Sleepy Escape

 

In an attempt to free herself from that sleepy prison we call her bed, Mallory collapses on the dresser that aids in her previous escapes...

R.E.M. at the Hollywood Bowl

Jenny and I had fantastic seats at the Hollywood Bowl again - section 212 in the Garden boxes. If it sounds like I'm bragging, well I am - there's not much I can brag about other than the kids, so when we get killer seats to a show like this - I must flaunt it in every one's face...

If you are a fan of R.E.M. check out the set list here - Murmurs

I was able to record 1 song before my camera died - I wish I would have recorded the opening song, as it was a song I asked them to play in a small venue once and after I yelled it out Peter Buck yelled back no... Any who - I recorded another song off their first album "Murmur" called "Sitting Still"

Enjoy!

Monkey Butler, Shaving Cream, Monster face, and Connor and Grant

 

Funny thing is, Mallory likes to pick this guys nose...

 

Some how this is a preschool lesson. I think it is teaching kids that making a mess should be fun!

 

Mallory loves to make a mean face at me and growl like a monster - finally I caught the face on camera!

 

Fathers and sons outing was a blast - Here is an out of focus shot of both Connor and Grant standing on the "Tree Stomp" as Connor likes to call it.

Cookoo for Twilight

If you don't already know, Jenny and my sister Sarah are CRAZY for anything Stephenie Meyer... They both have read the Twilight series of books too many times to count, and seek for any new info on Twilight Moms website... The cool thing is that they were able to go see some of the movie sets, meet some of the actors, have a vampire bite their necks and baby, see ROB the guy playing Edward, and what ever her name is playing Bella, hang out with like minded women, meet the director, and most importantly meet the author and get multiple books signed...

 

 

Long time no post...

It's been a while I know, but I have a great excuse... I was busy quiting my job and getting a new one...

Many of you know that I decided to leave Shimano last month, it was a hard decision. But I'm glad I made the move. I'm working for my good Friend Jeff. I will be selling printing and packaging goods. So far I'm ahead of schedule, I've opened 2 new customers, and I have about 8 on the table that I'm hopeful to move forward on by the end of June.

Any who - here are some photos of the kids...

 

Mallory and her lady bug.

 

Megan as the goalie

 

Connor - preschool kid - and Mallory...

Connor makes some PJ's... I mean Dr. Two Brains.

I was out of the country most of March (10th to the 19th), and on the afternoon of the 19th while I was hanging out in SFO airport, Jenny emailed me her conversation with Connor - Enjoy...


We were driving home from the gym (oh my gosh, my legs are jello) and this is our conversation:

Connor: "Mom, why does dad wear his underpants to bed?"
Mom: "What do you mean? You wear your underpants to bed?"
Connor: "No I don't."
Mom: "Oh, you mean why doesn't dad wear pajamas to bed?"
Connor: "Yeah, why does he only sleep in his underpants?"
Mom: "I think he gets too hot in pajamas."
Connor: "Oh. Mom, I'm going to get the sewing machine and sew him some special freezing green pajama bottoms so he won't get hot. The pants will have a special spongy pad to keep the pants cold."
Mom: (laughs hysterically) "What a good idea Connor."
Connor: "Mom, I'm going to say, 'Dad' and he's going to say, 'What is it son?' and then I'm going to give him his freezing green pajama pants and he's going to get a big smile on his face and say, 'Thank you so much Dr. Two Brains, I love them.'"

I'm still waiting for the PJ's...

Mallory hits the big time!

I meant to post these before I left for Taiwan and Japan, but late is OK when the pictures are this cute. Little Miss Mallory turned 2 on the 10th. She was given countless princes shoes, a princess wand of power (when she has it, every kid in the house wants a turn with it...), and feather boa (which if it hasn't already been destroyed by the kids, then the dog will surely eat it in the coming weeks).

 

Here she is casting a spell of cuteness.

 

Testing out the shoes

 

Making a birthday wish!

 

Just being cute!

The California Poppy is back!

The hills surrounding our home are swollen with flowers. We live in a desert and when it rains for an extended period of time the hills turn green with new growth and these California Poppy's show up everywhere. They are just beautiful. There are also some purple flowers high up on the hills - too far to walk up to, but the ones close to the roads served their purpose today, as we got some fantastic photos of the kids. Unfortunately we can rarely get all 3 of them to look into the camera all at the same time. One day, I'll get some skills and figure out how to cut and paste their heads into one nice family photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Megan's Baptism

One of the special things about turning 8 is you get to choose to be baptized. Megan wasn't stopped talking about being baptized since late last year it seems. We are so proud of her for making this choice, and setting a good example to her brother and sister.

