The Fried Family

So here's what's been happening...

2008-08-30T22:22:00.000-07:00

...In the past four months or so, I have been MIA. Of course, life still went on and the universe still functioned. But I of course fell off the radar. I found myself diddling on the internet, WAY, WAY too much. So I started to limit the amount of time that I was on the internet, which limited my blogging abilities and since downloading pictures takes time and effort as well...the blog fell behind to other responsibilities in life.

So a brief recap from as far back as I can recall and of course, if I forgot something, sorry, as I remember it, I will input it. Pictures will follow in another post...

In April, we travelled to Vegas, visiting my grandparents and meeting up with my parents. We were also able to see Grandma Gayanne and Aunt Lene. It was a quick visit all together, with very little time to do much of anything...hardly any sight seeing and definitely no time for shopping. SIGH....but there was enough time for a quick coffee break. And what a wonderful experience that was. I was finally able to meet up with an old friend from high school, not just an old friend, but one of my best friends, someone extremely near and dear to me. For most this is a neat experience in of itself, but for me, it was really an exciting experience to be able to reconnect with any one from high school and to be able to see them in person is even that much cooler. Most people live within the same geographical zone of their high school. For me it's 14.000 miles away. And after many years of losing touch, I am now able to remain connected to John, thanks to technology. So yeah for seeing old friends!!!

In late April, again, I was fortunate enough to meet up with another high school friend. And this time we were able to share a meal together at a Singapore hawker style restaurant. It was perfect ambiance as well, just not enough local Singaporeans, but the weather was just that in Singapore, hot and humid. So glad that Steve made the trek up to visit.

At the beginning of May, the kids and I piggybacked a trip to SF with Adam as he attended a training. There we stayed in the city, which was a HUGE treat in of itself, since there is lots of family in the bay area, we hardly ever get to the city much less stay in a hotel. Well, what a treat that was. We met up with my aunt and cousins for dinner in Chinatown. What a feast! We also got to meet up with Adam's parents and spent the day with them at Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. The kids had a great time. The only thing we didn't get to do on our trip was ride the trolley. It was going to be quite a feat managing a stroller and 2 young ones on a trolley. So we opted out. Instead we did all the other touristy things...so awesome! We visited the Butterfly pavillion (took forever to get to...HATE driving in the city), went to Ghiradelli square, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown (where we went to the fortune cookie factory, so cool!) and of course shopping in Union Square.

Happy times in May were soon followed by sadness. As many of you know, my aunt had bravely battled breast cancer for two years. It took us all by surprise, since she hadn't indicated her great pain and discomfort. So the dreaded phone call came, when my cousin called and said its serious, I had to call my parents and give them the news. Many hours later, one by one, my family flew in from all over and stayed vigil by my aunt. Countless hours and praying and finally she was given peace and taken to heaven. Although we miss her dearly here, I know that she is watching over us and finally at peace. I am posting a link to my family's blog that has some video footage of my lovely aunt. http://blog.rocesfamily.com/2008/05/mayeni-peak-interview-clips.html

Shortly following my aunt's passing, Adam and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary. Definitely not the way we have ever spent any other anniversary. I was literally laid up in bed from constant morning sickness. Yup...#3 is on its way!

Another whirlwind trip up north as we visited our niece for her college graduation. Four days for the trip and about 20+ hours of driving, all of which is definitely not conducive for a pregnant woman experiencing extreme morning sickness that is aggravated by riding in a car. Wish all my nieces and nephews choose to attend schools much closer to me! Congrats Ashley!!!

The boys finished up school in June and so began our whirlwind summer. Summer for us would be extremely short, since Logan started Kindergarten in mid-August. I need to talk to someone at the school district to see if they clearly understand when summer is over...At the end of June, we participated in VBS (vacation bible school) at the boys' preschool. Once again, VBS was a full week of fun, friends and learning....and of course sheer exhaustion!

Now moving into July...VACATION!!! WOOHOO!!! We made our annual trip out to Houston to visit my parents. And what a blast we had! The kids had a great time and so did we. Really getting some quality time to bond and catch up as a family. The boys sure do love it there. If they could move all their friends with them, they would be there in a heart beat. We were able to celebrate Adam's birthday at a delicious Brazilian churrascaria. YUM! Another treat we got? My parents sent us off on a night away from the kids. It was so nice to be able to wake up on my own terms. We stayed in a restored French mansion in Houston...interesting place.

So we're finally back home, but not for long. The last trip of the summer is to Denver. We started our trip meeting up with MORE of my old friends from high school. That was ever so cool. Sam (and his sister) used to live with us for two years, so we definitely had a lot to catch up on. Kelly was my partner in partying...thank goodness she didn't divulge all my past! After a fun but WAY too short lunch, we headed over to my uncle's restaurant. Such delicious food there! A great treat to be able to spend time with my uncle and aunt and cousins. For the boys, meeting up with their cousins was the highlight of their summer. They just loved it! Dinner time rolls around and the boys are in for a surprise! My parents rolled in. They were so excited to be able to have so much family all around. Adam spent most of the week in the Denver office, while the kids and I spent time with family. In the evenings, the kids were with my parents at my aunt and uncle's house while Adam and I were able to get away for a couple of adult dinners with his team.

Back from Denver, we gear up for another week of VBS, this time at our MOPS church. This week was an extremely busy week, but a great week all together. My girlfriend and I have big roles (that we even had to rehearse for!) that required leading the kids for a portion of their days every day. The funniest part of it all? Watching 2 4+ month pregnant women dancing and pseudo-jumping! What a great week at VBS!

And one more treat before school started...a family favorite (well, for most these Frieds that is) a Dodgers game! This particular story is actually quite funny. My friend John from my high school had tickets to the game through his work and was only in town for the night. I had originally planned to meet up with him at his hotel after the game, but had thought long and hard about the logistics since it would have been a late game, long drive, etc. So jokingly in my head, I said, I should just go to the game and see him there. Well, lo and behold I did just that. A friend had called Adam and offered him field level tickets. I said he should go, but he had to find us tickets. So he found us some nosebleed tickets and to the game we were all headed! So we had Adam sitting at the field level with his buddies, the Young family sitting in the Loge section, John in the suites and me and the boys at the nosebleeds. We just needed to have a friend in the pavillion that night and we would have known someone in every section of the stadium. Most of the game was spent trying to find everyone through the binoculars, with much success. And of course, I did get to meet up with John. He did have to leave the suites to come to the lowly reserve nosebleed section, but it was a great inning that we got to spend catching up. The game of course was great. The boys were awesome...Logan said when the baby came he'd like to come back to a game with just me (not daddy, since he doesn't root for the Dodgers) so he can learn more about baseball. The night ended with me as the designated driver, 2 liquored men, and 2 boys fast asleep. And what would a late night game be without a traditional Tommy's stop? Tommy's definitely hit the spot!

We started school earlier this month, and have since been into the swing of things, but not without another trip! We spent some time at Grandma and Grandpa's house up north visiting with Uncle Marshall (or as Logan called him, Grandpa Marshall) and cousin Dan. The adult Fried boys headed out to Pleasanton for a day at the Good Guys car show. The younger Fried boys didn't understand that a car show was not a TV show on TV or a movie, but rather a bunch (3500+) cars on display for men to oogle and ogle at. Three hours at Chuck E. Cheese's was plenty for the boys, and of course seeing their cousins was a blast.

And that for the most part is where we left off...at least the highlights. It's hard to believe that we just celebrated Jake's 7th birthday and are getting ready to celebrate Peyton's 4th. And after that comes Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving and then the arrival of the newest Fried. With only 4 male Frieds from this family tree, Adam has been able to almost double the Fried population/legacy in just 6 short years. And of course, the blog name doesn't have to change...So that leaves me with my eternal princess crown...and I was hoping to pass it off and trade up for a bigger crown, you know...Queen of it all!

Kindergarten...Where did the Time Go?

2008-08-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

Today was Logan's first day of Kindergarten. To say it was an emotional day is an understatement.

I guess the emotions started on Monday when we went to school to find out who his teacher will be. Logan had a challenging time when his teacher Miss Mattson asked the students to line up to get ready to go on the playground while the parents stayed in class to listen to what Kindergarten will be all about.

Today, Joie and I swapped with Logan. While he handled his first day like a champ, Joie and I were emotional, while my emotions did not show the way Joie's did it is still shocking to me that Logan is starting Kindergarten. While he did not have any friends he knew in his actual class, he has friends at the school in different classes. We were proud to hear that Logan made 2 friends today in Joshua and Isaac.

I could be wrong although I swear there is Chinese gymnast in his Kindergarten class. I have placed a call to the IOC to make sure they are aware this. I am just not sure if it is He Kexin or Jiang Yuyuan. I knew last night that I recognized them from the Monday event. Look for the U.S. Women to get their rightfully deserved gold medal once I uncover this story.

