Second Trip to Islands

First trip to a restaurant, just the 4 of us, where Striker and I managed to feed Alex and Tony while we waited for our food, ate our entire meal, and got out of there while everyone was still happy. These boys could not be any better!

Additional things to note:
First trip to Island's was for Lil Dahl's birthday in April. We had many assistants for that meal and the boys still sat in infant carriers. And we thought that was hard...ha!
This was the first time for the 3 men to be in Pasadena, and be given a tour by me!
This was also a practice run for our upcoming early dinner out for Auntie B's. birthday...I should not be breaking out in a sweat in anticipation...we can do this!
I really love the deliberation and bewilderment we cause the teenage hosts/hostesses at restaurants. We need 2 high chairs. We would recommend NOT seating us in a high traffic area...corners are good. Right next to the door to the patio...not so good, but hey, we'll make it work. BTW, please don't sit our drinks and food down right in front of the babies...we're quick, but so are they!

Yaki's - The Original Teriyaki Bowl

The name of the restaurant is Yaki's - The Original Teriyaki Bowl, yet the sign under it contains:
Hot sandwiches
Bulldog
Pastrami
Cheese Burger
Fries

Huh?! And what the heck is a Bulldog?! Thank you Google: http://thehamblogger.com/1503/yakis-the-original-teriyaki-bowl-burbank-ca/ (sorry it's not a link...I'm mobiley posting)

Striker The Goalie

A little over a year ago, Mr KFuj got Striker to start playing roller hockey. I supported the activity since it was good cardio and was close to home (if you recall, I was trapped in our house on bedrest at the time).

Yesterday, after much anticipation, gathering of gear, and zero practice, Striker played Goalie for the first time. They won 5-2 and Striker is rather proud to be 1-0 in goal.

Pros to Striker playing goalie:
-he plays for free
-he "gets" to play the entire game
-it's even better exercise despite the belief that the goalie just stands around waiting for people to shoot the puck at him. This is evidenced by his begging for a time out in the 3rd period so he could take a breather (see 2nd photo where the ref and his teammates were checking on him)
-he wears more padding...most of which he got as hand-me-downs (read: free!)

Cons:
-he really can't miss a game now, and they play every Saturday afternoon at 2 (yep, pretty much eliminates any plans on Saturdays for us, or at least Striker)
-he has people shooting a puck at him regularly
-he really isn't that flexible...yet
-he plays softball on Sundays and bowls on Mondays, making hockey inflicted injuries even more of a problem

Bounce Bounce. Smooshy Face.

While waiting for Striker and I to get things ready for bathtime tonight, the boys were hanging out on our bed. (Striker was watching them while I got their jammies and stuff-don't worry, there was no risk of them falling off the side of the bed, unless they took Striker with them.)

When I came back into the room, Striker was entertaining Tony, and Alex was sitting there going "bounce, bounce" and "smooshy face" simultaneously. This caused me to burst into laughter at his extreme cuteness in either trying to get our attention by doing our 2 favorite "Alexisms" or just entertaining himself and having a moment.

I've GOT to get video of both!

Side note: he does have 2 perfectly normal legs...he was just moving one so quickly in this picture that it is a blur. I have LOTS of blurry pictures these days...

The Baby in the Mirror

While taking care of Peas and Carrots today, I plopped the boys on the floor next to my sister's bed and Tony was obsessed with the baby in the mirror. He gave "the baby" high fives and laughed and smiled. This is the least blurry picture that I was able to get because he was cracking (himself) up!

Turtles and Monkeys

Lil Dahl and Shades are in Laughlin, so I was tasked with feeding their turtle kids, Peas and Carrots. Bubba, the stuffed monkey, held my instructions for feeding the little guys...thankfully it was only for one day, because I did NOT want to clean that hot mess out or touch the leftover worms. EW!

Tony double checked to make sure I was following the instructions, then joined Alex and Bubba on the bed. Three little monkeys (not quite) jumping on the bed!

Tree Summit

Every year since we've lived here, September brings Santa Ana winds that take down half the trees in our neighborhood. Every year, I complain that they never thin out the trees early enough. Today I came home to find the Tree Summit taking place. It appeared to be a group of landscapers, Parks & Rec people and City of Chino "suits". Let's hope they thin out the trees earlier this year!

