girlscouts when they went to somones house and learned about chickens.

On a different day we went to a easter egg hunt. I only have pictures of Baby J right now but here they are.

Oh look one broke open and its candy....pay more attention to eating it than getting more eggs!

Then dad holds the bag open for him to put it in and get another and low and behold more candy....even less attention on grabbin eggs. He loves his candy!

Give Us a Guess

2011-05-03T22:12:00.000-07:00

It is about the time for this pregnancy to finally be over. Im sure all of you are excited to see little pictures of the baby because after all there is nothing in this world people love more than puppies, kittens and babies. I dont even think chocolate elicits the same neurobiological response as they do. But none are more exited than myself and especial my wife.

So in lieu of this new addition we would like to get a pool of guesses for height, weight and date/time for him to come. I suppose you want all the details of the previous births so here it is:

Current baby due May 14th
First baby 4 days late, second was induced a week early
First baby 7lb 14oz 21in Second bay 7lb 5oz 19-20.5in (I dont remember the exact size right now)
OB's say that she is on target for around that now at least but that isnt an exact science. If you want the science studies show that mothers (who have had at least 1 previous child) are more accurate with their guess of size than OBs measuring, guessing and ultrasound. That being said K isnt sure what size it will be other than she says she feels it is bigger than the previous two.

So what do you think it will be. Comment or FB on mine or K's please and we will tally it all up. The winner will have extreme pride in the accurate guess...and maybe something else...that is a mystery.

My Uhder Best Frewend!

2011-04-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

My baby girl is just so great. She loves so many things, is a very big helper with chores, cooking and for mama! She is nice to everyone and gets a long well with kids at school. She is doing pretty good in school and is sad when she is sick and cant go. She really loves dance class and dances all the time at home!

She loves to go places and see new things, even if they do take a long time in the car she understands and sits really well in the car. Here she is on Fishermans Warf getting one of her favorite things. Clam Chowder bread bowl!

She loves to go on walks and get out of the house and pick flowers of all kinds just to bring home for mom or for herself. I often find little flowers (even dandilions) all over the flower thanks to this one! She loves going church as well, her teacher and primary and often times is sad when she is sick and doesnt go to church too. Here she is on a walk one sunday after church.

This girl has fun written in her face and should be in her name I think because she loves parties! Yes look at this. she loves to go to parties and have parties and I bet she would even host parties if we would let her!

She loves to be silly also. She does weird faces and poses to be silly all the time. Each time I take photos of her I have to let her have a bout of silliness so I can get some nice ones. But the silly ones are good too.

This girl love snacks always asking or snacks. Of course she is also a normal kids and loves...LOVES candy ESPECIALLY chocolate so we know she is a girl! She has no shame in just devouring some chocolate!

She loves all the girly things, frilly dresses, big bows, silky things, bows, ribbons, "hair things" as we call baretts and such things around here. She loves getting her hair done before school. I think cus she went without it for so long with me being home she might be over compensating...who knows. But she loves all that kind of stuff...enough she even likes to try and do my hair.

She loves small animals. We had ducks outside our house last year in Cali and we went to see them just about very day because they had little baby ducks. This year we see bunnies outside our window and also hummingbirds here too so she runs to the windows and on to the porch and looks at them!

She loves school and she loves taking the bus. I dont know why she likes the bus so much but whatever fits her fancy. Im so glad she likes school. I always hated it and did do so well so that gives me lots of hope for her! She was so excited her first day of school!

Like I said before she loves all things girly! This includes pictures, dress up, babies, and dolls. She users her baby stroll for just about everything including pushing her brother around in. She loves ear rings and dolls of all kinds she always wants to bring a bag of toys with her. She came home off the bus one day and asked me to hold her backpack because it was too heavy. I thought wow the teacher must have let them take home a project or a lot of paperwork or some so I said ok and took it. It really was heavy. I opened it to reveal tons of toys reported wanting to take on the bus because "my friends wanted to see".

She loves music, dance and art. She has already asked to go to an art school and maybe I can convience her to go to Juliard in NYC and convience mom to actually live in NYC so that we can have her live at home to keep her safer...not gonna happen probably, but you never know. She loves all sorts of art things. I have several boxes full of papers she has colored pictures on.

She loves to be grown up and she loves her brother and the baby so much already. She has tremendous love in her heart for people she doesnt even know and tries to love everyone. She is a tender girl who loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses as well!

Best Ferwend!