U.S. Open of Surfing

2008-07-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

Today I was invited (By our friends Mike and Corrie) to take the boys to Huntington Beach for the U.S. Open of Surfing and all the festivities that go along with the event. Joie had to work, and given #3 is still cooking it was probably best she did attend the festivities at "HB." We pretty much spent the whole day down there, arriving around noon, walking to the beach, watching the jr. surf finals from a VIP hospitality tent (thanks to the WB and Corrie). We then took a walk to the skate park that they made for the event and Logan got his first sk8 board lesson by Steve from Skate Lab. We finished the day swimming at Corrie and Mikes hotel and started to drive home around 7:15. A full day of fun in the sun, phenomenal people watching and trying new things.

You are probably wondering where the funny part of this story is, here it is. I knew the boys were going to fall asleep on the way home (70 mile drive) so I quickly found a McD's before getting on the freeway. The boys got their usual Chicken Nugget Happy Meal with milk and apples (No sauce because we were eating in the car). As I am driving on the freeway I am looking in the rear view mirror and I can see Peyton is so tired. Like the previous post, I ask him "Peyton are you tired? Do you want to stop eating?" he responds with "I am not tired Daddy." 3 minutes later and 2 small bites into his 3rd nugget, the little guy is passed out with a chicken nugget in his right hand and a box with 2 nuggets in his lap. Logan looked over at him and saw that his brother passed out with a hand full of nugget and started laughing hysterically.

Circus

2008-07-18T00:03:00.000-07:00

Just got back from taking the boys to Staples Center for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The name wasn't always that long right? they combined two circus' a few years ago right? We went with our friends Brad and Nancy and their two daughters Hailey and Courtney who are about the same ages as Logan and Peyton.

I don't think I have been to a Circus since I was 8 or 9 years old. I must say it was a good show, thoroughly entertained. Of course anytime I see elephants drop 40 lbs. of dookie all over the floor and piss like a Moen shower head I am going to feel like I got my money's worth. I tried to contain myself during those moments. I wanted to make sure Logan and Peyton were aware, yet I did not want that to be their favorite moment. Luckily the 4 then 5 then 7 motorcycles in the sphere outranks the elephant bombs.

Don't worry, I have a video I took of the activity, it will be posted once I condense the size. I am sure everyone that reads this is very excited about this. I will say it was quite impressive, even Joie thought it was funny that a guy was trying to catch the gigantic brown snowball sized #2 on his shovel.

At any rate, enough disgusting talk. I am going to relax. Anyone want some meatloaf?

I'm Not Tired...

2008-07-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

Lately the boys have been fighting us a little bit when it comes to bed time. When it is time to get ready for bed. we usually get the "I'm not tiiiiiiirrrrrrrrreeeeeedddddd, I just want to relax." in that whiney voice that every 3 and 5 year old has perfected. If they only knew that whiney voice is a dead giveaway that it is time for bed. If we can get past bath and book before a meltdown "of epic proportion" then we usually hear the "I'm not tiiiiiirrrrreeeeeddddd" as they are slowing climbing into bed and 30 seconds later all you hear is snoring! These pictures were taken one night which the meltdown was not avoided. Peyton ended up having a meltdown as he did not want to take a shower and go to bed. He cried for a few minutes in his room and before his brother was done in the bath, he passed out on his floor. We eventually moved him, not before taking these pics. I am sure once he goes to college this will only be the begining of pictures taken of him passing out on the floor. At least we did not haze him by shaving an eyebrow or putting shaving cream all of his body.

Cleaning, Yardwork and Playtime...Oh Boy!!!

2008-07-06T23:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday...for me it is usually a day spent dreading that the weekend is over and it is back to work on Monday. No different on this Sunday, although normally by the time the kids are due for a bath, both Joie and my fuses are very short. Today, however, much different.

It started first thing this morning. Normally on a weekend morning I am woken up with the shout of "DAAAAAADDDDDY I'MMMM AAAAWWWWAAAAKKKKEEE!" Which I don't recommend that anyone should start their day like that. As Logan approaches the milestone age of 5 1/2 we have been stressing to him to look at his clock and if it says 7:00 or later he can just get out of bed and come into our room. Today, it appears that our lesson is paying off. Logan walked into our room and gave me "the tap" the tap that my dad said I used to do when I would walk into my parents room when I had a bad dream in the middle of the night. Logan's tap was greeted with a "Daddy, I'm awake." which is much different then the above. Trust me, it made a world of difference for the entire day.

The rest of the day was spent doing some cleaning, yardwork and playing/relaxing. Logan and Peyton helped Joie and I do some cleaning and straightening in the garage (much needed). Logan had a blast using my Shop Vac to vaccum the cracks in the garage, his shirt, Peyton's shirt and my shorts (it is clear that boys will be boys). Peyton entertained me by blasting "Stomp Rockets" all over our front yard. Watching him jump and land on the stomp pad and seeing his rockets go 20 feet in the air was awesome (Boys will be boys...present company included).

We took a trip to Home Depot (Can't help but think of this clip from Old School when I say Home Depot or Bed Bath and Beyond http://www.moviesoundscentral.com/sounds/old_school/bedbathbeyond.wav ) We came home and we did some yardwork (no wallpapering) and the kids helped by gathering the rocks in our planters, pulling weeds and helping me dig holes.

The playing part of the day started in the morning although it was at its peak once on the boys were in their PJ's. Peyton has a big balloon and he and Logan love hitting it around. We came up with our own family game of "Tennis" more like a combo of volleyball, soccer and tennis. Two teams, we set up a line dividing Peyton's room in half we hit the balloon and if it lands on the carpet on Team A's side (Joie and Peyton) then Team B (Adam and Logan) get a point and vice versa. You get the jist...It won't be an Olympic sport till 2016. The kids were laughing, we were laughing it was an awesome way to end vacation and start the week. Of course Joie having to stop play to run to the bathroom to dry heave will always make the kids laugh too. As Logan and Peyton will tell anyone "Seeing Mommy 'spit up' is our favorite!" (once again, boys will be boys).

Dinner and the Game

2008-06-17T22:15:00.001-07:00

Instead of apologizing for not writing in quite some time I will just get down to business.

Tonight we were sitting down eating dinner. During the NBA Finals we let the kids stay up to watch the Lakers which they enjoy. I am not sure if they actually like watching the Lakers or if they just like staying up late. Tonight was different for a few reasons.

1. We ate dinner in front of the TV on TV trays.
2. We couldn't watch the entire game because it was so depressing.
3. Peyton once again amazed us with a comment unlike any other (Ok so that is not different).

As we were eating our yummy burrito's Peyton tries to be sneeky and snag a chip from Joie's plate. Joie being the sultan of food (I won't call her the food nazi) tells Peyton "No, chips until you eat more of your burrito" to which Peyton responds in a very calm manner with..."You are piss'n me out."

This comment from Mr. P makes me think of only one thing..."What else is he going to learn from those kids on the playground?"

The Next Generation

2008-04-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

As most of you are aware, I work in the cable industry so I pride myself on knowing how to use a DVR (TIVO), the difference between HD and SD (4:3 vs. 16:9), watching Video On Demand programming etc. You get the jist (if you are not familiar with a DVR or VOD stop reading because the rest will not make sense). Of course Logan and Peyton are also very much aware of these as well. I found out yesterday morning before I went to work just how familiar they are with these technologies.

Logan was in our room and asked to watch TV which I responded with "Get dressed for school and then you can watch TV." Whoever said you shouldn't negotiate with your kids must not have had kids, how is a parent supposed to get through this thing called parenting without negotiating (do tell...).

Logan is getting dressed and I am putting on my socks. He was very worried that I was going to leave for work without turning on the TV for his highness. I was dressed and I turned on the TV (Higgleytown Heroes on Playhouse Disney...gotta give the company its props and promotion, they still sign the checks) before Logan was in my room. Ten seconds later, Logan was in our room and was very distraught that the I turned the TV on before he came in the room. The conversation followed like this:

Logan: "Daddy, rewind the TV."
Me: "Logan, I can't do it on this TV."
Logan: "Yes you can, rewind, start the show over."
Me: "Logan, I can't do it, I can only rewind TV downstairs where the cable box is."
Logan (Now very angry and wimpering): "Your not fair Daddy, why won't you rewind the TV to the begining of the show."
Me: I looked over at Joie and said "this is insane, yet so very funny and interesting to me" I told him once more that I can't rewind upstairs and asked him to look at the remote and tell me which buttons I should push to rewind. At which point I just turned the TV off then on again real quickly and I think he thought the show started over.

On my way to work, I couldn't stop thinking about the conversation. I ended up calling my boss and telling him the story. He was laughing at the whole scenario and he said it would have been a lot funnier if Logan would have said "Hey dad, stop being such a cheap a$$ and pay the extra $12.99 to get the DVR box upstairs so Mr. P and I can watch our shows when we want to watch our shows."

It dawned on me that Logan and Peyton's generation should be coined the "On Demand" generation. Music On Demand with iPod's, TV On Demand with VOD, DVR's, online video On Demand with You Tube and ESPN360.com (another plug for the company, they are still paying me you know!). So very interesting! I Should have had Logan and Peyton attend the "How Cable Goes to Market" training that folks from my work attended.

You hit the jackpot!

