Sharp Corner

Livin the Dream

2011-05-09T12:58:00.001-07:00

I am horrible at keeping up a blog. But, life is busy and happy.

We are all doing great. Here are a few pics from Easter.

Run, run, as fast as you can!!

2009-10-05T15:27:00.000-07:00

This summer was CRAZY busy, and CRAZY fun! We are finally settled into our fall schedule again...with a few extra activities. The girl joined the cross country school team and they had their first meet on my birthday. :) Here is a little video of the start of her race. She did AWESOME and ran almost the whole mile!! We are all very happy with our little runner!!!

The little witch

2009-04-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

The girl and I are reading the first Harry Potter, and we are about half way through. She LOVES it, of course, but the funny thing was this. She declared the other day that SHE is a witch, and she gets magical powers from her heart-shaped birthmark on her forehead. (It's VERY faint) And her special talent is that she can talk to cereal. And milk.

She pretty much rocks.

The girl is 7!!!

2009-03-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

It was the Girls birthday this week, and I can't believe she is 7!!! My sister and I decorated the house and had a nail painting party after school. We pigged out on cheese fondue and birthday cake all night and it was a lot of fun :) We love our big Girl!!!

The boy...

2009-02-27T13:05:00.000-08:00

So, last week the boy started Pre-School. It's at the High School and each little kid has a high school student assigned to them as a helper and friend. He was signed up to start in September, but they had a little girl who hasn't been for a while and they decided to fill her spot. The teacher said that the HS student was lonely because she didn't have a special friend. awww. So, she called me and we snagged the spot. It was weird the first few days, because The boy is only 3 and he still seems so little. BUT, he loves it so far and I think it will be really good for him.

Too cute...

2009-02-16T22:53:00.000-08:00

The other day the Girl asked me if she could put a raisin under her pillow with her tooth the next time she looses a tooth. She wants to give the Tooth Fairy a healthy snack. I said sure.

Business Trip - Day 1

2009-02-07T19:57:00.000-08:00

So, here I am in Orlando, FL. I am here for a conference for work. It should be pretty fun since it is a software conference and I am down here with a fun group of guys.

This morning, I got to the airport at about 7:15 AM and screwed up my check-in. Security made me go back to the desk and check in properly. After going through the metal detectors, I was patted down and had my bag searched. That is a first, but it wasn't so bad. I thought I had about an hour until my flight left, but they were boarding early. I had just enough time to get my traditional Odwalla Strawberry Banana fruit puree and Banana Nut Muffin from Starbuck's and then I boarded the plane to Phoenix. I read some and started to watch "Run, Fatboy, Run". The people next to me were NOT watching a family film. I think it was one of the Starship Troopers sequels.

When we landed in Phoenix, I was hungry, but I had to hurry to my gate. When I got there I only had enough time to grab a pop and fruit cup (for only $8!). Then I was on the plane to Orlando. I started out sitting next to a cougar who obviously had something to drink with her lunch. She wanted to sit next to her friends, but their seats were split up. I was on the aisle and she "kindly" straddled me to get out of the row. I could tell this was going to be a bad flight, but then she convinced a lady from the back of the plane to trade seats. That lady later said she had no desire to sit next to the cougar's friend at the back of the plane. So, it wasn't such a bad flight. I read more and finished my movie.

After a lengthy shuttle ride, I am at the hotel. I am tired, but it is only 8:10 PM according to my internal clock. Luckily they have Discovery Channel in the hotel. I can watch that while I fall asleep.

Oh! My inner-geek jumped a bit when I saw the road sign for the exit to Kennedy Space Center. That would be cool to go there! I guess I will have to settle for Disney World.

WALL-E

2009-02-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

This is a good time to post a new entry since I have some time to kill right now. It has been really nice since the snow has stopped and the weather has gotten back to normal. Now everything is covered in rock-hard snow piles since it keeps warming up and freezing.

So, a funny thing happened a couple of weeks ago. We were having Family Home Evening and we had just sung The Wise Man and the Foolish Man. The Boy likes that song and is one of the few that he can sing. We were trying to calm the kids down for family prayer, but the boy says, "I'm singing it like a robot!" So I said, "Do you want to pray, Robot?" The Boy says sure and it's all quiet, we have our eyes closed and we hear "Beep, beep, be-beep..." That was the end of that reverent prayer.