2011-04-27T01:10:00.000-07:00

There are few people in this world that I can call my best friend. Well, my son and I are best ferwends as he says it! This kid is amazing. He is so fun loving. Always wants to be involved with everything. He gets excited over little things like candyland and birds!

He is a handsome pants who loves to run, play, rough house, jump and dive. He loves Sory Tory (aka Toy Story) cars, trucks, trains and his new little arm guys. He loves simple things in life like food, family and fun. He loves bones and ocean life now. When he is excited about something he will talk and talk and talk about it.

He isnt afraid of much and always willing to try new things! He is most often a very big helper and plays well with his sister a lot! He does well on his own playing or with just me or mama!

He is like a fish out of water and seems to always have some kind of story to tell about something that has happened during the day. He meets me at the door most everyday, if not she shouts "Daddy" and comes running!

He can endure the cold for a very long time even if his hands and feet are cold. If it is fun he will sacrifice a lot to keep doing it! He is focused an determined and has a strong will about him.

He call be a total goof which we call in our family a "goofer" dont know why it just came out one day. He lovs to say silly things and loves to read and color! He longs to run out doors and especially loves the sand park and swings! Anywhere he goes he has to bring home a collection of rocks!

Best of all he is good for great big hugs and love topped with a big fat smoochy kiss on the cheek! I sure love this boy! He is my bestest ferwend!

Pink Photos

2011-04-26T01:06:00.000-07:00

Yes it is that time of year. The time of year that men and boys only wear pink one or two days a year. The rest of the time...well I really think it should be banned. Just like white pants! But some may argue, more power to ya, but that is just my rule.

So here are some of the Easter photos. My dear wifey made the dress for J'alee didn't she do a fantastic job! Best one she has made so far, really out did yourself this time my love! Thanks for making it! She looks beautiful! I did some basic editing but hey Photoshop and I weren't getting along tonight so I have to quit or the new computer wont be functioning to well. :)

Mothers & Fathers With Toddler Boys - Appeal for Help

2011-04-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

Calling mothers and fathers!!! I need some help. I have a 3 year old son who when he sets his mind to something he OWNS it. Then if you go against that he gets so mad he will hit, kick, bite and even shake his fists and hold his breath making face go dark red and grunt with anger. For instance I read a book with him tonight and we moved on to another one. Well his sister comes up and asks nicely for the book we finished readying and I let her have it. Well he flips out and does just that. I explained we need to share and we were done with it and it doesn't help.

I'm hoping that I am not alone and every child has done this or at least every boy has done this. I need some tips to deal and definitely correct this behavior. I know it wont happen over night. Is it something they just grow out of or what else can I do to get rid of this behavior one tantrum at a time?

Ready to Move Out

2011-04-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

During bath time we taught out little girl to wash body and hair a little better than she has been doing int he past. she did a great job this time. She actually got all her hair with shampoo this time! She dried herself this time too so that she didnt drip all over the floor while getting pjs on. I told her to get her comb so I could comb her hair and she said that she already did it. I asked her to get the comb anyway and bring it to me and she got it and then said "see dad" and then combed her hair again. She did a great job. Then this dialogue

Mom "sounds like you are all ready to live on your own then"
Jalee "what"
Dad "she said it sounds like you can go find your own place to live on your own"
Jalee "live on my own and have babies"
Dad "haha! No babies for a while, but maybe when you are old but you are a big girl now washing and drying yourself and combing your own hair. Now all we need to do is teach you to brush your teeth a little bit better and to feed yourself"
Jalee "brush my teeth like you and feed myself?"
Dad "yep then you will be all ready to be on your own"
Jalee "So you have to teach me to feed myself, brush my teeth like you and text and I will live on my own"
Dad "haha! Yes!"

So apparently we cannot forget to teach her how to text. Comes as a new requirement for this new generation huh?

Coupon Curses

2011-04-19T05:27:00.000-07:00

Well I am mad! Yes, it is true. All you early mom/dads that have the time and means to get up Monday morning and extreme coupon so you have a stock for years. Not courteous to everyone else who tries to go as early as they can and get virtually nothing because it was all picked over. So I am mad at you!

Flight to Landing

2011-04-16T22:16:00.000-07:00

When we went to the Pacific Science Center I got a few picture in the butterfly house they have there. I didnt originally include this shot when I posted the pictures from there. I was trying to catch it in flight about to land. But alas the best one was when it landed and it was finishing resting it's wings.