2008-04-04T00:57:00.000-07:00

Obviously its been a while since I last put a post, SIGH...it's late and I am D-U-N (thank you Natalie BB9!). It maybe a few days until our next few posts...its' almost Spring Break and we're gearing up for our visit with Grandpa and Grandma. Until next time...keep coming back, check out our favorite links, surf the web on Google below, click on any of the ads! Each ad counts and pennies will be added to the boys' college accounts. Imagine what a few pennies a day could add up to...you guessed right! A few pennies a day...well it doesn't matter, just keep clicking away!

No April Foolin' here...

2008-04-04T00:43:00.001-07:00

On the car ride down, I taught the boys all about April Fool's day. Didn't play any pranks on them, maybe next year, but talked about silly things like, Here's some coffee for you! HA! April Fool's...they just kept laughing and laughing. They even started to get the idea of it and said, we're going to Disneyland...April Fool's. The big thing in our house is when heading to a not-an-every-day-run-of-the-mill location, it's kept tight lipped. So generally that means, they never know when we are going to Disneyland. So their April Foolin' wasn't so far off...

What do we do for birthdays? We go to Disneyland! In honor of Lene's birthday (happy birthday Aunt Lene') we headed to Disneyland. We actually spent most of our day at California Adventure where we checked out the very cool redone Playhouse Disney Live show. We went on some rides, toured the factories and got samples. We even tried the Bugs Life show, but left during the scary part. The highlight of the day was the new Pixar Party parade. Lots of water (terrific for a hot summer day, not so great for a cool spring evening), we were pretty wet.

Sometimes you wonder why people make and sell certain things... these pictures are proof of one of those times!

It's Tough to Be a Bug! Wearing the special "bug eyes"

Silly faces in the stinky fish net on the wharf

Cars, Cars and more Cars

2008-04-04T00:29:00.000-07:00

It absolutely amazes me that boys at very early ages, without any prompting know how to take a car and start rolling its wheels and going vroom...

A boy's interest in cars will never tire (no pun intended). And the visit to the Petersen Auto Museum http://www.petersen.org/ proves it. Not too sure who had more fun, Logan, Peyton or Grandpa. All in all, it was a lot of fun and the boys couldn't believe all the different kinds of cars they saw from race cars to candy trucks to Cars the movie cars to Hot Wheels to hot rods to old jalopy cars the list goes on and on...they were in awe and are looking forward to going back again.

The boys with Grandpa and Grandma with the REAL Lightning McQueen

Logan on the left, Peyton on the right in the Indy car, note the background...pretty cool!

In front of the yummiest car of all, the candy car!

Trophies

2008-04-04T00:21:00.000-07:00

Well, flag football season is almost over. Yup, 5 weeks have passed just like that! For some reason, the award ceremony did not happen the last week of the season, rather the week before. Adam and I were away at a retreat and the boys were with Grandpa and Grandma. What a treat! They were thrilled to be showing off their trophies. They were just the coolest trophies, since the little football spins around. We do have to have Peyton's trophy redone since Peyton's name is spelled P-E-Y-T-O-N (see video on previous post for clarification) and not spelled Patton...geez, poor guy is probably going to spelling goofs all his life, guess we should have thought about that when we were naming him!

The last game of the season is this Saturday, the boys are so sad. Hopefully it's nothing that a little pizza party can't cure. More on the season in a future post...by the way, not pictured are Adam and I's trophy (coach and team mom). We're thinking of hanging them right as you walk in...just kidding!

How cool is this trophy?

Hurry up and take the picture so I can play with my trophy!

Go Giants!

The joy of gardening

2008-04-03T23:57:00.000-07:00

By nature (no pun intended), Adam and I are not gardeners. Our neighbor however is. He loves to go out and trim his identical three tiered privets. Unfortunately for us, we don't have the roundness and eveness of our neighbors plants. The boys were so fascinated watching our neighbor trim the plant that they decided that they too would trim the plants. Voila! There you have it...working hard and having a blast!

Riding on my bike

2008-04-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

So if you read the previous post, you'll see that Logan has ditched the training wheels and is now a regular ace on his bike. And you'll also see that Peyton is now a full-fledged pedaler! WOOHOO! Both boys only needing help on their bikes at certain times, in these videos, Logan needs help getting started and his comfort level with the brakes on the bike are minimal, so he just lets the bike fall to the ground when he wants to stop. Peyton only needs help with the uphill, cause it's too hard mommy!

Pretty soon I will have to get ready for the Look Mom, no hands!

When I am bigger, I will have a bike with two wheels too! Until then, I will master the three wheeler and show you I can wave to you.

Been so long...

2008-04-03T23:17:00.000-07:00

What a busy, busy few days we have had! WOW! Every day we don't blog, we lose "millions" of readers and "millions" of fans. So to our readers and our fans, we hope you are still with us and we are back! Well, at least sort of...keep reading!

Big accomplishments

2008-03-25T21:42:00.000-07:00

No pictures just yet for these big accomplishments...stay tuned for future blogs for those. What are the big accomplishments?

Peyton graduated swimming levels and is now a "batray". After months of lessons and months of trying to get the little guy to focus, he finally did it. He finally reached all the skills he needed to be considered a batray. All the swim teachers sang to him...zippidee doo dah, zippidee day, Peyton has plenty of swimming heading his way, zippidee doo dah, he's a Batray! He was so, so proud! And we are too!

Logan graduated down to 2 wheels on his bike...as in NO MORE TRAINING WHEELS!!! It started out really as a firm statement, (he thinks he is hot sh** on his bike) so we said, off with the wheels. Well, the gentle (and not so gentle) prodding worked! He is off and running on just two wheels on his bike. He is pretty good, especially for having a go at it for the first time. He can manage to ride about one house length before gravity takes over and wins...the bike goes down and so does Logan. Once again, we are so proud of him!

That's us...just two proud parents of two very proud and accomplished boys!

Thinking outside the box

2008-03-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

Today started out as any typical Monday, with the hurrying and the scurrying to get out the door on time to get to school in enough time to make it to line up. After dropping off the boys, the rest of the day seemed to flow just like any other Monday, with grocery shopping as a top priority.

After two trips to two different stores to stock our cabinets for the week, it was time to pick up the boys. At pick up they are both so excited and ready to cram three hours of their day into about 8 minutes of drive time...at the same time. This is a usual ritual for us as we head home, we talk about school, where we sat, friends we played with, things we learned, games we played and crafts we made.

On the way home, things panned out a little bit differently. The weather was really nice, so I suggested to Logan that we have a picnic lunch in the backyard at their little picnic table. And the conversation then turns to this...

Logan: Mommy, I have a great idea. How about we have a picnic outside?!?!
Me: That's a great idea. I will make some sandwiches and we can eat outside.
Peyton: Yeah, that's a great idea.
Logan:Oh mommy...I have an even better idea!
Me: You do?
Logan: What about if we have a picnic in our front yard? You could set out the blanket and we can eat outside in the front yard.
Peyton: Yeah! Then we can eat in the front yard too!

So after I made sandwiches, laid out the blanket and set up the umbrella, we headed out front for our picnic lunch. Surely our neighbors think we are looneys...one neighbor did in fact come over and ask what we were doing. I stated the obvious and she said it looked like fun...wonder if she meant that in a nice way or if she was just being facetious...

Our front yard picnic

Close up of the front yard picnic

Easter

2008-03-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

Despite all the warnings and threats, the Easter bunny did end up making it to our house this year. Some of you may remember that last year the Easter bunny didn't arrive until after church in an effort to follow through with all the warnings. This year, he loaded the boys up with all kinds of goodies and left them with a vast assortment of eggs for egg hunting.

The day started off with much excitement, with Logan getting up first, peeking out the window and waiting and waiting for Peyton to get up. Once Peyton was up, Logan tells him that the Easter bunny DID come. They both scoped it out from the bedroom window and made mental maps of where to go first. So after much prodding to get dressed and hair combed (which is a novel idea around here for these boys!), we head downstairs and check out the goods. The boys were so excited and couldn't wait to dive into it all...after we got back from church and brunch and playing at the park...then we'll egg hunt.

We met up with the Lavallee family and tried to keep four boys 2-5 years old entertained and content at a very busy Easter service. We managed to keep them contained (for the most part) and to my knowledge, the boys didn't offend any church goers this time around. Off to brunch and again, another big accomplishment keeping these boys entertained. After getting our bellies filled we headed to the park and let them run loose.

Finally we returned home and the egg hunting could begin! The boys had a blast and this year Peyton opened every egg as he retrieved, which made it a little bit longer in the egg hunting process. Logan was quite thoughtful and generous and made sure that Peyton didn't miss getting any of the "special" eggs, like Spiderman, Superman, or "army" eggs.
The Easter bunny sure was generous this year!

The baskets

Logan and Peyton in their Easter outfits. My new favorite picture!

Peyton checking out the contents of every single egg...

Logan with the golden egg!

We hope you all had a great Easter!

Happy Easter!!!

2008-03-22T23:08:00.000-07:00

Two little bunnies hopped on over to say HAPPY EASTER!