Another good thing is The Girl was given a special award at her school. She was the Mustang of the Week! We were told that it's a big deal for a student. I'm really proud of her since we had some behavior issues at the beginning of the year. She has also started in a theater group for kids. She has had one class so far and she really liked it. We'll have to post a video of any plays she is in.

I'm off to Florida this next week for work and then I am coming back through Phoenix. I am excited because I get to see my brother and his family. He has two boys I have never met. It will be good to see them.

Snow=bad; Hot Chocolate=good.

2009-01-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

We've been pretty much snowed in for 3 weeks. It has snowed over 5 feet since Dec. 17th. That is WAY too much snow for me, and it's hard to go anywhere. I'm sick of looking at it, and sick of talking about it. And, it's hard to find new things to do to entertain the kids everyday at home. This video is one such attempt. Seriously, having hot chocolate was a big event that day, haha! I'm really hoping that school opens up soon so I can get back to my schedule again!!

My little sweetheart

2008-12-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

So, the baby has been teething for the last few days. It's so sad, because she is normally such a good little sleeper, and her eyes are looking so tired. (And I'm sure mine are, too :( ) Anyways, yesterday morning I got a nice surprise when Ken made me breakfast in bed. (yum yum) It was awesome. And then this morning I got an even BETTER surprise when the girl did the same thing! And she made me her favorite, cheese melted on toast. AAWWW....my family is so nice to me. And I love them, too!!

Doublé-Vous Assignment

2008-12-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

This is a video that my friend Matt and I did for a Business French class that we took back in college. I finally found the disc so I decided to post the video. Good times!

A dream fulfilled

2008-12-05T15:55:00.000-08:00

I have been saying for years that I want to run a 5K, but I was always too lasy, busy or pregnant to do it. UNTIL NOW!!! There was a thanksgiving Turkey Trot that was a 5K and I finally did it. I even convinced my sister, who was visiting, to run it with me and we had an awesome time! It was really chill and easy, and there were thousands of other people there even though it was really cold outside. And they said no strollers, but I saw a lot of families who ran or walked together. It felt really good to be a part of something on Thanksgiving, and I think I'm hooked. Next year I'm hoping to bring the fam, and we will do it together. That would be so much fun :)

I finally downloaded the pics from our camera...

2008-11-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

We've been really busy the past few weeks. I've been needing a whole day at home with no appointments or plans and today was the day! IT WAS AWESOME! I love days when I can read my book or play with my kids without checking the clock. And I finally downloaded the pics from Halloween, so here are a few. Late but still cute :) The baby was a tootsie roll ,
The Girl was a flower in a pot
And the boy was Elmo (and pretty happy about it :))

We had a good time and still have some candy left, if you can believe it.

A Day with Dad

2008-10-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

So, the Boy and I had a busy day of errands to run so I thought I would make it more interesting to take the camera along. This is our day...

Here we are, ready to head out the door!

Packed in the car with a big smile! (Watch how the Boy's smile wanes throughout the day.)

Stop #1: A quick deposit at the bank since we finally sold our car!

Stop #2: Here we are across the parking lot at NW Beauty Supply buying some stuff for Mom. This the girl that the Boy picked up while I was making our purchase. (Well done, my son!)

This is the Boy showing the sucker he got from the cutie at NW Beauty Supply.

Back at home to pick up some things I forgot! (Ooops.)

Stop #3: The post office to send some stuff to Oma in Canada. What will the Boy do to stay amused?

Oh... this is what he did.

This is what the Boy did with the stamps the worker gave him at the post office. They were gone off his hand when we came out of our next stop. I have no idea where they went.

Stop #4: Just checking some stuff... for Christmas. (Little does he know...) There is a large wad of stamps somewhere in that store.

Stop #5: A renewed smile for Home Depot.

He insisted on taking this picture.

The Boy was hiding around the corner and jumping out so I decided to take a photo. This creepy guy photobombed the picture just as I clicked the button.

Stop #6: Must... find... food! PLEASE!

Stop #7: There we go... although he only drank the pop.

Another photo by the Boy at Walmart. We bought lunch at the deli and squatted at the Subway.

Stop #8: Off to Dad's favorite store! How will he be amused here?

... That's how.

ROAR!

The end...

Zzzzz...

Life is good...

