Pitch White

On the way to school this morning, Evelyn was amazed at the thick fog that didn't allow us to see very far at all. "It's pitch white, Mom," she said.

Last Sunday, the kids went to an indoor skateboard park and rode their scooters for about 2.5 hours without tiring out. I love that Evelyn 'hung' with the big kids (and all boys) in her pink dress, white tights, and Hello Kitty scooter. I made a couple of photo compilations. Ken is in the air in one of the shots. There was one point where Evelyn got stuck in a concave skating section and you can only see her head peeping out. She's industrious though, and made her way out eventually.

Evelyn's 2nd Grade Holiday Concert

Evelyn participated in her Second Grade Holiday concert this evening. She had a small speaking role and did a great job with it. She was easy to understand and had feeling behind her words. The school celebrates multiple holidays, so we had Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and at least one other whose name escapes me, but it has to do with the Hispanic culture. Here are a few pictures from the event:

No Hands

We've had a busy weekend. Friday night was my work party downtown at restaurant/club called Copa. This is the same place where Rod and I have taken salsa lessons a couple of times. The kids stayed with our neighbors while we were out. I'll babysit for them sometime over the next couple of weeks.

Saturday, we watched the movie "Willow," a (favorite) Lucas/Howard film from the 80s. It took some convincing to get the kids to agree that it would be worth their time to watch it. At the end, they loved it despite a few 'scary' scenes. During the movie, there was one scene with a bunch of fighting going on (among trolls, elwins, and daikimis--character types in the film) and Val Kilmer's character had accidentally gotten some love potion dust sprinkled on him. He stopped amidst the fighting to kiss the daughter of the evil queen Bavmorda. Evelyn is watching this and practically declares, "There's no time for kissing when there's fighting to be done!"

Kenneth has mastered the art of riding his bike with no hands (for short distances), much to my chagrin. I am in the background of that picture, anxiously looking on.

80s Party

Rod and I went to an 80s party on Saturday night. We both tried our best to get decked out in high fashion style from that time period. I picked out my dress from a vintage store called "Cream Vintage." It was fun looking through everything they had in the store. Sadly, Rod actually had all of those clothing items in his closet already *except* the purple t-shirt.

The other picture is with our friend Hope, who included a scrunchie in her hair and fan earrings. She is due with her first baby any day now, so she couldn't do too much with the clothing.

Picking Out the Christmas Tree

The local Pflugerville Optimist's Club set up a Christmas tree lot for the season, so we stopped by on Saturday afternoon to pick one out. Before Rod and I had even gotten out of the car, Kenneth and Evelyn had picked out the one they wanted. As you can see, it was quite the pleasant day--no jackets required.

We are about 90% done decorating it and I will post pictures of that soon.

Rod and I purchased a new mattress and headboard last week and we've been enjoying the nice, soft, FLAT mattress instead of the old mattress with ridiculously large people-divots that occurred after years of use. The next step is to go to IKEA and get coordinating nightstands and a bench for the foot of the bed. I've always wanted one of those. Maybe in January...

Dress Up

Somehow everyone forgot to take photos at Thanksgiving when we were all together. I am sorry we forgot because I put together photo books at the end of the year, and now there will be no record of Thanksgiving! Oh well. We did get a funny photo of Kyle and Caleb in Evelyn's dress up clothes.

I've Turned Into ...

One of those people who sing along to the music in the grocery store. To be fair, it was later in the evening and there were not many people around but I got through a Grease song and a Journey song before I saw 2 other people singing and realized what I had become.

They say the first step to recovery is acknowledging the problem.
:)

Long Weekend

We had a long weekend because the kids were out of school on Monday due to a teacher inservice day. Besides relaxing around the house, we took a walk down the Pfluger park trail, something which we had not done before. We have been to Pfluger Park many times, but have never taken the trail beyond the park perimeters. The trail extends throughout a small portion of town, running alongside a creek that changes in width as you progress along it. The kids rode their scooters and I walked. We stopped numerous times; at just about every trail opening that led down close to the creek. Each opening had surprisingly different terrain, ranging from a (miniature) waterfall, a (miniature) cliff, and banks that you can tell had once been underwater, and perhaps would soon be again if the water levels rose. At each spot, Kenneth and Evelyn looked for fish and found fish of all sizes, from fish tank size to catfish about the size of my extended hand. We collected and brought home some clams that Evelyn captured for the fish tank, though Kenneth's thigh-deep attempt to catch a catfish was in vain.