Swing Swing Swing

Can't take credit for this idea, but I finally had the opportunity to do it. :)

Curling Grandma Style

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Birthday Party Fun

Oh to be entertained by empty red cups...

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Bowling Tournament

This is a very random collection of pictures for what turned out to be a fun fundraiser for the dance group.

Things to note:
-3 dozen balloons are very difficult to stuff into a Pilot in the wind
-Tony and Alex are great mascots and may have helped raise a little more money than Paul in lederhosen...we'll get them in training for next year along with their friends...because how do you say no to those faces?
-After getting a much needed pedicure, and buying my fun $2 Zebra flip flops, I finally found my Croc flops (that don't look like Crocs) that had been missing since Tuesday. My feet are insanely happy.
-My hot pink bowling shirt from Bianka and John's wedding was super comfy and I'm quite happy that I got to wear it again!
-Daniel (pictured holding Tony) is excellent with children...this is only noteworthy since his buddies (and ours), the Becker boys, are phobic when it comes to holding and being responsible for babies.

Cheap and Crunchy

On Ruth's recommendation this morning, I headed to WalMart for cheap frames for the stacks of pictures I was picking up today. I hate WalMart, but at $2 per frame, I was willing to make an exception.
I got 13 frames of various sizes for $2.50 each! The best part?
They are:
98% recycled frame profile
77% recycled paper matboard
100% recycled paperboard backing
Shipped in 48% recycled corrugate
Made in the USA of US and imported parts
Come in MANY different finishes and are as fancy as the ones I got at Costco, which I thought were a great deal at $7.50 each.
Crunch, crunch, crunch...of course the crunch factor was totally a bonus feature!

On the Move - Alex

All of these pictures were taken today of Alex, and yes, he's wearing three different "outfits". While he's been scooting and rolling around and backwards "crawling" for awhile now, today (well yesterday now) was the day that I officially declared him a backwards crawler.

If you've ever been to my house, you'll see that he basically covered every square inch of my living room, and I assure you that it was all done intentionally. Previously, he just sort of took off and ended up wherever. Today he saw something and got to it.

In other news, he cut his 2nd tooth on Sunday or Monday, but we were all sick and my memory is a little foggy. This is important to note because his little buddy, Kyle, just got his 2nd tooth and they have a friendly little competition going on with their milestones, since Kyle is a bit of a baby boy wonder and is working to be the third twin and close the 4 1/2 month gap between them. (Wow, long run on sentence there....refer to previous sentence...still sick).

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Odd Organic

I buy organic food whenever it's practical (convenient, comparable, etc). I will NOT be buying organic produce from Stater Brothers. I mean really, is it necessary to stick a label that wraps all the way around each and every organic item? (And really, what sort of chemicals were likely used on the adhesive?) I'm not about to spend my time unlabeling my fruits and vegetables, especially after paying so much more for them! I wonder how much could be shaved off the cost if all the labeling labor were eliminated?

I Spy Ticket Edition

While driving home from Burbank today, we were sitting in awful traffic, passed one accident, and then "got" to be the first car after a traffic break. From our vantage point in either the carpool lane or the fast lane, we started playing a new game that I highly recommend for passing the time while sitting in terrible traffic. We watched the cars coming in our direction on the other side of the median in the carpool and checked for violations - either single passengers or those on their cell phones. We'd actually get sad when there was a kid in the back seat. Dear California/CHP, I know how you can raise some serious revenue...who knew so many people still didn't use bluetooth headsets and rode by themselves in the carpool lane?

Synchronized Sickness

Alex started getting sick on Saturday and was pretty miserable all day Sunday. Sunday night, Striker, Tony and I all got what Alex had. Thanks for sharing Buddy!

It's a cold that involves a really nasty sore throat. The sick child is super snuggly and only wants Mommy, but that leaves the other one kind of bored. We feel bad for Striker who had to go to work today, but at least he can medicate.

3 Men and a Lady

Courtesy of my sister, Lil Dahl, the name change is now official! I still have a bunch of maintenance to do, but double teething and a cold (Alex's) aren't exactly leaving me with loads of free time. Plus I've made this commitment to myself to walk on a regular basis and that's another hour a day that I'm not sitting on my rear end. After all the sitting I did last year, it's rather nice to be out and about!

