Category: Kids

4th of July

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Happy Belated Independence Day to my U.S. readers! We spent ours with the kids at my parents’ home and watched the amateurs in the neighborhood set off fireworks while we messed around with sparklers, caught lightning bugs, and tried to avoid getting bit by mosquitos.

Today we slept in and then spent a couple hours at the pool. Right now the kids are with Joe at Target getting supplies for our Mexican dinner I’ll be preparing shortly.

We’re toying with the idea of going to the drive-in tonight since we’ve never been but the first movie of the double-feature is Cars 2 which we’ve already seen. The second movie is Super8 which doesn’t start until 10:30 pm. I’m already doing the math in my head regarding how much sleep I’ll be able to get since I’m working a half day tomorrow. Thanks to the fact that I have no one to cover for me, I can’t take the entire week off to spend with the kids while they are here. Bitter much? Yes. I haven’t had time off between the 6th and the 10th of any month in over five years but I’m trying to make the most of it by doing some fun things before I have to go back to work for the rest of the week while everyone else gets to have fun. Waaah-waaah.

Christmas

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We had a nice Christmas with my family and the kids. We picked the kids up Friday evening and went to my parents’ for food and games. Many years in the past we had played something called Crazy BINGO, and this year we played Crazy Uno. All the prizes were numbered and inside was candy and money. E made out good winning $50 and K got $20. I was happy with my $10 and Dove truffles.

Christmas morning we ended up sleeping until 9:15 because someone (me) forgot to set the alarm. I set the alarm time, but I didn’t actually activate it, and it was easy to sleep late after going to bed around 2:30. We got home before midnight but I was wide awake and had fun looking for stuff for my new Kindle. I’ve probably messed around with it more than I’ve actually read on it so far, but that’s because I think it’s so cool. I even found an ePub version of Songwords (a book of Cure song lyrics) that someone on my favorite Cure fansite put together and expanded to include all the songs that they’ve released since the book has come out. It was easy to convert to the Kindle format using a free program called calibre. I’ve already added a handful of books, and a game, to my Kindle.

This morning I looked for a case at Target but wasn’t liking any of them. I looked online yesterday too but the only ones I like seem way too expensive when the case is a third of the price of the device, like this one which I really love. For now I will stick to my “homemade” case – a manila bubble envelope. But I digress …

After we tortured the kids by making them eat breakfast first, they opened their presents. K, of course, knew she was getting a new camera. She also got an iTunes gift card and a Discover gift card since she’s a bit difficult to buy for. E got many presents, but instead of listing them you can check them out in the photos below. The only item not pictured was a Sansa Fuze 4GB MP3 Player that was delivered after I had wrapped all the other gifts. Also, some of the presents shown are from my parents since we help them with the shopping.

I started on the ham early which was a good thing since it took a heck of a lot longer than the directions indicated. I really like Target’s Market Pantry spiral honey ham. It’s a decent price and it tastes good, plus it’s not huge since there’s only four of us. I made the regular sides – mashed potatos, corn, green bean casserole, mac & cheese, stuffing and rolls.

The rest of the day was spent with the kids playing with their new toys and us doing the same. We also played a few games of Aggravation which we usually do when the kids are over. In all, a very nice low-key holiday.

Quick Update

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I know my posting has been erratic as of late. I think I’m really starting to feel bogged down by the internet and having constant access to it via my iPhone. All the Facebook and Twitter updates seem rather boring to me. Please don’t take it personally, I’m just starting to question the whole point of it all. Between that and the near constant multi-tasking I do at work in order to try and keep up, I’m starting to feel like I’ve lost any semblance of an attention span.

Here’s a bit of what’s been going on around these parts lately:

I’ve been able to feed my toad dead meal worms and crickets by using the laser pointer to trick her into thinking they are alive. Although I quickly learned I don’t even need to do that – she eats them right off the spoon that came with them; as soon as I place the spoon in front of her she licks them right off!

We’ve decided to renovate both upstairs bathrooms and found both floor and wall tile the first day we started looking. Now all we need are vanities, sinks, mirrors, hardware, and tubs. I’m simultaneously looking forward to and dreading this project. I know it will look beautiful once we’re done, since Joe did such a great job downstairs, I just hate the anxiety I feel when something in the house is in disarray.

We’ve decided to table the idea of moving after looking at too many undesirable places online and scoping out potential new neighborhoods. Not to mention that our own home has dropped so much in value that we’d sell it at a loss. There are probably 15 properties in our subdivision alone for sale right now and none of them look as nice as ours, so I think if we wait even another year we’ll be able to sell at a nice profit.

