The Adventures of Penelope and Porter

2011 another whirlwind year of fun

2011-12-31T15:34:00.000-08:00

I haven't written a year synopsis for quite a awhile, sending my Christmas cards with only cute pics of the kids. But since I blog, this is a perfect place to reminisce.

Looking back through the year I was first thinking about what was worth mentioning. The first thing that came to mind was the end of August when both kids started the school year.

That was a big and awesome change for our family. I no longer had to drive for two hours a day to take PB to day care. Both Rich and I configured our schedules so that I can take the kids to school each morning and Rich can pick them up. We totally killed day care costs. Not to mention I totally love being the person who gets to take my kids to school every day. And I get to bike to work.

Then I remembered we had an awesome opportunity to join Kim and her family to celebrate Keith's 50th birthday in Las Vegas. We enjoyed an amazing weekend of fun with family and even got to watch the Super Bowl with them. That was February and we got stuck overnight in Glenwood Springs, CO because of a terrible crash on I-70.

Then in March we had an amazing trip to Winter Park with Fran, Brian, Maddie and Preston and Dominique. At first I was thinking it was so fun because of all the deals Sasanka gave us on the mountain, but it was really because of all the great people were with. And we were once again stuck overnight because of a huge snowstorm. Bummer, we had to ski one more day. Thanks Britt for convincing us to reserve the condo for that extra day just-in-case. We needed it!

In June I was surprised and blessed with a trip to Chicago by my company. They sent three of us to the HOW conference where I sat through session after session of amazing inspiration and creative tips. I stayed in a beautiful room overlooking the river and enjoyed some amazing Chicago dining. I got a kick out of myself because I actually survived a big city. I always thought it would be so stressful, but as I found myself walking with 1000s of others down the street I marveled at how it wasn't that bad. The taxi rides were terrifying though.

Then there was July and our awesome vacation at Fran and Brian's in Florida. The kids held a one-year-old alligator that I was sure Porter would let go of but didn't. It was a wonderful beach week that was so hard to leave.

The pool season was great too. The kids are little fish and swim so well. I only read one short novel beside the pool the entire season because everyone is always so friendly and chatty I don't get the quiet I'd like , but it's great to be friendly and enjoy the neighborhood.

With the kids both in school I've been able to ride my bike to work. It's a 2.6 mile ride each way and I love it. I haven't ridden to work regularly since I lived-in Eugene and worked at the Emerald.

In November we had another awesome Thanksgiving week in Indianapolis. We pretty much went grocery shopping, had a meal or two out and stayed home, cooked, drank awesome beers, hung out by the fire and spent time with great friends and family.

In December, Porter turned six and we enjoyed a weekend in Santa Fe with Preston, Dominique, James, Meggan, Dave and Mike. The kids were the only two, but held their own with the adults and enjoyed all the spoiling they got. They also ran into Santa on the street. Can you believe it?

Penelope has lost eight teeth so far and Porter has lost two. He's the biggest kid in the kindergarten class and all the kids love him.

My favorite part of the year is that both kids can read and write and all of their favorite things echo mine. Mine has been making a great family. Their writings in school always mention their family, including the pets and how our family is their favorite thing too.

We wish you all a wonderful holiday season and tons of fun with your families and those you love.

All the best from The LaMontes, we love you!

P.S. I almost forgot to mention the pets. Dug our youngest at 2.5 years still destroys with gleeful abandon. Maybe he's no longer a puppy at three years? Lilu, who's 3.5 has found her lump phase and is all of a sudden seriously round. I'll be taking her to the vet shortly to make sure she doesn't have a thyroid issue or something. George is still kicking at 16.5, but he's displaying classic symptoms of kitty dementia. He'll be standing two feet from you, looking the opposite direction and yowling his head off. We say, "George" and he'll turn around, look at you and shush. He's been such an awesome cat, it's tough to see old age hit him. Getting old is mean.

The tree is up!

2011-12-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

Written 12/5/11

Phew! Weekends are just way too short. Ours was great, but I didn't even make a dent in the list of things I wanted to get done.

Fortunately, our Christmas tree is up and decorated. We wussed out on going to the forest to cut down our tree this year. It was snowing all night Friday and into the morning Saturday. Going up into even higher elevation just meant bad roads, more snow and even colder temps. With only 17 for the high I think we were smart to stay home. Instead, we picked a gorgeous tree from a local lot.

We got the tree home, trimmed it a bit and set it up in the front room. The kids are so excited about Christmas we kept having to make them wait to put ornaments on the tree. After getting the lights and bubble lights strung just right, we let the kids have at it. They decorated the tree in no time. I spent a little time yesterday spreading out the ornaments and adding some balls that they completely ignored. I'm happy to report the tree is awesome. I just love it when we get the house all decorated for Christmas.

Then Rich and I spent the rest of the weekend scouring both of the kids' rooms. Rich and Penelope took on her room while Porter and I worked on his. These kids are like mini-hoarders. We cleared out two giant garbage bags plus filled an entire garbage bin with junk. Even thought it was a ton of work and it wasn't what I was planning to do with my weekend, it's really great to have those rooms in order.

The first snowfall and Porter's first loose tooth

2011-10-25T20:24:00.001-07:00

The snow is falling. I checked weather.com earlier today and it was warning us of 6-10 inches in the next 36 hours. Totally exciting. Hopefully we get as much as they are predicting. Last year we barely got any snow and always way less than the forecasts. I only remember shoveling once last winter and it wasn't even that much to shovel. If all the hype comes true this could be like our first October in Colorado in '97. We lived in Boulder and the snow came up to Rich's waist in our backyard.

We swung by Target to pick up some new snow boots for Porter and almost had to keep shopping at another store. It looked like there was a run on snow boots. Porter's feet are three sizes bigger than last year. And, I'm going to need to get him new snow pants before the end of the year the way he's growing.

When I arrived home today Porter came out to greet me and told me he had something to tell me. He made me get close and he whispered in my year, "Mom I have a loose tooth." I felt it and it sure is loose. Then at the store he loaded all the bags in the cart and pushed the cart for me. He's growing up way too fast!! It's a good thing it's all fun. He is quite a kid.

This morning, Porter told Penelope and I that school was cancelled today. Won't he be thrilled if it's really cancelled tomorrow for a snow day.

First Duck Game for Kiddos

2011-10-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

It was a gorgeous Colorado fall day and the Ducks kicked some CU butt!! I haven't been to a Duck game in years and it was so awesome to see them play live again. You'd be surprised too at how many Duck fans live here in Colorado. Even a friend of mine from Michigan love the Ducks.

Al came out and we took the kids to their first football game. They liked all the treats more than the football action. Al and I were the steadfast fans while Rich, the kids and some friends of ours goofed around during halftime and most of the third quarter.

We scored prime parking right across the street from the school and the kids who lived in the house of the driveway we parked in had a kegger party in the back. The college kids just loved Penelope and Porter and one girl even told Porter to look her up in 10 years.

I have to tell you though, CU has the worst visitor seating I've ever experienced. The first quarter was the best because we scored 29 points and CU scored 0. The rest of the game wasn't that exciting. But it was still awesome to see the Ducks live!

Crazy busy weekend and a couple milestones

2011-03-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

Wow, I need a weekend to rest after my weekend. We had a ton of fun, but I'm wiped out.

Saturday was the Fort Collins St. Patrick's Day parade, an annual favorite of mine. Rich and I have been going to this parade since we moved here in 2000. It's grown from a one hour parade to a two hour parade. We were in the parade for a couple years as a family in support of our neighborhood swimming pool. This year was special because it was Penelope's first time marching in the parade with her cheerleading group. It was so fun to see her march by all excited and having a great time.

After the parade we had lunch with friends and then had to hurry off to a birthday party for the kids' good friend, Mattie J. In typical mom-of the-year fashion I first took us to the wrong bounce place in Loveland. And finally got us to the right place a half hour into the party. I dropped off two already tired kids to bounce and run around for a couple hours.

Rich and I took the opportunity to run to Costco to stock up and ended up back at the party a bit late. Thanks a ton to Mattie J's mom for putting up with me. After collecting two totally exhausted kiddos, we arrived back home after five and I was completely exhausted.

But, no rest for the weary, that's for sure. Porter was all set for his first sleepover so we had to get him packed. He was a bit apprehensive about the whole deal so he kept stalling. I would ask him, "Are you ready?" And he would reply, "No, not yet." After about a half hour of this and our neighbor Ben, waiting patiently in his front yard with an umbrella, I gave Porter a ten minute deadline to get going.

Penelope and I dropped Porter off and headed back to the house to finally relax. Rich made some awesome burritos smothered in red sauce for us and he headed over to the another neighbor's for a beer. Penelope and I started watching a movie, but when she nodded off I decided to throw in the towel too. The two of us were in bed by nine.

All this kid activity wears me out. Thank goodness Porter didn't get freaked out and need to come home in the middle of the night. He made it the whole night and for most of Sunday too. Now I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend ahead and it's only Monday. Ah well, it's all fun and I'm so proud of my kiddos and how they are growing up and tackling new challenges and adventures so well.

All I want for Christmas...

2011-03-14T17:28:00.000-07:00

Yep, Penelope's lost her two front teeth. She lost the first at the beginning of February and the second just last week. She's still pretty darn cute, but it's definitely funny to see her without all of her pearly whites.

A Proud Mom Moment: Porter Reads

2011-03-11T11:14:00.000-08:00

After a solid week of picking up Porter and getting bad kid reports each day, this week has been absolutely delightful. To my pleasure and relief, Porter has gotten good reports every day this week. Tuesday was especially awesome because he proudly and excitedly reported that he read his first Bob book. Of all the milestones the kids realize with Sandy (learning to use the potty, tying their shoes, etc.), reading a Bob book is the most coveted accomplishment.

I'm proud or our little guy. Now we'll see how he does at his first sleep over on Saturday night.

First School Play

2011-03-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

Penelope's class has been studying fairy tales for a couple months now. The teachers ambitiously decided to put on little plays of the fairy tales. Penelope was assigned narrator 3 for Rumpelstiltskin.

We practiced her lines over and over for weeks. Come to find out the narrators didn't have to memorize their lines. But she was ready if she did.

The plays were put on in the school library and the crowd was large. Out of the five short plays there were two instances of stage fright. Penelope, as you might figure was perfectly comfortable in front of the audience. She was dressed in a pretty, frilly dress, decorative tights and pink cowgirl boots. The narrators were seated in chairs at the sides of the action. It turns out Penelope was maybe a little too comfortable. During her first reading, she sat back and put both her feet up on the chair exposing everything under her dress to the crowd. Fortunately, the principal was up close and told her to sit right. I controlled myself and didn't yell at her from the crowd to sit proper. I didn't want to be one of "those" moms.

Despite this little incident the plays were adorable. I captured a video of Penelope's on my little point and shoot camera. Hopefully you can hear some of it.

The video is too big to load here. To see it click on one of the pictures on the right. Then click through to the video on our Picassa site.

A more perfect pizza

2011-03-06T10:08:00.000-08:00

Post from Rich

A new cookbook was recently come out entitled Modernist Cuisine. This book is a more scientific look at what happens when you cook food. While it might be a good investment at $625.00, watch for a discounted price at Amazon.com. But even that price is still a lot of money. While it is a little too steep for my frugal ways and I have Alton Brown for free, so why pay? One of the reasons might be because of all of the technical information provided and as an engineer; nothing (well all most nothing) is as much fun as math and science. One of the articles from the book was about cooking pizza and this I had to try.

Most people know that a true pizza oven is much hotter than what a home oven can achieve. A good pizza oven can reach temperatures of 850 degrees (F) while my home oven can only reach 550 degrees (F). So here is the trick that I learned. Heat up a big chunk of steel in the over. I have been cooking with a stone for years and the results are generally good, but my pizza still seems to be missing something, that something is a crisp, chewy crust. This new method of cooking pizza seems to provide a nice crisp crust that still has some chewiness to it.

The first thing that is needed is a large piece of steel. The original instructions require a ¼" piece of steel cut to size for the oven. This acts as a nice large heat sink. Place the steel in the oven on the highest rack. With the steel in place, heat the oven to the highest temperature for at least ½ an hour. Roll out the dough, top it and then turn the broiler on high. Use a paddle to load the pizza onto the piece of steel and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Pull the pizza out, cut and serve.

I found a round 3/8" thick piece of steel that fits into my oven, just barely and I caution you to be careful, thick steel is heavy. I heated the oven up to 550 degrees (F) for half an hour, disconnected the smoke detector, rolled out the dough, turned on the broiler, loaded the pizza and put it into the oven.

The results were good but this method needed a little tweaking such as using the middle rack of the oven to cook and increasing the cooking time. I was so interested in this method that I made pizza two days in a row and the second time it was fantastic. Great crust, cooked thoroughly and delicious.

If you now have a hankering for pizza, here is what I would recommend. Get a large piece of steel, a stone might work, and put it into an oven at the highest setting for at least half an hour. Roll out the dough, coat the paddle with semolina, put the dough on the paddle, load the pizza, turn the broiler on high, load pizza and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. After the time has passed, pull the pizza out, cut, cool and serve. This method has produced the best pizza that we have made so far and it has put me in the mood to make pizza all of the time. I would just caution to watch the cooking time. Cooking time is dependant on the oven, dough thickness and the amount of toppings that are used. I cannot wait until the summer when we can try this on the grill.

Cousins

2011-03-06T10:01:00.001-08:00

We escaped snowy Colorado for a weekend of birthday and Super Bowl parties in Las Vegas. We had to be sneaky and stay hidden so we didn't mess up the surprise for Keith's 50th. So we arrived at Tim and Sue's and quickly hid our car in their garage. After a great breakfast (thanks Sue!) Rich and I took a nap while Uncle Tim entertained the kids.

