Today's music was randomly chosen. The 25th day plus the 5th month equals the 30th song on the new shuffle of the iPod... (don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of the page to listen to the youtube clip.)
Stretch Princess "Free"
Stretch Princess never really broke out like they should have. They have some great songs. I can't remember if I was exposed to them through Y107 or through KPCC, but I'm glad I was.
Have a fun Memorial Day, and don't forget to take a moment to reflect on those who gave their lives for our country, as well as their families.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Friday Flashback 05.22.09
Way before Justin Timberlake brought sexy back...
Look at these two wild and crazy guys!
Obviously that's Kevin and I dressed up in some funky outfits. NO, it's not Halloween... we're headed off to a young adult dance!
At some point we decided it was more fun to have the kind of attention dressing 70s brought us, over trying to be up on the trendy clothes at the time that everyone else was wearing. We were some pretty fun guys to hang out with.
About the picture: We're in the girls' room. The full length mirror was in there. Looks like we had some good timing... the tornado had already passed by before we got there.
- This is before Kevin's mission, and before I married Anna.
Funny stuff.
btw- I still have that tie.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Girls At Play
When the boys are away, the girls will play.
or
Silly boys, tools are for girls.
Yesterday, Jennan pulled out the toy tool boxes to play with Tegan. They each put on their safety goggles, and started to play. (I helped Tegan get hers on, but Jennan did her own.)
They had a great time. Of course, when it was clean up time, Jennan was long gone, so Tegan and I cleaned it up.
Today, they both have the runs, and Jennan threw-up this morning. That was before breakfast. She wanted Trix for breakfast, so if she hurls again, it'll be like she's barfing a rainbow... Isn't that a lovely thought?
Neither have a temperature, so we're guessing it's food related. Not food poisoning, but probably an over abundance of high fiber fruits such as watermelon and strawberries. They'll be having some crackers for lunch to hopefully start getting them "regular".
If Jennan keeps her lunch down, and their rears stop running a bit, we're going to try and go to Disneyland today. I say try because if there's any vomiting or accidents, we'll be headed right back home. But hopefully things will be just fine, and we can go have some fun.
or
Silly boys, tools are for girls.
Yesterday, Jennan pulled out the toy tool boxes to play with Tegan. They each put on their safety goggles, and started to play. (I helped Tegan get hers on, but Jennan did her own.)
They had a great time. Of course, when it was clean up time, Jennan was long gone, so Tegan and I cleaned it up.
Today, they both have the runs, and Jennan threw-up this morning. That was before breakfast. She wanted Trix for breakfast, so if she hurls again, it'll be like she's barfing a rainbow... Isn't that a lovely thought?
Neither have a temperature, so we're guessing it's food related. Not food poisoning, but probably an over abundance of high fiber fruits such as watermelon and strawberries. They'll be having some crackers for lunch to hopefully start getting them "regular".
If Jennan keeps her lunch down, and their rears stop running a bit, we're going to try and go to Disneyland today. I say try because if there's any vomiting or accidents, we'll be headed right back home. But hopefully things will be just fine, and we can go have some fun.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Denied **Update**
Almost 2 weeks ago, I took the family out to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, and to use a couple of coupons I had gotten in my email. They didn't honor the coupons, and you can read my post about it HERE.
I contacted BWW via their website, using their "contact us" link. There are a couple questions they ask you before you actually leave your comment, such as what location you visited, what time, etc. I answered those, and told my story in the comment section. I wasn't sure if anything would come of it, and thought I would try and contact them by phone if I didn't hear anything in a few days.
Well, a few days came and went, and I had pretty much forgotten about it when I received an email from the GM of the Rancho location of BWW. It said they do honor coupons from "Buffalo Circle" members, and was sorry for the confusion. It said that when we came back, they would honor both coupons and give us $15 in credit toward our next visit. That was good news.
So last night, we went back out BWW for dinner. When we were ordering, I showed the server the coupons, and he said he would have to check with management before we could use them. I gave him both coupons and the copy of the email that was sent to me saying they would honor them. A few minutes later, the manager on duty came over and thanked us for coming back, and that both coupons would be honored, and that he would bring a $15 gift card over to us. A few minutes later he came back with the gift card.