I feel like I am in flight lately with no sign of a landing. I sort of ran out of gas yesterday and came home from work with the kids gone on a play date. I have to thank God for allowing me to run into a friend unexpectedly earlier in the week who said that we could have the kids go over there. We have never played with them before just at school so it was great. The kids were there for hours and I got to come home talk with my sweetheart and then crash. I could have slept so much more. I slept in 2 hours this morning but was hard at work spring cleaning and setting up baby stuff again. Always in flight...no landing in sight. I feel exhausted.

Just as I have been thinking that I cant have anymore things pop up into my life I get a call this evening...."can you meet with the bishop tomorrow at 10:30"....Really? As Bilbo says "like butter scraped over too much bread" that is how I feel already...cant imagine stretching out the butter anymore. But we will see how the Lord will make this happen!

Beginners Coupon Tutorial - Part 1

2011-04-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have the desire to start couponing and for those who don't know where to start this is for you. Im going to show you an examples from this weeks ads that came in the mail just today. There aren't as many so it is a good time to demo it for you. Im not so extreme that I buy 600 bucks of groceries for 6 bucks. But I can save at least 50% or more each time.

Terminology - get familiar with a few terms to understand what is meant by these words

Store Coupon - coupons offered by the stores themselves usually have the company logo on them
Manufacturers Coupon - these are identified without a store logo and say manufacture in the top of them close to the expiration date
Stack(ing) - purchasing a product at a store on a sale price, using a store coupon and a manufacturers coupon
Double(ing) - using two coupons or doubling the give discount of a particular coupon.
Filing System - We have a binder full of baseball card holder sheets. We slide the coupon in the sheet holder and we have tabs for each sections. You can tab yours to whatever categories you want. We kept close to what the stores have for their isles. For example Dairy, Snacks/Junk Food, Household Items, Breads/Starches, Fruit/Juice, Non-Food Items, etc.

Supplies You will need:
1) Tuesdays "junk" mail ads
2) Ads from any past Sunday paper
3) some sort of filing system with categories similar to grocery store isles
4) Internet connection
5) printer with ink and paper
6) zip lock or container (one for each store you go to). I have about 6 (fred meyer, QFC, Safeway, Albertsons, Walgreens, Rite Aid)
6) time
7) patience

There may be more than one way this works out but this is the way that I think I like to do it.

Step Outline:
1) go through your ads "Red Plum", "SmartSource" and any others that might have coupons.
2) cut out coupons
3) file them away into your filing system
4) Take out your store ads and review them for "deals"
5) make a list of deals
6) cut store coupons that may be in the ads
7) go to store websites and print out or load on coupons to your club/preferred/savings card etc.
8) go to sites like swagbuck.com, coupons.com, couponnetwork.com, redplum, smartsource and others
9) go to the maker of the products websites and look for coupons (General mills, Nibisco, Kellogs, Betty Crocker, etc).
10) like those companies on facebook and look for coupons.
11) Compare your list (from step 5) with your manufacturers coupons
12) pull manufacturers coupons from your filing system that match the sale of the product and the store coupon
13) place them in separate piles according to store
14) repeat for all store ads
15) when complete place store's pile into its appropriate bag.
16) NAP
17) shop till you drop
18) make the kids unload and put away
19) NAP

So here is what I do.

1) On Saturday night I buy at least 2 Sunday papers so I can clip away at the coupons that I want. Then I know I have at least 2 of each coupon. If you can get more coupons from other people's paper who dont use them then go for it! I scan them for things that I think I will use, I know I want and need and clip away. Do not cut the bar code or your coupons will be refused at checkout! cut careful or let the kids cut, thats what I do sometimes. These yield many manufactures coupons.

1.1) the second part of the Sunday ads are the store ads. You can scan these for good sales on items. Write down what you think is good for each store on a list by hand or in word, excel or whatever. If you notice good store coupons clip them and file them away. Save yourself some time and when you clip the store coupon if it matches a sale in the ad note that when you write it on your list. For example, Safeway juice is normally 1.99 but the store had it on sale and it had a store coupon making it 1.49. So on my list I wrote "Safeway Apple Juice $1.99 w/ store coupon $1.49"

1.2) repeat this for all the stores. Save yourself some time as as you clip the store coupons make separate piles for each store. Then compare them to your manufacturers coupons to your list for each store. If you have one then add it to the appropriate pile.

1.3) when you are all dont looking, listing, clipping and comparing then place each pile in its respective baggy/container by store.

2.0) Now that you know what you have from your ads and they are safely in your filing system or in your store baggy/containers then go get more. By this I mean get on your computer click and search. Yes, more...more...MOOOORE!