We got showered and headed over to Kim's for the party. We arrived to find all the cousins having a great time together. Age-wise, Travis is right between Penelope and Porter. Those three had a blast. After awhile Penelope focused hanging out with the big girl cousins, Emily and Jessica where Porter and Travis became an inseparable pair.

The weekend was a blast for us! We really enjoyed spending time with everyone and getting to be a part of both Keith's party and the Super Bowl party. The game was great since I got to see a green and yellow team actually win the big one.

The kiddos are still talking about Travis, Emily and Jessica and how soon we get to see them again. We're crossing our fingers for the end of June.

The Shinning

2011-03-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

Post from Rich

The first weekend of February, we took a little trip to Las Vegas for a cousin's surprise birthday party. As usual, we loaded up old blue and headed out for the little trip. The drive was a bit slick in spots but the long range weather report looked good and I was not anticipating any problems.

On the way home, we took our time to stop at In-N-Out Burger for lunch and a little hole in the wall, Mexican joint in Grand Junction for dinner. About fifty miles into Colorado, I noticed a sign informing us that the highway was closed at Glenwood Springs. Hoping for the best, we pressed on. After all, we have never had to wait more than a couple of hours due to weather. This situation unfortunately was not a weather issue but rather a bad accident.

When we were detoured, I inquired about the situation and discovered that the road should be open in an hour or two so we decided to put even more sugar into the kiddos and some caffeine in me to make the final push home. By a little after 10:00 PM, we decided that it might take longer than the initial estimate. It might be time to get a hotel room. The snow was falling and I just kept thinking that this was like The Shining, beautiful snow, freezing cold and a dreary situation and here we are, stuck four hours from home.

We got the hotel room and unloaded the car. The room was freezing but the kiddos were exhausted and fell asleep right after Penelope put her most recent tooth loss under the pillow.

Ingrid and I broke out the computers and informed everyone at work that we were stuck.

We got up bright and early the next morning to start the trek home, Penelope got a dollar from the tooth fairy and we enjoyed the continental breakfast. We managed to make it home with some luck. Even with our temporary detainment, it was a fun trip.

Angry Birds need manners too

2011-01-20T13:50:00.000-08:00

The kids love to play on my iPad. I've been letting them play it on the drive to drop them off in the mornings. Porter gets it until we drop him and then Penelope gets it until we get to her destination. The kids know the deal and respect each other's turns and stay remarkable quiet during the drive.

Yesterday after dropping off Porter, Penelope was intensely playing on the iPad. All of a sudden, in her very serious tone she said, "That is just rude!"

Having no idea what she was talking about I asked her what was up. Apparently a bird had exploded out of turn and didn't do what it was supposed to.

I guess the kids are actually listening to the manners lessons we constantly hand out. And no one is immune from using their manners, not even Angry Birds.

Burning crazy baby energy

2011-01-16T13:15:00.000-08:00

What do you do on a Saturday that is a little too cold and wet for skating around the neighborhood? You make an indoor skating rink in the garage. First have your Papa move all the cars out of the garage. Then gear up and go! We still needed coats, but it was tons of fun.

A Craving for Tamales

2010-11-18T12:46:00.000-08:00

Post from Rich

Recently, Ingrid and I got the idea to make tamales. This is something that we have done in the past and we had all of the necessary ingredients, green chili, shredded pork, shredded chicken and cheese except we needed masa. We went to the store and got the remaining ingredients together and set a time to make the tamales. Our plan was to get the tamales going early, relax with the kiddos and make it a relaxing evening seeing as how it was Sunday. However, this plan soon failed when we realized that the kiddos needed baths, some type of catastrophe happened to Penelope (oh the drama) and I discovered that we had twice as much shredded meat as we had tamale dough.

Due to all of the aforementioned problems, it is not surprising that we did not make our goal of being able to have a nice and relaxing Sunday evening. We managed to finish up the 40 or so tamales by 8:00PM. We then steamed the tamales for an hour and waited in anticipation. They turned out to be some of the best tamales that we have ever made.

Halloween

2010-11-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

For this year's Halloween costumes, I took the kids to the fabric store with me. We looked through the pattern books and each kid picked out a pattern. Porter picked a puppy pattern and Penelope picked out a fairy princess pattern.

Then we wandered around the store to find the perfect fabric. I directed Porter to the fleecy animal prints and colors that would work for a puppy. Completely ignoring my suggestions, he picked out a cheetah pattern and declared that would be a Cheetah Puppy. Penelope had lots of opportunity to pick fun, fancy fabrics. Her dress called for three different layers, which of course she picked a separate fabric for each.

Thinking I was being on top of things, that shopping trip was the last weekend in August giving me two whole months to sew. Well, you know how things go and it was pretty much October when I finally found some time to sit down and focus on sewing. Fortunately, it all came together with one night to spare. Both kids had Halloween dress up day on Friday 10/29.

Halloween here was absolutely gorgeous and warm. None of us needed a coat at all. The kids had a blast and thank goodness Rich insisted we bring the wagon. Their buckets were filling up and getting too heavy so they kept dumping them in the wagon. We didn't end up towing any kids home for once, but they started saying they were tired at the exact same spot they wanted to quit last year. All in all tons of fun.

I always wanted to go snow camping

2010-11-08T11:45:00.000-08:00

Post from Rich

Our Santa Fe friends, invited us to go camping and mountain biking in New Mexico for the first weekend of October. Seeing as how the crazy babies must get their craziness from someone (Mom I think), we packed up the Exploder with camping gear, bikes, babies and dogs. We set out on our eight hour drive to the land of enchantment after work on Friday.

We arrived in the mountains above Los Alamos at about 11:30PM, set up the tent and crashed. The next morning was absolutely gorgeous with sunny weather and high temperatures in the mid 70's. We spent the day mountain biking and hiking around on adventures with the kiddos. Ingrid even managed to get out on her mountain bike and informed me that she enjoyed it, compared to the last mountain biking adventure that I took her on that she absolutely hated. I took Porter and Penelope on a hike and to look for more obsidian rock which was everywhere. When we were out on our hike, I noticed some nice dark clouds on the horizon and heard some thunder. We made haste back to camp to get ready for the coming storm.

I managed to get dinner started before the rain arrived, but then it began to hail and we took the kiddos into the Exploder to watch a movie while I finished cooking up the chicken and dumplings. We ate in the Exploder and waited for the hail to stop. This took at least half an hour with periods of heavy hail mixed with periods of painful hail (it hurt through my jacket). When the hail finally stopped, we discovered at least two inches of hail covering absolutely everything. With sun quickly setting, we rebuilt the fire, had a couple of beers and went to bed. No late night carousing around the fire this camp trip. It was way too cold and wet for everyone.

The following morning, we woke up to a winter wonder land. Everything was completely covered in hail and it was freezing cold. I exclaimed "I always wanted to go snow camping," which became the phrase of the day for Porter. When things finally warmed up, we packed up camp, made breakfast and headed home.

We took the road that goes through Taos hoping to find food, without any luck. We managed to find a little hole in the wall about ten miles from the Colorado border to get some food. It was great with some of the best green chili that I have had in a long time. We managed to get home in time to give the crazy babies a bath and then off to bed, it was a school night.

Always happy to help

2010-11-08T11:26:00.000-08:00

Post from Rich

A few weeks ago, I noticed some oil leaking out of Old Blue, our trusty '99 Honda Accord. As it turned out, the oil was leaking from the radiator overflow, which was not good news. Old Blue had either blown a head gasket or had a cracked block.

I found a used engine with far less miles than our original engine and that was inexpensive thus, it was time to pull the engine. This offered the kiddos ample opportunity to help out in the garage. This "help" usually consisted of me telling them to put shoes on if they are going to be in the garage, please do not swing the chain around and please do not climb on that over and over and over.

Porter loves to ask all types of questions about what I am doing. Porter was also fascinated about using the cherry picker to pick up heavy items. He would try to "help" me raise the engine out of the car and lower the engine into the car. This was all very fun but it made it difficult to complete my task. I want put the engine into the car before Thanksgiving so we can go and visit the cousins in Indianapolis.

Number two lost and lost

2010-08-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Penelope lost her second tooth and then lost the tooth in the sand on the playground. It was hanging by a thread in her mouth for a couple days. I guess yesterday she fiddled with it just enough to finally break it loose from the gums. I'm sad I didn't get to see this second tiny tooth in her palm. Fortunately, the Tooth Fairy knew and left Penelope a dollar.

When she woke up and found the dollar, Penelope said, "Mom, I guess fairies are always watching us." Being a lover of fairy tales, mythology and mystical things myself, I love that she said this. I love seeing the imaginations of my two kids grow and grow. I'm certainly not here to squelch any of that and slam reality in their faces too soon. Life will do that for them without any help from me. I get to make it fun for them.

Toothless, but not like the dragon

2010-08-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

Penelope’s loose tooth finally came out on Monday 8/2. “I’m a big kid now!” she declared with excitement as she showed us her teeny, tiny tooth and new gap in her mouth. Did you know the going rate for a tooth these days is $1.00? Didn't we get quarters when we were kids? Yeah, but way back then we could actually purchase a full size Snickers bar with a quarter.

Porter decided he was getting a loose tooth too and left a note for the Tooth Fairy to give her a heads up. Too bad he has a while to wait before he actually does get that loose tooth.

Both kids were thrilled and excited the next morning. The Tooth Fairy made her rounds, leaving Penelope with a dollar and taking Porter’s note. I was seriously worried she’d forget :).

My Papa is an engineer and he can fix it

2010-07-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

Post from Rich

This weekend, on Saturday, Ingrid and Penelope volunteered to help in a 5K and Porter and I decided to ride the bikes over to meet them. I put the tag-a-longs on both bikes and the trailer off the back of the tag-a-long. The plan was to meet at City Park, go out for a light lunch and then take the trolley. As it turned out, we were way too early for the trolley and decided to hit the farmers market and then come back later. No surprise that we did not make it back on Saturday so we promised the kiddos that we would take them to ride the trolley on Sunday.

Sunday morning we packed up the bikes again and made the ride down town. The kiddos were so excited and kept telling us that “the trolley is coming”. This lasted a very long time and then eventually Ingrid looked down the track to see the trolley and all of the passengers getting off. We decided to walk down and see what was going on. On the way, a passenger told us that the trolley was broken.

When we got to the trolley, it was apparent that something was wrong. The trolley was tilted to one side and a large scraped section of the grass by the track was visible. One of the conductors told us the story of the trolley whiles the engineers, frantically called to see what could be done. I went to the far side of the trolley to see what the problem was and it did not look good (I think that the axle sheared off). We were then offered the chance to climb on the trolley and look around at which point, Penelope told everyone on the trolley “My Papa is an engineer and he can fix it”. I was forced to tell her that I might be able to help but the conductors had it handled, I am just glad to know that she is proud of me. In the end we took some pictures and apologized to the kiddos for being such awful parents. At least they got to spend some time on the tag-a-longs and then some time at the pool. I hope that they get it fixed.

Minus two - wheels that is

2010-07-01T20:27:00.000-07:00

On her last day as a five-year-old Penelope decided to ride her bike without her training wheels. She started out on her tiny bike and then decided to try it on her big bike. Complete success! She did a great job and can now ride on two wheels. See picture gallery in the upper right to watch the videos.

Four Kids (Kind of)

2010-06-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

Way, way back when Rich and I were first married I thought it would be great to have four kids. I knew a couple people from four-kid families and they were really cool. Then one day when Rich and I were searching for our first home we looked at one house where the family was still home.

The mom looked ragged and exhausted while her four energetic, friendly kids followed us around the house on our tour. The house wasn't quite right for us, but the first thing I said to Rich as we were getting into the car was, "I don't want four kids anymore."

Until today that is. Today we added another dog to our family. So now I have two human kids and two canine kids. Welcome to our new dog who is yet to be named. He comes with the name Brent, but that isn't quite right. We'll come up with something soon.

He's an Anatolian Shepherd mix, is one-year-old and still has some growing to do.

Making People

2010-06-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

Post from Rich

So let's start at the beginning.

One night, when putting Porter to bed, I was informed that I had a present that I needed to open. Seeing as how it was a week from Fathers day, I assumed that this was my gift. The next day, Porter actually asked Ingrid if I could open my gift. Ingrid insisted that the box in the closet was not a gift but Porter insisted that it was. After some "Please Mom, Please....." for hours, Ingrid finally agreed that I could open my father's day present early. It was actually a good thing seeing as how the weather was just awful with three days of rain.

I received a Wii system with the sports package. This was exactly what I wanted; a chance to play games with the kiddos and it seemed like a great family activity.

Once I had the game consul set up, Penelope ran over and asked if she could play the Wii, it seems like they had the system at KidsFit, the after school program that she attends. I let Penelope play as long as she shared with her brother. When I came back a half hour later, I discovered what she had been up to, making people. Penelope and Porter had put together about thirteen avatars for the system. Some named Rex or Max and others named aa165jy, or something like that. The entire point of the video game system according to them was to "make people."

Finally, A Loose Tooth!

2010-06-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Penelope walked through the door, headed straight to me and said with all seriousness, "Mom, guess what?"

"What," I said.

"I have a loose tooth," she said. "I'm so excited! An apple did it."

This is a VERY exciting moment for Penelope. She has been dying to have a loose tooth for many, many months now. Almost every other kid in her kindergarten class has lost at least one tooth. She is sure she should have by now too.

We packed up dinner and spent the evening at the pool last night with just about every other family in the neighborhood having the same idea. Penelope sought out every single person she knows to share her amazing news.

