Happy Halloween

Both kids had their Halloween parades. Joshua had his parade yesterday which let other parents go to other kids' parades today. Today Tyler dressed as Pikachu and Joshua did his Tigger again. There were so many people at Tyler's school that I couldn't close enough to see the parade plus the classes weren't announced so I don't even know when Tyler's class marched. Oh well. Joshua and his friends Alex & Amber kept busy eating every snack imaginable. Sheri (their mom) provided cheerios, goldfish, and pretzel sticks and all the kids ate like they didn't eat breakfast earlier. The kids had fun playing with the tetherball which they never get to try since it's usually crowded with bigger kids. Joshua was getting squirrely later on climbing in and out of the wagon, sitting on Amber's lap.

I made my pumpkin white chocolate macadamia bars and they are yummy. I set 2 plates aside for Hector to take to work and a plate for us. I labelled the plates with stickers and left a sticker on his pager to remind him to take the pumpkin bars this morning. I guess I wasn't clear enough because he took the wrong plate (ours with all the ugly/crumbly bars). Good thing he had some free time to come home and exchange plates.

Rose Bowl

The UCLA/Washington State football game was fun. T was late in arriving and of course we hit traffic. At least we didn't have any gridlock once at the Rose Bowl or parking problems. Tyler came along and I brought along his Nintendo DS to keep him busy during any boring parts. He also had popcorn and a frozen lemonade. Tyler lasted the 2nd quarter into halftime and then started complaining. The football game was really fun and the fans behind us were really rowdy. Washington State was playing much better than UCLA and they ended up winning the game 37-15. We left before the 3rd quarter began since I knew that Tyler would not last another 2 hours. Oh well, we tried.

Chicken taquitos

I thought maybe I'd share my simple recipe for chicken taquitos. Well, it's not really a recipe, more like instructions since it's very simple and easy. I start with cooked chicken like roast chicken from Costco and shred the meat. I use corn tortillas and warm them on a flat griddle like pan on the stove. The tortillas need to be soft so they're easier to roll, place some chicken along the middle and roll tightly that way the meat doesn't fall out during frying. The rolling part took me a while to get the hang of it. Then secure with a toothpick (see above pic for example). I pour about an inch of vegetable oil into a shallow pot and fry them up to desired golden brown or crunchiness. Drain on a wire rack over some paper towels and enjoy with guacamole. Yum!

Early Halloween

Whew, the kids and I had such a late night! We went to the Halloween night at Disney California Adventure and we had lots of fun. It was open until 10:30pm and we took our time around the park. There were many treat stations and one could get in line as much you wanted. Some of the rides were open and all of us went on Soarin over California. Joshua was tall enough and he really enjoyed it. The midway games were all free and the prizes were candy. Joshua tried all the games which was really good. Tyler's Naruto costume had a lot of people confused but finally a Disney employee recognized him. In a couple of places, there was a set up with a band or DJ where the kids could dance and interact with clowns, dancers or Disney characters. Tyler sure does love to dance!! Joshua was Tigger and at first he wasn't too happy to put on a costume but he got used to it. He also discovered that when he held his bag open at the treat station, they put candy inside!

It was nice to see Kat last night too. I hadn't see her since she went on her cruise to the Caribbean last week. She brought me back these cool slippers that look like Dutch clogs but they're really comfy. I'm wearing them now, Kat! Thanks so much!!

Pumpkin madness

Hmm, I made pumpkin bread for the first time yesterday. It came out all right. I made some pumpkin macadamia nut bar a long time ago (like 15 years) and I lost the recipe. I have searched the internet for the recipe but am unsuccessful. Luckily, I was talking to She-ra about the pumpkin bars and she says she has the recipe from way back when I first made them. Woo hoo! So she scanned it and e-mailed to me so maybe I'll try to make them this weekend.

Another pumpkin I dealt with was the one I carved into our jack-o-lantern. Last year I used a carving kit which came out really nice. I remember putting the tools and stencils in a ziploc but that bag has disappeared in our black hole of a house. Although, I did find the Netfliz movies that we've had for 2 months and never watched. Okay, since I couldn't find the kit and didn't want to buy another one, I had Tyler draw a face that I carved out for him. He approved the final result.

Another pumpkin food we tried this year is pumpkin ice cream (Dreyers Grand). It tastes just like pumpkin pie! Yum, the kids love it and so do I.