Bunny created courtesy of their preschool.

Easter Egg coloring

2008-03-22T22:54:00.000-07:00

So we were BIG slackers this year with egg dying. We didn't get around to egg dying until the day before Easter, although this year's timing couldn't have been better, since well, lots of broken eggs, oh they smell so good.

It started out with a dozen eggs each and finished with each of us making a few eggs. They were really fascinated with the whole process and by the end of egg dying, all the eggs were the same shade of gray. And the only thing differentiating them were the stickers and the stands that they are on. After a long day, the eggs are all done and the boys are ready for Easter bunny!

Ta-daa! The finished eggs

Dying eggs

Peyton egg decorating

Logan so proud of his creations

It's a Good Friday...

2008-03-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

So it's Good Friday and the boys have no school, football practice has been cancelled and Adam is off of work early. Adam and I go back and forth, what should we do, should we hang out at home, go to the park, go somewhere, after much input from many, many sources, we are still at a loss. The boys and I decided to go and visit daddy at work, which by the way is almost as good as going to Disneyland for these two boys. From daddy's work, we'll figure out where we're going and what we are going to do. At least that is what we thought we would happen.

We get in the car, drive around aimlessly for a whopping 2 minutes, because with gas at almost $4 a gallon, every mile MUST have a purpose. We decide to take the boys to Griffith Park to ride the ponies and ride the train. I have lived here all my life, for the most part, and have been to Griffith Park a handful of times and this was the very first time (that I can recall) visiting the ponies and riding the train.

The boys thought that this was the absolute COOLEST thing ever and can't wait to come back again soon. So needless to say, we had a great time and thank you to Danielle (and Laura) for the recommendation. The pony ride is by far the best $6 spent yet!

To top it all off, after a full day of fasting for me, our dinner was spent in such good company with my aunt at one of our favorite little dives. Yes it was indeed a Good Friday!

Logan galloping

Peyton's pony going slowly

Waiting for the train to go...WHEEE!!!!

Growing up

2008-03-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

I am not so sure what it is in kids, but there is something in them where they always want to do what the grown-ups are doing. Getting married, playing house, washing the car, going grocery shopping, cooking dinner, etc. And these boys are no exception.

The general rule of thumb is when mommy is on the computer, it means that she is working. For Easter, the boys received workbooks, Kindergarten and preschool. The workbooks also have interactive CDs for use on the computers. Now, out of sheer fear, our boys are really rarely on the computer. For starters, there is the whole coordination thing, using the mouse, not pushing the buttons when you aren't supposed to etc. So to their delight, their workbooks have CDs, which means that they can now work on the computer! Each day they ask, can I do my work on the computer yet? I do have to let them use the computer more, now the trick is to monitor them while using their program, since each advance button also allows for a print page button. Logan was so proud when he printed up 4 pages of ink-sucking pictures...we're hoping the Easter bunny will bring us some ink cartridges!

The boys are so observant and realized that my "job" doesn't only exist in the form of computer work, but also in my domestic duties. Now lately whenever I am in the kitchen, I have not one but two look-ee loos trying to figure out how they too can contribute to dinner. So tonight, they did. They were thrilled! Probably should have capitalized on the photo-ops here, but I was WAY too stressed out with having to do double the work with my limited resources in our dinner making. Peyton prepared our steamed broccoli and Logan made the mashed potatoes. During dinner, they boast proudly to daddy that they made dinner, each claiming their delicious concoctions. And without missing a beat, Peyton looks at me and says, "Mommy, what did you make?"...ummm, how about the rest of dinner????

My guys are definitely growing up too fast...if only I could freeze these days!

The chocolate M&M's

2008-03-18T23:18:00.000-07:00

So yesterday truly was a HUGE survival feat for me...definitely pat myself on the back several times. I survived (and enjoyed) my first drop off playdate! We had one of Logan's classmates, Ryan, over and one of Peyton's classmates, Lauren, over. Lucky for me they happen to be siblings.

The playdate was interesting, with the two older boys playing together. Mostly the things that boys do...cars, super heroes, etc. Peyton and Lauren on the other hand...well, that was a little different. She kept suggesting that everything get married. Peyton sweetly hunted out any girly toys that we may have, such as Minnie Mouse, Tinkerbell, etc. (Girl figures in some playsets we have.) But Lauren would say Tinkerbell should marry Minnie Mouse. Well, I had to correct her several times, telling her that they can't get married. And instead of just leaving it at that, she'd ask why. After several attempts of going around the issue, I finally gave up and moved onto a different game.

Two hours into the playdate, it's time to move into snack mode. So we select our snacks and devour them within minutes. Little Lauren is asking for more cookies, while I am trying to divert her attention. I know that her mom is taking their older sister out for a treat, (and I previously cleared it with her) so I bring out the how about some candy diversion. I offer each of the kids 2 M&M's...wouldn't want to spoil them! Lauren picks her 2, Ryan selects his 2, brown M&M's because he likes chocolate M&M's...so what does Logan want? Chocolate M&M's just like Ryan! He takes his chocolate M&M's. Which now leaves us with Peyton picking...he looks in the bowl, sees the bowl (pictured below) and what does he do? FLIPS OUT! There's no more chocolate M&M's!!! I try to explain to him that they are ALL chocolate M&M's, but to no avail, that didn't make a difference. After I was able to calm him down...the diversion was jelly beans. Thank goodness there were no chocolate jelly beans!

And oh yeah...not only did I have 4 kids for 2 and a half hours, shortly after Ryan and Lauren left, I had another 2 kids join us. So for most of the afternoon, I had 4 kids! I think that I did pretty good considering.

Swimming in clothes?

2008-03-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

So today marked the completion of safety week at swimming. I had to prep the boys that they would be jumping into the pool with their clothes on, shoes and all. Peyton was quite resistant and didn't want his clothes to get wet. Logan on the other hand couldn't wait. He thought it was the coolest thing to be able to go swimming in clothes. Most of their lesson was done fully clothed, with the last portion done in just bottoms. They had a blast!

Week 2...Another TD

2008-03-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

It is starting to become a habit. I am about to have the conversation with Logan that will go something like this "Logan, when you score a touchdown, just toss the ball to the ref and go about your business. No need for endzone celebrations, dances, cell phones, sharpies...etc. That is for the showboaters. When you score, score with class and act like you have been there before."

Logan was able to score another touchdown this past Saturday against the Jets. Nice run, which he was about to be tackled but he was able to cut back and run to the endzone for the teams 1st score of the game. More impressively was his 8 tackles, 6 for a loss of yardage...not that we keep stats or score, but seriously which dad doesn't keep track of his kids stats?

Peyton is still learning the game, he was a decoy again this week. I am thinking that next week we unleash the secret weapon and let "Thunder" get a carry or two. When I ask him if he wants to carry the ball he used to say "No, I just want to be a decoy." Just now I asked him and he said "Uh Huh!" We will try and get a run on video, and post next week!

Happy St. Patty's day! Joie cooked a mean corned beef and cabbage! Thanks babe!!! I love you!

Thumbs Out, Thumbs Up!

2008-03-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

It was time for us to visit the dentist. Unlike most kids, our kids LOVE the dentist. Click on the link http://www.adventuredental.com/office_tour.htm and you'll get a full tour of the office and you'll see why its so exciting.

Logan couldn't wait to see Dr. Todd to tell him his big, big news since his last dental check up. He gets all excited, runs up to Dr. Todd and says, Can I be up on the board now? Dr. Todd says did you stop sucking your thumbs? Logan says, Of course! So $2, a picture of recognition and a trip to the treasure box make the day all worthwhile.

Cleaning wise, Peyton improved greatly and is now carrying a mouthful of shiny polished pearly whites. Logan on the other hand needs to spend a little more time brushing his teeth a little better, probably letting us brush his teeth a little bit more and he too will be full of shiny pearly whites. Thanks Nancy for the pictures!

It maybe a board of recognition, but it looks more like a board of offenders!

Totally cheesey mug shot!

Dottie "Granny" Heitz

2008-03-16T22:28:00.000-07:00

So this post may seem random and well frankly it was. During lunch one day last week, Logan asked me why his Granny had to go to heaven. I was actually quite confused and extremely surprised...I kept thinking, wow...he thinks one of his three grandma's went off to heaven. Clearly this all came out of left field...so I asked him which Granny. And he went on to say the Granny that gave him coins (she gave Logan a silver dollar that will be 100 years old when he turns 18) and had that really great party with the sno-cones and all that food and all of daddy's friends were there. WOW! I quickly figured which Granny he was talking about...so clearly this was a message and reminder for me to keep Granny's memories burning strong. The amazing woman that Granny was, she did not want any of us to remember her in sadness, so she threw herself a HUGE bash visiting with hundreds of friends and families who's lives she has touched to say good-bye. Shortly after this, she did pass on. So Granny...you may not be in the real world, but you're in a better world, and you are still making the headlines!

That's our granny!

You scream, I scream, we all scream for...