We ordered and waited for our food. The kids were a little restless, but pretty soon the food came. It was all good except the "naked" tender kids meal we ordered came breaded. We told our server about the mistake and he told Anna to take the fries off and he would bring out some naked tenders. As Anna was doing that, he said to just keep the whole thing, and he would get a new kids meal out to us. I'm sure he was pretty stressed because he knew we were there because of a previous problem, and now our current order got messed up. But he did a good job, and we got an extra kids meal out of it for free.
We were there before 6pm, so Anna chose her food from the appetizer menu because they were half price till 6pm. Our total check was a little over $25. We used the gift card, so we paid about $10 for dinner, and left a decent tip. Not too bad for a yummy dinner. All I need is an excuse to go, and now we've gone twice this month.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Monday Music 05.18.09
I successfully completed the first weekend of my Wood Badge course. I had heard it said that scouters like to sing, but that had not been my experience... going to Wood Badge has changed all that.
One of the first things we received upon arriving to camp, was a song book. It has about 50 or so songs in it. Some are patriotic, some are country, some are rock, and a lot of them are silly songs.
For my music selection, I've chosen to share one of the more silly songs we've sung...
Ghost Chickens In The Sky...
One of the first things we received upon arriving to camp, was a song book. It has about 50 or so songs in it. Some are patriotic, some are country, some are rock, and a lot of them are silly songs.
For my music selection, I've chosen to share one of the more silly songs we've sung...
Ghost Chickens In The Sky...
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A Few Days Away
I'll be away for a few days, so I won't be posting anything till probably Sunday or Monday. I'll get back Saturday night, but I doubt I'll see any computer time.
Here's Friday's flashback picture. We're at the Scottish Fair. Not sure which year it is, but it's before we had any of the kids. The other thing I know about this picture, is it was taken at the Orange County fairgrounds, when the Scottish fair used to be there. (Looks like it's back at the O.C. fairgrounds now.)
Here's Friday's flashback picture. We're at the Scottish Fair. Not sure which year it is, but it's before we had any of the kids. The other thing I know about this picture, is it was taken at the Orange County fairgrounds, when the Scottish fair used to be there. (Looks like it's back at the O.C. fairgrounds now.)
Have a good weekend.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
It's A Dirty Job
Last night, Anna and I finished filling the first garden box with dirt from the slope. I would use the pickaxe (you can see it laying down at the corner of the garden box), to break up the hard (dusty) dirt, and Anna would shovel it in while I rested. Once she scooped in all the dirt I loosened, I would break up some more, and so on.
We filled it a couple inches from the top. We still have a couple of bags of manure to till in. That will raise the level slightly, but with watering, the dirt will probably compact a little too.
So that takes care of one box. Now we need to fill the second box. That one might take a little longer just because it's not right next to the slope. We could scoop, walk, and dump the dirt in, a shovel full at a time, but we're thinking it might be better to borrow a wheel barrel and fill that, then take that to the second box and dump it in.
Here's what the two look like now.
The regular trashcan is there because the "green waste" can is full of tree branches, and we needed a place to put the layer of grass we scraped off the slope.
I'm spending most of today and tomorrow getting ready to attend Wood Badge scout leader training, so I'm probably not going to be able to help out with filling the second box till next week. But still, I think we're off to a good start.
We filled it a couple inches from the top. We still have a couple of bags of manure to till in. That will raise the level slightly, but with watering, the dirt will probably compact a little too.
So that takes care of one box. Now we need to fill the second box. That one might take a little longer just because it's not right next to the slope. We could scoop, walk, and dump the dirt in, a shovel full at a time, but we're thinking it might be better to borrow a wheel barrel and fill that, then take that to the second box and dump it in.
Here's what the two look like now.
The regular trashcan is there because the "green waste" can is full of tree branches, and we needed a place to put the layer of grass we scraped off the slope.