2.1) I start by going to the store websites. If you have their store discount card, club card, preferred card or whatever most stores will let you log in and "clip" a coupon and load it on your card. Then you dont have to print it and when you are at the store and swipe/scan your store card they will automatically apply your coupon. Safeway, QFC, Fred Meyer both do this for those of you in my area. Target has good coupons as well as many others.

2.2) Now you are done with store coupons you arent done yet. You still got work to do. I know we are just about halfway to halfway :) Now go to places like swagbucks.com, coupons.com, couponnetwork.com, Red Plum, SmartSource and click to clip the coupons to your hearts content and then print them.

2.2.1) yes now it comes time to cut them out. I know it is getting old already and you have spent more time than you have but you will love it later...keep cutting! Have the kids cut them out they do print with neato dotted lines.

2.2.2) of course you got to compare them to your list and if there are some that match put them in the appropriate baggy/container. the rest go to the filing system. Update the list you have as well. So for example we had "Snickers bag candy 2/$5 w/ coupon 2/$2" on our list. Say you printed a coupon for a $1 off one bag. I will say you hit the jackpot and I will tell you to go back and print that one again. Now you have 2 of those coupons. So lets update our list now with the coupon. "Snickers bag candy 2/$5 w/ store coupon 2/$2 and manufacturers coupon $1 off 1 bag". Now here is the jackpot. The store price is 2 bags for $5 and your store coupon means you get it 2 bags for $2. Remember you printed 2 manufacturers coupons. You can use one coupon on one bag and the other coupon on the other bag. So you do the math 2 for $2 and minus $1 and minus another $1. GOOD LIMEY! you now know you can give you kid a cavity for easter for FREE! That is stacking my friends. Sale+StoreCoupon+ManufacturersCoupon=shiny happy people (without REM and the B52s).
But why stop at 2 free? Momma didnt raise no fool. You bought 2 Sunday papers right? so it will have the same store ad and same store coupons for the snickers bars 2 for $2 bucks. If you did the previous steps right you already clipped it. So go print out 2 more manufacturers coupons and add them to your baggy/container or filing system. Now you can give yourself and your kid a cavity with 4 bags of snickers for the only good 4 letter F word...FREE!
Now if you are so very very wise and luck the store that has this sale participates in doubling coupons. This means that they will double the savings of your manufacturers coupon. So your $1 off one bag just became $2 bucks off 1 bag of candy. So we go 2 store coupons and 4 manufacturers coupons and we are doubling the store coupons. 4 bags of candy that were free now will pay you....YES PAY YOU $4 bucks. Will they give that to you in cash most likely not but they will take it off the top of whatever else you buy...so it is like you just got 4 bucks off the rest of your purchase. **Note** most stores no longer participate in doubling you will have to call the store or check their website to see if they do. Also some stores will only let you get the item free and will not let you get the extra $4 bucks off...so research that in advance for the best deal...or just get it free and move on.

3.0) Now I would go say shop, I mean come on when does someone ever pay you $4 to buy 4 bags of Snickers right?. but why stop and shop now when you are doing so well? You can go if you have everything on your want/need and if sales are ending or you are worried stock wont last at the store.

3.1) By chance if you know of any one else who isnt using their coupons or papers...go get them. Am I suggesting you go out with your kid, pregnant friend and yourself and dumpster dive like the lady from Extreme Couponing...NO! But every extra coupon can help your stacking!

4.0) Tuesdays more ads come out. These are usually the ones that I throw away most (until now). The Red Plum and Smart Source ones that look like random leaves of paper that never make it past the garbage can. Well keep em, make your list cut, click cut print, pile and file away just like in the previous steps.

5.0) Now you have the best savings you possible can have so far! Well now it is time to fill the gaps. Say that you have a good sale on an item from Betty Crocker. you have a good store coupon but not a manufacturers coupon and you didnt find one on the search from the coupon sites. Well get on facebook and like them and look for a coupon. go to their website and look for a coupon. Chances are good you could find one. Then you can fill the gap with a manufacturers coupon. Ode to joy

6.0) are you sick of clicking, cutting, filing yet? I bet you are. Well I will say you can be done. Extreme couponers keep searching and cutting and digging in trash. Im going to go shop.

6.1) head out to your stores with your little baggies. No you dont have to go up every isle because you have identified what the best deals are so go straight for them. Make sure what you are buying matches your coupons and then go check out.