2008-03-16T22:16:00.001-07:00

ICE CREAM!!! So the weather has been beautiful and its time to start savoring those moments...I took the boys to Rite Aid for the ever so famous Thrifty's ice cream. I know that I am getting old, and more than ever do I feel it, but it is really bad when I start doing the...I remember when I was a kid stories...and Thrifty's ice cream just really takes me that route. I do remember Thrifty's ice cream being only $0.15 a scoop...now it's a whopping $1.19 a scoop! It still tastes just as good and it is still the best value for ice cream around here, especially compared to the Ben and Jerry's $3 a scoop, Baskin Robbins $2.29 a scoop and Cold Stone Creamery's $3.50 a creation. The best part about ice cream in our family is just how good the boys make it look. Yummy! And in case you are wondering...there are no pictures of me eating ice cream, because I didn't get one...

Mmmm! Mmmm! Good stuff!

Peyton debating on his plan of attack...how should I conquer my ice cream?

Safety Week

2008-03-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

A long overdue post, but still worth posting and hopefully reading...last week at swimming, the boys had safety week instead of their regular swimming lessons. This is a really valuable lesson as it teaches the kids what to do when helping someone out of the pool, what to do when you fall into the pool until help comes, etc. Unfortunately for me, I didn't read the signs that said, no showers, keep your clothes on. This is unfortunate, because that means we will now get 2 weeks of safety week instead of one. I say unfortunate instead of fortunate, because that means I have to have a bag of sopping wet clothes and shoes instead of just a bag full of wet towels. The blessing in this is that they will get to see what it is like to be in the pool fully clothed and see how hard it is to swim that way.

Some of the things that they learned to was pulling someone in, using the pool ring to save someone, how to put on a life vest, floating in a life vest and how to position yourself when rescuing someone. Here are some pictures of the boys saving each other.

Logan rescuing Peyton

Peyton pulling in Logan

The boys learning to save their swim teacher, Alex.

Peyton helping Logan out with the noodle

The Zoo

2008-03-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

Taking advantage of such beautiful weather, we headed to the zoo. The boys had a blast being chauffeured around in their strollers as they were fed snacks, given drinks, kept shaded and made sure that they were able to have optimum animal viewing. That is definitely the life...why do we have to get older? Why does independence get the better of us?

Anyways, the animals were definitely engaged and moving. We got to the zoo just at feeding time. So the bears were up and playing, the jaguar on the prowl, even the komodo dragon was climbing around in his cage. The boys had lots of fun and really enjoyed spending the day with Kara and Grant.

Glenda the baby gorilla and her mommy Rapunzel. It was here that the daddy gorilla, Kelly, got angry with being an animal on exhibit and started throwing his food very angrily at the lookers (which included us!).

This is the baby giraffe in the nursery that is only 28 days old in this picture. She was born at just FIVE feet tall and 150 pounds! Try giving birth to that sucker!

The entrance to Spider City. I can't stand this dang exhibit, but the boys love it. So this is one of the MANY sacrifices that I do for them...besides chauffeuring them around the zoo!

100th Reader

2008-03-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

YEAH!!! We finally reached 100 readers...how exciting for our family. Now we aren't Yahoo or Google where you'd get to 100 logger-inners in a milli-second, so 100 readers is a BIG deal for us!! WOO HOO!!!

West Coast Living

2008-03-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

So nothing really exciting going on these days...except outstanding weather!!! WOOHOO! All you snow birds, eat your hearts out. Check out my little outdoor weather lady (a gift)...no photo shopping here.

Giants vs. Steelers - Week 1

2008-03-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful day for football. Sunny 75 degrees with a slight breeze over the field at Cheseborough Park in Valencia, CA. Although it was only week 1, the excitement and energy felt like it was a Super Bowl. You could cut the electricity with a knife. From the moment those little 3, 4 and 5 year olds took the field the cameras were going crazy. Every mom needed a picture of her little star in the making as the players warmed up with Coach Adam before taking the field for this epic showdown.

Me, however, I was as nervous as a sixth grader asking that cute girl to dance at little Matthew's Bar Mitzvah. "Are these guys going to line up? Will they run in the right direction? Will there be a meltdown on the field? Will a parent yell at me because their child didn't get to play running back?" and most importantly "Will Logan and Peyton have fun?" So many questions to be answered. Luckily last night after our final tune up practice before the big game, Joie and I strategized about who should play where (behind every good coach is a very supportive wife). I sent my depth chart to Coach Dan and Coach Kirk and while they responded with "Nice job Coach." It was evident they did not review my plan prior to game time.

Right now you are reading this going "enough hype and build-up, lets hear about the game." I am getting to the game but the hype is half the fun. Things did not start off so good. We lost the coin toss and the Steelers started with the ball and on the first play, Willie Parker...I mean, #3 took it to the house for a touchdown (while we don't keep score in this league, it doesn't take much to figure out we were losing 7 - 0). Now we have the ball and we gained a few yards here and there on 1st, 2nd and 3rd down. Faced with a 4th down and a long way to go, I made a decision that will go down as the best coaching move of the game. I know my kids, I know Logan can run like the wind, I told Logan he was going to be Running Back and I made sure he knew which way to run, I told Tanner McKelvey (BTW, Tanner is a true gamer for playing the game despite being heavily Tylenol'd up to keep his fever down) to hand the ball to Logan. As Tanner received the ball from center, he handed to Logan, Logan bounced it to the left side outside of the tackle, turned the corner and saw nothing but daylight, wide open field and no one was going to catch "FLASH". I am not trying to brag or anything but Logan is one fast little dude! I wish I could have seen my smile as Logan pulled a Forrest Gump and kept running way past the End Zone for his first ever Touchdown! I don't think he stopped running till I gave him a big hug to congratulate him for his awesome run.

Now I am sure some of you are wondering about Peyton. I was so concerned about Peyton, he is the youngest on the team and the feeling was the young guys will lose attention early on and not want to play. Let me tell you about Peyton, he played just about every play of the game. While 4 and 5 year olds were sitting out, Peyton was right there, in the trenches, playing with the big kids. Mostly Peyton played lineman (Offense and Defense), and he did have a couple plays at Running Back, although he was just a "Decoy" (he laughs so hard when I call him a decoy, I think he likes the way the word sounds). My thinking is, we already used one secret weapon this game, you think I want the parents getting pissed because the coach's kids are the only ones that can score? Actually a couple other kids scored but nothing as good as Logan's 30 yard dash. Logan had another awesome run the second time he touched the ball, although he ran out of bounds a couple yards before the end zone.

The kids did awesome. They listened, they lined up, they ran around, they snapped the ball and most importantly, they had FUN! No upset parents, no meltdowns on the field. I am looking forward to our week 2 matchup. I hope we can unleash secret weapon #2. The Jets may get a little taste of "Thunder 'n Lightning"!!!

Original works of Art

2008-03-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

Trying to keep a sick child entertained after the fourth day of indoor confinement is pretty tough. So we are pulling out all the reserves, all the rainy day things and all the things that they never really get to see.

So check these out...they are one of a kind and original works of art from Logan and Peyton. Maybe one day they'll be worth the big bucks...until then, they'll be hanging out with the rest of the art work collection. My opinion may be biased, but they are pretty cool!

Hopefully Logan will be back on track, the doctor didn't seem too concerned, although I am since he's almost finished a WHOLE bottle of Motrin. And perhaps tomorrow we'll be able to make it to the dentist, swimming and football practice. Speaking of football, that should be pretty interesting...8 little boys against 8 little boys, all 3-5 years old, chasing flags, following plays AND passing the football. Um, can you say CHAOS???

Logan's are the two on the left and Peyton's are the two on the right

Another trip, another gift

2008-03-03T21:31:00.000-08:00

Well, daddy is gone again...and the boys miss him like crazy and decided that they would make some cookies for him. The neat thing about Adam being in NYC is that they both remember what they saw there last summer and are already asking about going back. Logan is wondering if Adam will see Spiderman in Times Square and if he's going to the giant Toys R Us and has he eaten any hot dogs yet? He asked if Adam is staying in the same hotel room as the one we stayed in. Peyton is wondering if Adam will be riding the giant ferris wheel and which car he'll get to ride, hopefully its not the fire truck, since we wouldn't want him to cry on that one like he did and he wonders if daddy will see the Statue of Lidder-ty.

Logan also asked about Adam's flight, to which Adam replied it was bumpy. And Logan's response, maybe the clouds had some bumps on them or the airplane was running out of gas. Either way, YIKES!

So delicious! Hopefully there will still be some when he gets back...we miss you!

A new favorite TV show

2008-03-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

Well, as you all know, our family is a TV family and we like to support daddy's cause by watching programs on any of the Disney networks, including the Disney Channel. They recently started airing a new TV show called Phineas and Ferb, which is about 2 brothers and their wild imagination as their older sister watches them and tries to catch them in any mischevious acts to report back to Mom. Somehow the two boys always end up looking like angels in the end. Here's Logan and Peyton's take on what the show is called.

Listen closely to Peyton's description...

So here's where we've been...

2008-03-03T20:35:00.000-08:00

So it's been a long while since we've been able to sit down and blog. No worries, there will be plenty of blogs to make up for lost time.

