Ready For The Beach

My sister Kelley and her boyfriend, Paul, flew in from Anchorage, Alaska for my family's annual Spring Break trip to the beach. This year we're headed to Pensacola, FL. We've been going to the Seaside, Seagrove, Seacrest Beach area near Destin, FL and we really like it, but thought that we would try something different this year. My sister Katie will be coming from Baton Rouge, LA where she moved last year.

We don't get to see my side of the family as often as we get to see Helen's, so we always look forward to this beach trip as a way for everyone to reconnect. We don't try to go out to any restaurants or plan anything. We just hang out, watch movies, play games, go to the beach and the pool, and EAT! It's a great family vacation.

Kelley and Paul are always glad to break away from Winter's grip in Alaska and enjoy the nice weather. They sent us the picture of them above from earlier this year.

Derek Is 8!

We decorated and wrapped presents the night before

Adam had almost as much fun as Derek

Yesterday, March 30th, was Derek's 8th birthday! That happened way too fast! Derek and Adam have been riding the wave of excitement all week.

One of the perks of being the birthday boy is that Derek gets to pick what he wants for his birthday dinner. He decided weeks ago that it was going to be Burger King - yuck! We knew it would be fast food hamburgers (his favorite), but we were hoping for Wendy's. Derek always asks if we can go to Burger King and we always say no, so he was determined to go on his birthday. Adam is going to get payback for us though - he's been taunting Derek that he's going to pick sushi for his birthday dinner.

Aunt Chris did a very nice birthday blog for Derek.

Easter Egg Hunt

Adam and Derek

Helen and Me

Lindsay was having a great time until...

...she had to pose with the Easter Bunny

Derek's birthday party was from 2:00-3:30 and the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt started at 4:00! We had just enough time to run up to the attic and grab the Easter baskets. Luckily, the hunt was at the neighbor's house just across the street. The boys didn't seem to mind all the activity and sugar.

We really enjoyed seeing Mike, Chris, and Lindsay. Lindsay's grown so much since the last time we saw her. The boys really like seeing their cousin, especially Derek. He took time out of his activities to hold Lindsay and let her play next to him while he built his new Lego toys. Chris blogged about the Easter Egg Hunt here.

We were exhausted from all the planning and activities, as well as the pollen! It has been terrible this year. We're all taking something to get some relief. It's been hard for me to stay up like I want and do my blogging and other projects because my eyes are so tired and irritated from the pollen (I was also a little preoccupied with my latest Harlen Coben novel, "One False Move").

Derek's Lego Birthday Party

Last week we did the normal rat race stuff including baseball and tennis, but we were also busy preparing for Derek's "Lego" birthday party. Helen and the boys made a "Lego" pinata and birthday cake.

The party itinerary that Derek laid out worked out great. The boys did a "free build" while they waited for everyone to arrive. Followed by a contest to build the best space ship and a "brick toss" contest. Then the cake and ice cream and it was over.

Adam's friend, Ryan, came over to keep Adam company. Helen's brother Mike, his wife Chris, and baby Lindsay were there to celebrate as well. Chris blogged about the party here.

Let's Try Some Video

Click To Play

Leprechauns visited our house!

I played around tonight with posting some videos. I started down the path of using YouTube, but ran into trouble. On my first attempt to upload this 8 minute video clip I waited for about 20 minutes for the upload and then it never appeared in my "Uploaded Videos" list. There was no error displayed or anything that gave me a clue as to what happened.

Then I made a really short clip and uploaded it. The upload succeeded, but my video clip was not accessible for playing for over 30 minutes. It appears that YouTube has to convert the video to a "Flash" format before it makes the video available for playing.

So I did some searching around and came across Blip TV. Their uploads were much faster and the video was immediately available for playback. I read some nice things about BlipTV vs YouTube.

Derek's Sick

Derek came home from Nanna and Poppy's with a nasty cough. He crawled into our bed during the night and started coughing. Helen got him some expectorant and I sent him back to his own bed. Helen doesn't mind the boys sleeping in our bed even though she admits that we don't sleep as well. Like many things involving the kids, she figures that there's only so many years of those kind of things before they're grown and gone. I tell her that I agree to an extent, but I'm not sure that "bad sleep" is something I'll miss.

Helen left early from school and took Derek to the doctor. He has bronchitis and tonsilitis. The doctor gave him some antibiotics and said that he should be fine with some rest.

Derek has a school project to design a family flag. He worked on it today and Adam wanted to work on his own flag.

Trial Cake

Helen did a trial run on the cake she's going to make for Derek's birthday party. The recipe was for a round cake and she wanted to make sure that it would work as a sheet cake. It turned out fine. She's made the cake before and it's really good. She got the recipe off of epicurious.com where one of the reviewers of the recipe said they were done searching for a chocolate cake recipe after trying that one.