With her birthday only nine days away, we'll see if the tooth holds on until she is six or if she gets to lose a tooth when she is five.

Now, Porter wants to know when he will lose a tooth.

Finally Home

2010-06-11T09:36:00.001-07:00

Post from Rich

The last item that I needed to bring home to complete our moving saga was the Mustang. When I moved to Washington, I drove the Mustang thinking that it would be the most practical seeing as how our other cars were either being used or topless. Unfortunately, the mustang leaked like a sieve and Al graciously gave me an older Honda to drive around in. The result was that I left the Mustang parked in Al’s garage for the winter and when I moved back to Colorado, the Mustang was left behind. Porter and I rectified this situation by flying to Portland on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and driving the Mustang (Betsy) back home.

We left Oregon bright and early on Saturday morning and drove to Twin Falls, ID without many problems. The Mustang did great on the highway and it was actually fairly cool, which is a good thing seeing as how I do not have air conditioning in the Mustang. Being the sucker parent that I am, I let Porter eat just about whatever he wanted including soda, candy and lots of Cheetos. This would come back to haunt me later but it was fun.

We stayed in Twin Falls at a motel that had an indoor pool. I had promised Porter that we would find a place with a pool to stay and we did. We got in a little late, swam and went to eat some dinner. About half way through the dinner, Porter said that he did not feel well, so we went back to the motel room and went to bed. At about 3:30AM, Porter said “Papa, I do not feel too well” and then promptly threw up on the bed. Needless to say, I was up, Porter was sick and the whole room stunk like regurgitated gummy worms and root beer.

I managed to get Porter up and motivated early that morning but he did not feel well. He spent most of the drive through Utah and Wyoming sleeping in the back of the Mustang. We arrived home just in time to go to Ben’s birthday party. Porter felt fine and told me“it was a good trip” and I thought that it was a lot of fun.

Weird

2010-06-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

So I finished and published the "What is up?" and "Papa will you make me a walnut?" posts just today. When I did that they appear in the blog on the date that I started the draft so things might seem a little out of order. I'll have to sort out the draft and publish date thing later.

It's Official

2010-05-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

Porter is officially bigger than Penelope. As of last Memorial weekend '09 his feet were bigger. In March we discovered he is 2 pounds heavier. And just this week we noticed that he is a half inch taller.

Everyone has been speculating when this would happen and here we are already. Amazing since he is 17.5 months younger.

We attended a school carnival and ice cream social last week where one of the teachers asked with amazement, "Is he the same size as Penelope?" Yes, we said. "Is he starting kindergarten in the fall?" Nope, we said, "He has one more year to go."

I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head with astonishment. She then said, "Wow he is going to be a big kid."

It certainly seems that way.

We are having a great time watching our two crazy babies grow right before our eyes.

Oh, and the kids have requested that we don't call them babies anymore. They have informed us that they are big kids.

Not as big as they are going to be though :).

What is up?

2010-05-12T15:58:00.000-07:00

I think it's been awhile since we've written anything about what's up with us aside from our usual random stuff.

Did you know that our family is whole again? Rich found a job here in Fort Collins and came home in late April. The kids and I are ecstatic to have him home with us again everyday. It was a real fast switch for him. He interviewed at the end of March and they offered him the job the same week. He had two weeks to pack up and move all of his things back to CO. He drove all his things home one weekend and then made a fast back and forth trip to swap vehicles.

He's hit the ground running with his new company, VanDyne Superturbo and is already busy, busy, busy. He is definitely in his element working on engines.

I've been working for OtterBox for almost a year now and am really enjoying it. I started out as a customer service rep answering phones and helping customers all day. In November I applied for a creative writer position and got it! I moved to the marketing team Dec 1 and have been writing, writing, writing ever since.

I really enjoy the job and the workplace. The work days just fly by. I'm writing product information, company information, emails, packaging content, newsletters, you name it and I'm probably writing it. I'm also writing blogs for the company website too. You can follow our company blog as well as this one to see all of the things I write about.

The kids are great and still growing like weeds. Penelope finished kindergarten last week. I can't believe she is already done with her first year of school and about to turn 6 on July 2. Time definitely flies when we're having fun.

With Rich starting a new job and me out of vacation days to take care of sick kids throughout the year so far, we aren't planning any vacations this summer. If you are out this way we'd love to have you come stay with us. I just ask for 24 hour notice so I can pick up after the whirling dervishes I live with :).

Papa, will you make me a walnut?

2010-05-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

Now that we have Rich back home with us we are back to our large weekend breakfast routine. On Sunday, Rich was taking orders and Penelope asked him, "Papa will you make me a walnut."

Both Rich and I were perplexed. Penelope isn't a fan of nuts in general so we had no idea what she was talking about. After going round and round with Rich he finally figured it out and asked her, "Do you mean an omelette?"

"Yes, an omnut." She said.

And so, Penelope and I shared a very yummy cheese omnut that morning.

The "Mom" Loaf

2010-05-05T05:27:00.001-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to acquire a bread maker. Anyone who knows the Ingrid and I, knows that we are the king and queen of hand-me downs. The bread maker was my brother's and I decided that it might be a good idea to use it because it was with the junk that he left at the Springfield house.

My first attempt was very promising, the bread was light and tasty. My second attempt was not so good.

I was trying to make a whole wheat loaf from a recipe that I found online. The recipe had good reviews but I seemed to leave out some type of crucial step, perhaps I neglected to sacrifice a chicken in my boxer shorts and smear the blood all over the bread maker (which Ingrid calls a "monolith") prior to starting my adventure. It could be that I did not let the dough proof or let the yeast rise, the actual cause of this failure may never be known, but the results were apparent. I ended up with a brick of flour, yeast and water that had properties similar to lead, although I think that it is safe to assume that the melting point of lead is lower than that of the "mom" loaf.

At this point in time you might asking your self, what is the point of this tale, I will tell you that my mother had similar problems with her bread. When I was growing up, my mother would occasionally make bread and it was very similar to the loaf that I cooked up. We actually used to joke that it would be possible to kill someone with a loaf of my mother's bread, the only problem is that you would not be able to eat the evidence.

MOTO FIT

2010-05-05T05:21:00.001-07:00

Post from Rich

My brother- and sister-in-law are members of a "Cross Fit" gym, a semi-cult-like club that stresses intense interval workout and whole body fitness. In response to this club, which I am too poor to join, tired and lazy to attend, I have come up with my own fitness program that I like to call MOTO FIT.

The first work out is the cylinder head lift, designed to strengthen the upper body and remove flab.

The second routine is the block squat. This exercise is designed to build up strength in the lower body. It is important to note that this exercise should be done using the legs and not the back, otherwise you will end up in the flexoril relax.

The third exercise is the crank shaft curl. Check out them "gun boats."

The fourth exercise is the cylinder head power lift, once again working on the upper body. Check out that work out outfit, all that I need is a foil covered zucchini.

The final exercise is the cool down. This needs to be done with a minimum of 36 oz of beer. This is based on the axiom that "a pint is a pound the world around" therefore, this works the biceps with a total of 4 lbs, counting the glass.

Keep visiting my site for other work out tips. If you are looking for some practical advice on other household tips, check out the link below for some great beer holder advice from one of my heroes, Red Green.

Log

2010-04-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

Post from Rich

Anyone who has spent time watching adult animated features, otherwise know as cartoons for the less informed, should remember Ren and Stimpy. If you have not ever seen the cartoon, in a nutshell it is about a cat and a dog in a rather demented love affair. One of the classic cartoons is an advertisement for Log. It even has a catchy theme song:

What rolls down stairs
alone or in pairs,
and over your neighbor's dog?
What's great for a snack,
And fits on your back?
It's log, log, log

It's log, it's log,
It's big, it's heavy, it's wood.
It's log, it's log, it's better than bad, it's good."

Everyone wants a log
You're gonna love it, log
Come on and get your log
Everyone needs a log
log log log

When I saw what Penelope was working on while visiting the neighbors house on Easter, I immediately thought of the aforementioned song. She has found out how much fun having a log can be. Only her log is better than average, it has a nail in it. Too bad it cannot run over the neighbor's dog.

Thanks to Preston for remembering all of the lyrics.

Two pounds

2010-03-23T20:46:00.000-07:00

Lots of posts in one evening, but the I've been meaning to post for awhile, the snow is coming down and school has been cancelled for tomorrow meaning we don't have to get up early. That leaves me with a dish that is not giving me any channels and adrenaline left over from a little fender bender this afternoon. No damage to either car and no one was hurt, thank goodness.

Anyway, the kids stood on the scale this evening. For the first time ever, Porter is two pounds heavier than Penelope. I'll have to measure their height because I think it is the same at the moment. They both keep growing and growing and growing right before our eyes.

Hopefully we can make Penelope's snow coat last through the season even though it's looking worse for the wear.

Temporary deployment

2010-03-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

So we have been getting along pretty well with this two time zone situation. But this past week has been the hardest so far.

An amazing and cool experience for Rich, he was sent out on an air craft carrier for eight days. Some sort of three letter acronym like TDL, LDT, TDI, I don't know but part of it is temporary deployment.

The hardest thing is that we didn't get to talk or email at all during this time. Generally we talk a couple times a day on the phone, send emails throughout the day and cap the day off with a video call before the kids go to bed.

I can't imagine how military families get by when you don't hear from your favorite person on the planet for months at a time. You have to really appreciate what they go through.

Babies in a box again

2010-03-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

Penelope made such a cozy space in her box she completely crashed in it for the afternoon

Two kiddos sleeping in one box for the night

The giant shipping boxes that my pillow foam arrived in are now favorite possessions of the kids. Porter has slept in his box a few nights and both have had endless hours of fun playing in them. The topper for me was one night last week while Robin was here. Penelope wanted to sleep with Robin and Porter wanted to sleep in his box in Robin's room. When Robin and I called it a night we found both the kids sound asleep in one box. Too cute!

The pillow project

2010-03-23T20:05:00.001-07:00

The finished pillows in a stack with Lilu on the original pillow

The finished pillows

The fabric for the first pillow ready to be cut and the kids playing in the foam shipping boxes

The foam nicely compressed in plastic

Did you know that I like to sew? Well, I do in fact like to sew. A couple weeks ago I was pondering the lack of furniture in my house and the upcoming visit of Fran and her family. I was thinking that maybe another giant pillow or two would be great to have around for lounging and watching movies.

Well I went online to Robb's Pillow Furniture that is located in Eugene and after shopping and picking different pillows and different fabrics I wondered if I couldn't just make a giant pillow and how much would that cost exactly.

It just happened to be a gorgeous warm sunny day and just about my lunch hour so I left the basement at work and headed to the local fabric store. I tried to do some geometry to determine the amount of fabric and filler I would need, but seeing as math is not something I'd say I'm good at, I had a coworker help with the fabric part and then called Rich for the volume part.

I was going to just look around and price things, but I found some great fabric on the clearance shelves so I bought that immediately and headed back to work to search for filler online. In my search I also learned that shredded foam is the superior filler for pillows as it always bounces back to its original shape while the little balls that go in bean bags eventually break down and you have to refill eventually. With that new found knowledge I found a supplier who ships 12 cubic feet packages of shredded foam. I ordered two.

I dove into the sewing project that weekend, with the help of the kids. Well, they didn't really help with the project, they played in the giant boxes the foam arrived in and scattered foam all over the place during the stuffing process.

I finished one pillow the first weekend and the two remaining pillows just this last weekend while Robin was visiting. The pillows turned out awesome! Not only do they look great, they are comfy and a great place to nap. I tested this on Sunday with great success. We also caught George sleeping in them this evening.

Now if the dog fur would just stay away from these new pillows.

Spring Break eve

2010-03-11T15:00:00.000-08:00

This morning I had the pleasure of taking Penelope to school. I usually have to be at work by 8:00 and with school starting at 8:40 I don't get to drop her off often, if ever.

She cracked me up this morning. The moms all group up while the kids run around the playground before class. Not knowing any of the moms I hang back by myself while I wait for the bell to ring and the kids to go inside. Both yesterday and today Penelope took me by the hand and introduced me to the other moms. For some reason she just couldn't stand me being by myself.

While hanging with the moms this morning I mentioned how a few of the kids were wearing short skirts and shorts. I guess they thought it would be warm just because it is spring break eve. The one mom said her son wore shorts because he decided it was the last day of school. Not the last day of school before spring break. Too bad it was maybe 34 with a strong very chilly wind and he has three months of school to go before the real last day.

You be a good Papa

2010-03-11T14:55:00.000-08:00

Grumpy Porter

Happy Porter

Post from Rich

Our little boy, Porter is not a bubbling pot of sunshine like his sister in the morning. Porter is more akin to a coffee starved computer programmer. This is to say that Porter is grumpy in the morning and occasionally, all day long, especially when he does not feel good. We actually have a saying at our house, "If Porter does not feel well, everyone else around must also be miserable".

With me out of town, our normal routine is to talk on the phone in the morning and in the afternoon and then have a video conference in the evening. This assumes that I can make the evening ferry and bus on time. The ferry is usually not too hard but for some reason, the ferry has a hard time leaving on time and arriving on time. This lack of regularity, often forces me to take a later bus and miss my opportunity to talk with the kiddos via video. The video is the only time that Porter really likes to talk.

It is rare that Porter wants to talk on the phone. Usually he just says that he does not want to talk to me or else we just have a brief conversation. On Monday morning, Porter was in an especially talkative mood. We actually had a talk about what he was doing, about all of his tigers and what he was looking forward to the next that I come home. When Porter was done, I told him, "You be a good boy, Porter." His response to me was "You be a good Papa, Papa".

