Karate Kid

Watch out, Josh has some deadly moves....

Beach Surprise and Fun

Last night the Kings played an awesome game against the Phoenix Coyotes and shut them out

4-0. Hector and I were so impressed with the game and even talked about it this morning. So it was funny what happened today but more on that in a bit. We had an outing with Sherri & Amber to Redondo Beach where they had fun at the park, a quick picnic lunch then down to the ocean to play in the sand and sea. As we walked down the stairs we noticed a Heal The Bay tent and lots of people on the beach cleaning up trash. When we got closer to the people I saw the Kings mascot Bailey and noticed the people wearing Heal The Bay/Kings T-shirts. I'm thinking to myself...is that the LA Kings team? Sure enough I saw Rob Blake who scored the 4th goal last night and he was super nice. Hector shook his hand and I got to take a picture with him. I saw Dustin Brown and others who I don't really recognize because they weren't wearing their hockey uniforms. :) But it was very cool to stumble across them doing good work in the community.

But that was just a small portion of our time at the beach. Josh and Amber had a great time exploring and playing in a new park. Josh loved the rolling log apparatus while Amber loved spinning in circles then falling off. When we were down on the beach, they spent time digging and playing in the sand but their favorite activity was running away from the waves. I think they would keep playing all day if we didn't have to go. Meanwhile Sherri bought a cool new dragon kite from Costco so that took us about 15 minutes to assemble on the windy beach but after that it was so easy to fly. On the other hand Hector had our little dinky kites which dipped and dived all over the place. It was lots of fun...too bad we ran out of time. I'll have to look through our collection of kites and find a really cool one to try out.

We did it!

First of all, I completed my Peaks N Valleys socks today. Yay for me! It's the first time I used cotton yarn and I wasn't completely feeling the comfy factor until I put them on and standing them made me believe all the talk about handknitted socks. Extremely comfortable. I probably could have knit the foot a tad longer but there is enough stretch to be wearable.

Tyler has been feeling like an outsider on his baseball team lately. He is not as experienced as some of the other players or as skilled but he has improved so much already. He didn't want to go to the game yesterday but we had a little pep talk. I said I felt it was time for a basehit (I could feel it) but of course Mr. Pessimistic was skeptical. The other team was tough and both pitchers were doing well. Neither team got a hit in the 1st couple of innings. The batters went down 1,2,3. Each pitcher is only able to pitch 2 innings or 50 pitches total so during the game there are about 4 pitchers that take turns. The other team changed pitchers and that's when it all changed for the A's. We started getting hits and scored a couple of runs. Then Tyler goes to bat and crack, he hit a sweet basehit down the 3rd baseline which gave him enough time to get on base (he runs sloooowwww) and get a RBI to make the score 3-0. He was pretty stoked and I'm sure that boosted his confidence a lot and made him feel like part of the team. So that was game 5 and 15 more to go. Now Tyler can work on his goal of getting a runner out and catching a fly ball next. :)

Update

Okay, I have to tell the latest on our Mammoth vacation buddies He-man and She-ra. I received an email and it looks like they won't be able to make it. Well, at least She-ra who didn't put her request in time and someone else at her work requested the same week. Awwwwwwwwww, I am not sure if she procrastinated with her vacation request but it is late notice. I guess that is the perk of Hector being a per diem employee now. Hector thinks He-man will still try to go to Mammoth at least for a couple of days since he makes his own hours. Maybe he should stay at home since he already had his ski trip with Hector in February and work like a good hubby otherwise She-ra might throw a hissy fit.

That reminds me to not tell her about my girl trip in May...but she wouldn't try to go with us (I think). She-ra is cool in reasonable doses but she needs to spend time with her hubby.

Oh, remember all that yummy yarn I got yesterday? Well I got my rebate card from ATT so guess what I'm buying....yes, more darn yarn. Honestly, I need to stop and actually knit the yarn I buy or I'll be lumped into the crazy yarn lady category. It was hard for me to decide what to get but I bought some more sock yarn and some hot pink yarn (10 skeins) to make a vest or a couple of baby sweaters. Okay, no more yarn for me.... no more yarn. Oh, wait I think Mammoth has a yarn store....no more yarn.

jumpin bean

You might have noticed that Josh likes jumping off things and I like to attempt to take pictures. Last night we were at Mulligans to have Tyler practice his batting so had fun taking these pictures. I had my little point and shoot which took a little timing to get Josh in action (with that pesky delay) but I figured it out and as you can see we took lots of pictures. It'll be fun to look back on these times and show Josh what a cutie he's been.

Meanwhile, Hector and Tyler are racing on the go-kart avoiding the pile-ups and crashes.

