I'm an Inter-nerd

Inter-nerd is Wade lingo for the internet addict. And boy let me tell you I am an inter-nerd to the extreme as of late. I'll be doing the dishes and I will wonder...hmmmm is a basting stitch the same as a running stitch? I'll stop what I'm doing and run to the computer to google it. Oh yeah and while I'm at it, I better check my email. Ella will ask me what a marsupial eats. Hmmm I don't know, just a sec Ella, let me consult wikipedia on the matter. Oh yeah, and while I'm at it I better check to see if J Crew has that one swimsuit I want. I respond to people by email more than I ever answer my phone. I jump from blog to blog and wonder how in the world everyone has time to do or create all the wonderful things they are posting on their blogs. Maybe if I got off the computer I could be more creative too? Oh capooey, I can't because I just added facebook to my life which means I have to attend to it like a baby. I sound like a grandma when I say...I just don't get these kids nowadays and how they keep up with all of this social networking! It's exhausting. Good thing I'm married. Can you imagine having to commit to a cyber-boyfriend or cyber dating? Yikes. So anyway, it's only a week into summer and we are absorbed in our technology. We are sleeping in a little longer and wearing our pj's til noon so its easy to get groggy and lazy. I wish the power would go out (except for the fridge) so I would be reminded how quiet our house and our brains can be without all the techno-babble in the air. Remember back in the day when we had to think of things to do instead of having a constant feed of entertainment in front of our faces? Oh wait, I don't remember those days because I grew up with after school tv from the 80's. Even now as I am blogging I hear the crass, loud empty headed antics of cartoon network infiltrating my child's brain and mine AHHHHHHH!

Okay, so it stops here...I am setting boundaries. I just made Ella a chore chart, (after googling children chore chart ideas of course) and I'm going to make one for me and Thomas too, since I can't very well have the first thing on her list be make your bed and she comes in my room at 5pm and sees that mine is in the same messy state as the morning. It's more of a daily to do list...it's a simple enough chart. Just the basics...but good to see in writing. Each week that she follows through I am going to pay her . The exact amount is still under consideration.
Summer school and swim lessons start in a week and we have play dates and outings planned too. If we watch tv at all during a day it will be either a movie or one hour of TV. So Ella and T should be good to go. Hmmmm. Now for me... (I'm blogging about this hoping it will help me stick to this goal.) It's hard to say but...okay her it goes, I am going to commit myself to computer use just once a day for one hour. It will be either morning time or evening time. None of this running back and forth from my everyday life to computer all day. During the day I am going to turn the computer off. That is unless I need to get somewhere and I need mapquest. You can't live in LA without it. Plus, I don't own a tangible map. With this little change I'm hoping it will help me follow through on my day to day and I can reach more of my goals which in turn will make me a more balanced person. Or at least less grumpy. Okay...that's it...so here it goes. Bye for now...

water park battle scars

To kick off summer we went to Hurricane Harbor at Magic Mountain.

"Ella, what's that on your face?"
"What on my face?"
"It looks like you hit your face?"
"I don't know."
"Ouch! Did you do that on a waterslide?"
"I don't know."
"How could you not know?!"
"Hmmmm. I don't know."
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"No."

Then later that night she tells me she thinks she scrapped her face on the bottom of the pool. Ouch! Well, anyway it sure doesn't phase that girl. Nor does any other thrill ride at any park. I swear she is going to be one of those thrill seeker types that likes sky diving and bungee jumping. Wade took her on one of the free fall slides. Never mind that it practically ripped a hole in her swimsuit and gave her an anema....she wanted more, more, more!

Thomas on the other hand is more cautious by nature . He was proud of his life jacket and made short little leaping strides into the kids water playground. He would follow his sister and in front of her would proclaim that he rode all the big rides too. But then alone with me he would say. "Mom, I'm too little." He was proud of his accomplishments all day. At the end of the day just as we were packing to leave he decided to get a few slivers in his hand so we stopped at the first aid tent to dig them out. Ugh.

The whole day was a blast. Wade and I loved just being there with the kids to watch them. It brought me right back to the places I would frequent as a child with cousins and friends. Classic water slides in Orem was our staple. I can still remember the names of the the slides...the barricuda, the octopus and the minnow. I can remember breaking the rules and stopping myself with my feet in the middle of the waterslide to wait for my friend to come down so she could crash into me. I can remember Jenny Warner tripping on the wet steps and hitting her mouth and me watching her mouth bleed. And let us not forget those extra special trips up north to the end all be all of water parks in Utah in the 80's... Magic Waters at the point of the mountain and Raging Waters in Salt Lake City. Too many fond memories, too many fond bum rashes, sore muscles and cement burns. Too many otter pops and sunburns. Ahhhh. summer.