Is this really a good idea?

2010-03-02T19:48:00.000-08:00

Post from Rich

On Friday night, the crazy babies got the idea that we should camp in the front room. Ingrid had told them that the next time that I came home, we could all sleep in the front room. I stepped up, in standard fashion and decided that if we were going to camp, then we should be in the tent. However, I was not aware of how large our tent actually is. It was a difficult task but with the help from the crazies, we managed to get the tent set up with at least 6 inches to spare between the tent, the wall and the couch.

With the tent setup, the crazies set about making the tent seem like home. For Porter this consisted of putting as many of his animals into the tent as possible. For Penelope it was books. Then both kiddos started putting blankets, pillows and what ever other soft items that they could find to place in the tent. Once the tent was comfortable, the kiddos managed to watch television and relax. Ingrid was not feeling very well and went to bed early but I managed to stay up for a little while as the kiddos settled down and went to bed. Later during the night, I moved each kid onto the big blue pillow and crawled into the tent for a nice comfortable night's sleep. This was not the case.

I woke up at about 2:30AM with my back killing me, the kiddos had rolled off the pillow and were sprawled all over the tent. Penelope managed to move almost 90 degrees and Porter made a nice little cave, burrowing under Sasha. I went in to sleep on a nice, soft bed and waited for the kiddos to wake up with screams of terror from dreams of spaghetti tornadoes. As a side note, I had not seen "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and we watched it. The kiddos, for some reason, are terrified of tornadoes. They constantly ask "where do tornadoes live". It did not help that the movie contains a nice, large tornado, albeit a spaghetti tornado.

To my surprise, both kiddos slept in. The front room looked like an actual tornado touched down. But I figured that it was a fun experience for the crazies. When Penelope got up, she was upset with me for failing to sleep in the tent with them and Porter was his usual grumpy self, not wanting to say "good morning". Then I noticed the unique sleeping position for some of Porter's tigers. Porter managed to place his tigers into the tent windows and then zipped them up, creating small tiger ravioli in the corners of the tent. This was one of the craziest things that I have seen in a while, but what do you expect when one Papa is mixed with two crazies, without mom.

At least the summer should be fun with camping in the back yard, that is if we can keep the idiot dog away from all of the action.

But have you tried?

2010-02-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

Penelope in heart dress Feb '10

Penelope in heart dress May '09

Penelope in heart dress Feb '08

Post from Rich
I am always amazed at how big the kiddos are getting every time that I see them. I usually ask PenelopeAnn to stop growing and she responds that she does not know how. I ask if she has actually tried. The response is that "She does not know how to stop growing" and I respond that she has not really tried. It finally hit home this last visit because the cute little heart dress that Penelope is very fond of wearing, barely fits. She looks like it is about a size too small and the heart sweatsuit, now fits. I think that she has been wearing the heart sweatsuit for over a year and all of a sudden, it fits. We also had to purchase a new bike for Porter; he was starting to look like a circus clown on his old bike. They are both getting so big that I do not know how much longer I will even been able to pick them up. At least it is fun to watch them grow.

Today's not my day, Mom

2010-02-18T17:45:00.000-08:00

First thing this morning, Porter fell on his chin running up Sandy's walk. He's a brave little guy and only cried for a couple minutes. Then he got kicked out of daycare early with a 101 fever. In the car ride home he said, "Today's just not my day, Mom."

Colorado weather

2010-02-10T09:53:00.000-08:00

One weekend we are enjoying warmish weather and riding bikes. The next the kids are playing in the snow.

Lots more pictures in the Picasa album to the right. Just click on a thumbnail picture and you'll get to the whole set.

Back in action

2010-02-10T09:35:00.000-08:00

Porter with Larry, both wrapped up in his tiger cub blanket

So I finally fixed up Porter's little tiger, Larry. Way too many months have passed since I promised to do this. If you remember, poor Larry was torn wide open by Lilu. We found him in the backyard splayed wide open with stuffing all around him. I quickly grabbed Larry and his innards and stuffed him in a bag before Porter saw the carnage. I told Porter I'd sew him up like new.

On Sunday Porter wanted Larry fixed. He followed me around reminding me to sew up Larry as I finished up the weekly chores. As I was digging out the needle and thread Porter handed me the bag with Larry insistent that nothing else be done until Larry was sewn up.

To "help" Porter sat on my lap while I hand-stitched Larry straight up the middle from his rear to his chin. The kids thought it was funny that I had to sew up his bottom.

While we were at it Porter had me fix up Annabelle, his little cow too. And another cow that no one claimed until she was all sewn up and then Penelope decided to like her.

Wow, does Porter love Larry. He is just thrilled to have this tiger back in action. He has kept this little tiger with him every moment since I sewed him up. Unfortunately, it appears Lilu loves Larry too. I've had to "save" him many times already.

Both Larry and Annabelle have trucks. Porter zooms them all around the house in dump trucks that each fit into. I won't let Porter bring the trucks in the car. Porter grudgingly parks the trucks in the garage and brings the animals with him in the car. On the morning drives Porter has to let me know that Larry misses his truck.

radio ad

2010-02-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

The other morning on the drive to drop off kiddos we heard a radio ad for Nick & Willy's pizza, a local take and bake pizza joint.

Porter said to me with a slightly confused look on his face, "Mom, they just said naked willy's pizza."

I about lost it laughing as these thoughts raced through my mind:
A man named Willy naked making pizza
A man with a naked willy making pizza
Many men named Willy naked
Many naked willies...
...and on and on.

But I merely told Porter, "No, they said Nick & Willy's."

He didn't believe me and repeated, "No they said Naked Willy's Pizza." But from the look on his face you could tell he didn't like what his brain was thinking either.

Porter loves his pets

2010-01-28T13:18:00.000-08:00

After picking up Porter the other day, Penelope crashed out in the car on our way home. Waiting for a stoplight I pointed out to Porter a large pickup truck with two adorable dogs in the truck bed. Porter then said to me, "Mom we need to get a big truck so we can drive our dogs around."

"But we only have one dog," I told him.

"We need to have five dogs," Porter said.

"What about cats, do we have enough cats?" I ask him.

"No we need to have three cats and five dogs. Then we can get a big truck and drive our dogs and cats around."

I'm cool with Porter's plan, but we need a much bigger house for all those pets. And, I probably couldn't have a job anymore. Taking care of the two kids, the house and all those pets would be more than full-time work. A really big diesel pickup truck would be great too.

Come on, I can do this all day

2010-01-20T10:39:00.000-08:00

Post from Rich
On Saturday, the kiddos went to their first gymnastics class. Ingrid promised to take the kiddos to gymnastics after PenelopeAnn discovered that a neighbor, Alex was taking dancing lessons and it seemed that Penelope might enjoy it. I am unsure about Porter, but time will tell.

We took the kiddos to the class and got them all set up to participate. Penelope absolutely loved being in a dance studio because of all of the mirrors. She kept running in circles and looking at herself in the mirror. Then she found a little girl to play a run-in-circles game and they both giggled until the class started. Porter during this time clung to his mom and refused to participate.

The class got started with a warm up that consisted of playing with a parachute and doing some stretching exercises. I think that Penelope was the oldest child in the class but she did not tower over the other students and seemed to have a lot of fun. Porter did not move.

After spending some time warming up, the kids in the class moved to work on more traditional gymnastics equipment. The equipment included a balance beam, uneven bars and some other training equipment. This really peaked Porter's attention.

He slowly started to gather up courage to work on the training equipment with the other kiddos. Porter worked on the balance beam, the backwards roll, the surf machine and all of the other items that were in the room. Both kiddos were having a great time.

The class them moved downstairs to bounce on a trampoline and also jump into a big pit that was full of foam blocks. They both seemed to have a great time. Penelope had so much fun that she spent the rest of the day prancing around and acting like a happy little girl. Porter, once he did warm up to the situation also had a great time and promised to get more involved the next time.

On the way home, both kiddos decided that they had earned a treat. I thought that being able to go and play in a gym was a treat but apparently I was wrong. This led to a chorus of, "Please, may we have a treat?" over and over again. After a number of minutes of this chant, Penelope stopped and said, "Come on, I can do this all day." This must have been the funniest saying from Penelope in quite a while. Ingrid and I both started to laugh. Needless to say, I gave them treats when we returned home.

The Shark Party

2010-01-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

Phew! I can’t believe I’m still standing and that holiday season is over. What a blur it was, but tons of fun. For us the season started with Porter’s fourth birthday. What a little boy we have. I was searching for a cool activity for his party, but didn't like anything I came up with. One evening in early Dec. at dinner I asked him if he would like to have a little kid party at the house with some of his friends. He was totally into this and when I asked him what kind of party he would like he quickly stated that he wanted a shark party.

Well, that is an awesome theme to pull off. I promised him a shark-shaped cake, a pin-the-fin-on-the-shark game and shark gummies for snacks. We immediately made a list of all the kids to invite and I made an invite that night. For once I was actually ahead of the game and handed out the invites two weeks ahead of the date. It is such a hard time of year for everyone with millions of Christmas social activities that I wanted to make sure as many kids as possible could come.

Things started off well, but I quickly lost my grasp of being on top of things. With Rich out of town I have only lunch hours to myself to run around without the kids. I struggled to find a good shark poster for the game that wasn't too scary so our daycare gal who is quick with a pen drew a perfect cartoon of a shark for us. For some reason I couldn't find shark gummies anywhere, but did find shark fruit snacks that were on sale. The hard part was making Porter wait to eat the snacks and to save them for his party.

I found little rubber sharks for the goodie bags and my plan for a paint-your-own shark t-shirt activity completely fell through. I only had one opportunity to shop and the store didn't have enough small sizes in colors that would work for the party. So I scratched that game and found fish stickers for the goodie bags instead. I also found what I thought were cool little stamps of cars, turtles, trucks, etc. It turns out stamps and boys don’t mix. During the party the boys stamped all exposed skin including their faces, the shark poster, the walls, Penelope’s bed frame and some toys before we caught them.

The kids had the most fun with the 15 helium balloons I got to decorate the house. They look great loose in the house with random color strings. The kids were crazy and Porter was thrilled with the party. He even kissed his favorite girl from day care. We’re going to have to keep a close eye on that little charmer. He’s been wooing the ladies since he was tiny.

Christmas Eve: Sugar Spiked Chaos

2010-01-19T10:39:00.000-08:00

Post from Rich

As is our tradition, we make Calzones for dinner on Christmas Eve. This year was no different, at least in the beginning. We did not get an early start on dinner and we still had cookies to frost and deliver to the neighbors. Needless to say, the kiddos were eating cookies, frosting and anything else that they could find, especially if it contained sugar.

We finally started to roll out the dough for the Calzones and Porter started to play in the flour. This started with some flour on the dog and then migrated to flour on the floor and then the kiddos. In the hurry to make dinner and try and have an orderly Christmas Eve, someone (it might have been me, but I doubt it), failed to keep a proper eye on the crazies. As a result we ended up with flour all over the kitchen. The dog was covered, the kids were covered and it was a mess.

I promptly blew a gasket, ordered the kiddos to the bathroom for a bath and threatened that Santa might not be visiting this evening. As the bath ran, I broke out the vacuum and started to clean up all of the mess on the floor. When I got into the bathroom, I discovered that the crazies were in the bath tub with all of their cloths on and an inch of water on the floor. They decided it would be a good idea to wash while they got washed.

The crazies had managed to turn Christmas Eve into something that resembled a CF, I will leave the acronym for you to decipher but my version does contain an expletive deleted. At this point in time, I let the kiddos know that they might have negated all of the good (well maybe marginal) behavior throughout the year and that they would be in trouble if they did not clean up and get ready for bed, ASAP. They finally did as asked and prepared for bed.

We did not get to do the story reading, opening one present, or any of the other traditions that we try to do. Dinner was great and I crashed out on the couch by 10:30. Unfortunately, Ingrid had to finish wrapping presents, stuff the stockings, and get everything under the tree all by herself. So much for tradition, at least the Calzone was fantastic.

And Time Flies or Rambling at Best

2010-01-19T10:27:00.000-08:00

Post from Rich
I had the opportunity to return home to Colorado for the Christmas break. In all actuality, I was furloughed for the week between Christmas and New Years. I took this opportunity to spend some quality family time in Colorado and to register the 1990 Honda Accord that Al gave me.

The entire week was packed with activities. I arrived home late the 23rd. I was then shopping for Christmas presents with Penelope until 4:00 PM on Christmas Eve and by the time that the traditional Calzones and Christmas cookies were ready; it was 10:00PM. Needless to say that the combination of the 24 hour straight drive, the special Christmas beer and the full belly, I was out on the couch by 10:30, with a more than a little annoyed wife.

Christmas morning was actually relaxed, with the kiddos waiting to open presents because I was having so much fun tormenting them. Porter received a train set that I helped him set up under the Christmas tree and Penelope got a number of items but her favorite seems to be the My Little Ponies. The kiddos played with all of the toys and Ingrid and I proceeded to start making dinner. No small feat when I only have a couple of days a month that I can actually cook.

The weekend after Christmas, the family spent some time sledding and looking at new furniture for the house. Penelope had decided that the drawer on the coffee table was a great place to sit while working on drawings. Eventually she became too big for the drawer and as a result it broke taking out the whole table. Thus we went out to look for a new ottoman that would be a little more kid proof.

This leads me to another epiphany, if you are planning or thinking of having kids and/or pets, leather furniture looks great until the cat looses his balance and out comes the claws, the child decides that the couch is a great place to use a pen or discovers that if you hit the bottom of a sealed milk cup properly, milk will fly out in little droplets all over, crazy fun.