Tonight we are going to a Halloween night at California Adventure. The Disney characters will be dressed in costume and I'm not sure what else will go on but the kids should lots of fun. More on that tomorrow...

slow day

Nothing to blog about so here are some old photos that I'll post.

X-ray

Here is the xray of Tyler's wrist. The pic I took of the x-ray is grainy and not that great but you can kind of make out the fractures.

decisions

We are on the verge of planning a remodel of our kitchen, master bath and the kids' bath. I'm kind of dragging my feet because of all the disruption it will cause for 2-3 months but I know I'll be so happy when it's complete. One of my problems is the flooring for the kitchen. Originally, I was thinking laminate because of the kids. But our friends have laminate and the husband complains of pitting from dropping things so he would choose hardwood floors in the future. His wife doesn't think it's such a big deal and likes the laminate. So we lean towards wood floors but my sister-in-law pipes up about scratches (she has glossy cherry floors) and a colleague of Hector's says he steps on the kids toys and puts deep gouges in his wood floors. They both say they would have gone with tile in the kitchen. Argh! I love the look of tile but with the kids or me dropping things on the floor can chip the tile plus it gets really cold on your feet. So I'm back to laminate...maybe.

Since it's hockey season, I thought I'd share my hockey artwork with you. Here is my caricature playing hockey that was done 4-21-02. We were at a wedding (friend's sister) in Ojai on a ranch. It was a big outdoor affair with a tent for the reception area and a children's area in the barn. They hired an artist to do caricatures during the reception and this is mine. Tyler also got one of him as a fireman. I never got around to framing them but they lasted pretty well for being taped to the wall.

I'm losing my mind

These are the words that popped out of Tyler's mouth today. This is the first full day of school since he got his red cast. He is having a very difficult time using a pencil and scissors. We tried to have him hold the pencil differently but ended up having use his left hand. This change is frustrating Tyler who threw down his pencil to exclaim, "I'm losing my mind!" I guess using the other hand changes the letters in his head so he writes them down wrong. Poor guy...homework usually is very easy for him but it's taken him 3 times longer to finish.

Soccer, sushi and hockey

Another fun filled day...I took Tyler to his team's soccer game to cheer them on. Everyone was sweet asking Tyler how he was etc. Apparently, a broken arm is not unusual. The coach's son broke his arm last year on the monkeybars, another boy broke an arm falling off a bike and a mom said 2 of her kids broke their arms also. The coach loaned us a drycast cover which looks like an oven mitt made of some type of plastic with a thick latex end. The hole in the latex is small so when he sticks his arm in, it forms a tight seal around his arm keeping out water. We tried it tonight when Tyler took his bath and it kept the cast nice and dry. What a cool invention.

At noon, Lupe (Hector's sister) and her son came by for a quick visit. Her son, N needs practice driving for his driver's license test so they drove out to our house. They made it here fine but I think Lupe was a bit anxious on the way. We had lunch at Kai's, a sushi place and sports bar. I tried the rainbow roll and dragon roll which was really good. We had to rush home to set off for the the Kings/Ducks game at Staples. The game was pretty good and the Kings seemed to have a slight edge for most of the game but the Ducks tied it up in the 3rd period. No team scored during the 5 minute overtime so they move on to shoot off which the Ducks won. Boo!

Return of the Runaways

A while back, I ranted about some friends that bought a place in Alabama and left without saying goodbye. Recently, I heard from another mutual friend S that she saw the runaway couple and their child at her daughter's school open house. S has said that she and her husband have seen them frequently since school started and the runaways never say more than hi. This is really odd since the runaways are usually very sociable and friendly people. All this time, our group of friends have never gotten a call since they left or returned. I heard of the reason why the prodigal couple has returned...it turned out that Mrs. runaway didn't like the Alabama weather!! Hmmm, I would think if someone is going to make a voluntary choice to move there to get away from "evil" California would have researched the area more thoroughly! Kinda implusive, don't you think? So the runaways have returned and started making a new set of friends. I still feel tossed aside and bitter about the whole ordeal but hey, life goes on...

I got an appt with an orthopedic MD today to see Tyler's wrist. Tyler was happy to miss the last 2 hours of school. The doctor was very nice and luckily he didn't have to reduce the bone, he just cast it. Tyler chose a red cast so that is what he has for the next 4 weeks, then more x-rays and we'll go from there.

