Double Dribble

I haven't posted any basketball photos so here are some from Josh's very first game. There are 2 20 minutes halves so the team is divided into 5 players and they play every 5 minutes. The games are very entertaining since the rules are not strictly enforced. The only thing the players can't do is breakawy down the court. The kids are very cute to watch since most of them forget to dribble so they're running all over the place. Passing the ball to another team member consists of handing it to the next person. They fight over the ball even though they are on the same team. But they are having lots of FUN! Here is Josh with the ball, partially obscured by the basketball.

The boys are taught to keep their hands up although I doubt Josh knows why.

At least their season is short...we should be done in 3 weeks or so.

Swimming

These pictures are from swimming. Hopefully the weather will heat up so the pool will get warm or I'll just take the kids to the Y.

Back to Basics

I'm kind of in a knitting funk right now. Oh I still knit but I'm doing mindless knitting. Earlier I tried to attempt a cable sock pattern which threw my mind upside down and since then haven't really felt like doing anything complicated.

So I've been knitting plain old vanilla socks. No clever patterns or textures just plain ol knit. I realized that Josh is the only one that does have handknit socks so that was my goal for this month. Hector bought me so nice self striping sock yarn from his last Lake Tahoe trip and I used this for Josh's socks. A nice manly yarn with an interesting striping.
What person doesn't want to model 100% wool socks in June?

These remind of skiing and forests...

Aren't these perfect for a growing boy??

Song Du Jour

Heard this song on the way home from basketball...Morrissey makes my day!! :) Plus he liberally uses Hector in this song....such a silly boy!!

El Dorado Nature Center

I didn't know that this even existed. A fellow mom told me about El Dorado and she is from New York. So yesterday the kids and set out on an adventure. I'm not sure how big this place is but it's plenty big. There are at least 2 lakes with several trails to choose from. We chose the 1 mile hike and it was lots of fun. Not very strenuous but challenging enough for the kids. We walked uphill, did a few switchbacks, crossed a few bridges and through woods and fields.

Lots of turtles basking in the sun. These are just a few. I think their stance is their mating stance. Hubba hubba!

We saw all sorts of 'wildlife'. We are definitely going back and we'll try the 2 mile trail next.

Sk8r Boy

I haven't posted any video in a long time. I decided that summer is the perfect time for Josh to work on his skating. After a few tries on our street, I thought it would easier for Josh to skate at the park. Wider sidewalks with a nice loop that is away from the street. Sorry for the shaky video but Josh really gets going and it's hard to keep up. Josh picked this music which is very appropriate to that whole skater vibe.

Enjoy...

I'm not sure why the video is not showing up so I'll try again...click on the link since Blogger is messing with me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXMjBwWTzPs

Quick Thinking

This is how our Wednesday went:

1. I wake up at 8:30 am (which was wonderful) suddenly thinking of the cheapie $1 movies shown by our local AMC theatre. I get on the computer and find the summer movies did start last week on Wednesdays. Oh today is Kung Fu Panda. Great. I hurrily feed the kids their breakfast and we rush the 1.5 miles to the mall. The parking lot doesn't look too bad and a few people with kids are heading over also. We get in line to buy tickets and 2 women with kids are at the window then they abruptly step out of the way. An employee says on the microphone that Kung Fu Panda is SOLD OUT. Say what?
2. We are too far to drive over to Rolling Hills where Regal shows a different movie for free on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So we walk to Starbucks and I treat the kids to some caffeine-free ice blends while I think of something else to do.
3. I end up driving home and rummage through the house for projects that the kids can do. Honestly we have some birthday presents still in the box or untouched from Tyler's birthday a year or so ago. It's nice to not rip into everything and space it out. Ha. So I found a bird feeder and birdhouse kit that we all worked on. Josh helped me put the bird feeder together and then we walked to Walgreens to buy bird seed.
4. By the time we got home, it was getting warm so I'm thinking swimming next door at our neighbor's pool later. Tyler was ready to put his birdhouse together but first I had to round up some paint. I found about 3-4 cans of paint that we had used in some home project at one time or another which worked out fine. Tyler and I had a great time painting and we left them outside to dry.
5. On to swimming...our recent power outage did something to the pool heater according to our neighbor but the kids plunged in anyway. They had their squirt guns and Sub skate thingy to play with. About 10 minutes later 2 other neighbor boys a bit older than Tyler came in to make it a party. Joshua didn't last too long; about 10 minutes in the pool was all he could take.
6. Time for lunch! Sandwiches and yogurt in the family room while I start Kung Fu Panda which conveniently is on HBO. Just add popcorn and the rest takes care of itself.
7. I had time to hit the computer. Meanwhile the movie finishes and Tyler assembles the birdhouse all by himself. Nice.
8. Hector soon arrives home for leftover night. Cheap Chinese food for everyone. He takes the boys to Go Kart World where Josh finally gets to drive all by himself. He was so excited when he came home he could barely get the words out!

We managed a lot of activites for one day but it was kinda fun. It was the kind of day where we started with an idea and it took us all over the place.