Recent Pictures of Kids

Thought I'd include a couple of cute pictures of the kids that were taken recently. This is Evelyn with her friend Edie on the Zilker park train. We may have to try to get Elizabeth's kiddos out there for the train ride--they would love it. The other picture is from Kenneth's friend's (Mason) birthday party. Mason's Mom, Lisa, took the picture.

Triplets?

Now that Ann Marie is bigger, it is easy to see the family resemblance between Evelyn (she was 2 in this picture), Elizabeth (probably 2 in the picture), and Ann Marie.

It's hard to know if Evelyn will eventually get my straight, brown hair, or whether she'll keep the sandy blond that she has (and Elizabeth has)...

Halloween 2008

We had a great, little culdesac party on Halloween. It was just the right amount of kids and food and games....

Evelyn's costume cracked me up because the mask she chose (to go with her robe from Taiwan, fingerless lace gloves, and gold belt) made her look like a little old man. She had hand-made her wand and hat for her wizard costume.

Tomorrow is voting day! I fortunately voted early (and even then had to wait 45 min in line). Rod plans to get to the polls about an hour early in the morning--I'll bet there are people in line before him.

I'm Out of Breath

The kids and I worked very hard tonight getting things ready for tomorrow's neighborhood Halloween party that we'll host at our house. One of our neighbors had bought a few things from Oriental Trading Company and brought them over for us to use. What I did not expect was the size of the Halloween limbo pumpkins that needed to be blown up--by mouth because I do not have any sort of pumper. These guys are probably about 6'5" and now that I think about it, probably intended for adults instead of kids based on the height of the limbo bar shelves. Oh well. They can be decorations too and maybe the adults can limbo for the kids' amusement!

Things that Make You Go Hmmmm...Part 1

I frequently have moments that make me question my immediate surroundings...am I dreaming, did that just really happen, etc. I will share the most interesting Hmmm moments as they occur.

At the Grocery Store: I don't know if you're like me--I think most people are when it comes to grocery shopping--but I put everything in my cart mixed together. Yes, what is on the bottom or top depends on which side of the store I enter, but there is not particular care taken in arrangement within the cart unless there's something that can be crushed. While checking out on a recent trip, I was helping the bagger load groceries and he incredulously asked me "You're going to mix your chemicals?" I didn't know what he meant until I realized he was questioning the placement of the Dove hair mousse with the cereal boxes and pickle jar. I just told him that it didn't matter to me and that the mousse was mixed in with everything in the cart before it got to the bagging process.

In the Kitchen: Today was a busy day. Rod was working late and I had to get the kids and get Evelyn to soccer by 5:15 which meant dinner was after soccer, which ended at 7:00. While at soccer, I worked on a set of feedback for a work colleague based out of Taiwan which I had to get out in an email by 7:15 so that they would have time to review it before our conference call at 9:00. Mix in the fact that I had Krav Maga class from 7:30-8:15 and things get complicated. Rod pulls in right at 7:15 and I suggest a simple dinner that involves noodles and hotdogs. Most people cook those two items separately. I was absolutely aghast when Rod suggested just boiling the hotdogs and noodles in the same pot. It actually made me feel ill. He postulated that the hot dog fat "just boils to the top" and that "it's the same process, why not combine it and dirty one pot?" I still don't know how he actually cooked them since I had to leave, and I don't want to ask.

The Brooklyn Bridge

This is the photo I described in the post about our trip to New York. Rod decided to set up (photo) shop in a deserted area that randomly had a recliner present. He wanted a unique shot of the Brooklyn Bridge--and he got it!

Super Fam

OK, I borrowed the idea from Elizabeth's blog, but I had to do it to make the kids laugh:

Super Mom
http://www.makemesuper.com/r.php?i=3_d8240-212955-f-Mom

Super Rodney
http://www.makemesuper.com/r.php?i=3_d8240-213429-m-Rodney

Super Kenneth:
http://www.makemesuper.com/r.php?i=3_d8240-213817-m-Kenneth

Super Evelyn:
http://www.makemesuper.com/r.php?i=3_d8240-214255-f-Evelyn

Mighty Fine ... Whaaaat?