2008-10-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's for Canadian Thanksgiving last weekend. My sister took some awesome pics of our family.

And it begins...

2008-09-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Girls 5th day of grade one. When I asked her how her day was she told me she was part of a new club. It's called the Popular Club and only girls in her class who are 6 and are cool can be in it. She said one of the other girls in her class is the "leader" and tells them what is cool or not. So, they have to wear "cool" clothes like capris, or skorts to school and they have to have their ears pierced. (The Girl does NOT have her ears pierced for a variety of reasons, but the "leader" is nice enough to let her join anyway.) Oh yeah, and NO BOYS!! I was a little shocked at how soon we have to deal with this type of snobbery at school. It may just be that they are copying what they see the older girls do, but I'm a little worried that this club may be hurting some little girls feelings. When I was in Grade 7 there was a popular club in my class that I was not a part of. We called them the Snob Squad and they called us the Nerd Herd. It sounds funny to me now, but at the time I was really hurt by the exclusion. And that was Grade 7. I don't know if my little Grade 1 girl really understands how much it hurts to be left out. So, for FHE last night we talked about being friends with people who are different and how that is okay. Hopefully, it will help.

On another note, our baby is AWESOME! She is the first of the three to sleep at night and I am amazed at how different I feel after 3 weeks. I should be WAY more tired, but I feel great! What a sweetheart :)

THE BABY!!!!!!

2008-09-02T14:18:00.000-07:00

We are so behind on baby news. Here are a few pics to satisfy until I can tell the whole story.

M's Little Rant

2008-08-18T08:49:00.000-07:00

So, I don't care who you are. Being 9 months pregnant is no fun. It would be nice just to be able to breathe comfortably, or walk without waddling. I also don't appreciate when I go out somewhere and people's eyes pop out of their heads at how huge and low the baby is. And, no I am NOT having twins, and yes I'm sure. I had this guy the other day ask me if it was safe for me to be out by myself. ????? Seriously, who says stuff like that? I know in a few months I'll be able to say it wasn't so bad, and it is SO worth it. But right now I'm glad this is my last day. Tomorrow morning we go in, so wish me luck!!!

Wishin' and Hopin'

2008-08-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

So,... I know we are about the have our third baby so you think I would know that contractions coming 30 minutes apart for a whole day doesn't mean the baby is coming. We have been thinking the baby was going to come since last weekend, but no luck. I even came home from work on Tuesday to 1) fix a GFCI outlet that blew up and 2) all I could think about was the baby coming so I wasn't getting much done at work. M and I went to the doctor's to get her checked, but there wasn't much progression since last Thursday. The bonus of that disappointing afternoon was holding our friend's month-old son. He fell asleep on me and that made me even more excited for our baby to come.

What else... I walked out to my car this morning to go to work and I heard a pounding on my car! It was parked under a large black walnut tree and there was a squirrel ripping the nuts open and dropping them down onto my car. Not cool...

(...I think I am becoming a huge fan of ellipses...)

We saw Batman Returns at the the IMAX a couple of weeks ago and it was awesome! The sound was one of the best parts. Also, part of the movie was shot with IMAX cameras so those scenes were VERY impressive. They also played The Watchmen trailer and I am pretty excited about that movie. (Check out the song from the trailer at the left under "featured songs".) It's from a graphic novel (that is a way of saying "comic book" when one is an adult) that I read last year. It really helped me get in touch with my "inner geek".

Speaking of "inner geek"... that is one thing I miss. When I was in college, I managed a computer lab so access to people with similar interests (ie: computers, graphic novels, video games, etc.) was fairly easy. When I needed people who understood obscure movie references, could identify indie music, or knew what a Kandinksy was, I had my art friends. You would think that being surrounded by engineers all day, I could find some people like that, but most of the people at work don't even know what a podcast is! (Not that I don't enjoy the people I work with...) I gotta say that I appreciate M for knowing what a Chocolate Rain is, sitting through Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and indulging me while I ran network cable throughout the house instead of just setting up a wireless network (but I did that too). Thanks, M!