It was a very busy and tiring weekend. When Josh is tired or sleepy, he'll crash anywhere. This time he chose the video gaming chair.

Mad Skillz

Yes, I got em. Lots of stuff to cover so we'll see how much I can get done. But first I admit that I have mad skillz which is completely amazing. Even Hector agrees. I can call his cell phone while he is at work pretty much any time during the day or night and Hector will either be a) intubating a patient b) inserting an A line or similar item c) putting in an epidural or d) any medical related procedure. I have this knack or 6th sense to call when he is busy. What can I tell you? I'm gifted.

So Easter was good; Hector worked during the day so the kids and I went over to my mom's place. She said that she'd boil some eggs so we (me) could decorate them. Well, I discovered that my mom bought brown eggs which will show how interesting plain colors come out. I was skeptical at first but the blue and pink came out really nice. Yellow, green and orange were not enough on their own to color the eggs so I started experimenting and got some interesting combinations not normally seen in Easter eggs.

I finished a boho beret and it is so cute! I'm already making another one that might be a gift (to myself). It was super easy and this hat is comfy and flattering. It fits my big melonhead and doesn't give me hat hair. Double yay! Speaking of yarn, I received my sock yarn today and they are better than I imagined. I am in love with all of them so far. I can't remember how I found the site but it's http://www.littleknits.com/ which had some really pretty yarn on sale too. I can hardly wait to get started on these but I must finish some other projects before I get ahead of myself.

Aren't these fun? I want to start thinking of future sock pattern for them but must hold back. Major willpower for me. Oh and on the receipt was a very touch from the owner who wrote down a quick thank you note to me. It's nice of her to take the time to say thanks and enjoy the yarn...it goes a long way in this day and age which will make me browse her site again.

Oh look at the time...it's time to pick up Tyler already. I'll try to get to more soon hopefully!

movie time

I saw the movie Stardust the other day and it was an unexpected surprise. It was a cute movie but not overly so...it was a well done fairy tale. Magic, witches and royalty. I thoroughly enjoyed it then later that night I watched it again with Hector. Thumbs up from me.

I also saw Little Children with Kate Winslet. She is a married stay at home mom who has an affair with a stay at home dad. There are other characters that are intertwined (in the neighborhood) who are very normal. These could be people in any neighborhood which made this movie interesting. I was pulled into these lives and wondering how this was all going to end. In the end I thought the movie was realistic and well made.

I still have Grindhouse to watch but I'm waiting for the day when Kat comes over so we can watch it together. We both loved the Kill Bill series so we are eager to see Quentin Tarantino's portion along with Richard Rodriquez.

Time to put the kids to bed soon then I can watch the Kings game on TV.

vacation tweak

Another note on Mammoth trip...while at the ballgame I received a call from She-ra. Apparently her hubby He-man mentioned to her that we were heading up to Mammoth. A year ago we went with the couple and shared a very nice condo. Things were going smoothly enough but we noticed certain 'quirks' in She-ra's MO. I understand that she goes about life the way she wants but a lot of it doesn't make any sense in the real world. The last day is the time we realized when we would never share another place. So she was way behind in packing up their stuff so Hector decided to help by throwing things into a box (we were leaving anyway, who needs to sort it). Uh, she does. She-ra went ballistic and started cursing at Hector. He gave up and we just left. It was a little embarrassing/angry on both sides.So needless to say, that kinda ended the vacation buddy system.

Don't get me wrong...we're still friends but not friends who vacation together. Or more specifically under the same roof. So yesterday, Hector talks about Mammoth to He-man who approaches the subject this way.

"So, do you think it's cool if we went to Mammoth too if we got our own place?"

Hector says sure..it's not like we own the exclusive rights to the town! But I understand that He-man and the rest of us vividly remember last year so he wanted to be sure that he wasn't stepping on any toes.

Then this afternoon She-ra asks me what dates we'll up at Mammoth because now her hubby says can get their own condo at the same time! And honestly, we're okay with that but it is very funny that they asked us if it was okay like they needed our permission. Mammoth Lakes is a big resort/mountain so the likelihood of us running into each other is small. Unless we plan to meet. I think that was another problem last year because we had to be on a tighter schedule with the kids' ski programs etc and having to coordinate 2 families to be ready and on time was a major project. We can manage this because Hector & I communicate on what needs to be done and help each other out. Not having 2 families under the same roof frees us to deal with our own family and avoid stress. We can spend time together as a family and also with friends. So we welcome this new vacation situation and I think all of us will be happy.

bits and pieces

Here is a little bit of what I've been up to for the last few days.