6.2) at checkout I let them scan all the items. When they are finished I look at the total. Is this close to the original amount I expected? Im willing to bet it is, if you listed right. Then I have them scan or I swipe my store savings/club card and then hand them the coupons. Then watch them scan one coupon and look up make sure it takes till your done. Then feel the rush, glory and excitement of saving 50% or so for the average-above average first time couponing experience. For extreme couponers who are the Heroes/Heroines of the day you might save 90% or more.

Now I am not to the level of saving 90% but I can consistently save at least 50-60%. I wont tell you how much time I spend on that though. You will figure it out. REMEMBER it will take longer to find and cut and file till you are more used to it. Also REMEMBER that your first few trips you might not save as much as 50%. Reason for that is 1) there is a learning curve and 2) many people just dont realize what a good deal is and coupons they redeem dont get their most value.

Good Deals:

These are just some of the Good Deal rule of thumbs that I have in my little experience couponing.

Cereal - if you get it for 1.50-1.75 that is decent. I did once get some Chex cereal for 80 cents a box though so it can be done to get it under a buck.

Deodorant, toothpaste, body wash - can be gotten for free or around a dollar

Juice - The regular size not the little juice boxes. Those if you can get 1.50 or under is pretty decent.

Extreme Couponing...Meets Me?

2011-04-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

Many of you have started shopping with coupons. Many of you are aware of the new show on TLC called Extreme Couponing. I was excited to see this show hoping that I could get a lot of good tips from it. The show has turned out to be a bit different than I originally thought it would be like. It definitely is a reality show, but it does have a few good times. What it did do was make me break out the Sunday paper and start clipping. I also got online and printed out a bunch of coupons as well. I go more this time than I have done collectively the last month or so of clipping. That's a lot of coupons.

I dont have a lot of space in a 2 bed, 1100sq ft place so I cant really go to the extreme storage capacity as those people on Extreme Couponing. I do also refuse to get that crazy with it. A storage would be nice if I had a home and places to put it. I probably will do that once I get the space. There was a fellow on there who went to the store and bought enough toothbrushes for him and his wife to use a new one every month and it would last him 40 years. Good Gravy that is a lot of brushes.

So, if you have a newspaper and you dont want it or dont clip the coupons let me know and I will pick it up. But let me give you an example. Here in my area Fuze drinks are on sale for 50 cents at Albertsons. In the ads in the Sunday paper you get 1.00 off any two drinks. Therefore you can get the fuze drinks for free! Yes FREE!

Another thing I would love yo suggest to you is pull out your Walgreens ad from the Sunday paper and clip the coupon for 8 pencils for a buck and go to Walgreens and buy them. Then email me for my address and mail them to me. Apparently with the disaster in Japan basic school supplies are very rare and very expensive. I have heard that they are charging $10 for one pencil. So take your coupon spend a dollar and get 8 pencils and send them to me. I will be collecting them and giving them to a lady in my church to send out. then you will have saved people and schools in Japan $80 bucks. You can even get more than one coupon and do it twice! that is $160 bucks for them. You do need to do this before 4/16 since that is when the coupons expire. There you go couponing can help you very cheaply donate as well!

Science Center Fun

2011-04-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

Last week we went on the fly into Seattle to the Pacific Science Center. It was a mad house because of spring break and Star Wars Millennium Falcon was on exhibition. But no matter it was still loads of fun. Most of my pictures didn't turn out. I am very out of practice but I did get a few here I can show you!

First off is the cool pictures of the butterflies. You get to walk through a little greenhouse type enclosure and sometimes they land on you. It is nice. There were a few that were out for lunch which you can see them feasting on a plate.

I had several like this one below here but most of them didn't turn out well because I had my long lens on and I cannot hold still for the life of me. I didn't have a tripod either but I'm beginning to think I need some kind of carrier for it on my back.

Also there they had a dino exhibit. Quite nice for the little boy who loves anything related to dinos, bones, cars and things like that.

All this garbage and a little more which you cannot see well in this photo was pulled out of a whale that washed up on shore dead. Can you believe all that from one whale? This is gross and no wonder they say to go green! my heavens what are we doing to our oceans?

For some reason my edited version wont post so here it is unedited. Oh well I suppose it is still good.

The kid is fascinated with bones now. I don't know why really but he loves them. So he was pointing to the different parts and telling us what kind of bone they were. "This is the nose bone" he says.

"This is the head bone right here" he said again. What a character. We went to the library and he got a book about bones. Im about ready to let him see a picture of Temperance Brennan and tell him her name is Bones.