Our new addition...haha

2008-07-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

On Friday we finally broke down and bought a minivan. We have been talking about it for a while, but it was always something we were going to do...later. But, we ran out of "later" because our due date is SOON!!! Yikes. I swore I would never get a minivan, but I secretly love it. Maybe because it's still new and exciting, I don't know. I feel a lot more prepared for three kids than I did with our car. At least I won't be squishing them in the back, or homebound...right? I'm happy. Thanks, Ken :)

The Fence

2008-07-20T09:18:00.001-07:00

It has been a busy month! We finally bought the materials for our fence and spent two weeks putting it up. It is not 100% done yet, but it should be done by the end of this week. It was a really tough job to put up, but luckily, I had a friend who took over as project manager and he helped a lot. It looks really good and we are very thankful that we have some private space in the backyard now. We also bought a BBQ and were given a pool for the kids. Here are some pics of the fence:

So, that's about how it turned out. Now we just have a bunch of junk to take to the dump and we need to try and resurrect our lawn. Slowly, but surely things will come together.

2008-07-01T20:49:00.001-07:00

Today is the 9th anniversary of the day we met. It's easy to remember because of Canada Day, and I can't believe it's been that long! We met at a BBQ so to celebrate we are getting a BBQ to go in our new fenced yard :) Yippee!!
WW

Another Anniversary?

2008-07-01T20:45:00.001-07:00

For those with boys.

2008-06-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

So the Boy and I are trying to potty train. It was REALLY hard for the Girl, probably because I was doing it all wrong. She would go everywhere BUT the potty. Good times... But, the Boy's problem isn't that he won't go on the potty, he just HATES underwear. Even though we bought him special Cars underwear. So, what do I do? Do I let him run around naked? Do I force it? I'd love it if he was trained before the baby comes, but that's 9 weeks away and I think he may be more stubborn than that.
Help?

Our little Graduate

2008-06-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

So, the girl is graduating from Kindergarden and they had a celebration party last week. They sang us some songs and the girl even got to announce the last one. Her line was, "We're going to knock your socks off with 'I am a Promise'." Even though we practised all day she STILL asked her teacher for help! It was really cute.

On another note, both kids went to the dentist the other day. I was really concerned about the Boy because he HATES to brush his teeth and this was his first visit. But, our dentist is OUTSTANDING!!!! The hygenist let him help with the Girl's cleaning, wear a mask and glasses so he felt like a real dentist. Then he was scared of lying down on the chair so she put him on her lap and did his cleaning while holding him. The Boy LOVED it and was laughing and happy, which is the exact opposite of what I expected. So, I don't know if this kind of treatment is normal for children's dentists because the Girl never had any problems, but I was super impressed.

And, no cavities for either of them.

Yippee!!

On the road again...

2008-06-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

So, May was a busy month for travel... We went to Abbotsford, BC to visit M's family. That was a lot of fun and we saw Iron Man. (Awesome movie, btw.) A couple weeks after that, we went to Cardston, AB to see my family. (The only movie that was playing was Speed Racer... No thanks.) We did both drives at night and I must say that Washington State has way better roads than BC.

While we were in Cardston, I was able to see my brother and sister and their families. I also met my new niece who is three weeks old. She is really cute and seeing her made having our own baby that much more real. I must say that I'm pretty excited about our upcoming addition to the family.

So, we came back from Cardston on the Sunday before Memorial Day and I am glad that we did. I ended up spending all day getting ready to go to Bethlehem the next day for work. (You may be thinking that I am lucky to get to go to Bethlehem, but this is in Pennsylvania, not the Holy Land.) The day we left for Cardston, my car would not start after work. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but I thought it may be the battery or the alternator. It would cold start, but the more I turned the key, the stonger the battery got so I thought that was really odd. I cleaned the contacts to the battery, but it didn't help. So, I took the battery to Napa and they tested it and said it was good. I figured it was since it wasn't that old. I bought a brush to clean the contacts and then it worked perfectly. A few months ago, I was having the same problem with dirty contacts, but it was also freezing outside so I really did think it was cold starting. A guy at work told me to clean the contacts and put vaseline on them. I did that, but all I had was baby powder scented vaseline. I guess that is not a long term solution for battery maintenance.

Anyway, off to the corporate holy land... at 4:30 AM. I have done this flight before, but it still isn't very much fun. Spokane to Chicago, Chicago to Allentown. The nice thing about travelling is that I am on per diem. I always go to Starbucks in the airport and by an Odwalla juice puree and a banana nut muffin. Thre trip was okay and the meetings over the next couple of days were good too. I met some of the other graphic designers that work for sister companies and we had a good speaker come in from Canada.