1. I still have my cold although it seems to be on the verge of ending. Not so much coughing but I'm going through the tissues like crazy.
2. Hector was home yesterday and decided to hang out with He-man for the afternoon at the yard. Sounded boring to me to watch someone weld etc but I sent him off with my blessing. He came back home and I asked how it was ....boring he said. All he did was sit around.
3. We had Josh's annual IEP at school and Josh is doing well. We're continuing with some new goals and working on some current ones. We all were happy that Josh is yapping up a storm although now we sometimes wished he would zip it. :) We are gearing up for kindergarten in the fall so that is exciting news.
4. I booked our spring break trip. We will be heading to Mammoth for 4-5 days. Josh will start ski lessons for the very first time! I asked him if he wanted to learn to ski and he said no! Why? Because he was scared for hitting a tree. Oh, that was something I wasn't expecting as an answer. Well I explained that he should give it a try and see how he likes it first and that there are no trees near his class.
5. Our second portion of the trip will be to San Diego for 3 days where we will go to Legoland and Sea World. The kids always enjoy these places and staying in a hotel.
6. Last night Kat and I went to the Kings game where the Kings lost 2-1. Oh well, the season is almost over so hopefully they can get their team especially a goalie working well together for next season.

That about covers it for now...another baseball game today. Gotta go and get Josh some lunch.

Blustery Day

Yesterday was so windy at the ball game! I was prepared with our seat cushions, a blanket, beach towel and my current sock knitting. What I didn't prepare for was the winds to kick up every possible particle from the the gravel/dirt parking lot & ball park and deposit them in my eyes. I wore sunglasses but they were not enough to protect my eyeballs. I wear gas permeable hard contact lenses so any tiny particle trapped between the lens and my eye was extremely painful. I spent about 30 minutes in torture, my eyes tearing constantly then having to blow my nose every few minutes. Hector was a sweetheart and went back home to get my glasses so I could take my contacts out. I wouldn't have been able to see or enjoy the game at all.

After changing into my glasses the game was quite enjoyable. The kids were doing awesome and one kid even hit an infield homerun. Tyler was much better at batting and surprised us all when he made contact with the ball! It rolled to the pitcher and I think Tyler was in shock from hitting the ball it took him a few seconds to react and run to first base where he was out. But it was awesome for him! The wind made us so chilly that we huddled under the blankets and I was happy that I brought hats too. I didn't even knit at all that how windy it was!!

Tyler's team won the game and we headed home being thoroughly chilled so I made a nice roaring fire!! I've been conserving my firewood because I'm down to my last batch which will get me through about 2-3 more times so I'm hanging on to it as long as I can until Hector gets me my next load.

Here is a rare picture of me out in public wearing my glasses. And another I hat I knit a while back. I'm making good progress on my peaks n valleys socks. I finished the heel flap and turn last night then stayed up much later than I intended picking up the gusset. I didn't bother to look how to do all this with my method of 2 socks on 2 circulars so I got kinda bogged down and had to do some serious needle switching but finally ended up back on track. This morning I looked up in some books on what I should have done so I'll need to remember to try that next time to avoid some trouble.

The striping still continues which is a trip but very cool. About halfway through so I'm going to knit as much as I can today.

Saturday

Somehow I've caught another cold which irritates me greatly. This time I have the stuffy nose variety and hopefully can avoid the coughing again. I was able to sleep in so that makes me happy.

Speaking of sleeping, Joshua has been getting anxious before going to bed. We noticed he started crying before bed and wouldn't calm down. We'd put him to sleep in our bed and later transfer him to his own bed but early in the morning when Hector gets up, Josh would be crying again. This happened for 2 nights so I had to tackle the issue. It took some time to ask the right questions and even though Josh can't fully explain the problem I could tell by his anxiety with certain questions or words that he was scared. It could either be bad dreams or a fear of the dark/monsters. We can't keep him in our bed like he wants because it'll never solve the solution. Finally we were able to find a balance where I'd lay down next to him in bed while their night light was on and kept on through the night. So far we are at night 3 with this system; Josh still gets upset before bed but the protests are getting shorter and shorter when we explain that he has been having good nights. He hasn't woken us up crying and wakes up in a good mood.

We have another baseball game this afternoon so we'll see how it goes. Tyler and Hector went to the batting cages last night and had a really good time. Hopefully this will encourage Tyler to be more active during the games.

flower power

Some flowers that we see along our way to school and my famous jumpin Joshua.

This lily is at the front of our house planted by the previous owners. I do absolutely nothing to help it survive and it does beautifully.