Rilo Kiley

Since we are so cool and we only have rock stars for friends we got VIP seats for Rilo Kiley at the Greek theater last night. I have to say it was the best show I've been to in a long time. In fact, I would have to say it is in my top 10 live shows of all time. Everything was right. It was a nice warm summer night, the sound at the greek was great. They played pretty much everything I wanted to hear. Good job Rilo Kiley, good job. Jenny Lewis can I be you?

thomas' cheer squad

We are potty training around here. Thanks to duckie, percy, airplane and bunny, today we had a break through. Each time Thomas needed to go to the bathroom we had a row of toys on the towel bar cheering him on. He loved it! Each toy would say something different... "Oh, is the pee pee coming?" Duckie would say, or "here it comes!" says airplane. "I can hear it!" says Bunny." Way to go!" says Percy. And so on. So each time he would have the urge to go he would grab the toys he wanted or I would grab them as he sat on the toilet. It worked like a charm. He would laugh and he was so proud that his toys were able to join in on the potty magic. We'll see how well we do tomorrow. Going number two is another issue...

may...the month of partying in excess

mom's birthday. my birthday. mother's day. wade's birthday. mark's birthday. china's birthday. brunch. perfect chocolate cake. red vans. steak dinner. iron man. stretch mark cream. spazzy kids. mood swings. bon iver. bbq's. echo park ducks. spring fair. short shorts. hyper kids. sunburned. new dress. fishing. pink berry. haircuts. pete. anthony. eric. guacomole. mojitos. bloated. huntington gardens. zuma.velvet margarita. three clubs happy kids. h&m, bean family. auntie em's. mangos. grumpy kids. can't buy me love. rodney dangerfield. beard papa cream puffs. good live music. street tacos. indigestion. getting lost. knott's berry farm. the log ride. tired kids. ziva sivan. funnel cakes. shik do rak. good mix cd. bob dylan. sex and the city. babar.

and then at the end of may to ruin my party...

dmv office. dmv anxiety. grumpy dmv employees. written driver's test failed. dmv test retake?!?

Shadow boxes

This is such a fun project for kids and grown ups to do together! Ella loved doing hers, she chose to do a Cat Returns themed box. Thomas's box had more of a modge podge super hero theme. Being an almost three year old his attention span was lacking so I ended up taking over
on his box. Anyhow...here's the how to...


First, we bought our shadow boxes at Ikea. They are natural wood with a sheet of glass in front. Then using acrylic craft paint we painted the outside of the box. After the paint dries you need to line the inside of the box. Using tacky glue, line the back, bottom and sides with whatever pleases your eye... scrap paper, magazine and newspaper clippings, stickers, postcards, photographs, old calenders, kids artwork...anything that you think is aesthetically pleasing.
After the box is lined you can start the layering effect using the same materials. To make images stand up we made paper stands for the back of each image. Just use thicker paper, cut out a strip, fold it once and tape the triangle shape to the back of the image. You can also hang images/toys from the top with scotch tape and thread. We used plastic toys from cereal boxes, happy meals and birthday goody bags. In other words, the plastic toys that are laying around that your kids never play with. Keep layering images until it suits your fancy, fit with the glass, hang on wall and Vwwwwaaala your done! Fun times.

ballad of a thin man

"Dad your shrinking!" Ella says. Wade and Adam joined Weight Watchers back in January and since then Wade has managed to eliminate a whopping 50 lbs from his frame. His overall well being has improved 10 fold. Let's just say he has been an inspiration to us all as of late. We have all managed to improve our eating habits and be more cautious about what we put into our bodies. With the Weight Watchers plan you are a lotted a certain amount of points each day which is calculated based on your gender, age, height and body weight. Then you have to stay within that point range each day. I love the WW website. You can put in any recipe, for example, one of my favorites, beef stroganoff and then it will give you the WW version of that recipe. So instead of heavy cream you use yogurt, etc. (Wow, I should send my testimonial into WW!) Anyway, I think certain personality types really enjoy tracking and logging their food points. Wade is one of those people. In fact he kind of obsesses over it. He diligently logs his points after every meal. (Thanks to the online etools point tracker) Along with making better choices with food and portion control he is also mr. fitness man. He alternates daily with lap swimming, walking, running, pilates, and bike rides. Sometimes at night he wants to do pilates after the kids have gone to bed, and I'm like, "Hmmmmm, really?" How bout we just watch tv instead?" This is one dedicated boy I tell ya. He really has a goal in mind and he just keeps following through on it. I just had to give a shout out to him and let him know I am one proud mama.