Ingrid went back to work after Christmas and so on Tuesday, I decided that it would be a good idea to pick up the ottoman and bring it home. I borrowed a pickup truck from Dede and we set out to pick up the new ottoman. The problem is that the local furniture store did not have that piece in stock, but if we wanted, we could drive 40 miles down south to pick it up. I decided that we might as well go pick it up, so I attempted to get the kiddos back into the car. I noticed only one problem; Porter and Penelope decided that they did not want to ride in the cab of the truck but rather in the bed, in thirty degree temperatures. This was further complicated by the sliding rear window in the truck. Both kiddos decided that the truck was just a big playground. I eventually drove around the parking lot with both kiddos in the back as long as they promised to get into the truck after the ride. Of course after the discovery of the rear window, Porter could not leave it closed and Penelope could not stand to have it opened. It did manage to keep them occupied while I waited for the ottoman to be loaded into the back of the truck.

The rest of the week consisted of typical things that I enjoy doing around the house, changing oil, cleaning cars and the garage. My parenting style, much to my wife's irritation, is very non-involved. This works great when the kiddos have something to watch on television or some other activity to keep them occupied. This might be part of the reason that one summer day, Ingrid returned home to find the kiddos, the swing set and part of the house covered in mud. Mud is not normally a problem but finding water in the middle of the summer in Colorado, is sometimes difficult. All that I can say is that the water would be considered "Grey" in most applications and Ingrid was thoroughly grossed out. I happened to be lucky in this case because Penelope received a mini DVD that contained some "My little pony" cartoons and the kiddos learned how to play this DVD on both the television and on the computer.

We went to the neighbor's house for New Years Eve, had great Mexican food and played some games. It was a mellow evening and the kiddos managed to stay up until the stroke of midnight. We had to be prepared for the big Duck game the following day, not to mention the Creole food that we had in mind.

New Years day we watched the Ducks stink up the place. The best part of the day was the food and the great friends. Unfortunately Penelope managed to get a horrible DVD of Barbie and the Nutcracker, bad story, bad animation, bad music and in general something completely horrible, which is why Penelope loves it. For the next two days, we argued about when she could watch it, how much she could watch and who got the next turn with the television.

This was the last night that I was at home and as a result, which is typical, the kiddos slept in our bed. Usually Ingrid sleeps in Penelope's room because it's too crowded, but this time she stayed in her own bed and I now wish that I had a house large enough to allow me to have a California King bed, so we would have enough room for the Lilu and George as well.

I left late on Saturday night and the one thing that I can say is that it was a great holiday. It was over far too quickly but that is one of the draw backs of getting older, time flies. It is also the reason for such a rambling blog entry, or is it ADD? I cannot wait until next year and I will take more time, assuming that I had not just lost a job, had a job 1200 miles from home or some other problem occurs.

Babies in a box

2010-01-05T19:50:00.000-08:00

Post from Rich

I know that we typically call PenelopeAnn and PorterBryan, crazy and it is usually because they act that way and this case in no exception. Prior to Christmas, we received a number of presents from the grandparents that came in a rather large box.

The kiddos were very interested in the presents that came in the box but when they learned that they could not open the presents until Christmas, they decided to do what crazy babies usually do and that is to act crazy.

Porter decided to go first, putting himself into the shipping box and smiling for the camera. This is not a new past time for Porter. When we were in Alaska, Porter was only eight months old and desperately needed a nap but we had been moved from our room and we were waiting for our ride. We decided to put Porter in a box to take a nap, which I am pleased to say he did. Thus Porter took his time playing in the box and hamming it up. Next it was Penelope's turn. She also took her time posing for the camera and hamming it up.

This led me to an idea, "Babies in a box" ready for Christmas delivery. I was also thinking that we could include descriptions of each available baby.

For Penelope I was thinking: "A very sweet little girl who is interested in using her GPS to help lost children and desperately wants to go to Washington to help her Papa work on submarines."

For Porter I was thinking: "A mostly sweet little boy who does not like to nap or wake up but will happily eat almost any vegetable that you can throw at him, Porter has even been known to steal bits of carrot before cooking." Warning, he might require coffee later in life.

I think that we will start taking orders later this year; the only problem is that we have a very limited number of babies in a box.

All I want for Christmas...

2009-12-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

When Penelope was asked what she would like for Christmas, she replied, "I want a GPS for Christmas so I can help lost children find their way home."

Big kid now

2009-12-16T13:47:00.000-08:00

Porter is four today. He told me earlier this week that when he turns four he will be a big kid. This morning when I woke him up to my terrible singing of the Happy Birthday song he said, "Am I four now?"

I had one little present for him to open this morning. It was a little VW Bus that he now completely loves. I asked him what he wanted to wear for his birthday and he asked if he had any VW clothes. He just happened to have a tie-dyed t-shirt from his first visit to Satellite Beach that has three little VW Beetles on it. You should have seen how happy that shirt made him. Unfortunately, I didn't have any VW shoes in the closet for him too.

I hope to have some great pictures to share of him opening presents later today. And on Saturday we are having a little kid party for him. It is a Shark Party. He picked the theme. I'm pretty sure I can make a shark-shaped cake.

It's that time of year...

2009-12-16T08:23:00.001-08:00

Yeah, I know you are thinking Christmas and yes I'm referring to that. But, I'm also talking about a small phenomenon that occurs at my house along with all of the Christmas activity.

Once the tree is up and all the decorations are set this starts to happen. The kids will be playing or watching a movie or something and then all of a sudden they are drawn to the tree and quietly move an ornament from its spot to a new one. Then they are off again doing what they were doing. It's the funniest thing ever, this constant, random rearranging of the ornaments.

I don't always see it happening but will notice a cluster of ornaments in one spot one day and then gone the next. Who knows why they have to keep changing things up, but I find it highly amusing to see this happen. They have both been doing it since they were each about two.

Last Saturday the kids and I finally got out so they could talk to Santa. I frame it that way so they have in their minds the outing is all about them getting to talk to Santa. Really, I want them to have their picture taken with him, but I don't let on about my ulterior motive.

They were both so cute while waiting in line saying they couldn't wait to talk with Santa and feel how soft his beard is. They got so caught up in meeting him and asking for what they would like for Christmas that they completely forgot to touch his beard. Santa was awesome and helped get the kids to smile by saying "stinky underpants" just as the camera clicked.

It was a perfect day for all. The kids got to meet and talk with Santa and I got a perfect picture.

The end of the "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree

2009-12-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

Post from Rich, pictue is from Dec 2006

We traditionally go to the forest to get our Christmas trees and this has been a family tradition for a number of years. Unfortunately, this year, we did not go to the woods to find a spindly little tree. In Oregon, we always got a Christmas tree that resembled a lumber harvest rather than a Christmas tree. The tree was usually at least 25 feet tall, Nobel Fir that would touch the ceiling in the Springfield house. In Colorado, we only have an 8 foot ceiling and the trees do not have the growth rate that I am accustomed to. Thus, we traditionally get a tree that most people would laugh at, but it is a tree that we found and cut down and decorated. This year was a little different.

Rather than drive to the forest, we took the family, including the crazy dog, to the store to find a tree. We took some time and choose a noble fir that was not too tall and looked good, considering our options. When we got the tree home, I was amazed at how wide this tree actually was. The normal strand of lights barely covered the tree. The heavy ornaments would barely stay on the branches. We finally got the tree set up and despite my longing for an adventure in the woods, it is a gorgeous tree.

When we finally got the tree set up, Porter decided that the tree was a big play toy, in the middle of the living room. No matter how many times we would ask him not to go behind the tree, he persisted. Porter pulled all of the car ornaments off and proceeded to play with them. Lilu could not help but pull items off from the tree, no matter what they were made of. Penelope wanted to put all of the ornaments on the tree, handle the delicate ones and then break at least one. In the end it was a fun day.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my

2009-12-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

post from Rich

Well we did not see any bears, other than the Chicago fans in the airport on the way home but we did get a chance to see a number of large cats while we were in Indianapolis. We went to a large cat rescue that is located about an hour west of Indianapolis that specializes in large cats that have been abandoned, neglected or otherwise mistreated. It is a tradition with some of Fran and Brian's neighbors to visit the refuge the Friday after Thanksgiving. PenelopeAnn and got the opportunity to see all of the cats the last time that we visited for Thanksgiving. I thought that it would be a lot fun because of PorterBryan's love of all things related to leopards and tigers.

We did not get the early start that I had hoped to get and it did not help that I got lost while on my way to preserve. I can blame this on all of the construction that was going on at the perimeter of Indianapolis, but it was a beautiful, albeit cold winter day and after a little too long in the car and flinging a bunch of crap to the not so little, little people (Maddie and Bennett), we finally arrived. The one thing that I can tell you is that cat pee smells, no matter what size the cat, and boy did this place stink. You could smell it as soon as we got out of the car.

We got out of the car and went up to pay to get a tour of the place. (This was not the reception that we received the last time that we visited. The last time that we were there, they had a dead cow that was being cut up by some guy with a chain saw that would definitely be in the running for being listed on Dirty Jobs.) We waited for a while, listening to the children whine about being cold and smelly, until we were met by one of the most unpleasant individuals given the task of interacting with the public. We started the tour but then we had to wait for another group of individuals who would accompany us on the tour.

I am not typically a "people" person, but the combination of the grumpy tour leader and the idiots who were on the tour with us drove me nuts. Once we got to see the cats, most of my annoyance dissipated and I was able to see some huge cats. I kept thinking of George but by a factor of 10, and considering how sharp George's claws are, scary. We got to see all types of lions and tigers. We also learned that a cougar is actually a puma and that they do live in Colorado.

I think that the kiddos were having a good time until a couple of the cats started making noise and then both kids got scared. I do not think that it helped that the cats noticed what type of tasty treats were just on the other side of the chain link fence. You could actually see the cats watching Penelope when she was walking with us. The idiots in the group managed to upset a cat that had a front leg from what must have been a Clydesdale horse. This did not help the kiddos, the combination of the smell, noise and the cold gave us whiny little people. But at least Porter got to see his tigers. Even with all of the drama, it was fun. It is just too bad that Maddie did not get peed on again.

Sunshine

2009-12-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

It's amazing what a difference a little sunshine can make. I just walked outside and thought to myself, "Wow, what a gorgeous day." The truth of the matter is that the temperature is only 17 degrees and it's absolutely FREEZING. Sunshine makes it all better.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T17:46:00.001-08:00

Today has been a ton of fun. Fran and I got up early and dove into the cooking. We made our stuffing, squash dish, biscuits and green bean casserole while enjoying a quiet house and kitchen all to ourselves.

Gradually the house woke up to find us rubbing down the turkey and getting it into the oven. Rich and I took a quick bike ride around the neighborhood in freezing temps and a light drizzle.

Then the chaos kicked into high gear as we made the mad dash to prepare the mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, and warm up all the dishes. With a bunch of help everything came together really quickly.

Earlier in the day Penelope and Porter discovered a toy machete. Overheard during all of the kitchen mayhem Penelope said to Porter "Don't move, I don't want to cut your whole body, I just want to cut your hand off."

After our great meal and awesome pies and cakes I would let her cut my stomach off :). We hope your day was as fun and full of family and friends as ours. Happy Thanksgiving!!

A day at the farm

2009-11-15T19:24:00.000-08:00

(Post from Rich)

Last Friday (Nov 6), I had the opportunity to join PenelopeAnn on her first school field trip. This was a very exciting day for Penelope, for a number of reasons. This was her first field trip, as previously stated but it was also her first opportunity to ride on a school bus (and it was the big bus, not the little bus). This was also the first opportunity that PenelopeAnn had to actually go somewhere with all of her class mates, even her boyfriend Gary, the boy who saved her life. (Gary’s father told me that Penelope has Gary wrapped around her little finger, I have the feeling that this is not the last time that I will hear this comment from another dad).

The field trip was to a local farm (name omitted because my old brain, cannot remember it) that is run by the city of Fort Collins. It was a beautiful day and even though Fort Collins had 22” of snow the week prior, the day was 72 degrees and sunny. It was actually warm with shorts and my favorite hoodie. The farm has all of the major food groups including cows, chickens, pigs, goats and horses (the last couple of items being food groups in some parts of the world and I have been told, they do not taste like chicken).

The turnout for this event was very good. A number of parents were waiting at the park for their kiddos, including my neighbor Tim Goodrich. Tim and Dani Goodrich have a son in the same class as PenelopeAnn and we ended up car pooling to the farm together. Tim and I were having a great time comparing stories about visiting classified areas, no details just stories about security, when we were approached by a woman who had a child in another kindergarten class. I can honestly say that I have not had a experienced a more random stream of thought in a long time.

When the kiddos arrived, each parent was given the task of directing a group of the little buggers around the farm. I ended up sharing this responsibility with another parent in a group of four kiddos. As usual, Penelope led the way through the chicken coop, the tool barn, to the goats, pigs and finally the horse area. The kiddos really wanted to see where the stairs led to. Thus, we ended up trekking up the stairs that connected the grain silo to the barn. The highlight of the trip was the playground, where everyone got to play on the corn binder (AKA International tractor). I thought that this was a little odd considering the fact that we have a play ground at school and down the street.

After all of the kiddos had their fun with the farm attractions, we went on a hay ride, with the entire class. All of the kiddos had to sit on the hay bales for the trip. We went down by the river and crossed the bike path and across the farm, not necessarily in that order. It was a great day and all of the kiddos had so much fun. I could not have asked for a better day although I never realized that the farm was that close to home.

(View more pictures from the Farm field trip by clicking on one of the photos in the right column)

The ire of the neighborhood

2009-11-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

A simple good intention has turned into a hilarious "issue" in the neighborhood.