Helen has definitely spoiled me as far as cooking is concerned. Store-bought or not-from-scratch recipes just aren't the same. When I complain that I can't eat all the stuff she likes to make she says that I can always take it to work. Somehow, I usually manage to dig down and power through it on my own.

Helen also made rum raisin ice cream and strawberry ice cream in her new ice cream maker. She got distracted and cooked the rum raisin filling too long so that it turned almost custard like. It was still good and had a kick to it. Helen got a little loopy eating it. She decided that she'll puree the strawberries next time, otherwise the strawberry chunks taste like big ice cubes.

The Leprechauns

Adam and some of the remaining magic muffins

We woke up on Saturday morning, St Patrick's Day, and found that some leprechauns had made a mess while we slept. They had overturned chairs, pulled out drawers, played with Adam's toys, and strewn "magic dust" (green construction paper confetti) all over. However, they were nice enough to leave us some delicious muffins for our trouble. The boys were very into it. Adam was sure that he heard them playing during the night.

Helen took the boys to Adam's baseball practice while I went to my tennis match. Adam is on the Pirates and Derek is on the Mariners. Adam has the same coach as last season. The coach just loves Adam because of how Adam's motor never stops. He hustles all over the field.

After baseball, Helen and the boys stopped by my tennis match and ate some of the goodies. It was a little early for the hamburgers, so they decided to go grocery shopping.

I finished up with my match and got home in time to help Helen finish putting away the groceries. Then we all jumped in the car and headed to Derek's practice. Adam ran around with his new friend, Patrick. Helen and I walked around the field to get some exercise and catch up.

After Derek's practice we made a quick stop by a shoe store to get Derek some new cleats. One of the drawbacks of being a younger sibling is that you always have to wear hand-me-downs. We buy Derek more things than we normally would because we assume that, even if Derek doesn't get full use out of something, that Derek and Adam will together.

After the shoe store we took Derek to a birthday party for his friend, Kevin. The party was at the movie theater and arcade. Adam and I played air hockey and then Derek won Adam some tickets so that they could exchange the tickets for prizes. Derek got a plastic sword and Adam got some Power Ranger figures and an alligator. We left Derek at the birthday party and picked him up after they saw "Bridge to Terebithia".

When we got home, I continued working on painting the playroom windows and Helen mowed the lawn. Adam chilled inside and played with various action figures.

We thought about going out for dinner, but we were tired and neither one of us wanted to spend the money on the unnecessary calories, so we made some rice and beans and ate in.

Last Week

We've been enjoying the nice weather and the extended daylight hours in the evening. One evening, Helen and the boys rode their bikes to the book fair at Derek's school. Helen was sad when she saw that I had removed the child's seat from the back of her bike now that Adam can ride his own bike. Just last Summer, Adam was riding in the child's seat when we would ride our bikes to the pool. He just wasn't quite up to riding his bike with training wheels all the way to the pool.

At the book fair, Derek complained when Helen wouldn't buy one of the books he wanted. She made a deal that he could have the book if he put back one of the other books he had chosen. He picked "The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe" to put back. She told him he had to return one of the other "trash" books (Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, or something along the same line) and not one of his "real" books. He wasn't happy about it.

Helen had planned to ride bikes to Derek's piano practice the next day, but her butt was too sore from the ride to the book fair.

I went to the other Mens tennis team's practice on Wednesday since rain was expected on Thursday, our team's regular practice night. It looked like the rain was going to hold off and I was going to get to play on Thursday as well, but the rain started right before practice. We were at Derek's baseball practice when the rain started and everyone had to make a run for cover. We ended up finishing practice in the gym. Adam romped around the playground with his new friend, Patrick.

Pancakes on Daddy's Lap

One of my favorite memories is and will always be Adam sitting on my lap eating pancakes. The picture above is from a couple years ago, but he still likes to sit on my lap whenever we have pancakes. Helen makes the most delicious blueberry pancakes and we had them for dinner the other night. Derek had three plate refills and Adam had two. Helen thinks she may have to start using two skillets in order to cook enough eggs to satisfy the growing boys. There were still some pancakes left the next morning, so I warmed some up and Adam asked if he could sit on my lap and eat them together. I said, "of course you can" and sat him on my lap.

Mommy are you crying? I thought this one might get you.

Derek's Birthday Plan

Derek made up the itinerary for his birthday party and listed the presents that he would like (you can see a larger image by clicking it). If you haven't already guessed, the theme is Legos.