On the way home, my flight to Chicago was delayed and I missed my connection to Spokane. I spent the night at the Crown Plaza hotel. I didn't get to see much in Chicago, but it did make me feel like a small-town boy. Everything is so BIG. We don't have a lot of tall buildings in Spokane. So, I finally made it home on Friday at 2:00 PM. I immediately had to turn around and head to the community college because my company had a team in the Relay For Life. I did this event last year and it was a lot of fun. I ended up walking a lot and getting a chance to talk with people from work that I normally don't a chance to talk to. I fell asleep after being up for 24.5 hours. I slept on a cot in a sleeping bag with a sweater wrapped around my head. The bad thing is that when I am that tired... I drool. (The sweater has been washed.)

It has been a crazy few weeks, but I have had a lot of fun. I have had a couple days of routine and that has been nice. It's good to see the family again. Below are some photos to show what we have been up to.

The Boy playing with the same car set I used to play with

The kids on the new swingset that The Girl and I built!

Aww... us at Waterton (PS: Rain sucks)

This is a really funny video a guy sent around at work... These two guys go to Gonzaga in Spokane.

Mega Recap

2008-05-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging because I felt like there is too much I want to share and not enough time. SO, today is recap day- bullet style.

A few weeks ago we went to a HUGE neighbourhood garage sale and ended up buying a bread maker. I've wanted one for a LONG time, so I was pretty excited. And I must say that I love it!!!! The smell of bread in my kitchen is my favorite at the moment.

Ken and I went to see Ben Folds for our anniversary and it was AWESOME. I don't think I've ever seen anyone play piano like that before, and I loved how he took pictures of the crowd for his website. Good Times! Except I felt really old because it was at Gonzaga and pretty much everyone there was 10 years younger than us.

Spring is here and to our surprise we have a billion random flowers growing in our yard. I guess the lady that lived here before us was quite the gardener, until she got dimentia. It makes me sad because I'm sure it was really pretty and now I don't know what to do with it! It needs a lot of work, and I don't have the energy this year.

We went to Abbotsford last weekend and that was a TON of fun, but too short. The Girl loved to play with the dogs and The Boy (who is terrified of dogs) was warming up to them by the end. We went to IKEA and tried not to spend too much money, and we went to see Ironman which was really good. We also had some really good chats with the fam and we celebrated Mother's day before we left on Sunday.

A few days ago my car battery died in the middle of a busy street. It was just me and the kids and it was an hour before The Girl had to be at school. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before, but I was able to call Ken for a tow truck and there was a McDonalds across the street so the kids could play while I watched for the truck. Luckily, there was one of the Girls friends from school at the McDonald's and her mom was so nice and drove her to school for me. The Boy and I got to ride in the tow truck and that pretty much was the greatest thing ever to happen to him. He kept saying, "MOM! Monster truck!!" and laughing. So even though it was a REALLY long day, we are all okay and the car is fixed.

Okay, recap complete. We are planning on going to Oma and Opa's next week so all our travelling will be done before I become too big to drive comfortably. So there is more excitement to come :)

Eight Years and Lasagna

2008-04-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my eighth wedding anniversary. M calls me at work and asks me what I want for dinner. I said spaghetti, but that didn't fly. So, I suggested lasagna... the crazy thing was that's what Em was thinking! It may sound like a dumb little story, but that's why I love being married to M! I love how we connect and I love how we seem to do it more often as our time together increases! KMM.

Okay, enough cheese! I have a lot of things to write about, but I have not taken the time to write about them. I want to give a review of the Ben Folds concert and talk about how awesome it was to run two miles the other day. (It has been a VERY long time since I have done that... if ever!) I start work in a couple minutes so the updates will have to come later.

Tractor Tipping...

2008-04-14T21:45:00.001-07:00

So, we were at a friend's house on Friday evening and The Boy was pretty impressed with all of the toys that he could play with. He spent about two hours playing at this table while we were talking upstairs. We came to check on him every once in a while and this is how we found him. He sure does love his trains!