Always cool things at a science museum...you can even see how many calories you are burning. Look at her go!

Spring Brings Camilles

2011-04-08T23:05:00.000-07:00

When we lived in the Bay Area I got the opportunity to buy two Camille bushes. Ever since I have posted a picture of the first flower from it. Well this year the first one bloomed and one day while I was on the porch I bumped the pot and it all fell apart. So here is a picture of the second one and a picture of one of the many buds coming out of it this year. Apparently I have a slug problem with Camille (easily remedied) but it looks funny. Im making them big pictures this time cus I am so proud. One Camille bush didnt bloom again this year and looks like a charlie brown tree still.

I love Camille plants and I love the spring time. Blossoms and flowers popping everywhere it is great. There is a sweet smell to the air and I just cant get enough. Match that with the blue skies warmer weather and the sun...heaven!

PaPa wif a Goat

2011-04-07T21:50:00.000-07:00

My kids love their grandpas! They like to spend time with them a lot. The like going to one grandpa's house because had goats on his house our in the Idaho country! So now they call him Grandpa with a Goat or as my son used to call him at age two "Papa wif a Goat".

Here are some photos of said Papa taken last summer on a trip with his daughters while fishing!

My lovely wife took this photos. It was very bright outside so I had to use photoshop to touch up the pictures a little to take some light down and temperature. Hard to get great pictures with blarring sun but she did a great job!

Growing Up Too Fast

2011-04-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

There is a growing discussion between my daughter and I about how old she can actually get. I say she can turn 8 and that is it. She insists that she will be able to turn 30. That just isnt in my plans! I walked through the halls a few weeks ago in church and saw the new beehives and needless to say my daughters face all grown up. It didnt sit well with me.

We were on our way back from a doctors appointment and my daughter all of the sudden says "daddy when are you going to teach me to drive". I really did laugh out loud and said "not for a long time baby, definitely not for a long time". So we had to explain about being big enough to reach the peddles and seeing over the dashboard and told her she had to be 18 or so.

Is it Better with 1 or 2

2011-04-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

When you go to see an eye doctor you often get the question if it is better with 1 or 2. Well I am about to give you this choice here. I am now learning the wonderful program of Photoshop. It is quite large and I feel a little overwhelmed and lost with everything in it. So to learn my way around and what features do I have taken a photo of us last summer and edited it.

1. Edited in Picasa with the limited features it does have

2. Here it is edited with a few enhancements with Photoshop. Guess it might not be able to tell the different till you look at it larger.

So there you have it. Help me out let me know what you think and what you have done with your photoshop on your photos I need the help!

Final Choices...What Do You Think

2011-03-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Alright so I think we finally have come down to our final three choices and im leaning toward two for the name for our new son coming soon. It has been quite odd usually we know well in advance before hand what we want but this time I have been very very picky. I will be honest it was me!

So here are the choices. Jamison, Jaxton (Jaxston), Jefferson. There are pros and cons to both I suppose but those are our top three. So let me know, vote on the side or comment here!

Also you can also submit your idea in comment for middle name. We will see what you all come up with.

Wireless & Electric Car Future

2011-03-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

Perhaps many of you recall back a few years ago when I wrote about wireless technology which would become available to us that would be pretty amazing. Well I have one for you.

I do have to note a bit of a surprise here. When I was young FORD stood for found on the road dead since most everyone I knew was a Chevy fan. But Ford is now releasing the first FULL electric or all electric car in the new model of the Ford Focus Electric.

Yes this is amazing in itself but the more amazing part is this that it will be connected with the myford app and connected wirelessly through AT&T. You can read about it here. You will be able to control car settings from the app in or out of the car. Quite cool I say.

Job Secuirty and Big News

2011-03-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

If you havent heard already AT&T has reached an agreement with Duecheut Telecom (cant spell that right) to the purchase of Tmobile. It is no secret that Tmobile has struggled to turn a profit for years and AT&T with the massive amounts of smartphone users and data usage needs to keep up with the network.

The biggest benefit is to both companies. This purchase includes the spectrum which makes our calls over radio airwaves possible. IT also increases the network size and bandwidth so you will see an improvement. Also this opens up much more 4G coverage into areas that it would have waited for longer.

I personally am excited about it. It will give a huge overhaul to the network and create so much possibility for moving forward into faster better service!