I am glad that the week is over and hopefully we can gather ourselves this weekend. Tyler has to elevate his arm up above heart level as much as he can this weekend to avoid swelling. The cast has not slowed him down much which is good, I think!

wishes...

Last night over dinner at TGIFridays, Hector says, "You know, I really want to get a motorcycle." I reply,"That's not a secret, go ahead and get one...but you have to let me know when you take off for a ride even if I'm asleep." I knows he really misses having a bike to cruise around on and last weekend he enjoyed the Harley he rented. So I agreed to it since Hector isn't a demanding guy, he doesn't spend our $$ recklessly or frivolously. I'm the more high maintenance type and he indulges me which I love, so I can totally agree to his request. Heck, I like riding with him and so does Tyler!

I don't think he would get a Harley like he rented since they can expensive but he has some models in mind. Our 10 year anniversay is coming up so that would be a great present to himself.

E.R.

Today started out normally. I was getting some housework done, ironing shirts for Tyler's picture when the phone rang. It was the school nurse telling me that Tyler fell off the monkey bars at recess and is complaining that his arm hurts. I tried to determine if he was being overly dramatic but she seemed insistent that I come in. Tyler was crying when I showed up and after a while he was still in pain so we gathered his homework/backpack and left. I called Hector to see if we should go to his work for x-rays or our local hospital and decided it would be better if he was seen in Torrance in case he needed more care. We had a lovely wait in the ER for about 2 hours before we were sent to Radiology. After that, the process sped up and a doctor came in to confirm that Tyler DID fracture his right arm (radius & ulna). They gave us a prescription for pain and the orthopedist phone number for followup tomorrow. Tyler's arm was wrapped up in a temporary cast and sling and we went home.

Tyler is in good spirits and he didn't seem too upset that his soccer season is over. :) He knows that he has to refrain from the monkey bars for at least a month. His story of the fall goes like this...he was going across the monkey bars as fast as he could and he fell on his bottom and his arm ended up hurting. Tyler kept everyone informed of his broken bones including me, the stock clerk at Longs, the pharmacist and of course my mom, who bent over backwards consoling him! Yeah, he's milking this for that he can...

My Bread Winner

On Monday, Hector pulled out Tyler's wiggly tooth. You can see the new one coming in where the first one was. Tyler was pleased to receive $1 from the tooth fairy and he quickly put it in his piggybank.

Poor Hector had a rough night/day. He was second call and usually he doesn't have to go in until 5 pm. but the hospital was busy so he went in at 7:30pm. He finished his cases and came home for a couple of hours before heading off to work again (4pm). He was still at work when I came home at 10pm where I had my drunk/sick friend incident. I went to bed at midnight and I remember Hector coming home & getting called in again sometime in the middle of the night. Usually, the second call gets the next day off or a very short caseload but not this time. I spoke to Hector earlier today and he said that he went in at 3am last night, stayed until his scheduled cases began at 7am and finished at 4pm. So now he is conked out on the sofa getting his much deserved sleep.

More Skybar

Here is our photo from our event at Skybar. We had a great time although T mixed her alcohol types which led to an undesirable ending. We started off with White Russians and T was off to a quick start. She finished hers way before I did and we ordered another round. After the second round, I switched to Sprite (I drove) and T ordered Long Island ice tea. She claimed that it was very strong but the trooper that she is, T finished it and had a 2nd drink. I didn't think much of it at the time; I know my limit, she should too, right?

During the event, T had to use the bathroom a couple times..tiny bladder. We were a few miles from home and T insisted I stop at this park to let her pee. Huh? I had to park in the lot while the restroom was at the other end of the park at 10pm and she took off. I know for a fact she didn't go all the way to the restroom and we'll just leave it at that. We finally make it home and T goes to the bathroom. I send my mom off since she babysat and wait for T to emerge. About 30 minutes go by and she still is in there. I'm asking if she is okay, should I get her something or call her husband to pick her up since she wasn't 'well' enough to drive.
I get muffled responses so at 11pm I call M to pick his woman up. He arrives at 11:30pm and it takes us another 30 minutes to coax her out of the bathroom. Oy! I'm glad it wasn't me...been there, done that enough to never get myself in that situation ever again!

T calls this afternoon from work. I'm telling her she didn't seem blotto last night when we left the party but she said it was the combo of White Russians with the lethal mix of every alcohol in the Long Island did her in. She apologized which she didn't have to and said she had fun. That's my girl!