Rich was home with us last weekend and we all had a ton of fun family time. One of Rich's projects for the weekend was to hang the Christmas lights since he won't have much time at the house until December. In general, we like to put lights up Thanksgiving weekend.

So we spent part of the weekend shopping around town for new LED lights. We like the large bulb circus color variety of lights, but they are definitely an energy drain and the LEDs are kind of cool so we can give in to the "green" aspect just a little bit. We found multi-color lights at Home Depot and Rich strung them on the house Sunday.

The kids were so excited with the process of hanging the lights. I found Porter climbing the ladder and Penelope directing the action from ground. Somehow with all of the "help" Rich got the lights all situated on the house.

It was my plan to check that job off the list and not turn on the lights until after Thanksgiving. But it is the plan of the kids to turn on all of the lights every day. Porter was so proud of himself last night when we got home. He proudly let Penelope and I know he had turned on all of the Christmas lights, both inside and outside. I hesitated a moment and decided not to kill his enthusiasm for the lights by telling him we don't want to turn them on yet and knew in the back of my mind I would hear it from the neighborhood.

And boy did I hear about it. There is a hilarious email string going on this morning among the wives about how the LaMontes not only have our lights up, but ON too.

Planning ahead

2009-11-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

Last night the kids and I drove to the airport to pick up Rich. Penelope crashed out almost immediately. Porter was talking and talking and talking the whole way there. He told me many, many things. He argued with me that a squirrel is not a critter and that he is certain it was a deer that came into our front yard and ate his jack o' lantern.

Then, as he is always one to be schemeing and thinking ahead, he informs me that "for next Halloween, I want to be a peanut."

Happy Halloween

2009-11-04T14:25:00.000-08:00

(post from Rich)

So this adventure may not seem to be as wild as my attempt to build a gas burning fire pit but spending a day and a half at home just to see the crazy babies trick-or-treat does sound, to some, like a waste of time. I can assure you that in my opinion, and everyone knows about opinions, that it was worth it.

This was one of the warmest Halloween that we have had in Colorado. It usually starts to snow on Halloween and it is bitterly cold. This day was nice and warm even after all of the snow that we had earlier in the week. Of course this led me to the belief that it was warm enough for shorts. That, is until the sun went down and then I started to freeze.

The cold did not bother the kiddos, who were all jazzed about the possibility of getting free candy. Porter was so excited, that he did not take a nap.

Our tradition is to go to a neighbor's house for a little chili to warm up and then take all of the kiddos out for some fun. This year, we decided that it might not be the best thing to go with the whole gang. This is due to the age and aggressiveness of some of the members in the group. The older boys are out to collect as much loot as possible. This is a problem because PenelopeAnn attempts to keep up and PorterBryan just gives up. Resulting in constant yelling at Penelope to watch out for cars/people and whining all night long from Porter. We did manage to have a good time with some of the younger kiddos.

Penelope was dressed in a snow princess dress and we even allowed her to wear makeup. Porter was a horse, of course of course, and when you inquired about the horses' name, he would reply "Porter". I thought that this was very interesting because all of Porter's other pet names, are separate creatures but not this one. Perhaps Porter has decided that he is a horse?

As the night went on, Porter gradually lost steam and eventually ended up riding in the wagon, even though I told him that when he was too tired to walk, it was time to go home. I stopped by a local Duck fan's house for an update on the Oregon vs. USC game for some good news and when I returned, everyone who had been trick-or-treating with us, was gone, so much for all of the fun.

We finally wrapped up all up by stopping by the neighbors house for some traditional adult treats, I chose the sweet and fizzy. She is a wine sales rep and always hands out small bottles for the parents. Her house is always our last stop. The kids haven't made it any further yet.

The highlight of the evening was watching the result of the Oregon/USC game in which the Ducks killed them. It would have been better if we could have actually watched the game, rather than just watch the sports ticker but our satellite television provider decided that this was a local game and blocked out the game. I guess that this is another reason to go back to cable.

What a great weekend although a little too short. I do miss my crazy babies.

Halloween: almost naked pumpking carving

2009-11-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

We had a really fun Halloween. I really like having that day on a Saturday. While I finished grouting the sink and back splash in our main bathroom, Rich and the kids carved the pumpkins. Penelope and Porter were just up from a nap and for some reason were sleeping only in undies. They enjoyed carving pumpkins in their underwear.

Since the kids were tiny I make them strip down to undies to have pasta. As they were already only in undies it was perfect attire for Rich's amazing red sauce made from the last harvest of tomatoes from our garden. We could barely get the kids to eat before heading out to trick-or-treat.

Rich made adult beverages for us, including Heather. I loaded up the wagon with blankets, jackets and drinks and we set out to trick-or-treat. Porter was a total hit in his horse costume and as always, Penelope was beautiful as a snow princess. She even came up with the crown that was a perfect accessory for the outfit.

We met up with some of the families in the neighborhood also dragging wagons and keeping up with kids. The night started out warm enough but within minutes seemed to drop 20 degrees. Porter continued his tradition of eating candy almost as fast as he acquired it and Penelope had a nice fall that got her beautiful dress dirty, but didn't slow her down. Check out the pictures to the right for more of the day.

Oh and our bathroom project is finally done! It looks awesome.

Snow Day part deux

2009-11-04T13:38:00.000-08:00

So, maybe you heard, we had a ton of snow last week. My work closed early on Wednesday in anticipation of many inches. I picked up the kids and we were home by 2:00. The roads to and from Loveland weren't too bad, but there was so much snow on the driveway that the trusty old Honda only made it halfway up. While I was breaking a sweat shoveling the driveway and digging out the car (thanks a ton for the help, Denton) the kids enjoyed a movie all warm and cozy inside the house.

Penelope's school called late Wednesday evening to alert us it would be closed. I woke up early on Thursday anticipating a slow drive to drop off kids at Sandy's, but after listening to the radio the roads sounded too treacherous so I decided not to risk it and called in to work.

As I was again digging out the walks and driveway (this time with no help) the kids had a great time diving into the snow and messing up my paths, again and again. Then as I was working on the driveway I cleared a wide path down the center. Porter had just come outside with his fire engine box that has wheels. I said, "Hey Porter, bring that over here and I'll push you down the driveway." This was hilarious. The kids took turns riding down the driveway and slamming into the snow at the bottom. To see the fun, click on one of the pictures to the right and navigate to the snow day pictures and then click through each of those. There are about six videos to enjoy in those pictures. The kids actually took turns running the camera and did a great job.

A Porter moment

2009-10-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a really nice, warm evening. As we were driving home from Sandy's I spotted a Shelby Cobra that was out for a drive. I said to Porter, "Hey, look a the cool car." Porter spotted it too and said, "Hey mom, that's a Shelby" I think this kid is going to be just like his dad when it comes to cars, machines, engines, etc.

Rich tells a story that when he was three he heard a car coming down the street and said to his mom, "Cedes Benz, Cedes Benz." Now we have a story of Porter at the age of three pointing out Shelby Cobras

I was snow hat shopping for the kids last week and found two very nice Sherpa style snow hats for the kids. But I also found the coolest hat for Porter. He is our little shark lover so I just couldn't pass it up. As you can see from the pictures he likes to wear it covering half his face.

I just noticed as I was loading the pictures that Porter happens to be holding his pet leopard shark, Norman. See what I mean about shark lover?

Rich's turn: Another crazy idea

2009-10-15T20:03:00.000-07:00

(This one was written by Rich)

If you do not know, I have taken a job in Bremerton, WA and I have been coming home every other weekend to visit the family and fix all of the items around the house. Well one day at work, I got this wild idea to build a propane powered fire pit for the chili fest. My original idea was to use fire pit glass and make a small burner to put in the fire pit. This idea was quickly changed when I discovered the cost of the fire pit glass and the amount of glass that would be required in addition to the cost of the other material such as the burner; I decided that this was a perfect DIY project.

I figured that this should not be too much of a problem. I know that a number of people will tell me that this is dangerous but I figure that it is not any worse than building my three tier brewing stand. It is hard to get more dangerous than propane, fire and boiling liquid (not to mention that brewing beer usually involves drinking beer). So when I was back at home, Porter and I went on a hunt to find all of the components that I needed to make this Rube Goldberg contraption.

One of the problems that I have about being so far away from home is that I have moved all of my tools and when I go home, I do not have any of the standard tools that I am used to having around. This includes such items as my propane torch, solder and flux. Porter and I went over to a friend's house and managed to borrow such items to start on our adventure. The next stop was to Home Depot for tube, fittings, ends and sand. I decided that sand would work almost as good as glass fire rock at a fraction of the cost (and yes it does not look nearly as cool). I managed to secure all of the items that I needed for about $30.00.

Porter and I then managed to build the contraption in the garage with the assistance of an awl and a couple of broken drill bits. We test fired the fire pit in the backyard with Porter and Lilu becoming increasingly interested in the fire. I had to ask them to stay back on a number of occasions but I think that Lilu might have singed some whiskers. I then put the sand into the fire pit and lit it off again, checking on the temperature of the solder joints and watching the rocks. It all seems to have worked well. I get a little soot from burning but it is much more pleasant than all of the smoke that is produced by burning wood. Now all that I need is a nice cozy evening at home to enjoy the fire pit and then perhaps the hot tub. Perhaps we will also throw in some smarshmellows.

Babies don't help

2009-10-14T12:44:00.001-07:00

Rich is very fond of reminding me that "babies don't help." Since the kids were about two they each want to be involved in what Rich and I are doing. They both say "I want to help."

When I'm baking this usually means they play in the flour and make an incredible mess. Including, one time when Lilu was a puppy Porter completely covered her in flour. He still thinks that is seriously funny. Lately, it means each kid gets to crack an egg and drop it into whatever I'm making.

On Saturday morning, Rich was shoveling the snow off the deck so we could enjoy the hot tub and maybe enjoy his new gas-powered fire pit. As you can see from the picture, Penelope was "helping" by pushing the snow the wrong way onto the deck. Rich was trying to convince her to push the snow off the deck. Once again he proves his statement right, "babies don't help."

More weekend fun

2009-10-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

The snow and freezing temperatures weren't the only excitement for us over the weekend. We also learned that our crazy dog enjoys chewing on tin cans. We keep our recycling bin in the backyard just off the back porch. This must have been a recent discovery for Lilu because she had a hay day digging out the tin cans and racing around the yard with the empty milk cartons.

Downside to all the doggie fun is that she cut one of her pads pretty badly while holding down a can to chew on it. Remarkably, no injuries to her mouth or gums, yet. I now have to rework my recycling bin strategy because she also tore up and scattered a whole bag of paper recycling I had in the garage.

As you know Rich is very handy and comes up with great ideas for improvements around the house. For a couple weeks he has been stewing on the idea so change our backyard fire pit from wood burring to gas burning. He and Porter spent their Friday together running around to gather parts, rocks and fill the propane tank. Rich's project was a complete success. We can now enjoy a nice backyard fire without smelling like a campfire afterwards. Unfortunately it was waaaayyyyy too cold to enjoy it last weekend.

Saturday morning surprise

2009-10-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

This morning Penelope came into our room and woke us up announcing that there was snow out side. She said it is all "bright white and shiny." It snowed all day on Thursday but every flake melted the instant they hit the ground.

Yesterday afternoon Rich loaded up the car with the wagon, hot chocolate, coats, mittens and kids to go watch the CSU Homecoming parade. I met up with them after work just in time to see the marching band -- always the best part of any parade in my mind. The kids had a blast catching and chasing down the candy throw from the floats and eating it as fast as they could acquire it.

After the parade we made a quick run to the store. As we were done shopping a strong wind started up and when we got home and were unloading the car snow flakes started falling. This time it started to stick right away and we woke up to a few inches this morning. The roads are all clear but everything else is covered.

As you can see from the photos I still need to get snow hats and snow pants for the kids for this season.

Snowy mountains

2009-10-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as I was driving Porter to Sandy's we turned west and had a beautiful view of the mountains. I pointed them out to Porter noting all of the snow. He got all excited and said, "Mom, we need to go up there so that I can talk to Santa."

Speaking of snow, Loveland ski resort is the first to open this season as of today. And snow is predicted to fall here tomorrow.

Protesting the processes

2009-10-01T09:44:00.001-07:00

I don't know what it is this week, but the kids are just not interested in going with the flow. They are
protesting getting up
protesting eating breakfast
protesting getting dressed
protesting getting in the car
protesting wearing seat belts
protesting going to Sandy's and school
protesting on the drive home at the end of the day
protesting eating dinner
protesting taking baths
protesting going to bed
you name it and they are not up for it.

In my mind, these are all the things that we have to do each day no matter what so a protest isn't going to help them, they should go with it.

Oh and in case you are wondering what a protest "is" these consist of crying, whining, throwing fits, refusing to move, remaining immobile on the floor, etc.

Hopefully this will soon pass.

Morning drama

2009-10-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

Last night a storm was blowing in and the winds were crazy all night long. The dog woke me up at 4:30 a.m. to go out. I roused myself just enough to open the door and get back to bed. Next thing I know my alarm is going off at 5:00 a.m. and I totally freak out because the dog never asked to come back in or bothered the neighborhood barking at squirrels. I went out into the cold, windy, dark morning barefoot in my pajamas to find the dog gone and the fence wide open. I forgot that the strong winds can gradually unlatch the gate.

I can't go out searching for the dog because I have sleeping kids in the house and there is no way I'm waking them up early. So I take my shower, dry my hair and sit down at the computer to look up the Humane Society number when all of a sudden I hear a dog barking. Running down the middle of the street is Lilu. I dash out the front door and get her to come. Amazingly she made it back home. Who knows what she'd been up to for an hour out and about on her own, but she's completely exhausted.