We're scrambling to try and figure out when we can get to the Lego store and buy a bunch of "loose" Legos for the Lego building contest. We've got baseball and tennis starting, Derek's birthday party, various friend's birthday parties, the beach, Adam's birthday party, Easter, finishing up the school year, and Disney World. It's fun, but crazy!

Adam and His Numbers

Adam was very proud when he completed his Kumon book last week. He struggled quite a bit when we first started working on his numbers, but he's doing much better now. He even pulls out his book sometimes and asks if he can do a page.

Dr Pepper

Helen has been eliminating High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and other "bad" things from our diet recently, so I’ve become more interested in food labels. I was not happy to find that my beloved, Dr Pepper, contains HFCS like almost all other soft drinks. In reading about HFCS it seems that there’s at least one Dr Pepper bottler (the nation’s oldest) in Texas, Dublin Dr Pepper, which refused to switch from cane sugar to HFCS. They have quite a cult following and have their own web site where you can order their product. I ordered two cases which came out to about $.78 a can after shipping charges. They arrived on Monday and I passed them around the office. We all thought that the Dublin Dr Pepper had a smoother after taste. I thought I could really taste the cane sugar, especially at the end. I'm going to do a "blind" taste test one of these days to see if I can really tell a difference.

Weekend Update

On Friday, Adam was excited that he got to take a book and a show and tell toy to school. He took a book about Clifford and 2 helicopters (in case his friends wanted to play with one of them).

Derek's been riding his bike down the street to the bus stop, which means I have to ride it back with Madison in tow. It's somewhat small for me and it feels like I'm one of those circus clowns riding the tiny bikes.

Helen took Derek to scouts and then played outside with the boys. We put the boys to bed and I watched the Norcross boys basketball team win their 2nd consecutive State Championship. Although the game was a nail biter, Helen only watched for a couple of minutes before falling asleep. I had stayed up until 1 am the previous night watching Georgia Tech lose to Wake Forest in double overtime.

On Saturday, Helen had to chaperone her school robotics team. The teacher that normally leads the team lost his wife to cancer a couple months ago, so the rest of the science department is helping out.

I took the boys to their baseball practice. They had a clinic to evaluate the players before choosing teams. I helped out with Adam's clinic some and threw with Derek.

After Adam's clinic we went to Target to get a present for a birthday party that Adam was going to in the afternoon. We grabbed some lunch at ChikfilA before heading back for Derek's baseball clinic. It was all good until Derek spilled his milkshake in the back seat of my car. While Derek was at his clinic I spent an hour cleaning up the milkshake spill. I had to take out the back seat and pull up some of the floor trim. Helen met us and helped me.

We went home and caught our breath for a minute and then I took Adam to the birthday party at the bowling alley. Helen decided that she wanted to walk up there and maybe run back. Derek went with her and rode his bike. Helen ended up running more than she wanted to in order to keep up with Derek. The boys had a great time and got all sugared up.

We came home and played outside and visited with neighbors. Helen and the boys made pizza while I applied some water seal to the porch. We had homemade chocolate ice cream for dessert. Helen bought an ice cream maker recently and this was her first attempt. It was really good.

On Sunday, the boys woke up and watched a little tv. Derek had to watch Adam's shows because he lost his tv priviliges when he got a "needs to control talking" on his weekly report from school. I took my car up to Firestone to have an oil change and tire rotation and then ran back home. It was a beautiful day. Adam had a massive battle going on with all his toys strewn across the living room and kitchen. Derek struggled with his piano and needed a lot of hand holding. Helen graded some papers.

After lunch I went to pick up my car and drop Helen's car off. Helen and the boys went on a run\bike ride and I painted one of the windows. Then we played baseball and some other things. Derek struggled through some more piano and then we hustled to pickup Helen's car before the shop closed.

Helen started on dinner and cut Adam's hair and, after dinner, did mine. The boys stayed up too late because it was still so light out with the early Daylight Savings Time change. We struggled to get everything cleaned and ready for tomorrow and then shut it down.

George The Gerbil

Adam and George inside his exercise ball

Me and George before his teeth got big

Grayson the cat and George the gerbil taking an interest in each other

George The Gerbil has been a popular addition to the family. He was a present from Santa this past Christmas. Derek is enamored with the name, George. He says, "he just likes it." We found a couple of small turtles in the back yard last Summer and Derek named them George and George Jr.

George sleeps in his cage next to Derek on his bedside table. Derek brings George downstairs in the morning and puts his cage on the kitchen table, where George stays until dinner. Adam and I feed him cereal and fruit from our hands in the morning. Derek takes George back upstairs and puts him in our room where we read stories after bath time. Sometimes Derek takes George out of his cage and lets him run around his room. I made the mistake of picking George up recently and got a bite on the finger that drew blood. It seems that George's teeth are much bigger and sharper than they were when we first got him.