The kids and Joe’s parents (who are visiting from Arizona) have been staying with us since Wednesday. Even though we didn’t get to do what we planned due to the unpredictable weather (like hit a water park one of the days), we still had a good time. We saw some movies (Despicable Me (awesome) and The Last Airbender (terrible)), played games and stuffed our faces. We’re dropping the kids off after going out for an early dinner soon. I already cleaned the dining room and kitchen so that I don’t have to worry about it when we get back. I loved seeing everyone, but I’m ready for a little quiet time tonight (and no more HGTV for awhile) before I have to return to work tomorrow. :p

My Boys premieres tonight with two new EPs!

Catching up & 4-days off

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Last weekend we took the kids to Medieval Times. None of us has ever gone before, or had the desire to go. Boy is it cheesy! But I will say, it was pretty fun too. I can’t imagine ever having the desire to go back, though, given how expensive it is. It cost nearly $140 for the four of us and it’s not like the food is high quality. But the kids had a good time, even K who was not looking forward to it, so that’s a success. And even though our team didn’t win, at least we had the hottest knight. ;)

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Monday Joe and I visited the dentist in the first time in… well, years. For him I think it’s been over a decade! For me it was closer to seven years, because I think I went to the dentist once since we’ve been together, but it was definitely before we moved to our current residence. All things considered, our teeth are in pretty good shape. He has two cavities and I have one – my first one ever! I guess that’s what I get for neglecting my not quite pearly whites. The assistant did my cleaning, but the dentist did Joe’s and Joe said the guy was giving him crap about having such good teeth because he’s not going to make any money off him. We have to schedule a followup to get our cavities filled which I’m not looking forward to doing. I’ll try to do it before another seven years pass at least.

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We’re on day two of our four day weekend but this rain is souring our plans. Yesterday we were going to visit a few nature centers but was too gloomy. We ended up getting a hitch installed on the Escape so that we can buy a bike rack and go riding this year. We also took my car in for an emissions test. None of it was fun, but at least took a lot less time than we expected. Good thing too, because we had the hitch installed at U-Haul and they don’t provide any chairs, or even a waiting room. We just had to stand around the retail portion of their establishment. As for the emissions test, it took two minutes, literally. The guy tapped into the on-board computer and that was it. Nothing like how it used to be!

On the way back from our errands we got Whoppers for the first time in a long time. I have pretty much given up on Burger King because their food sucks ass these days. The fries haven’t been the same since they switched recipes and the Whoppers are usually cold. Luckily the one we stopped at was relatively busy so the food wasn’t bad, but we skipped the fries anyway. Later that evening we met up with friends to play Bingo. We usually go to a local church, but this time we visited a local American Legion Hall. It was nice, even though we didn’t win. The odds are better, though, because there’s about half the number of people there than are usually at the church. Plus the inside temperature is more comfortable and they have cushioned seats so my ass isn’t sore at the end of the night. And it starts a half hour earlier so we got out closer to 10 than 10:30. I’m thinking we’ll end up switching off between that place and our regular joint if we continue to go. I’m getting rather tired of never winning especially when three different people from the same table won last night.

It’s even crappier outside today than yesterday which is why we’re not at Joe’s brother’s house like we originally planned. Instead we stopped at a local arts & crafts fair in the morning. It was lame, though, so we went to the mall. I got a coupon for $10 off a $10+ purchase from Kohl’s and figured I’d buy some new clothes. I couldn’t find anything I liked that fit me, though, but Joe did. Story of my life. At least the coupon wasn’t wasted. We ran a bunch of errands, including getting some hair dye from the beauty supply store. I need to get my hair cut first, but I can’t decide if I should go with the same style but shorter, or add some bangs to the mix. The problem is I can’t stand the way hair on my forehead feels, but I do think I’d look better with bangs than without. It’s a tough decision because it’s going to take awhile for them to grow out if I decide I hate them. I might go with fringe bangs since they aren’t true bangs but might give my hair the lift it so desperately needs on top.

Easter

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I spent Easter with the flu this year. I woke up on Good Friday knowing something wasn’t right. I had a fever, chills, hot flashes, etc. So I called in sick to work and spent the entire day in bed not eating or drinking. I didn’t throw up, which is always a good thing, but I still had other stomach issues. I spent the next few days barely eating, feeling extremely tired, and sleeping a lot. We still tried to show the kids a good time while they were here, though. Friday evening E opened his birthday presents and enjoyed brownies instead of cake. Saturday the kids had an Easter egg hunt, and Joe made a nice Easter dinner (which I did eat a little).

Sunday after the kids had left Joe and I got around to coloring a few eggs. Things started off innocent enough, with us creating eggs with our names on them, and then making cute eggs, but they got progressively naughty, culminating with some vulgarity worse than posted here. Yes, we’re like children, thanks for asking.

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