8 Month Family Pictures

Once upon a time (read: the last 3 times we took pictures) I was able to save thumbnail images of our professional photos for use on the web. You can see them to the right.

This time, that was no longer an option because they would like me to buy the disc of all the digital images for $100. I spent $85 on prints, can't I just have the thumbnails of the ones I ordered at least? Sigh.

Once I receive my prints next week, I will scan my favorite family photo and upload it on the right. In the meantime, you can go here to view all of the pictures we took. I LOVE THEM!!!! And hope you do too!

First Ferry Ride

Balboa Island...Alex napped across

Happy 6th Anniversary to Us!

Allow me to recap our best anniversary ever in the form of my Facebook Status Updates (which sadly are about the only form of blogging I get around to these days):

Jenn Ann:
thinks the best husbands send roses AND lillies the day before their anniversary...so their wives don't play with their new netbook before they get home ;) (Friday 4:08PM)

decided to start celebrating the anniversary a day early with Olive Garden take out. Flemings tomorrow. Nothing says "I love you" like eating yummy food you didn't have to cook! (Friday 6:06PM)

is celebrating 6 years of marriage to my best friend and 8 months of mommyhood to the 2 cutest little boys in the world. Happy day! (Today 7AM)

is quite amused that Tony just laughed at the Michelin man commercial. He may or may not have thought it was Alex ;) (9 AM)

thought it was a good idea to walk a mile to hang with the boys while Will got his hair cut. It's also a mile walk back...(noon)

is on a date with a hot guy...sssh don't tell my little men ;) Flemings or bust. Cell phone going into purse on silent until car ride home. Stop your gasps of shock. (5 PM)

has succumbed to a food coma of Flemings bliss...bread with fancy butter, steak, baked potato, wine, chocolate lava cake...my taste buds are in heaven! No Blackberries were sighted in the restaurant. Adult conversation took place. Date night needs to be mandatory on at least a quarterly basis. (7 PM)

Ohio State Campus Programs

Alex and Tony's first DVR recording...at least it was channel 333!

Happy 8 Month Birthday!

Alex and Tony:

-are wearing size 4 diapers and 18 month clothes...though most of their 12 month stuff still fits too.

-are still obsessed with playing with their rings...but love all the toys, books, and remotes they can get their hands on.

Alex:

-weighs 23.5 pounds

-finally got his first tooth

-isn't crawling, but can get from point A to point B by scooting backwards on his belly and rolling

-makes this ridiculously cute smooshy face

-loves "walking"















-is going to grow up to be a CPA just like Daddy (unless it's to be a dentist or something water related)

Tony:

-weighs 22 pounds

-still just has his 2 bottom teeth

-almost always falls asleep in the car

-really isn't into scooting or crawling, but shows significant interest in walking

-LOVES Oskar and the cats and will likely take his first steps chasing after them

Huh?!

While watching Jeopardy with Striker tonight, I decide that I need to read some books about US Presidents and other random history stuff so I can better compete in those categories. He says to me "how about Statistics?" (Smirk). Um no. I ask him if he's ever used anything we learned in that class since then. He says "yes, regression analysis". Me: "Did I even take that class?" (Background...we met in that class and the whole reason we started talking was because he did well and I...didn't.)

Wrestlemania...Twinfant Style

While watching Wheel of Fortune, Alex and Tony decided that it'd be more fun to wrestle. They laughed hysterically while grabbing, pushing, pulling, and smacking each other. And then Tony head butted Alex. Sigh.

Name Change

I'm thinking of renaming the blog from Rachel Made Me Do This to something else...I have one suggestion that is a front runner (thank you sissy), but wanted to see if anyone else had any suggestions. And no, nothing with "twin" in it will be considered.

Toothless No More!

5 days shy of 8 months, Alex FINALLY has the top of one tooth poking thru. And he slept well the last 2 nights and wasn't fussy, go figure! Granted there have been MANY weeks, months actually, where we were certain a tooth would be showing up, and didn't, so I guess that was more painful than the final break thru.

Question of the day

Why didn't I buy this?