Well, in honor of Grandma's BIG birthday, we headed to our family favorite for birthday celebrations...Disneyland! We went with our friends Hailey (who lost her 1st tooth that day!), Courtney and Garrett (And their moms Nancy and Laura too!). It was a perfect, perfect day to go. The park wasn't crowded and the weather was outstanding. We left school a little early and headed to California adventure first. Not our normal routine, but we were just going to go with the flow and it turned out to work really well. Our first stop...Brother Bear Challenge Trail. This was totally a new and untapped mecca for us. Our kids had a blast! After running (literally) through a very long and windy rope bridge, they went to find out what spirit they were. At first take, Peyton was a salmon (instinctive and strong-willed) and Logan was an eagle (intelligent and brave). Not too far off from their personalities, but then they went back until they were each of the animal spirits. Finally we are off to ride some rides. Although the video is not really of us, more of the door, and you can see the BIGGEST smiles on Peyton and Logan, you can hear the sheer joy in their laughter...I just loved it!

After many, many treats and rides, including the Gadget Go Coaster, Haunted House, Buzz Lightyear and Star Tours, we decided to call it a night. We all had a great time and well, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!

Just too cute not to share...

Logan, Hailey, Courtney, Garrett and Peyton with Koda

Just listen to that laughter!

This one's for daddy

2008-02-26T19:59:00.000-08:00

So not only are we missing Adam, we are camera happy. So either we'll have a lot more posts with videos and pictures or we'll see more posts with less video and pictures so we can spare the general public! Either way, this is the last of tonight's post...

Flashback to October 2005

PS. ¡Gran trabajo en el ESPN Deporta el trato! ¡WOOHOO! (Great job on the ESPN Deportes deal!)

Logan's new idea for technology

2008-02-26T19:17:00.001-08:00

Today was a more challenging day for the boys, (which means a challenging day for me) they were both pretty emotional, especially Logan. He didn't want to go into his Moppets room today, since none of his buddies were at school. As we went around asking all the moms of his friends where their kids were, it really hit home for him that his friends were home with their daddies. Not even a cool new lizard shirt from his little Jordyn (thanks Claudine!) could make him happy. So instead, he sat and listened to our speaker and participated in all of the mom activities. He was so well behaved and I couldn't complain, pretty soon he won't want to hang out with me.

After a busy afternoon of swimming and a playdate, we settled down for dinner. I have come to realize that meal time really is our family's favorite time to have great conversation, depending on the day and depending on who is defining great conversation that is. So Peyton with his little Easter placemat says I got a Easter bunny on my placemat. This was a great segue into the whole Easter bunny is watching you and he's pals with Santa Claus, so we better be good, etc. And Peyton finishes with Yeah, he knows I will be good and better, that's why I got the Easter bunny placemat and Logan will not. This then follows into the whole I am good, no your not, yes I am conversation. Again, great conversation depending on who you are.

So finishing up with dinner, we go on to talk about fruits with Logan talking about which ones are his favorites, followed by Peyton rattling off his list of faves. They talk about how not all people like the same things because some people don't like the tastes of some things. Logan then tells us that avocado is a fruit that is good for your brain. I probably haven't said that in at least a half a year...amazing what his little memory holds. Once we move on from fruits Logan sees the camera and says he wants to make a video. I said you want to take a picture? He said no, a video. I wish all pictures were video. I said a video of what? He then says I want to send a message...so we can't do things around here just once, so tonight's double feature is brought to you by Logan and Peyton!

Flying by the seat of our pants...

2008-02-25T22:35:00.001-08:00

Well, initially this picture was just a goof around picture, but then I noticed as I was straightening them back up, both boys have little tears in the butt of their pants. Now seeing as they are Fried boys, is it possible that they burned holes in them? I couldn't help but laugh...

Well, daddy is off and on the other side of the country in the freezing cold, it is warm, sunny and filled with blue skies over here! Too bad the day didn't start out that way...as my previous post said, today was kindergarten round-up. And only here in our neck of the woods do we get up at the crack of dawn and stand out in the cold to enroll their child into a lottery for kindergarten. This still puzzles me. I live in a city that charges exorbitant amounts of property taxes AND mello roos, and still my kids are enrolled in a lottery for school...SIGH...well, next week we'll know which school we'll end up in and then at a later date, we'll find out if we will be given morning or afternoon kindergarten.

Part of this enrollment process is a kindergarten readiness test...well so far after checking everything out, I really believe Logan will be ready for kindergarten in the fall. The BIG question is will I? I cried at registration today...one of the only ones that did. It is just such a big, big world out there...and yeah, if I am crying now, come August 13th, I may as well just call it a day for tears. Walking down the hallway to the MPR (multi-purpose room), I realized that my boys will one day walk these halls...alone! I am not so sure when I became one of those moms that wanted to go to school with their kids and wanted to do everything with their kids, but some how I feel like that is how I am some times. Then I go and break up a fight, pick up a ton of toys, complete a task uninterrupted and I remember how much I enjoy my time when the boys are at school and how much more I enjoy them when they come home.

So we come home from pick up and while our lunch was cooking, we ran to the mailbox and found a postcard from their buddy Lucas. Lucas just returned from Maui and on his postcard his mom writes, "...we went on a real submarine ride the other day - saw lots of cool fish even a moray eel." The boys were thrilled to receive mail and a postcard from their very special buddy made it even sweeter. Time for lunch and as we are eating our lunch, our conversation goes like this"

Logan looks at me and says, "Mommy, when can we ride a submarine?"
Me: Well, we ride the submarine at Disneyland.
Peyton:Yeah and see all the cool fish and Nemo, my favorite!!!
Logan: I mean a submarine like Lucas did...
Me: Well, first we have to get to Hawaii. And that won't be for a long time, Hawaii is a very nice trip that takes a lot of savings.
Logan: Oh...
A few moments of pausing, lots of food consumption as his dinosaur chicken nuggets bite each others heads off and then resumes with, "Mommy, when can we go with Grandpa to visit his cousins in Hawaii?"
Obviously he knows who he has wrapped around his little fingers!

Ok, there was still more conversations to be documented about today, but I am just beat down exhausted. I am going on a little over 90 minutes of core sleep with another 60 minutes added on at the break today. PHEW!

On the Road

2008-02-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

I write my post from my hotel room in snowy Norwalk, CT. What a long day for Joie and I. Each of us were up at the crack of dawn. Me to catch my 8:15am flight, driver picked me up at 6am. Joie to register Logan for Kindergarten.

Being that I travel somewhat often for work, flying really doesn't bother me like it does other people. What really bothers me is driving in the back seat of the car service town car sedans going to LAX at the crack of dawn. This morning Vladamir picked me up and while I did feel like I was some sort of secret agent on a mission with a Russian spy because when he would talk on the phone in his thick Russian accent he would say "Chess, I have zee client, I vill be drupping heem off een five minutes...zen I vill pick oop zee 8:15 client..." Part of me wanted to continue on the mission with him but I did have my flight to catch. At any rate, it is never a good thing when your driver tells you how he worked all last night during the Oscar's (did you catch any ZZZ's Vladamir?), or when he is checking his phone for text messages (most likely for his next mission).

Needless to say I made it to my flight safe and sound and off to JFK then a 1 hour drive to Norwalk where I was the coherent shuttle driver for 5 of my co-workers. As I type I am hoping that Vladamir has gotten some shut eye for the day. Those 2 second blinks were scaring me a bit. By the way, it is cold as Siberia here, probably should have asked Vladamir how to cope!!!!

And yet another good book!

2008-02-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

After watching Peyton on the computer reading his book, Logan figures he wants in on the action...so here he is practicing his BOB books (thank you Hailey and Courtney!). Again, ever so grateful that he wanted this moment on film (especially after my day today, more on this in my next post). They are absolutely very simple and helps teach the reader the basic sounds. So this is Dot, book #3. Logan is EXTREMELY proud he can read this book and reads it often to Peyton. I think that by now he's memorized the story, but every once in a while he'll struggle with the word, so maybe he hasn't...at any rate, enjoy!

Somewhere over the Rainbow...

2008-02-24T23:29:00.001-08:00

Well, yesterday was my first all dayer at work (not that I am not at work when I am home, more of a work that has a monetary compensation type work) and boy was it a LONG day. I missed the boys terribly and was extremely grateful that they were still in one piece when I got home, unless of course you count Peyton's nose-road rash and Logan's bite mark on his cheek (from Peyton). Adam was great with the boys and came out of the day exhausted but alive!

Today was a long day (lot of spats that needed breaking up) of getting ready to run by daddy's office for something. While we were at daddy's office, in between all the rain, no rain, rain again, we were able to catch a glimpse of a really BIG rainbow right outside Adam's window. The boys were estatic that they got to see both ends of the rainbow. This should have lead to some really great stories of leprechauns and pots of gold...but hunger got the best of us, so we opted for a quick view of the rainbow followed by a quick exit.