What does that mean for Tmobile customers. Well nothing for at least a year. The FCC and the DoJ have to have their say in all of this, audit analyize and vote and decide if it is ok to do. This is in between the time it takes to identify if Tmobile can get rid of their debt and other stipulations. If all goes well after a year or so you will see the combining from Tmobile into AT&T. In the past AT&T has slowly allowed customers to move over from their contracts when it becomes renewal time. It does unfortunately mean the end of unlimited plans probably after a year or more though.

Once the transition does happen perhaps the first thing you will see is the networks connected so you can roam between the two allowing for a big increase mostly for Tmobile customers. If you are a more rurual customer of AT&T this means more than likely you have better coverage and maybe even some 4G coverage you wouldnt have had till after 2012.

Im loving it. Tmobile has a huge setup in the Seattle area anyway so while Im not hot on the weather for 9 months out of the year it is total job security for me and opens up much more possibilities for me. Click the like button cus this is great!

Ultimate Rebellion

2011-03-19T23:48:00.000-07:00

I remember growing up as a kid that I tried to keep the rules most of the time. I had some examples in my life of those who did and those who didnt and how it effected their life. For me those who fought against the authority like it was the ultimate rebellion seemed like there was more grief involved in that so it was never really worth it to me.

I took the kids to the park on a rare sunny afternoon and discovered that they more often than not climb the slide to go down it again rather than walking around the side to use the stairs. No I realize this is much easier and that the Principle of Least Effort comes into play here but I never remember doing that till I was an older less mature kid. For me when I did it I remember that it felt like "the ULTIMATE REBELLION!" Was I alone in that? What say you readers?

Humor and Heart Stings

2011-03-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

Life is full of great things and some sad things. Great things can be family and funny things they say. Sad things can be like the disaster in Japan. Your heart goes out to them. So I will cover both here. First, humor...

J'alee: "March, April, May, that is when the baby is coming I'm so excited I cant wait it is gonna be so cute."
Me: "oh yeah he will be"
J'alee: "daddy are you ready for all the the crying."
Me: shook my head no
J'alee: "then I will take him into my room and shut the door so you dont hear or you can go into your room."

In a conversation about falling asleep in their own bed vs mom/dads bed this came about.
Me: "do you not like to sleep by dad because he snores?"
J'alee: "dad you snore the whole time you sleep that is why I dont sleep by you. You sleep before me and then and snore the whole time. Then you get up way before me. That is when I like to sleep"

This morning we were gathering money to send to school so they could fulfill another classes project to collect money to donate to the Red Cross for Japan. I pulled out $4 which is all I had at the time and put it in an envelope and started to explain what I was doing telling her about the pictures. I told her they were asking for $3.14 because that was todays date. I showed her and the money was going to help the poor sick and now homeless or hurt etc. I asked her if she wanted to donate money out of her piggy bank. She agree whole heartedly. She dug in her bank and pulled out $1 and I said ok thank you sweetie that is good of you. She said no I want to give more. I said well you know we dont have a lot and you can choose to give if you want. She said I know. I said ok what do you want to give $3 dollars, daddy is giving $4. She said no. I said are you sure that is a lot of money from your piggy bank. She said no I want to give $6 because that is how old I am. I said well this much is good I am already giving $4 and your 3 makes $7 that is more than six. She said no I want to give $6. She pulled the piggy bank from my hands and proceeded to dig out $3 more dollars. At which point my son says yeah I dont want to give $1 either. I want to give fhree. My little boy wanted to give $3 because that is how old he is too.

The heart of my kids was bigger than I thought it would be. They are such sweet kids, with big hearts. I have no doubt that if I asked her to give her whole piggy bank she probably would have. My son doesnt really know what is going on yet but he knows what his sister was doing and wanted to match it by his age too.

I love those two!

Busy - HiYAH!

2011-03-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

I have not been posting lately mostly due to time constraints. It is deadline week before the launch of a project at work and it is all literally crazy there. Im sure you all know what that is like. But we did take this photo the other night of J'alee all decked out in karate get up! She is a character for sure!

Both the kids go to karate and they really like it. It seems to have helped at least a little bit with teaching them better behavior and listening. At least it gives them something to do out of the rain and out of the house. Both of which are essential for living in washington.

More stuff to come just trying to make it through this week alive and without too many problems at work! Wish me luck!

Phone that Change THE PHONE

2011-02-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

It is no secret that the iPhone did change everything. It was one of the best selling phones ever (both models). Well now we have a new phone to change everything. This one comes to us from Motorola. Yes, the Motorola Atrix. Here it is in basic terms. It is a Droid X times 2.25 and is availabe only with AT&T.