Thankfully lots of our neighbors enjoy planting and growing flowers so I can enjoy and photograph them.

sock time

I am making some progress on my cotton socks and the self striping yarn is pretty cool. Hector thinks it is funny how the stripes come out. At first I was skeptical about the pattern but it started coming together with the scalloped edges appearing so I'm continuing on with it. So far the sock knitting is appealing to me more and more. It is so easy to transport around especially in my big purse and this pattern is easy for me to memorize so I just keep on knitting. Aren't the colors pretty? It really puts me in the mood for spring/summer and the cotton is adding to it.

Somehow I misplaced my other pair of socks I was working on so this current pair is getting all of my attention for now. That other pair also has a pattern that I have to constantly keep track of so I'm a lot slower with it.

I'm currently trying to get a girls only vacation happening with my cousin so we've been batting around dates to coordinate our schedules. Our destination is Playa del Carmen so keep your fingers crossed. I should have these socks done by then....yay.

Hey Batter

It was brought to my attention that I hadn't blogged in a while and I didn't realize that a week has gone by. :) Honestly, nothing life shattering has happened! Tyler had another baseball game on Wednesday....20 games total for the season so only 18 more to go!!

The games are pretty long about 1 1/2 to 2 hours long and the Wednesday game was tiring. The kids are in school all day then they have to play a game. We played a team that has a lot of kids from Tyler's school in it so at least I knew some of the other players. Tyler still needs to stop swinging the bat at every ball that is thrown; he'll swing at a ball in the dirt and 3 feet above his head. I suggested that he not swing at all next game to see if he can get to the T and then hit it.

It was a close game but his team lost in the last inning which was a little disappointing but oh well like I said, there are 18 more games to go.

Here he is looking like he is paying close attention but most of the time he is doing this....

squirming like he has to pee (which he did) or....

playing with his gum.

New Toy

This my new camcorder that I bought today at Costco. It's a JVC Everio, the one with the 60 GB hard drive to no little miniDvs for me to lose. It can hold up to 37 hours of video depending on what setting it is on. In this department we were sadly behind with the technology...our previous camcorder was VHS so that's a big camcorder to lug around compared to this little sleek thang. It is hard to tell the scale from the picture but it fits in the palm of my hand so this baby will be easy to travel with. I used my Costco rebate check and only went over budget by about $10-20 so I'm happy with it. I did buy a nice big rib roast that I can divide into 2 meals. No rib bones but we'll just have to make do...I was tempted to roast it tonight but Hector will miss out so tomorrow night will be better.

Hector made a mistake in booking Carlos' flight (booked for Thursday instead of Friday) so it's all taken care of now and Carlos will arriving later this afternoon.

Company

This is turning out to be the week of company. Last week, Hector's former roomie K called to see if we wanted to see the Foo Fighters at the Forum. I kinda wanted to but knew with the kids' activities I would be too tired so Hector decided to go. The concert was last night and both guys were thrilled with their performance. The Foo Fighters played lots of older hits along with some new stuff and even walked to the center of the floor to another stage where the guys were only 10 rows away. They are definitely a great band if you ever get a chance to see them live.

So K spent the night, met up with his sister in Malibu today then came back to go to the Kings game with Hector. On Friday morning, Carlos arrives to hang out, go to them hockey game with me on Saturday and eat (specifically rib roast). Tyler has his very first Little League game Saturday afternoon where Hector will take the kids while we are out. I'm kinda bummed that I'll miss his first game but believe me, there are plenty more to follow.

Sunday will be family day...my aunt's family originally wanted to get together around Chinese New Year but being lame and busy we postponed it to Sunday. We are going to make dumplings which are the perfect food. Self contained, tasty and bitesized I'm ready to eat until I'm stuffed! Even K was excited when he heard that was on the menu. Too bad he is leaving Saturday or who knows, maybe he'll try to extend his stay.

It's gonna be a fun and busy weekend. Tomorrow I'll head over to Costco to find the holy grail of rib roasts and find an extra special something for me. Hector handed over our Costco/American Express rebate to me so I want to get a cool item...I'll let you know what I find!

Onward

I forgot to show my current project...another pair of socks (duh). This yarn is Palette Marine Heather from KnitPicks. I'm using size 3 needles this time which is making all the difference than the last pair (rust colored) which were done on size 2 needles. The blue yarn is springy and soft where the rust pair seemed stiff and rough and it's the same yarn. So far I'm loving these and want them for myself.

The picture shows the beginnings of the cuff and I have made more progress on these. I'll have to take another picture to show the leg portion. The pattern is from Sensational Socks by Charlene Schurch and it's made sock knitting understandable and I can apply it to multiple yarns, gauge and sock size. I pick the pattern I want and go from there.

The socks I'm knitting with the Ditto yarn is a straightforward stockinette sock to show off the stripes (if I ever progress to the leg) and I'll try to get a picture of those too.