Thank goodness none of the awful things I was imagining had actually happened to her. She's not that bright so I was sure she'd been hit by a car or something. And, I'm so glad I didn't have to tell the kids their dog was gone. Phew, dodged the bullet on that one.

Farm Day

2009-09-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was first weekend that Rich didn't come home. I had on my list of things to do to get out supply of chiles roasted before the season ends. I emailed a local grower and found out they had plenty of peppers and they would be at the Saturday Farmer's Market.

I got the kids going as quickly as I could for a lazy Saturday morning. The weather was gorgeous. Cool, sunny and beautiful. I loaded the little wagon in the trunk and the kids and I headed downtown.

Right off the bat we ran into a friend of mine who is now an organic farmer. She invited us to an open house on her farm later in the afternoon. Since I only had morning plans her event fit in perfectly for our day.

The kids and I roamed through the market. Porter pulled the wagon with a bear and a mouse in it. We gradually filled the wagon with some apples, a loaf of bread and then our four bushes of peppers. Porter handed the wagon handle back to me once the chiles were loaded. After a stop at the honey vendor to pick up some raspberry whipped honey and a stop for an amazing bundle of flowers in my favorite type of vase - a mason jar, we loaded the car with our goodies and headed home for lunch.

We then picked up Heather and set off for the Wolf Moon Farm. It was still a gorgeous day, warm and sunny, but not too hot. We first met two dogs and two kittens. We then saw 10 alpacas and two lamas. The kids picked a pumpkin out of the field and painted them. They then got to dig up potatoes out of the dirt and best of all, they met a three-month-old alpaca named Maddie.

Check out all of he pictures on the Picasa site.

Rough day for kiddos

2009-09-16T18:25:00.001-07:00

Hey mom, don't bother me I'm tired and I want to watch the movie.

Picture day

2009-09-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was picture day at school for Penelope. She picked out a cute shirt and skirt and then after talking with her Papa changed her mind to wear her bumble bee dress from Nana. I'm glad they only take pictures of the top half of the kids. PA's socks and shoes didn't match each other or the dress. She's definitely taking after me in enjoying lots of color, but hasn't become sensitive yet to making sure things actually go together.

The order form for the pictures had some promotional images of kids' school pictures. Since Penelope has been posing and scrunching up her face for pictures lately, I handed the flier to Penelope to show here a cute smile of one little girl. She insisted on taking the flier with her so she would be sure to smile well. I can't wait to see how the pictures turn out.

I heard that the photographer called each kid by a nickname. He called Penelope bumblebee.

Keeping up

2009-09-10T12:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, I'm terrible. It's been a week since I last wrote something. So much to do and so little time.

We are all doing well and working through the family being in two places at once. Rich came home for the holiday weekend which went by way too fast. While he was here we had a great time with visits from Jenn and Robin and Al.

The Tour de Fat took place on Saturday and even though we knew we couldn't ride in it because of my knee we were still bummed out to watch the parade and not be participants in it. The festival was fun as always. A lot of the costumes were really creative and fun. I didn't end up dressing up as anything so I'll have to save my Glinda the good witch outfit for next year.

The kids are good and I think finally settling into the new school year patterns. Today on the way to drop off Porter at Sandy's I angled the rearview mirror down to see the kids better. Porter noticed himself in the mirror and all of a sudden was furiously trying to pat his hair to make it flat. I thought he woke up very cute with his hair standing straight up and spiky on the top. I guess he prefered it to be flat. Unfortunately for him his hair would not smooth out.

Next week is school pictures for Penelope. I gave her a heads up to be thinking about what kind of hair she wants and which outfit. I'm looking forward to what she comes up with.

I've had the pleasure of joining Penelope for lunch at her school twice now. It's so fun that she really wants me there and that I'm like a superstar for all the kids. Penelope waves down everyone she knows and tells them that I'm her mom and that she is having lunch with me. Too cute. We have made a plan to have lunch once a week on Wednesdays. She has asked to get hot lunch so I filled up her account with some money so she can try that now and then. I guess I'll have to dig out the lunch calendar to let her know what is available each day and let her pick.

We enjoyed the last day at the pool on Monday in mostly nice weather. A little lightning and thunder blew threw late in the afternoon, but we had a great time anyway. Both kids are swimming on their own now. Penelope can swim to the ladder from both the deep end diving board and the slide. Porter can swim to the side from the slide, but doesn't quite get to the ladder on his own yet from the diving board. Overall, they both made a huge leap in their swimming skills.

The kids asked to have their training wheels taken off their bikes. Porter didn't like it at all so we put his back on. Penelope is gung ho for trying to ride without the training wheels, but doesn't have the balance thing down yet. She'll have plenty of practice time this fall. The funny thing is I bet Porter could pick it up before her as his physicality is way ahead of hers, but he just doesn't want to try it yet.

Two time zones

2009-09-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

I thought you might be wondering how it is going for us this week. Rich packed up a bunch of stuff and headed West on Satuday. I've been moping around since he left. Fortunately, he will be flying home this weekend to be with us. This is definitely a hard adjustment for all of us.

He started work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on Monday and has been through two days of orientation. Today he starts with his team so I'm looking forward to hearing about his day.

On the fun side of things, the kids and I spent a lovely evening with Sue and Doug Tichenor at Boyd Lake State Park last night. We had a BBQ meal and then the kids had fun throwing rocks into the water at the edge of the lake. The mosquitoes also had a great time biting the kids.

I have been making great progress on tiling our main bathroom. Ok, I don't call this fun, but at least it is going well. I've been staying up way past my bedtime to I can get everything done before this weekend. We are looking forward to a visit from my friend Jenn today and then for a visit from Robin and Al on Friday.

The New Belgium Tour de Fat, my favorite local festival, is taking place here this Saturday. I'm bummed that I won't get to ride in it thanks to the torn meniscus in my knee. But that won't hold me back from enjoying the festival and a beer or two. I need to get the fairy princess costume back from Kelsey so I can wear it. The platinum curly blond wig is my favorite part. In fact the wig might go great with my beer wench costume. Hmmmm, now which one do I wear?

Casserole

2009-08-28T09:52:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday night we couldn't decide what to make for dinner. Rich rummaged around the fridge and came up with a plan. He boiled some egg noodles and warmed up some pork green chili. He then mixed them together, shredded cheddar cheese on the top and popped it in the oven. It was awesome and reminded me of casseroles from my youth, but with the spicy green chili twist. I absolutely loved it. I think I'll be eating lots of salads while he is in Washington. He's definitely the idea man when it comes to cooking. I'm great at the execution, but never know what to make.

Catching up

2009-08-28T09:31:00.001-07:00

Wow, it's been more than a week since my last entry. So to catch you up...

Penelope loves school. She was pretty bummed out the second day of school because she did not get called on by the teacher. I think the transition from being one of 8 kids to being one of 24 is a little hard for her. On Tuesday she came home with good news, she had been picked to be the teacher's helper that day. That made her feel so much better.

She's coming home completely exhausted each day and struggling with that a bit. She's a slow eater (maybe she inherited this from Aunt Fran?) so I don't think she is eating enough throughout the day and she is definitely worn out. When she gets this tired and hungry the slightest thing upsets her and makes her cry. We've had a breakdown almost everyday.

Penelope is a really good milk drinker. She'll pick milk over soda, juice or water every time. I sent her to school on Tuesday with money to buy milk at lunchtime. At the end of the day when I asked her if she figured out how to buy milk she said to me, "Yes, and I had chocolate milk and it was great." I didn't sent the money so she could buy chocolate milk. We had to have a chat and discuss that she could have chocolate milk on Fridays, not everyday. Man, kids are tricky.

Porter is doing great as the big man at daycare. He is just not a morning guy though. I'm contemplating an incentive program to help inspire him to get up, out of bed, eat and get dressed. I haven't worked out the details yet, but plan to try something new starting Monday. Something has to work to get that kid moving in the morning.

Rich is heading to Washington this week. He left on Monday and drove out in the Mustang. The car did great, but is apparently not comfortable and VERY loud. He came back to Fort Collins on Wednesday with his Dad's truck and trailer to take out some of his tools and his brewing gear so he'll have something to do in the off hours. He plans to head West again tomorrow morning. His first day of work at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard is Monday 8/31. He is staying with his cousin Gavin and Stephanie and Gabriel. He plans to take the Seattle bus and then a ferry over to Bremerton each day. Rich plans to fly back here every couple weeks to be with us.

In the meantime, Rich has been working like crazy on our bathroom remodel project. It is starting to look awesome. I'll be diving in to do the tile work this weekend. It's fun to see it all coming together. I think Fran and Brian inspired our color choice, it's a turquoise/aqua blue color similar to their Indy bathroom. We are doing all white tile for the shower and counter, but I picked up some glass tiles to scatter randomly in the shower stall that should look really cool.

Tonight we are going to a neighborhood potluck pool party. I'm hoping it stays warm though the evening so it will be comfortable to swim when the sun goes down.

Water babies

2009-08-28T09:23:00.001-07:00

As our lives are settling into being back at work and with school starting I'm daydreaming of vacation again. Here are some awesome underwater pictures of the kids. Dedeann had a new cool camera. The kids took it over and ran the battery out with all of their underwater pictures and videos.

First day of school

2009-08-19T20:43:00.001-07:00

Welcome to kindergarten

2009-08-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

Today Penelope finally got to meet her kindergarten teacher, Mrs Nielsen. She's known her name for a couple weeks now, but just met her today at the kindergarten welcome picnic. She had a blast checking out her classroom, finding her desk and her cubbies. She can't wait to officially start tomorrow.

Speaking of kitchen messes...

2009-08-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

Last night we didn't even get started cooking dinner until around 6:00. Rich had a huge craving for Cajun food so he dove in and made both jambalaya and gumbo. I pitched in by chopping veggies and making the hush puppies.

Most of the labor was Rich's though and it wasn't until 9:00 that we all got to eat the amazing food.

It took two dishwashers full and me washing six pots by hand to clean up the residual mess. Good food does not leave a kitchen sparkly clean. Lots of labor is required to make the food ant to clean up afterwards. Which is so hard on a fully belly.

What with the pork green chili Rich made last weekend and the two giant pots of Cajun food this weekend, our freezers are officially full. Now where are we going to put those four bushels of hatch green chilis we intend to buy in a couple weeks?

Our minion has quit

2009-08-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

While out in Florida, after making pizza for about 20 people Rich and I were informed that we are no longer allowed to make pizza at Brian and Fran's house. That is unless we clean up the entire mess afterwards. So I take this to be the full resignation of our minion, little sister Fran. I am grooming two candidates to take over this role from Fran. Penelope and Porter are each going to be very helpful at certain things. But they have a few years to go before they can even come close to being as helpful as Fran has been for us over the years. Thanks, Fran for all your help we miss you :).

Bikes, Beer and Rain

2009-08-16T15:58:00.001-07:00

Rich and I took a break from our bathroom project and house cleaning work yesterday to get out on the bikes and enjoy some beer. Rich's college buddy, Katie was performing with her belly dancing group at New West Fest. Every time we try to go see one of Katie's performances we get waylayed and never make it. This time I was determined we would see her and actually be on time.

Once again the stars aligned against us. Just as we loaded up the bikes, packed the kids into the bike trailer and were heading out we were hit with a downpour. Rich and I grabbed beers and sat on the porch to wait it out. The kids got out their umbrellas and had fun stomping around in the rain.

The weather cleared up and we made it downtown late for the performance, but just in time to see Katie's second group dance. Penelope has decided she would like to be a belly dancer too. I think it's because of the pretty outfits more than the actual dancing.

After the performance we made our way through the festival and landed at the New Belgium Brewery. We enjoyed a few samples and then took the kids out for ice cream. Treats for all! We almost made it home in time before the next down pour.

Slow day at work...

2009-08-14T14:19:00.001-07:00

...equals lots of blog postings. I think I'm about caught up. Happy Friday!!

Good friend visit

2009-08-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

I've had a fun week. My friend Angie came to see us for a few days. I started the week by meeting Angie down in Denver for the evening. We had a great time sitting rooftop right across from the Coors Field watching people attend a Rockies game. It was a big evening for the Rockies. Every time we heard loud cheering we watched the TVs to see what the commotion was all about. The rest of the time we enjoyed a gorgeous summer evening dining and enjoying beer al fresco.

On Tuesday, Angie and I went out with some of my local gal friends for a girls evening downtown. Again we sat rooftop and dined al fresco at the Stonehouse. We wandered around a little bit and had one more beer at Lucky Joes. I just love downtown Fort Collins at night. Always tons of people out and lots of activity going on.

We spent Wednesday evening chez LaMonte with the family and enjoying the community pool. Rich and I then introduced Angie to pork green chili and ate enormous smothered burritos.
Unfortunately, I had to work, but Angie did a great job of filling the daytime hours. Tuesday she took a day trip to Golden and did the tour at Coors. Wednesday she enjoyed a hike outside of Estes Park and a tour at the New Belgium brewery. Thursday she tooled around downtown Fort Collins, met me for lunch and visited the Odell's and Fort Collins breweries. She definitely had a beer filled visit, but lots of LaMonte family fun too.

It was great fun for us too. we need to head south to visit her in Tempe, but I think we'll wait until winter when the temperatures are more comfortable. Thanks for coming to see us, Angie!

New sweater

2009-08-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

Last week we received a box of hand-me-downs for Porter from the Walz family. We didn't look through them until Friday evening. In there was a navy blue sweater with a fire engine on it. The the engine starts on the front of the sweater and wraps all the way around the back. Porter absolutely loves it. In fact, even though the temperatures were in the 90s, the crazy kid wore the sweater for the entire weekend.