The Beautiful People

Last night was the InStyle/Van Cleef & Arpels party at Skybar in West Hollywood. There were displays and models showing off the Alhambra collection which was very nice. It was imho a casual type jewelry although the prices were not casual by any means. T and I enjoyed appetizers and free drinks (more on that later). The funny thing was when a Van Cleef rep was talking to us and let us try on the necklaces, a photographer was taking our pictures. To me, it was distracting and uncomfortable but it made me realize what celebs have to go through at these kind of events.

The Skybar is an open patio/courtyard with a small pool. There are nice nooks with bed/lounges and small tables to sit at. The bar is up some stairs where there are more tables and the grass covered podiums where 3 models stood looking bored. We managed to grab a table but it wasn't very crowded. The pictures of the bar are when people went downstairs and mingled at the pool area.

Overall, the event was okay. It was fun because it was at the Skybar which I saw still exclusive where one must be on the list to attend. It boils down to an overhyped bar that is really not that special. I didn't see any celebrities but I wasn't looking too hard. T and I posed for some pictures in front of the Instyle backdrop to get our Hollywood groove on!

My Dream

I can never remember my dreams, but last night I remember vividly dreaming that Hector gave me a French Bulldog puppy! When I mentioned it to Hector, he said that was definitely a dream since he would never give me one! Wah! I guess that I'll have to get one myself!

Sleep at your own risk

The other night after a good dinner of Mexican food (sopes and tacos) we sat around watching the Kings game. Carlos fell asleep on the floor and Hector was dozing on the loveseat. He-Man and She-Ra were here too and we started laughing when Carlos and Hector began their dueling snoring performance. He-man asked for a permanent marker and the best I could find is a Sharpie. This is the handiwork on Carlos' belly. It was funny.

Here are some pics of the guys' ride this afternoon. There was supposed to be scattered showers this morning but we didn't receive any rain in our area. Tyler's soccer game was pretty good...even though we lost 1-0, the coach was happy because the opposing team had been scoring 4 to 5 goals each game but our team held them off. Anyways, it was a beautiful day for a ride by the ocean. The above picture is Carlos and the view of the San Fernando Valley behind him.

The guys rode to Neptune's which is a roadhouse by Zuma beach. I guess it's a legendary biker hangout so they checked it out. They also rode through Topanga canyon which is really winding and twisty. Hector wore my helmet and some screws that hold the face shield came loose. I hope that the company will replace them or we can find some to fix it. Wah!

Here is the Harley that Hector rented for the weekend. It is really nice but big. I don't think he would be interested in buying one but it's fun to try them out.

Midnight Run

We picked up Hector's rental Harley yesterday. I got my own helmet too. It's a big bike and Hector gave me a ride last night (10pm) around Palos Verdes. I was nervous at first because it had rained earlier and night time but I chilled out and enjoyed the ride. It was cool and clean with that after it rained smell. Even though it had stopped raining, we could see lightning over the ocean. The route Hector chose was nice in the hills of Palos Verdes with winding roads. It's funny because I noticed different smells along the ride; the ocean, horses and eucalyptus, smells a person misses riding in a car. Today, Hector and Carlos will ride north up the coast maybe to Santa Barbara so we hope they will avoid any more rain along the way.

Yippee

Yeah, it's Friday! We are ready for it...as you can see, Tyler has his party gear on. Carlos, Hector's brother should be riding out today from Vegas and also Kenley, Hector's former roomate will be out her this weekend too. It should be fun to catch up with them. Hector should be picking up his Harley rental today so we're looking forward to some rides this weekend.

My friend Kat left early this morning for her cruise in the Caribbean. She recently started a new position that keeps her very busy so this vacation is a welcome reward for her. Have lots of fun Kat!!

Go Kings Go!

We've been to 2 Kings games this season and Hector has been on the jumbotron screen each time! A record! It was very cool to see. The Kings won both games too so maybe it is a good luck charm. It was also nice to see Cartman from South Park cheer to Kings. He was absent for a couple of seasons and Cartman is always a crowd pleaser.
So the Kings are off to a great start. I want to get a Kings hoodie and maybe a hockey jersey for Tyler (he outgrew his other one).