Up and Adam

After Helen left in the morning, I was downstairs getting things ready and heard footsteps upstairs. I figured that it was Derek because he's been getting up early lately. But when I went upstairs I was surprised to see that it was Adam getting dressed. He seemed pleased with himself and was eager to tell me how he had gotten up first and gone in to check on Derek. Derek had woken up and asked him if he wanted to cuddle so he cuddled "a little" in Derek's bed. Adam usually takes a while to go to sleep and is the last one up. I usually have to peel him off the bed. He doesn't resist. He just grabs his blanket and sleep walks to the bathroom. He doesn't like anyone to talk to him for about 5 or 10 minutes and then he's fine.

Derek was excited to bring the "black and white" cookies, which the boys made with Mommy last night, to school with him. Since he brought a special treat with his Mercury project, Ms Mashburn asked Derek to get up in front of the class and share his project with the class. He never seems to mind getting up in front of the class.

Adam is the "book bag" keeper this week for his class so he gets to bring in a book each day for the class to read. He ran upstairs to select a book and came back with "I'll Love You Forever." I was surprised and asked if he was sure. It's a good book, but a tear-jerker. If one of the boys picks it to read, Helen usually makes me read it because she can never make it through without bawling.

The weather's been sunny and beautiful with high's in the mid 60's. When the weather's nice Adam and I play outside after dropping Derek at the bus stop. Lately, Adam's been on a tire swing kick. He gets so tickled when I push him high enough to see over the fence and into the neighbor's yard.

I've been reading Harlen Coben's "Promise Me" and it's got me. I stayed up too late last night reading it.

March Is Here

March is here already - Wow! That means birthdays, beach trip, and Easter are just around the corner.

On Friday, Derek's school had RAD (Read All Day). The kids got to bring pillows and blankets and their own books. Derek took comic books and Harry Potter. Derek also brought home his class picture above.

Adam's school celebrated Dr Seuss's birthday. The kids got to wear pajamas and listened to readings of Dr Seuss books. Adam was more excited to bring his "Pirates Caribee" (Pirates of the Carribean) action figures for show and tell. Derek didn't have scouts. Helen mowed the lawn and the boys played outside and then over at Ryan Morgan's.

On Saturday, I started prepping one of the windows on the front of the house for painting. Then we went to Derek's basketball game and end of the season party. Everyone on the team got an award. Derek got the "defensive stopper" award. After basketball, I finished prepping the window and power washed the porch. Helen finished mowing the lawn while the boys played. Then Helen went on a run and the boys rode their bikes. I helped Derek with his piano lesson and Helen made dinner. Adam played with his knights and pirates. After dinner, we read stories and put the boys to bed and then we did our weekly sweep, vacuum, mop.

This morning I was anxious to get the porch stained so that we could go grocery shopping. I had some left over stain from the last time and thought there would be enough - there was not. I got to within about 4 square feet of finishing before I ran out. I went to the Duron store to get some more and, of course, they changed their formula. The new formula wasn't even close to old formula so I had to restain the whole thing!

Helen and the boys went to grocery store and then to Ryan Morgan's birthday party. I was disappointed that I didn't get much family time. I finally finished just as they got home from the birthday party.

Everyone got kites at the party and everyone on the block that went to the party was outside trying to fly their kite. There were gusts of wind, but nothing sustainable so nobody got their kite up. The kids didn't seem to mind - they had a blast. Adam is trying to fly his kite in the picture above.

Helen graded some papers while Derek cleaned George's cage. Then the boys helped Helen make "black and white" cookies for Derek to take to school to go along with his project about Mercury - since Mercury has a sunny side and a dark side.

Wash Out

It rained all day yesterday - morning till night. We were fortunate to avoid the worst weather. There were fatal tornados to the south. The rain had paused as we headed to the bus stop yesterday, so we didn't take an umbrella - bad idea. I was talking to a neighbor after the bus had left when the skies opened. Adam, Madison, and I made a mad dash all the way back down the street to our house. It was like the time Helen and Poppy got caught in the surprise downpour when we went camping last Summer (above picture).

Since it was raining Helen decided to make snickerdoodles - sugar cookies with cinnamon. Derek and Adam set up an assembly line. Derek rolled the dough and Adam covered it with cinnamon. They were very good.

Helen's watercure is still holding up. It's a struggle to get through all the water, but she's seeing some improvements. She's not as congested, although there's still a lot of drainage.

Wednesday was a bummer at work for me because one of my close colleagues was let go. It brought back bad feelings from when I lost my job a few years back. Everyone was in shock and the normal close-knit atmosphere was rocked. I've been trying to let everyone know that he would appreciate a quick email or call and any effort to drum up opportunities that might be of interest.