 

 

 

 

 

Jenny's friend Marcy made a special 'CTR' cake. CTR stands for Choose the Right, it's a symbol that reminds us to think of Christ and make wise choices.

Megan turns 8 and goes Bowling

It's crazy to think that this year Jenny and I will celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary, let a lone that we have an 8 year old child. Well it's true, Megan is now 8. She begged and pleaded with us to let her have a bowling party, and we couldn't deny her that wish. I think Mallory had more fun than the other kids. From the moment we got there she didn't stop yelling about all the balls. She was so determined to go bowling, that she even picked up a 12 lbs ball and tried to walk with it to the lane...

 

Crazy Megan!

 

Say Cheese!

 

Megan's friends had a blast!

Ummm... Why?

The kids thought it would be a good idea to decorate the room like a spider web. Apparently this idea came from a Curious George episode. Now I can understand and I even support not letting kids watch some TV programs, but not letting them watch PBS seems a little harsh - maybe I should write them a letter, then again, if I write them a letter, they will get my address and start sending me letters requesting donations... Plus I'm lazy.

 

Mallory found mom's makeup drawer - guess she's growing up EMO.

 

Now this one I like! If you know me you know I complain about my back. Generally I'll sacrifice it for a good donkey ride, and let the kids jump all over me. Well Connor is taking one for the team here, I think Mallory likes this ride better, she is closer to the ground, and it won't hurt as bad when she falls off.

 

2008 North American Handmade Bicycle Show

I was privileged to attend the hand-built bike show again this year. Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap as many photos as I would have liked. I did take some pictures of some cool bikes. One of my favorites was the wire wrapped brazed bike from Villain Cycles.

The coolest thing at this show is the vibe. Of course there are ego's in the building, but they aren't the frat like ego's you find at Interbike. You know the uninviting frat like attitude some groups of people have. Most of these builders are timid, but very approachable. They love talking bikes, and they love talking about their bikes. They aren't afraid to dish out compliments for their fellow builders either.

At the end of the show, there is an award ceremony, where all the builders vote on their favorites etc. Of course I don't remember what and who won, but if you click on this link you will find out soon enough. NAHBS 2008

I found this nice link showing plenty of bikes as well Richard
Bike Portland - ClockWork Bikes - Bike Radar

Monster Jam!

Aaron got a bunch of tickets for Monster trucks again this year. I decided to bring Megan, and I invited my friend Billy to come - he brought his daughter Payton. We had tons of fun. Most of the group lucked out, and were sitting just under the awning so they didn't get wet. I on the other hand was half covered by the awning, so my legs were getting rained on. Luckily Aaron brought some trash bags so I didn't get too wet.

We also got Pit passes, and took a few photos next to our favorite trucks.

 

Here we have Monster Mut - Megan's favorite cause it's driven by a girl.

 

Donkey Kong is a new truck this year, and the kids thought it was Curious George.

 

Here we have Grave Digger - the line to get a photo with the driver was over an hour long, so we snuck around back and took this one...

 

This is the only action shot of the evening that came out halfway decent - the rain prevented me from taking others. Aside from the rain, we had a fun time - and look forward to doing it again next year!

 

Megan was hoping this one smelt like a Banana.

 

Out of my way Hippie!

 

Excuse me I'm racing here!

 

Megan liked this truck the best, since the driver was a girl.

Like Father Like Son

My mom tells me this story of when I was 6 years old, I took my old shoes and nailed them to some 2x4's and made my self some skis. Check out Connors idea... I swear thoughts and ideas must be transferred genetically.

 

Grade School Joke - the kids actually get.

A few weeks ago Megan asked me to tell her a joke. I figured all of the good jokes I know a kid won't get - so I remembered this one where you ask a kid a question and hope to get the right response, this is how it goes:

I asked, "Megan? What were you eating under there?
Megan was sitting on the couch and wasn't eating anything
She responded with "Under where?"
So I laughed at her and said "You were eating your Underwear?!?"
She couldn't stop laughing and tried to tell me how she wasn't eating her underwear, and that she wasn't eating anything...

I loved it cause she actually realized that 2 words could sound the same and mean something totally different and if you think someone means the other word then, well you get the picture... It was perfect.

So, Megan must have told Connor the joke, cause the other day Jenny asked him the same question of "what are you eating under there?" Connor's response was, "UNDER PANTS!"