I'm spending most of today and tomorrow getting ready to attend Wood Badge scout leader training, so I'm probably not going to be able to help out with filling the second box till next week. But still, I think we're off to a good start.
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Gift That Will Keep On Giving? (I hope.)
I knew we weren't going to be home for most of Mother's day, yesterday (Sunday). So I decided Saturday would be my day to do some Mother's day things for Anna.
I took the boys to karate class, and went to Sam's Club afterward. Those are things I would have done anyway, but on the way home, it was lunch time, so I picked up some lunch for Anna from Carl's Jr.
We needed more rice milk for the boys, so Anna sent me to Trader Joe's to get some more (they have the least expensive rice milk). I invited Jennan to go with me, and she came along. Before we went to Trader Joe's, I stopped off at the Home Depot. Since we've lived in this house, we've always said we'd like to put a garden in on the west side of our backyard, but 4 years (this month) later, still no garden. So I decided I was going to get the wood I needed to build a couple of garden boxes for Anna for Mother's day.
I bought four, 10 foot long, 2x12s. I had them cut the wood in half, and I had enough for two, 5ft. x 5ft. boxes. I would be using the dirt from the slope in the backyard to fill the boxes, which would get us a little closer to putting up a retaining wall, which is another thing we've talked about doing the past few years. I also picked up a couple of bags of manure to till into the dirt, once the dirt was in the boxes.
Then we went to Trader Joe's to get the rice milk, and pick up some flowers for our moms.
Jennan and I came home, and brought in the rice milk. I told Anna her mother's day present was in the van, and she followed me out. She saw all the wood, and said something like, What's this for? (in more of a happy/excited tone than a questioning tone) I told her it was to build garden boxes, and she was very excited!
I figured I would build them sometime in the next week or two, but Anna said, "Can we put them together today?!" "Um... yeah, I guess we can." is pretty much what I said in return. Anna held the wood in place, and I drilled and screwed. (That's a pretty naughty sentence.)
We put some of that weed blocking fabric under the boxes, and some paving stones between the two boxes, just to make it look a little nicer. We put a little gravel on the seam of the two fabric pieces to keep anything from growing between them.
Here's what they look like.
Aaaaawwwe... blech.
I took the boys to karate class, and went to Sam's Club afterward. Those are things I would have done anyway, but on the way home, it was lunch time, so I picked up some lunch for Anna from Carl's Jr.
We needed more rice milk for the boys, so Anna sent me to Trader Joe's to get some more (they have the least expensive rice milk). I invited Jennan to go with me, and she came along. Before we went to Trader Joe's, I stopped off at the Home Depot. Since we've lived in this house, we've always said we'd like to put a garden in on the west side of our backyard, but 4 years (this month) later, still no garden. So I decided I was going to get the wood I needed to build a couple of garden boxes for Anna for Mother's day.
I bought four, 10 foot long, 2x12s. I had them cut the wood in half, and I had enough for two, 5ft. x 5ft. boxes. I would be using the dirt from the slope in the backyard to fill the boxes, which would get us a little closer to putting up a retaining wall, which is another thing we've talked about doing the past few years. I also picked up a couple of bags of manure to till into the dirt, once the dirt was in the boxes.
Then we went to Trader Joe's to get the rice milk, and pick up some flowers for our moms.
Jennan and I came home, and brought in the rice milk. I told Anna her mother's day present was in the van, and she followed me out. She saw all the wood, and said something like, What's this for? (in more of a happy/excited tone than a questioning tone) I told her it was to build garden boxes, and she was very excited!
I figured I would build them sometime in the next week or two, but Anna said, "Can we put them together today?!" "Um... yeah, I guess we can." is pretty much what I said in return. Anna held the wood in place, and I drilled and screwed. (That's a pretty naughty sentence.)
We put some of that weed blocking fabric under the boxes, and some paving stones between the two boxes, just to make it look a little nicer. We put a little gravel on the seam of the two fabric pieces to keep anything from growing between them.
Here's what they look like.
They're ready for dirt!