Gearing up for school

2009-08-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

Little Penelope starts kindergarten on Wed 8/19. The two of us spent a good part of the day on 8/1 school shopping. Rich and Porter went shopping too and Porter got new Lightning McQueen tennies, new undies and new socks. Porter's undies are of Disney characters. His favorite pair are the Wall-E ones. I tell him he has a Wall-E butt when he wears those.

Penelope and I started at Target and ended up getting everything we needed at the one store. Penelope is good at helping me remember things so our list for the day was new clothes, undies, socks, shoes, and school supplies. As we finished one thing I'd ask her the rest of the things on our list and she'd direct me to the next task.

We worked on new clothes first. I told her she could pick things with an "S" on it or things on a yellow hanger and that she could wear dresses to school. At Sandy's dresses were not acceptable. Penelope figured out this process very quickly. She started by picking the exact outfit she saw on one of the displays and then had a great time working through the racks picking cute new things. She did a great job finding things on sale too. All throughout the day she told everyone who would listen that "she is starting school in the fall."

On Tuesday our friend Dani picked up the kids for me and helped Penelope learn the name of her new teacher, Mrs. Nielson. Dani asked Penelope if she knew that school started in a week and a half to which Penelope replied, "No it doesn't, it starts in the fall." Dani helped her figure out that it really does start next week.

Also on Tuesday Penelope came home declaring that she can read. And it's true. When I first met Sandy to have her take care of the kids for us I thought she made a very bold statement when she claimed "all of her kids read when they start kindergarten." I thought this was a good thing, but wasn't sure it could be true. Well, for Penelope it sure is. This week she has been reading "Bob" books and has four completed so far.

Penelope's last day at Sandy's will be Monday. Just last night when we were hanging out in the hot tub Porter declared with tears that he wants to go to school too. He hasn't displayed any thoughts one way or another about the school thing until just last night. I think he is going to have a hard time not having his sister with him. I'm sure once he gets through it he will really like being the big man at day care, but for the moment we have some change to help him transition through.

I'm looking forward to Tuesday. I have the day off to attend the kindergarten welcome picnic with Penelope. We get to go have lunch and get her and all of her supplies settled in her classroom. Speaking of supplies, it is remarkable to me what we have to provide for the classroom. I won't go on about it, but a ream of paper and dry erase markers? I know those aren't for the kids. Don't we pay taxes that go for stuff like that?

Morning topic

2009-08-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

Driving to Sandy's this morning Penelope told me, "Mom, when I grow up I'm going to be an artist and go diving in the ocean and find mermaids."

Not to be left out Porter said, "Mom, when I grow up I'm going to go in the ocean and find sharks."

...errrrr kind of morning

2009-08-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

My usual approach to driving is not to honk at people who are bad drivers. I figure if they want to behave that way then it's their issue and they are responsible for their actions. But this morning, it's a darn good thing the horn on the Comet is dismantled at the moment or I would have honked my way from Loveland to downtown Fort Collins. I had to slam on my brakes multiple times for people who jumped lanes in front of me. Maybe people forget this, but it is important to make sure there is room for you in the lane you want to move to before actually moving into that lane. It's not my job to stop in the middle of traffic so you can switch lanes.

Today is a bad day for crazy drivers to pull in front of me, or maybe it is a bad day for me to be operating a car? Considering I maybe got 4.5 hours of sleep last night and had to wake up exhausted kiddos who cried and fought waking up, fought eating breakfast and fought getting dressed. Also, the kids seem to have caught colds over the weekend and now I'm feeling crappy too. Maybe I should have stayed in bed and let the kiddos sleep in too?

We all did have an awesome time at the Lakeside Amusement Park last night :). The kids love rides.

If I only had a quarter

2009-08-03T21:02:00.001-07:00

On one of our nights out in Satellite Beach we all ate at Long Doggers. A local hot dog and fried food stand that the Smartinis frequent often. While the adults enjoyed socializing the kids whether teenage or my little ones enjoyed the vending machines. I don't think a single adult was left with a quarter in their pockets by the time we left that night.

On the morning of the Smartini wedding Rich, Dedeann, Gina, Molly and I took Maddie, Bennett, PA and PB out for breakfast at Beachside Grille just down the street from the house. After ordering Penelope noticed a giant gumball vending machine at the front of the restaurant. She happened to have a dime and a couple pennies.

She started investigating her options by asking all of us if her dime or pennies would work in the gum machine. Upon learning she would need a quarter she worked her way around the table asking everyone for a quarter. I told her she couldn't have gum but she continued to question everyone multiple times to see if she could dig up a quarter. The mean mom that I am, I then told her to cut it out and that she could not have a quarter from anyone and could not have gum.

At some point when I was chatting with Rich and Dedeann, Penelope pulled a fast one. None of us saw it happen. All we knew was that all of a sudden she had money.

It turns out Porter dropped his shark under the neighboring table. As she helped him retrieve the shark she struck up a conversation with the grand-parent-looking couple sitting at the table. Next thing we know she had a quarter. Dedeann was sitting right next to me trying not to laugh and I'm ticked that she has wheedled money out of a stranger. I told Penelope that she could definitely not spend that quarter and that she was in trouble for asking for money.

Penelope told me that she did not ask for money. She said she merely told the people that "I really wish I had a quarter. No one has any quarters and I would really like one."

As Penelope sits there brooding about not being able to use her quarter she says "Porter can have a quarter." And hands him one. Then she does the same for Bennett and Maddie. So, as Dedeann is about exploding with laughter we learn that Penelope has sweet talked this couple out of not only one quarter, but four.

The mind of a 5-year-old is amazing. Someone once told me that young kids are like little lawyers, they can spin any situation to their benefit. Penelope has demonstrated her expertise at getting a payoff for her cuteness and then talking her way out of trouble. All she needed was a quarter.

Vacation pics

2009-08-02T21:24:00.001-07:00

I have finally posted some of our pictures from the trip. They are on our Picasa site http://picasaweb.google.com/superme6. Check out JUL09 and Smartini Wedding albums for the latest pics. Also bookmark this URL so you can check it now and then to keep up with us.

PA and PB lingo

2009-08-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

More fun sayings from the kids:

Flippers = slippers
Rollcompster = Porter's word for Roller coasters
Smarshmallows = the white gooey part of S'mores

Sleeping with geckos

2009-08-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

Porter is a very sweet kid. He is quite the charmer and is helpful and sweet with people. But, when it comes to waking up he is a complete grumpus. Most mornings we say he is getting his grump on and some mornings we don't even talk to him because he gets way too upset about everything.

At Fran and Brian's place in Satellite Beach Porter woke up from a nap the happiest I've ever seen. He was sleeping in the room where Rich and I stay and when he woke up he spotted a gecko on the ceiling. He was instantly happy and thrilled to see the gecko. It was a tiny one and really quick. Porter called us all into the room and as we all arrived the gecko was quickly making his exit.

The kids had a great time hunting for lizards and geckos at the Smartini place. But nothing beats sleeping with a gecko in your room.

Home again, home again

2009-07-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

Our long, long drive home went very well. Thanks a ton to Susan for the tip about 5-hour energy drink. I was able to take the night shift and drove seven hours in a row. A total record for me. And no headache from the sugar and caffeine I usually get after drinking Red Bull.

The drive across all of Kansas today was gray, cloudy, and stormy. The sun came out a bit once we hit Colorado, but we arrived home to cool weather and gray skies. Our yard and gardens have gone nuts. Our neighbor said we got 4 inches of rain in one day last week. Remarkable for this area. We are all seriously golden brown from our time in Florida. I think we'll stand out a little around here.

The kids are very sad to leave their new official cousins Maddie and Bennett. I didn't have the heart to tell them it will be wintertime before we get to see them again. Plenty of exciting things to keep them occupied starting up pretty quick here to distract them in the meantime. Thanks a ton Brian and Fran for wonderful hospitality and another awesome vacation in Satellite Beach.

I can't believe it is the end of July already. We have our anniversary on Friday, then Penelope starts school in the middle of August. Rich has an interview this week with the office of personnel for the position in Bremerton. Keep your fingers crossed all goes well for him. Without any more bumps in the road he will start his new job out there the same week PA starts school. It'll be crazy for us for awhile.

I just smashed a mosquito on my brand new monitor screen. Hopefully that doesn't leave a mark. I'm off to bed now hoping to get some good rest after the short naps in the car over the last day and a half. Here's to getting back into the swing of regular work life again.

...oh and Pools

2009-07-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention that we swam in a couple awesome pools here this week. Both are saline pools and don't have chlorine in them. Both are naturally heated and nice and warm with the regular 90+ days here. Thanks Mannings and Charlie for sharing your pools with us.

Cousins, Uncles, Aunts, Turtles and Pools

2009-07-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

Now that Fran and Brian are officially married all of us now have new roles. Rich and I are an aunt and an uncle. The kids are all now cousins. So the fun today was to call each other with our new titles. It was most fun for Brian's kids to call Rich "Uncle Rich" and watch him bristle.

I got my first "Aunt" job request today. Bennett asked me if I can sew or knit. I'm no good at knitting, but sewing is something I continue to like and improve upon with each project. Well, Bennett would like me to make him a Max suit. You know, Max from "Where the Wild Things Are." I need to go view the trailers for the movie so I can get an idea of exactly what Bennett is thinking. Perfect timing for his request, I can get started next month and have time to ship it back and forth once or twice to make sure it fits right for Halloween.

On Friday night we stayed up late at the beach to watch turtles come to nest. A group of the older kids and a dad or two went out scouting and called the rest of us when they spotted a turtle. I had Porter with me and his little legs don't get us anywhere too fast. As the rest of the gang was enjoying watching a turtle pull herself out of the ocean and up to the dunes Porter and I were still making our way down the beach. We made it to the group just in time to see the turtle head back into the waves. Rich keeps talking about how cool it was to see the turtle do her thing.

I'm sad to say, vacation is over now. We plan to get up early, load up the car and head out for breakfast by 7:30. We are homeward bound and looking at a 30 hour drive to get there. Fortunately PA and PB are so exhausted from the fun and crazy week that they shouldn't get sick of the car too soon. They will most likely sleep a ton. That's what I'm hoping for that anyway.

Even though I brought my card reader, I haven't had time to load a single picture. Watch for pictures of the trip later this week.

Beach day, wedding day

2009-07-26T06:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of the most fun weddings I've been to, aside from my own that is. Fran and Brian got hitched under cloudy skies on a gorgeous beach just down A1A from their house in Satellite Beach. Maddie, Bennett, Porter and Penelope stood with Fran and Brian while their best friend Charlie officiated.

It was a fun and touching ceremony. I did fine and didn't get choked up until I saw Bennett with tears and then couldn't hold mine back any longer. Beautiful day, beautiful ceremony.

We spent the whole day at the beach, and almost everyone was in swim wear and sundresses. Everyone was barefoot too, so Fran and Brian got a perfect "toes in the sand" wedding. They even leaped into the ocean at the end. Instead of exchanging rings, they gave each other diving spears for catching lobster. Which they will be doing the first week of August in the Bahamas.

Today is the last full vacation day here for us LaMontes. We are deciding between one last beach day or a day at the zoo with beach time later. Lots of fun still to be had, though the last day of a vacation is always a little sad too.

Downtime day

2009-07-24T06:27:00.000-07:00

Disney was a blast! Rich didn't have fun because it was too hot and too crowded. The little ones had a ton of fun because they were tall enough to ride the big rides. Our first ride of the day was Splash Mountain! Just after the 50-foot plunge Porter said "I didn't like that because it was scary for me." Then not 5 seconds later he said "Let's do that again!!!"

With all the long lines and crowds we didn't get out of the Mouse House until late and then didn't get back to Fran's until 11:30 p.m. We all woke up yesterday exhausted.

So in the spirit of a slower day we swam in the afternoon at De and Heather's hotel, had some awesome burritos for a late lunch and then everyone took nice long naps.

All the gals went out for the evening to give Fran a girl's night before the wedding. Today we are planning another beach day and tomorrow is the wedding. I think it's at 3:30. Lots of fun still to be had, but I can't believe it is Friday already. Time sure does fly when we're having fun.

Amazing beach day

2009-07-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

We made the drive from Memphis to New Orleans and stayed in a beautiful hotel in the French Quarter. The pool was awesome and the room had arctic levels of air conditioning that made Rich very happy.

New Orleans was awesome and apparently on a cooling trend. There was a nice breeze the entire time and the heat and humidity were completely bearable. We were pretty much SOL on enhancing our culinary adventure though. Don't go to New Orleans on a Sunday. Most restaurants are closed on Sundays. So we didn't get to have our favorite things and eat at some cool restaurants, but we did hike for most of the length of Magazine street and saw lots of amazing houses and cool neighborhoods. I think the kids loved the trolley rides the best.

We landed here in Satellite Beach late last night. Upon setting out from NOLA the GPS predicted our arrival time as 9:00 p.m. With the kiddos on the trip we pretty much need to mentally add at least two hours to a predicted arrival time to have the true arrival time. We didn't get here until 11:30 p.m.

Today we all slept late then went out for a great breakfast at a local joint. Then Rich gave all of us (three teenagers, two little ones and four adults) five minutes to change and load up for beach time.

It was a beautiful and perfect beach day. I think despite the mass amounts of sunscreen we all put on that each and every one of us have some spot of sunburn somewhere.

Tomorrow is a Disney day. Our goal is an 8:00 a.m. departure time. Seeing as it's midnight now and the teenagers and little ones are still up I'm not sure if we'll meet that goal. Wish us luck.