What makes this phone great. It is 4.3 inch screen and it is HD as well. Yes this will hook to a docking station for all your special high techy needs. But here is the kicker. It is a dual core processor. Yes thats right you heard me tech geeks. 2 processor chips in it which makes it THE fastest phone to date. It will allow you to run 2 high consuming programs at the same time. Since it has 2 processors it is so much like a little computer you wont need a tablet. Why do I say that? Because you can by this for $199 and then you can get a laptop that it will hook to for $299. Then you have yourself a better version of samsung galaxy tablet and do I dare say iPad? I think I dare say it.

So there you go folks. I told you that getting the iPhone4 on Verizon was silly. This is double the power and just as good of screen and voice quality and it is a higher category device so it will get even better download speeds than the iphone4. It does operate on the HSPA+ (3.5G which is 4G speeds) so you can get up to 7.2mbps or more at THE most optimal conditions.

Me wants it!

It Starts Again

2011-02-19T12:49:00.000-08:00

Just as I thought that I was done with this shopping coupon thing for all the last week this week crept up fast even though it seemed like the week went by really really really really slowly. So off to the store we went. Which turned into another and another and soon it was 8 stores in 7 hours. UGH! We spent so long with so many coupons and so many rewards cards.

We came home and the kids helped me carry endless amounts of sacks up the little hill and stairs to the house. Then Baby J then started carrying items into the kitchen floor saying "order" or "you order" as his way of helping us. We were putting away all of those groceries and then the kids lined up the paper towels and toilet paper and made themselves a counter. Then proceeded to move items from one side to the other while saying scan...scan...scan...scan and "oh I have coupons" and "can i see your rewards card".

Seems like someone is getting the message. Im just waiting for a prince from Nigeria to email me and tell me I' related to him and that I just inherited millions. :)

*for those who dont know that is a common email fraud scam

Did That Just Happen

2011-02-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

So let me paint a picture for you. Little picked on me getting about three houres sleep a night. Come home from a crazy day to kids who have a day where they struggle to listen. Little Baby J is clmbing all over me and after 8 nice attempts to tell him to stay off I get frustrated and szy "dude im not a climb toy get off me". Well he is over tired and starts to cry. Ja'lee then comes to the defense and starts sassing and chewing me out. So i firmly told her how she would be punished in not so favorable way and she starts to cry. Realizing what has just happened i try to tell her she can defend hr brother and that is always a good thing but how she did it was sassy and rude. Well she calms down a little bit and says "i dont want to be by you dad why dont you go to your room".

Without saying a word i just go up and went to my room and locked the door. I was left to ponder whst just happened in blissful quiet for about 10 minutes before Baby J camr in and pushed on the locked door till it popped open. Later Ja'lee came and did the same thing asking why yhe door was locked. This time i was wiser and remained quiet.

Bugged out due to no updates?

2011-02-12T14:04:00.000-08:00

Are you bugged out because I havent updated my blog much lately? Well I am bugged out too by gally. It isnt my fault talk to the empty wallet and the scissors. Thanks to this little icon that now appears on my desktop, ipod, ipad, email and in my dreams at night...

Curse you coupon clippings! Your taking up all my extra time and I have hated only a few things more than you! If I couldnt get gogurt for my kids for 70 cents I wouldnt do it!

More Music

2011-02-09T08:19:00.000-08:00

Things just are crazy around here lately and it has been hard to get in and update the blog. Partly because of Angry Birds! Blast that crazy app!
So for a short post I wanted to let you all know one of my favorite bands has a new song out again. I just really like this band. Always can produce hits!

All Things Guster

2011-02-02T20:07:00.002-08:00

There are a few things that I really enjoy. Tonight it just happens to be two things that have the same name and one is music and one is tv. Yes Im talking about this cool and sheek character WHAT?

The other is a band that I really like listening to and I havent gotten into their stuff as of late but this song just really makes anyone happy and the music video is a little silly too.

Guster - do you love me

Add One...Favorite Thing

2011-01-31T16:53:00.000-08:00

Well I can now officially add another thing on to my favorites list. I recently got tired of the plastic in the heel of my shoe rubbing the back of my foot raw so I got a new pair of shoes. I stumbled across these shoes on at least a half price sale and tried them on. Very light with extra cousin on the toes and heel so I got them and I can honestly say these are my favorite pair of shoes Ive had in a long time and my favorite Skectures. These are the ones only they are light and dark grey only.