After we got the boxes this far, it was time for me to make dinner. Anna wanted something with chicken, so that's what I made. I grilled some chicken breasts that were seasoned with seasoning salt, cut up a couple of navel oranges, heated up some veggies, and it was time to eat. Anna couldn't believe that all I put on the chicken was seasoning salt, because she thought it was so good. I was just glad she was enjoying her mother's day dinner.
After dinner, Anna talked me into doing some of the digging for the boxes. She said she would help. The sun was going down fast, so we were only out there for about 20 minutes or so. Luckily, it was too dark to continue... my arms were already fried from swinging the pick-ax, and shoveling. It was only enough to scratch the surface of what we need, in terms of dirt in the boxes, but it was a start. ( I don't have any pictures of our start yet.)
Oh yeah, I did pick up a few packs of seeds: zucchini, cantaloupe, and pumpkin.
I also grabbed a bouquet of flowers for Anna from Trader Joe's.
Aaaaawwwe... blech.
Monday Music 05.11.09
Today's music will be randomly selected... May is the 5th month, and today is the 11th, so I'll reshuffle the ol' iPod, and go to the 16th song...
... And the song is....
Barry White "Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love Babe)"
I'd like to dedicate that song to my lovely wife. *hint*
Monday Music bonus:
Here's the song that Anna dedicates to me...
... And the song is....
Barry White "Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love Babe)"
I'd like to dedicate that song to my lovely wife. *hint*
Monday Music bonus:
Here's the song that Anna dedicates to me...
Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday Flashback 05.08.09
Today's flashback picture was selected from my pile of old pictures...
The location is grandma and grandpa Letterman's coach in Hemet. The year (thanks to the writing on the back of the picture) is 1998. It's a couple days after Christmas.
If you look closely, you can see a short haired blonde. That's Kristi. It's so totally different from her hair now, that it makes the short blonde hair look so weird.
At this point, Anna and would have just celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. If you recall, overalls had a resurgence in the 90s, and as you can see, Anna's totally rocking the overalls! Wur-wurr!
I believe Kelly would be about 15, and Keith 18 in this picture.
I remember not spending a whole lot of time on that puzzle. I'm pretty sure I remember Anna, Kristi, Kelly and mom spending quite a bit of time on it. I don't remember if it was completed that day or not.
Anyway, a 10+ year flashback. Fun times.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Denied
I got a coupon for a free dessert at Buffalo Wild Wings (BW3s) because of my birthday and because I am registered on their website. I also had a coupon for 6 free wings for my anniversary of registering with them online. So it was time to have some dinner there, and try to use both coupons, or at the very least, one coupon.
Both were denied!
We showed them to our waitress, and she said they didn't take those. We were very surprised because we've used online coupons there before without any problems. She just said that they're (the wait staff) not suppose to accept those. Huh?! Well, ok.
We still wanted to eat there (it had been a loooong time), so we ordered. Appetisers are half off during happy our, which ends at 6pm, and we were ordering at about 5:45. Their chicken quesadilla is REALLY good. Anna ordered that. Plus it was "55 cent Wednesday", which we didn't know before going, but was a nice benefit, so Anna also ordered boneless wings, as did I. We also got a couple of naked tender kid's meals to split between the kids.
A little later, the waitress came over and asked to see the coupons again. She said she asked about taking them, and wanted to see if it had the store location on the coupon. If it did, then she could take it. The only address on it is the corporate address, so she said, "Oh, it has a Minnesota address, you'd have to use this in Minnesota." Anna liked our waitress, but I thought she was kind of dumb. She did give us good service though. As I looked at the coupons closer, as far as location, all it says is "At participating locations." I guess the Rancho Cucamonga location is not one of those.
Anyhow, the food was still good. Anna forgot to ask for her wing sauce on the side, so hers came covered with Spicy Garlic sauce. It was too much for her, so I got to finish off the last two. Now I get to try and find out if I can get my future coupons sent to me with my nearest location printed on them.
We'll see.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Free Comic Book Day
Last Saturday, May 2nd, was Free Comic Book Day. I knew I wouldn't be around to take the kids, so I asked Anna to do it for me.