After leaving daddy's work, which is just about as cool as getting out to Disneyland for the boys, we found ourselves driving around aimlessly until it was dinner time. As we were driving around Logan asked, "Daddy does Chris go to work the same days you do?"...in his world, preschool is only on certain days, Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, and some of his friends go to school on the same days he does. We couldn't stop laughing! Then we headed out to eat dinner to "the place with the tortillas" as Peyton requested...have you guessed where yet? Here's a hint, it's not Chinese and it is not a Ford! Of course, we were headed to Chevy's. And tonight instead of bringing home the restaurant cups, the kids wanted to bring home the tortilla dough, which Logan is hoping to be able to bring to school on Friday for his share item.

Once we got home it was hurry, hurry as we got ready for the much anticipated sleep over party. Their sitter is staying the night to help us out in the morning while I sleep in, just kidding...Adam will be off to the airport, while I sit in the cold, cold, early AM cold (have I mentioned it will be cold?) weather waiting to pick up my kindergarten registration packet and register Logan into kindergarten. So I am hoping that the rainbow was some sort of premonition that kindergarten registration will go smoothly with having some sort of happiness at the end of my rainbow...AAACCCKKK! Where has the time gone?

Story time

2008-02-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

I am so, so lucky to have caught this on film. This is a glimpse into Peyton's personality, his meticulous ways as well as methodical ways. Usually as soon as Peyton sees the camera out, his demeanor changes and the whole moment is lost. Keep in mind he is not reading upside down, he is reading the story to you, as his teacher reads to him. Enjoy the story! (It took darn long enough to upload....)

Out of the mouth of my babes

2008-02-21T22:45:00.000-08:00

A conversation between me and Logan...

Logan: Mommy, when I get bigger, are you going to get "old"?
Me: Well, yeah, I will get older...
Logan: Old like?
Me: Older like your aunts and uncles.
Logan: Oh good!!! That's not old!
Me: Well, what is old?
Logan: Old is like Grandpa and Grandma!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A conversation between Logan, Peyton and me...

Me: Looks like it is starting to rain again...
Logan: It's going to rain mommy because there are lots of clouds.
(At this point, I am thinking...no **** sherlock...)
He continues: The clouds have lots of moisture and then the moisture turns into rain.
Peyton: Yeah, the sun is hidin'.
Logan: When there are no clouds, it won't rain mommy.
Me: Are you sure? How do you know this?
Logan: Yes, I am sure. I just know mommy.

Clearly several of our local weathermen could take a lesson in preschool meteorology!

We'll be coming 'round the mountains when we come...(sing along, you know you want to!)

2008-02-18T23:21:00.001-08:00

So where have we been? To the snow!!! The kids have been counting down the months, weeks and days. Ok, maybe not quite that drastic, but they have been waiting. It took lots of planning and coordinating, especially when 16 of us would be driving from all over California to where we were meeting. There was menus to be planned, items to be shopped for, maps to be read and meeting places to be made. What a busy, busy time it took to plan.

We arrived on Friday and left on Monday. There was lots of fun to be had. The weather was beautiful, providing us with TONS of sunshine and the weather leading up to our trip was great, as there was plenty of snow to be played in.

We managed to secure 2 condos side by side that would fit all 16 of us in a condo community in Shaver Lake, CA. Shaver Lake is east of Fresno and is a very, very small sleepy mountain town. It is near several lakes and in the midst of several Sno-parks. Perfect for sledding and snow play. Our condo was perfect for all of us, with no one having to sleep on the floor. The only thing we would have changed would have been a door that would have allowed us access in between each of the condos without having to leave the other condo.

On Friday, the boys couldn't wait to get out and play. They were so excited seeing all the snow. Logan insisted that it wasn't cold enough to wear a jacket and even without snow boots, he managed to climb around in the snow. Both boys took quick little slips right when we got there, the ground had a lot of icy patches. But they laughed, got up and looked for a different way to get in the snow.

Saturday we all headed up to the sno-park to go sledding. Since it was a holiday weekend, it was a lot busier than normal. We ended up playing at a sno-park for a while then heading to a different sno-park to go sledding. Sledding was so much fun! We found a HUGE mountain to sled down, tons of snow, a good incline, etc. Only problem...having to climb back up the mountain, while pulling a kid in a sled. What a work out! After getting our fill of sledding, we headed back to the condo and played games.

Sunday was another fun filled day at the sno-park. Only this time, we let the boys go down a small hill in their own sleds by themselves. They had such a blast! Logan caught on pretty quick with the routine: hold the sled steady, push off, slide down, LAUGH A LOT, then pull the sled back up the hill. Peyton also got the drill pretty quickly with one exception...pulling his sled up the hill. He was still pretty sure he was supposed to get back in the sled and wait for his "sled-chariot" to be pulled back to the start position. Again, after our fill of sledding, we headed back to the condo for our fill of food and games.

Monday was a much shorter day, especially for Peyton since he woke up at 9:30 AM!!! WOOHOO! The day was spent packing up and playing in the snow outside the condo. So after a pretty eventful day back home, filled with whining and tantrums from our extremely tired kids, we made it back home and have been able to quickly settle back in.

The one thing we all learned was that sledding definitely taps into many, many muscles in your body. Ones that I didn't even know existed! I have discovered that with age that more body parts hurt when they hurt. What a difference a year makes! Last year we would be tired after each day of sledding, but we would get a night of rest and be back up and running. This year, a little bit of a different story. I think by the end of the week my muscles will finally stop aching!

Smile for the camera!

Peyton sitting in his throne as he called it.

Logan throwing snowballs off the huge mountain of snow right outside our door.

Peyton sledding all by himself!

Logan trying the sled as a luge (all by himself!)

Snow Creations

2008-02-18T22:43:00.000-08:00

There's nothing like original works of art, especially when they come in the form of snow. Just like a snowflake's own individual originality, each one of these works of art are just that, original!

Peyton with his very own snowman! So proud!

Logan shows us that there's no time for snowmen, there's too much snow to play in!

And the family, minus a few either taking pictures with other cameras or busy eating. Yes, this is a snow-woman. She's definitely all that!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2008-02-18T22:15:00.000-08:00

So we finally had a nice week of weather...trying to be spontaneous, I decided that we would venture off to the zoo for the day and enjoy being outside. BIG mistake...apparently everyone else had the exact same thoughts that I did. So...off we went to Travel Town in Griffith Park. We were looking for a way to be outside and a way to do something free. Mission accomplished!

Speed Spelling

2008-02-13T23:15:00.001-08:00

The other night I was able to catch Peyton performing his speed spelling skill. There was no way that a picture or my writing could describe this. Needless to say Logan showed his skill as did Joie...and well I got myself into the mix as well.
While this might not seem funny to you, it is something that Joie and I always can get a good laugh from. Tonight Peyton did a speed rendition of the alphabet. I caught part of it on camera but it just wasn't as good as P-E-Y-T-O-N.

HUGE Accomplishment...

2008-02-10T23:02:00.000-08:00

Almost forgot...Let it be written and noted that on Saturday, February 9, 2008 I, Adam Michael Fried watched the kids all day and did not turn the TV on during that time!!! By the way, as Joie noted, if you have not seen Juno, you gotta go see it. If you don't, I might "punch you in the weiner!"

Kids and Sports

2008-02-10T21:37:00.000-08:00

Practice #1 is done. I have a whole new appreciation for the 18 and 19 year olds that teach Soccer at the Soccer Center that Logan and Peyton take classes at. Keeping 3 to 5 year old's attention is tough. So crucial to have a game within the game. Lets just say practice #2 can only get better. I spent Friday night scouring google searches for "flag football drills", "coaching flag football", "creative flag football drills", "youth flag football practice"...and so on and so on, you get the point. I will say this about practice #1, Logan has some wheels. I knew he was not slow, but seeing him with kids his age I could see that the scrappy, skin and bones little guy that eats like a horse can motor. And then Peyton, he reminds me of Bobby Boucher (the player) from Waterboy, we just have to figure out the line that is going to get his motor going...then again, he is only 3 (which is easy to lose sight of at times).

So today, Logan and Peyton had soccer class. Today was a make-up class so we walk on the field and I take Logan to his normal field and Peyton to his. I probably should have double checked the age group of the classes because it did not take me long to figure out that Peyton was in the 4 and 5 year old class and Logan was in the 5 and 6 year old class. Basically, they were both in the next class up then what they should have been in. It was evident when Peyton's class began playing a "real game" and as his teammates kicked-off, he ran to the corner of the field and brought ball #2 into the game..."real games" are not part of Peyton's regular class. I let both of them tough it out with the "bigger" kids. It was good for them, we all need a challenge. Although I will admit that standing there watching both of them being somewhat overmatched was tough to watch. As a parent you want nothing more then to see your kids succeed. That being said, before our next football practice I will make sure Logan and Peyton perfect "Trips LT Y-Zoom 219 H-Swing" so they can have success on the football field since soccer was a bit challenging. "No Peyton, it is only 10:23pm, you can't go to bed till you run your route correctly, the Z receiver runs a 5 yard out, not a 8 yard button hook..."