Another thing he is addicted to right now is cars... and "Cars" (the Disney movie). He has a little Lightning McQueen he likes to play with and he will not let it go. Our friends have a whole "Cars" play set and he found a tractor (cow). He would drive the Lightning McQueen up to the tractor and honk. He would then tip the tractor back like in the movie and moo while it was falling back. Pretty dang cute... I am also fairly certain he gets his cuteness from his dad. (I'll let you try and figure out who is writing this.)

Here is another cute pic of The Girl and The Boy that was taken the other night.

The trauma

2008-03-31T08:02:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago I was at a normal checkup at the doctors, and the doctor couldn't find the baby's heartbeat until he pulled in the utlrasound machine and checked it on the ultrasound. The reason he couldn't hear it was because it was beating at 90 beats/minute. (Which is pretty slow) So, I started freaking out right away, because I've never had any pregnancy complications before, EVER. The doctor told me it wasn't really bad, but he was worried. He told me to schedule my big 20 week ultrasound as early as possible so they could check on the baby right away. ( I was only at 17 weeks) And then he told ME not to worry. haha. I had my kids with me, which I'm grateful for because it stopped me from completely wigging out in public.
SO, I get home and call to schedule my ultrasound and the first available appointment is almost 2 weeks away! And I began the classic flip flop where I try and convince myself that if anything should happen I'll still be okay, and praying that nothing will happen because I won't be able to handle it. And I did that pretty much the whole 2 weeks. NOT okay.
The coolest part of this 2 weeks was watching the girl's reaction to what was happening. One day when I was really sad she said,
"Mom...the baby will live as many months and weeks as it needs to."
And I said, "How do you know that?"
And she said, "I don't know, I just feel it in my heart."
So, that cheered me up. And every time she prayed she said, "...and please bless Mom's baby to never die." That made me laugh every time. I don't know what I would have done without her :) I wish I had faith like that.
Last Friday afternoon was my ultrasound and it was awesome. The baby is totally fine, and the heartbeat was steady at 139 beats/minute. It was also obvious the baby is a girl, and the girl is so excited to have a little baby sister! (The boy doesn't really get it. :)
SO, I don't know what happened the other week. I feel like I was freaking out for no reason, but I can't seem to get a hold of myself when bad things happen. I am SOOO glad that everything is okay, and I hope next time I can stop thinking and just have faith.

Our big-little girl

2008-03-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

So, the girl turns 6 tomorrow. It's super weird for me because even though she is in Kindergarden and has lost her two front teeth, she is still my baby girl. We had a party for her last weekend and her favorite gift was a new digital watch. She will now tell us the time every 5 seconds. She even sleeps with her watch in case she wants to know the time in the middle of the night. It's pretty funny :)

On March 4 it was Dr. Seuss's birthday and she had the opportunity to dress up as her favorite character. She chose a "pink" star-bellied sneech. She was really excited about her hair and of course, her star. She wore her big fat pink boots too, which is why she looks so tall. It was a lot of fun and I love to see her so excited. On St. Patrick's Day they get to dress up in green and she is already organizing her outfit.

She reminds me so much of me, it's scary!

Random Emails...

2008-02-29T17:37:00.000-08:00

So, over the past year or so I have been getting emails to my address that are not for me. Not just junk, but stuff from people who think they are emailing a family member named Kat Sharp or several other names. I was offered a job as a plant manager in Michigan for $80,000/year. I get some guy's Amtrack confirmations and other random stuff. I got one around Christmas from some mom looking for gift ideas from her kids. I emailed back and said that she had the wrong email, but I would like a Nintendo Wii if she wanted to send me one anyway. She emailed back and said that a Wii was too expensive and that the budget she had allotted for me was $20. I guess she was stupid and cheap!

Anyway, here is the latest one I got yesterday. The subject is "There was a John Lennon Sighting today at Lake Ave" and it is from David and Michelle Hicks.
I'll keep posting more as I get them. Some of the pics I get are classic.

Exodus from Zion

2008-02-27T21:10:00.000-08:00

I have been in Salt Lake City for the past few days for a trade show. The video project I was working on came together at the last moment. It took about three hours for the final video to render together and I had to render it three times to fix various problems I found. M had the awesome idea of ditching the kids at a babysitter's and watch a movie at my work. (We have a pretty decent media room and it's fun to watch movies on the big screen.) I was able to keep working and spend time with M before I left town. We watched Stardust. If you have not seen this movie, you have to see it. It was actually really good!