Luckily, there was a comic book shop near us in Redlands that was participating. The way it works is, there are specially produced comics just for this events, and those are the free comics. You don't get to walk in and get what ever comics you want for free. I think it's a great way to introduce kids to comics since you don't have to buy them.
Anyway, Anna took the kids to the comic shop. There was a table with all the comics on it, and Anna told the kids they could each choose one. A worker over heard her, and told her that the kids could have one of each if they wanted. But that if she didn't want the kids to have more than one each, that was fine too. Anna said she didn't know they could do that, and the worker said he didn't know if she was some sort of "psycho mom" who didn't want her kids to have more than one comic. (Yep, he really said that to her.) It was all light-hearted and fun.
So Anna grabbed one of each comic for every person in our household! She figured I could give any extras to the scouts for rewards or what ever.
Here's Duncan, nose deep, in the Sonic comic he got.
Here are all the free comics they were giving away. There are 12.
Luckily, there was a comic book shop near us in Redlands that was participating. The way it works is, there are specially produced comics just for this events, and those are the free comics. You don't get to walk in and get what ever comics you want for free. I think it's a great way to introduce kids to comics since you don't have to buy them.
Anyway, Anna took the kids to the comic shop. There was a table with all the comics on it, and Anna told the kids they could each choose one. A worker over heard her, and told her that the kids could have one of each if they wanted. But that if she didn't want the kids to have more than one each, that was fine too. Anna said she didn't know they could do that, and the worker said he didn't know if she was some sort of "psycho mom" who didn't want her kids to have more than one comic. (Yep, he really said that to her.) It was all light-hearted and fun.
So Anna grabbed one of each comic for every person in our household! She figured I could give any extras to the scouts for rewards or what ever.
Here's Duncan, nose deep, in the Sonic comic he got.
Here are all the free comics they were giving away. There are 12.
Here's what the stack of comics Anna came home with looks like. And this stack is even missing about 6 or 7 comics from it that the kids were already reading. The whole stack had 72 books (12x6).
There's just something great about seeing your kids reading on their own. Even if it's just a comic book.
So yeah, I think this event happens each first Saturday in May. I'd say to put it on your calendar, but that's a year away, so just make a mental note.
There's just something great about seeing your kids reading on their own. Even if it's just a comic book.
So yeah, I think this event happens each first Saturday in May. I'd say to put it on your calendar, but that's a year away, so just make a mental note.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Monday Music 05.04.09
Today is the 4th day of the 5th month of the year, so I shuffled the ol' iPod, and went to the 9th song, and this is what was there...
The Beatles, "Magical Mystery Tour"
This is one of those songs that I know I listened to when I was a kid. I can remember the record sleeve, and putting the vinyl record on the record player. I remember really liking the harmonies, and the changes in tempo, etc. It gave me goose bumps, and still does.
There are too many Beatles songs I like to pick a favorite, but this one would be near the top. Do you have a favorite?
The Beatles, "Magical Mystery Tour"
This is one of those songs that I know I listened to when I was a kid. I can remember the record sleeve, and putting the vinyl record on the record player. I remember really liking the harmonies, and the changes in tempo, etc. It gave me goose bumps, and still does.
There are too many Beatles songs I like to pick a favorite, but this one would be near the top. Do you have a favorite?
Duncan Loses Another One
Last Friday night, Duncan pulled out another tooth. It was a lower tooth, right next to the center two. It had been loose for a long time, but this week, it began getting really loose, and once it gets that way, he can't leave it alone. Then Friday, it was time for it to come out. Duncan knew he didn't want it pulled out with floss, he's been there, done that, and not a big fan. So he did it "Hunter" style.
Hunter (if you don't know, is Duncan's cousin. Kevin and Dawn's oldest son.) pulled his latest tooth out using a wash cloth.
Duncan's tooth came out pretty easily and didn't bleed hardly at all. Anna went to get the camera to take a picture... except I had the camera with me on the scout overnighter. Uh, oh.