We visited a new restaurant this weekend because Kenneth's soccer game was at a field in a part of Austin that we don't get to visit too much. It is called "Mighty Fine Burgers," owned by the same company that created Rudy's Barbecue. For those who are unaware of the sheer genius of Rudy's, it is the ideal restaurant for kids (well-behaved or otherwise). The atmosphere at Mighty Fine Burgers was similar: large fold-out tables laid out cafeteria-style, food on butcher paper, etc. They pride themselves on shoestring-size crinkle fries, which were highly addictive. Anyhow, we were all having a grand time talking about who knows what when Evelyn says "These burgers really are mighty fine, and ... (jaw drops) ... that is NOT mighty fine!" As we turned to look at what she was referring to, we were greeted with the unpleasant sight in the picture. Rod surreptitiously took this photo from his camera phone while pretending to be vastly interested in the television set. Kenneth suggested that we call the restaurant "Mighty Fine Boody" from now on!

Visit to the Ontiveros Family

Last weekend we took a trip to see April, Cesar, Noah, and the newest Ontiveros addition, Seth. He is about a month and a half old and is very sweet. He looks a lot like Cesar.

Hopefully we'll get a chance to catch up again before the end of the year. Now that October is halfway done, the holidays will make the rest of 2008 fly by...

No Training Wheels!

My sweet Evelyn decided that she was going to remove the training wheels from her bike and ride it. She did so quite successfully. Please keep in mind that she got this bike when she was 5 and has chosen to ride it probably less than five times in the two-year interim. That is so Evelyn: make a decision and get it right the first time. No accidents so far...

Good Timing

I was just catching up on a blog that I read that keeps me up to date on the goings-on in the theater world (among other things) and it was posted that the 2 shows I picked to see on Broadway are closing and going on national tour.

Xanadu was supposed to close in mid-October, but it was pulled in to the end of this week. Too bad, but I am so glad I saw those...

New York Trip

The trip to New York was fabulous. If the trip had been purely for fun it would have been even better, though the conference I attended was informative and good for networking. The conference hotel was in the Times Square area, which is the best place to be if you are visiting NY--you can walk to anything you need and catch a subway to anywhere else. Rod came with me since the hotel was free (to us anyhow; my company paid for the stay because of the conference). We flew over together on Saturday afternoon and split up to do our own thing Saturday night. Rod went out to the Brooklyn Bridge area because he wanted to take a photo of the bridge from a particular view and at a particular time of day (night). In typical (awesome) Rod fashion, he crawled through a fence and had to get past a Bollywood movie set to get to the angle he wanted. He said he may end up as an unedited extra in the film. When he arrived at the spot of interest apparently someone else thought it was interesting too because a RECLINER was there. If this was me (and it wouldn't be because you wouldn't have caught me wandering into a sparsely habited section of Brooklyn, crawling through a fence, or assuming the Bollywood people wouldn't mind me stepping through their photo shoot), I would not have sat in the chair because I would assume that someone had left it there for a reason to get rid of it, such as the scene of a murder. Anyhow, he's got a great shot of the bridge and a great shot of him in the recliner with the bridge as the background. I will post one as soon as I can get it from him.

On Sunday, we took the subway over to my cousin Kristin's apartment to see her, Chris, and their new baby, Jenny. Jenny is about 4 months old and is very cute. She hung out with both Rod and I and eventually fell asleep on her Dad's chest. Kristin took some photos--they might end up on her blog. Sunday afternoon I had to spend at a conference meeting until 5:00. While I was there, Rod took a taxi out to see his house and school from the time period that he lived in Long Island. We went to see Legally Blonde on Broadway on Sunday evening. It was awesome and I rank it up there with my top 3 favorite Broadway musicals (other 2 are Rent and Cats). The part of Elle Woods was played by an understudy who had great charisma; the whole ensemble was engaging and I would see it again in an instant.

I spent all day Monday at the conference, but in the evening I synced up with a high school friend for chocolate cake and reminiscing. Tuesday evening I went to see Xanadu on Broadway with two work colleagues. I may post some more photos if I can get my colleagues to send a couple that they took. The show is based on a really cheesy Olivia Newton John movie (of the same title) from the early 80s. The actors specifically channeled some of the nuances of the movie characters, particularly the way ONJ pronounced her character's name, "Kira," in a breathy voice. It was a funny show and I was surprised how much of the music I already knew. I guess more than one song from the movie was a pop hit. At some point during the trip Rod went out to Central Park to see David Blaine in the middle of his latest stunt--hanging upside down for 48 hours.