The trade show went well. Everyone was pretty impressed with our new booth. I also had some time to visit Temple Square. I saw the new Joseph Smith movie in the Legacy Theater. I also met up with my sister and her family and spent some time walking around Temple Square with them. So, it was a pretty good trip, but I am glad to be home.

We were finally able to pull out The Girl's loose tooth! She had been working on her tooth the whole time I was gone, but it still didn't feel quite loose enough. I was wrestling with The Boy when I got home from work today and The Girl jumped on my back banged her mouth on the back of my head. That loosened the tooth up enough so we were ready to pull it out. I was about to use the multi-tool again, but she wasn't so brave tonight. (It worked last time!) We tied some floss around the tooth and out it came. Now The Girl is missing two front teeth. It's pretty cute.

M was nice enough to take us to Maggie Moo's tonight. I like the Maggie Moo's because they have lactose free ice cream. Always a good treat. The Boy is also allergic to milk so now I have someone to share with. It was a great treat after a long couple of weeks.

My little Petunia

2008-02-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

So a few weeks ago I started calling the girl 'my little Petunia', just for fun. She HATED it and would go, "Mom stop calling me that!!" It became a joke until she made me promise not to call her that anymore. So, I got Ken to start and now she LOVES it. A few days ago I was feeling really lazy and I didn't want to make dinner, so I made chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches (which I thought was pretty slacker) and this is what she said. "Mom, you are the BEST cook on the planet! Your my sweet little Petunia."
I don't like being called Petunia, but I guess it serves me right for bugging her.

Get out your lighter...

2008-02-13T17:54:00.000-08:00

I found a new band today... They are called Coheed & Cambria and, oddly enough, I heard them on the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack. The song popped up on a station I had on pandora.com. I don't have a station of the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack... seriously. So, the song is called Wake Up. Their other songs aren't bad either, but I don't like all of their other stuff I heard today. Enjoy. And let me know what you think. Also, if you have any other good bands to suggest, I'm always willing to try something new... except country. I did that once. Never again... Unless it's Carrie Underwood.

Pigs or it didn't happen

2008-02-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

So, it was pointed out to me that I said I would post "pigs" from my last trip, so... here you go.
I did my last post from my iPod touch and apparently when you type "pics" it thinks you meant to type "pigs" and inserts that instead. Thanks, Apple.

So, here are some PICS:

For the full album click here.

I get to go back to Vegas in September for a trade show. I will also be in Salt Lake in a couple weeks for another trade show. I'm nervous about that one since I am doing the motion graphics for the booth and I don't have much to show for it. I hope that things will come together this week for that project. That's usually how things work out. I stress about the project, an idea comes, and then it falls together at the last minute. Anyway, enough about work.

Last week, I heard The Boy knocking around in the kitchen. This is what I walked in to see:

And this is what he was getting into. He's a little stinker and his ability to climb and get into things is increasing. I think he may turn into more of a handful when the baby comes this summer.

I am really looking forward to this summer so I can start working on the yard. We want to rip out a bunch of the shrubs and plants that are here. Everything is green and there is not much more color besides that. We also want to put up a fence so the kids can play safely in the backyard. That will be the biggest expense. We have so much work to do on the house, but it has been really fun so far. One of my projects I am really proud of is the networking I did in the house. I ran network and coax cable throughout the house so each room has a hook-up. Not all of the rooms are connected, but they can be. I had to learn how to crimp my own cable ends and the good thing is that they all worked!

Anyway, I should go get ready for church. I'll be sure to keep you posted on the house projects and post some more pigs...

Blog 2.0

2008-02-01T22:13:00.000-08:00

So, I was sitting in a meeting last week thinking I should start a blog with M. That way I may post more often. Anyway, I call M after my meeting and she says, "Guess what I did! I started a blog!" Crazy, eh? So, hopefully this collective effort will motivate us to do better at keeping everyone updated. I'll post some pigs from my trip tomorrow.

Thanksgiving feast!

2008-01-24T16:39:00.001-08:00

Finally!!

2008-01-24T16:24:00.000-08:00

I have been talking about starting a blog for a looooonnnng time, but I'm finally joining the blogger world. I am not a great writer, but I want to stay better connected with my friends and family. Enjoy!! I will not fail! (Unlike SOME people who never post anything...not mentioning any names...)