Duncan didn't want the tooth fairy taking his tooth without a picture of it, so he and mommy decided to hide it from the tooth fairy! They put the tooth in a shoe box over night. Sure enough, the tooth fairy didn't find it. That's a relief.
So Saturday, after I got home, Anna took Duncan's picture with his tooth, and put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy.
The next morning, there was a dollar in the bag, and not a tooth.
Hunter (if you don't know, is Duncan's cousin. Kevin and Dawn's oldest son.) pulled his latest tooth out using a wash cloth.
Duncan's tooth came out pretty easily and didn't bleed hardly at all. Anna went to get the camera to take a picture... except I had the camera with me on the scout overnighter. Uh, oh.
Duncan didn't want the tooth fairy taking his tooth without a picture of it, so he and mommy decided to hide it from the tooth fairy! They put the tooth in a shoe box over night. Sure enough, the tooth fairy didn't find it. That's a relief.
So Saturday, after I got home, Anna took Duncan's picture with his tooth, and put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy.
The next morning, there was a dollar in the bag, and not a tooth.
Here's Duncan with his dollar, and the box he hid his tooth in the night before.
Tooth fairies are so easy to trick.
Tooth fairies are so easy to trick.
Duncan's two upper front teeth update: One of his front adult teeth is coming in. It's about half way. The other has yet to show it's self. He does all of his biting with his side teeth.
Birthday Day
My birthday was Saturday, as most of you know, and I was on a scout trip for most of it. I didn't get home until 7:30pm. I knew I would be getting home later in the evening from that scout trip, and that I wouldn't have much birthday day left, so I arranged with my mom to be at our house that evening, so Anna and I could at least go to dinner when I got home.
When I finally did get home, Anna and the kids had a cake waiting for me. Mom made sure to bring enough candles (and wanted to make sure I knew it would take TWO boxes), for the cake.
Here's the smoky aftermath of all of those candles blown out.
When I finally did get home, Anna and the kids had a cake waiting for me. Mom made sure to bring enough candles (and wanted to make sure I knew it would take TWO boxes), for the cake.
Here's the smoky aftermath of all of those candles blown out.
After I blew out the candles, I opened a couple presents from mom and dad, and then from Anna and the kids. Here's a picture of Duncan giving me one of my presents. He was bear-hugging the box to give it to me, and I bear-hugged him and the box while saying "Thanks, Duncan." Fun stuff.
After presents and cake, it was time for the kids to get ready for bed. I jumped in the shower while mom and Anna changed the kids and got them in bed. Once I was ready to go, we headed out, and mom was on babysitting duty.
We went to Black Angus for dinner. It's always a treat to go out on a date. Thanks for coming out, Mom.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Friday Flashback 05.01.09
Today's flashback photo was chosen semi-randomly.
The first picture I pulled from the pile was from our Hawaii trip in 2001. It was a landscape shot, and not that interesting.
The second picture I pulled out was of my days playing drums in jazz band. Except it's not very well lit, you can faintly see me in the background, and I figure you didn't want to see a picture of some people most of you don't know.
Then I pulled out the picture you see here...
The first picture I pulled from the pile was from our Hawaii trip in 2001. It was a landscape shot, and not that interesting.
The second picture I pulled out was of my days playing drums in jazz band. Except it's not very well lit, you can faintly see me in the background, and I figure you didn't want to see a picture of some people most of you don't know.
Then I pulled out the picture you see here...
Quite appropriate, seeing as my birthday is tomorrow and all. As for this picture, my guess is that it's during my freshman year in High School. That would make it 1987, and I would be turning 15 that day. I remember being highly influenced by some older young men in my ward at the time, and they were all into being "surfers", and I think that explains the Mickey surfing tshirt I'm wearing.
Looks like I got a merit badge sash this birthday, as well as the most awesome "Flipsiders" toy I'd ever seen (judging by the expression on my face), and a bunch more presents yet to be opened.
That shiny golden brown hair you see to the left is Kristi's, she would be 12 that day. Keith, would be 6, and Kim would be 4 (That's Liam and Jennan's [almost] ages!).
Good stuff.
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