Some other fun...we went to Eagle Riders to rent a motorcycle for Hector this weekend. He wanted to rent a Yamaha but it wasn't available so he rented a Harley Davidson Heritage Softail. Hector's brother, Carlos is coming out for the weekend and those two will go a day ride Saturday. They can ride in the canyons or up to Santa Barbara then on Sunday Hector can take me for a ride somewhere. He already bought a motorcycle jacket for me and will pick up the helmet I liked on Friday. This is eventually leading up to Hector testing some motorcycles before buying one. So stay tuned for pictures of their and my adventure next week!

No School Today

After our late night out last night, we slept in a bit which is such a treat! Sherri called for the kids' morning playdate so we walked on over and spent 2 hours playing and chatting. Hector called and we decided to round all the kids for lunch at the Korean BBQ. It was an adventure and the kids enjoyed the Jello and ice cream the best (of course).

I took pictures of 2 flowers on the way to Sherri's place. One is a pale lavender rose and a purple flower. They were so pretty, I couldn't resist them for my flower collection.

Weekend

Another whirlwind weekend for us. Saturday started off being mellow...Hector was at work until 5pm. so I hung out with the kiddies. That night Hector and I went to the Kings season opener against the St. Louis Blues and we won 4-1! We received little white fleece towels to wave around as the promotion from some sports radio station. We both really like the seats we got this year and the couple seated next to us. It was funny because when the Kings scored a goal, Hector jumped up while holding a beer which ended up spilling on the girl in front of him. It got in her hair and soaked the back of her jeans. Poor girl! Besides that, we had a lot of fun and it was nice to spend some adult time together.

Sunday was jam-packed with activities. We had Tyler's soccer game at noon and his friend Glenn on the opposing team. Both teams played really well; Tyler was goalie for a quarter and didn't let the other team score! Yeah. Towards the end of the game, the score was tied but then the other team scored! Too bad. We had lunch with Glenn and his parents at Shakeys so we all had fun. The top pic shows Tyler in goalie mode ready to stop the ball. His team works really hard to keep the ball away from their goal.

Later in the afternoon, we took off to Disneyland. It was really cute since they put up Halloween decorations everywhere. The sign of CALIFORNIA was changed to fall colors with the "A" made into big candy corn. A big Mickey pumpkin on Main Street and other pumpkins with Disney characters carved in. It was not too crowded and we rode 6 rides in 4 hours which is really good. Someone had left their Disney rental stroller at the entrance gate when we arrived so we used it all night. Josh jumped right in after every ride which was cool. We even got in some dancing at Tomorrowland with the kids. We stayed for the fireworks show that we always enjoy seeing then ducked into 50 year commemoration movie with Steve Martin to avoid the crowd of people leaving. It was a great day.

The Wild

I took the boys to Movie Night at Tyler's school last night. They put up a screen at the little amphitheater and people sat on blankets or chairs to watch The Wild. It was a typical kid flick, funny with fart/potty humor thrown in. This movie reminded me a lot of Madagascar. It was a nice time to spend with the boys and their classmates. We had to crowd in with Glenn's parents because Tyler wanted to sit with Glenn & Ryan. I sat on the ground because I didn't want to obstruct anyone behind me so that was a bit uncomfortable.

I was trying to get Joshua to use his potty. He is very resistant to my efforts. I put him in underwear then pull-ups over that so he can ride on the bus without having an accident and he came home completely dry. Aha, now is my chance to try to have him on the potty or so I thought. Joshua sat there for over an hour and nothing happened. I tried reading him a book, running the water and singing. He seems to be really self conscious about it and not able to relax enough to go. Arrghh. His teacher says we'd try for a week and if it didn't happen, we'd try again another time. Bah!

The kids have Monday off so we already have a playdate with Ariana & Alex. Maybe I'll load Sherri, her 3 kids and us into the truck to go another park for something different. I feel for her because they only have one car so she doesn't get out very much. I think I would go stir crazy.

The LA Kings season opener is tonight so I'm excited. Hector is at work until 5pm and he's been working a lot lately so it'll be nice to spend some time together. We splurged on half season tickets this year so lots of games to see! Go Kings Go!

Banana plant trimmed to look like fans.

Flattened frog in Singapore.

Juice break at the park.

Random Pics

Joshua and Tyler doing their best Naruto impression. BELIEVE IT!

Swings at the park.

Hibiscus on the walk to Tyler's school.

Legoland Pics