Playing with food

2008-02-10T21:07:00.000-08:00

Ok, so exactly what we tell our kids not to do...it all started with this on date night. We had gone out to watch Juno (OMG! a fantastic movie!!! you have to watch it, I laughed, I cried and I am still thinking of it) and afterwards, we went out to try a new little Japanese joint called Geisha. It was pretty yummy, we decided that we would try to keep this a place of our own, meaning a place we don't take our kids. Which ultimately means, we won't get there very often. Anyways, after our oh-so-yummy sushi, the sushi chef (is he really a chef since he doesn't cook?) presents us with this. We probably looked like the most retarded people, because a) we pulled out the cell phone and began taking pictures and then b) we asked for a box to take it home so we could show the kids. So yes, we're touristy types!

Today we went to Logan's favorite place, the salad bar, otherwise known as Souplantation. I was so excited since this month is their Cajun theme and I was able to indulge in lots of gumbo, absolutely one of my favorite soups. A recent tradition and ongoing unsaid competition of ours is to try to create the largest mini-cone soft serve. Today, I think I won. Each time we come back to the table the kids eyes get bigger and bigger with wonderment and excitement. And of course, in their world, the larger the ice cream=the more they get to eat. Its actually quite funny to see the expressions on other kids there, especially the ones waiting in line behind us at the soft serve machine.

As Peyton says I should share my ice cream so I don't get a bellyache from all that ice cream, so I shared. Peyton has cone #1.

Logan all smiles knowing that he is taking that cone (#2) from me, which again means extra ice cream.

Well that's it for now...no more pictures of food or of us in restaurants taking pictures with our cell phones! At least not for the remainder of the day...until next time!

Sailing the seven seas...

2008-02-06T21:31:00.000-08:00

Ok, so its not really the 7 seas, but it was a REAL pirate ship...to Peyton that is...

So Peyton gets to be funnier and funnier as he gets older and he knows it. He is constantly saying funny little things, like the "shredder-ator", most of you have one of these in your kitchen, it keeps your food cold or frozen, or he'll say, "Daddy, I have the softest skin, you don't". Although he'll never let you in on it, as he is still rather shy around people. And today, my baby turned that corner for a brief, and do I mean brief, two seconds.

It all started with preschool drop off. I dropped the little guy off at preschool and as you may know, he is a creature of habit. Depending on the day and time, one thing out of the routine could send him into meltdown mode. So today I get him out of the car and give him his backpack with his share toy and snack bag inside. He started to lose it...he didn't want his snack bag in his backpack. So the world must stop for that one brief second as we go and dig out the snack bag. Snack bag recovered and all is well.

Now we continue our walk to school and we see our good friend Griffin. He comes running up, greets the boys and all is well. We carry on with the routine of placing the snack bag in the basket, putting the share toy in the share basket and the backpack in the cubby. Phew...we are now ready to participate in the ritual called the "hand-off to the teacher". Griffin asked Peyton if he wanted to play and (best said with Peyton 's diction) all-of-the-sudden, Miss Nancy was left hanging there waiting for Peyton as he ran off with his buddy to go play! It was a glowing moment for me (and Miss Nancy)...and after two runs around the grass area, he decided that was out of the routine and he went to hunt down Miss Nancy. Oh well! It was fun and glorious while it lasted, even if it was for only 5 minutes.

This afternoon was filled with lots of imagination and creativity. We built a pirate ship, we buried the treasure and of course, we drew out treasure maps. And afterwards, we took our maps and scavenged the island with eye patches, hooks and various pirate tools. Peyton's map is blue (surprise, surprise), Logan's is yellow and of course, mine HAS to be pink, because I am a gurl (misspelled purposely and of course, best when heard in Peyton's diction). We did cross over the stinky mud pit (Logan's idea), went past the heavy machines (Peyton's idea) and we went around the snake pit. We never did find the treasure...guess there's always tomorrow for that!

And with all that independence, creativity and imagining, I would have thought that at our flag football intro gathering, he would have been Mr. Independent...Instead, I got Mr. Cling-on-me...either way, I will take it!

Stayed tuned for tomorrow, as we head out to buy rubber tipped cleats and attend our first flag football practice. It should be interesting! Our team name is the Giants...I was very clear with the boys that we were named (by the parks director) after the football team and NOT the baseball team. Our team expanded to 10 kids for 5 on 5 flag football...it will be interesting to see how our coach manages these VERY rambunctious group of boys. He did show assistant coach daddy some plays that he had in mind to teach them...more pictures and more stories tomorrow!

Oh the Things Parents Say...

2008-02-05T22:07:00.000-08:00

FROM ADAM: We all know that kids can say the darndest things, but sometimes I have to give Joie and I credit for some of the things we pull out of our you know whats. I have seen Joie divert would be meltdowns with the verbal smoothness of Alan Shore (James Spader from Boston Legal), she is like a surgeon sometimes, poetry in motion. I on the other hand struggle at times, as reasoning with a 3 and 5 year old is not my forte, but when that rare moment comes and I am able to divert a meltdown, damn it feels good...as was the case last night.

As you will read in a previous BLOG from Joie, Logan had his 5 year check up with the doctor and he is so scared of shots. Scared to the point that he nearly didn't fall asleep after I mentioned (to Joie's dismay) that he was going to see Dr. Mike tomorrow. Being sharp as a TB needle, he put one and one together...Dr. Mike=SHOTS!

Logan, laying in bed went on for the next 5 minutes "I hate shots!" "I don't want to see the doctor tomorrow!" "I don't want to get a shot!" "I won't get dressed tomorrow!" You get the point, he wasn't happy. While it did take me 5 minutes I was able to come up with this verbal gem..."Logan, if you want to go to Kindergarten we need to be able show your school that you have all your shots so they know you can't get anyone else sick, you don't want to be the only one of your friends who doesn't go to Kindergarten do you?" Not bad right? It got better. I then went on to talk about things that we all don't like to do but we need to do them because they are good for us...I continued with "you know Logan, like taking out the trash, I don't like doing it but we don't want to live in a house like Uncle Marcus' do we? (The smile was starting to crack) What about the guy that drives the trash truck, think he likes being around trash all day? Without him though we would all live on Mount Trashorama." Pretty good eh? Well, knowing me I did have to take this one step further to make my point to which I said "Do you think I like picking up Jake's (our dog) poop. I don't like doing it but what if I didn't do it? We would have Jake poop all over our backyard and everywhere we stepped we would step in poop. That is not cool and I don't like doing it, but I know it is what I need to do. You think I liked changing your diapers when you were a baby? Not really but I knew it was something I needed to do." That petrified look turned into laughter in a matter of seconds. It was awesome! The lesson learned here is that we should never underestimate the power of a little poo poo talk to divert a meltdown.

Although I was not present to witness the shots, Joie did say she had to stay in the room an extra 10 minutes so other kids would not get freaked out by the screaming. I told Logan I was proud of him for getting his shot and because he got the shot I will continue to take out the trash and pick up Jake's poop....life is good!

Coach Daddy

2008-02-04T22:25:00.000-08:00

FROM ADAM: This week marks the begining of an era. The coaching era. Logan and Peyton will be playing flag football and I have volunteered to be the Assistant Coach on their team. I figure some of the best coaches were never superb athletes so I got that going for me. As I sit at work on a conference call in which we are talking about the Super Bowl mixed with ESPNU's coverage of Signing Day (Wednesday, February 6th...shameless plug for the "U") all I can think about is how 3, 4 and 5 year olds are going to run the triple option? Something tells me "PRO LEFT X-CRASH 39 SWEEP" isn't going to resonate? I guess we will stick with the basics the way all guys learned when we were playing 3 on 3 lamp-post to lamp-post, 2 completions for a first down, although, just in case we have a Belicheck in the league, we will be mixing in some mis-direction as part of our week 3 playbook.

I just hope that Brently Young guy can keep his daughter off the sidelines, I don't need any Romo/Simpson distractions for Logan and Peyton...We got a game to play!

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum

2008-02-04T21:16:00.000-08:00

Couldn't resist posting this picture...these two are just characters! They are the best of friends and the worst of enemies. On any given day, you'll hear them talking about how much they love their best brother in the whole world or how they never want to play with the other ever again. They are definitely the yin and yang of this family!

Tomorrow's the big day...

2008-02-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

This is it, tomorrow is Logan's big day at the pediatricians. He's mortified! He's finally going in for his 5 year well check! Can you believe it? He's 5 already?!?!? Not too sure how that happened, but it did. And what a ride these 5 years have been. It has been a lot of fun, with lots of good times and its fair share of bad times. I am looking to lots more, but wow...I definitely don't want to be writing a post saying Logan is already 10...THAT just might kill me! Here's our little baby when we first met him...

And then this is him 5 years later.

My how he's changed...but one thing is the same...he's still darn cute!

Our Family's first blog!

2008-02-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

Welcome!

This is our family's first blog! We hope that we are able to maintain it with new pictures, fun stories, lastest happenings and all the quirky things that happen in our lives. We hope that this will keep you connected to us and that you'll visit the blog often and post to it frequently. Can't wait to see what you think!