Blackout

On Monday afternoon (4pm) I was sitting in the kitchen knitting along and the power went out. About 10 seconds later, the lights came back on but promptly went out again. And stayed out. The kids were excited because Hector recently got some new little flashlights for them so they were happy as clams playing on their DS and flashlights.
Now for some reason we get brief blackouts every so often. Often enough that I usually won't set the clock on the answering machine because when I get around to it, the next day the power will go out briefly and I'd have to do it again. Sometimes I leave it alone for a month or so until I get tired of not knowing when messages come in and then I set the clock. So this power outage is going on for about 3 hours and I think I better find more flashlights and candles. Hector calls me on the cellphone and I tell what's happened so he said he'll bring home takeout. Great.
It's nice outside so we all head outside where the kids play with their rocket to and I knit until Hector comes home. As far as I can tell, the power is out for about 2 blocks. I called Laura, our neighbor 5 houses down to see how she is doing. Her power is out too and she has a full tub of cookies n cream ice cream so we head on over to help her eat it. The kids are having a blast playing in the dark (it's night by now) with Glenn and his spygear. Meanwhile Hector is looking to see what a generator costs cause he has a feeling this blackout might be a while. Laura and I chat which is nice because her husband just left that day for Utah leaving her and Glenn home alone.
Hector calls to say he got a generator from Costco so all of us with Laura and Glenn walk around to see how the neigborhood looks. Across the street and one street down the houses have power so we were the lucky ones. We all walk back to our house where the kids continue their play.
Poor Hector is wrestling with a 250 lb generator in the driveway and trying to read the instructions with his truck headlights. Laura and I tried to help by holding flashlights and shining light where it was needed. Finally Hector tried to turn the thing on and it caught but died. After numerous attempts, Laura reads the manual and maybe it needs more oil. Okay, we fill it with more oil and vrooom, the generator kicks in LOUD and stays on. Yay!! Boy, it's loud. We send a line to neighbors to have them plug in their refrigerators and ours. I think they were grateful for that little bit of power and sacrifice a lot of peace. Just think of having a lawnmower constantly running. Yes, so from 10pm to 9am, the generator was running and at 8:45am the next morning the power came back on. Oh, I was so happy and exhausted. :)

Summer Plans

Now that summer is here, I had to get my rear in gear. First, register Tyler for his summer camp. It will be a sleepover camp for 5 nights away from home and lots of fun. There will be a tipi to sleep in, lots of activities and fun. I filled out the form and wrote the check. Hopefully he gets in.

So now I have to figure what Joshua can do. Since his older brother gets to go to camp maybe I can give him a little taste of camping, mommy style. So we are off to the Wild Animal Park sleepover for Wild West night. Gonna sleep in a tent (premium style for us) and barely rough it. Hey it's just me and Josh so no 'real' camping. We can roam the park before checking in and having a great time on our overnighter then enjoy the park the next day too. Of course, we have to pay for a day's admission for the park but we can take our time over 2 days. Also, we will be going in August so I'm sure it's gonna be HOT.

Meanwhile, the kids have been working on their sk8r skills. Tyler on the skateboard and Josh rollerblading. Once I found Josh all his safety gear, he has tackled skating with gusto. We were at the park yesterday and Josh skated around his park course about 8-10 times. Lots of falls but he gets right back up again.

When it gets warmer, we will start practicing on Josh's swimming too. Lots of fun planned for the summer!

Flower Power

I'm feeling much better with this cough today. Sometimes I have coughing fits but I think it is starting to wind down (fingers crossed). I took a nice stroll down Juniper St. this morning to find flowers and the neighbors have such beautiful flowers. Great variety and colors. Tomorrow is the last day of school for the boys. Sherri and I plan on having a picnic with all our kids and maybe having a water balloon fight in our backyard. :)

I also finished some brightly colored toddler socks. The knitting has slowed down just a tad but I feel a change coming on since the kids will be out of school and we will try to head out on outings to the beach, zoo and whatever we come up with.

Tupperware

All last week I was preparing myself for the Tupperware party which was on Saturday. I had planned on what days to clean because I can't clean too far in advance or I'd just have to do it again. I also had both boys' park days to work around.

Overall, the day went really well. I made Chinese chicken salad, sesame chicken wings and Skittles vodka. We added pizza and fruit to round out the menu. Oh, I also made my strawberry lemonade which is super easy...

Strawberry Lemonade

1 can frozen lemonade concentrate
1 bag of frozen strawberries (slightly thawed)
1 bottle seltzer water

Blend the lemonade concentrate and strawberries together. Pour mixture into punch bowl or pitcher and add seltzer water (approx. 1 liter) or to taste. Stir well and serve.

The Tupperware party was a success and I earned about $90 in Tupperware merchandise plus 2 items at 50% off. Yay!

My Skittles vodka was a big hit so I'll be on the lookout for smaller glass bottles for future parties. Thanks to all my friends, family and neighbors who came by. I had a great time visiting with you all.

Of course, I took zero pictures. Use your imagination.

Candy and Alcohol

I am on Twitter and Facebook so between the 2 sites I get a lot of interesting tweets/ comments/ nonsense coming through. I did happen to catch someone (can't remember who) that linked this site on DIY Skittles vodka.

I LOVE Skittles. Original is still the best although Baja fruit is pretty good. The others are not worth it imho. So I decide to make my own Skittles vodka which coincides well with my Tupperware party tomorrow. Hey, do I know how to throw a Tupperware party or what?

I sorted my Skittles...

I chose green to be the first flavor.

The vodka has that vibrant neon green color and the Skittles dissolved overnight.



There is white residue that can be filtered out with some coffee filters.

See what's left behind? I strained the batch several times...

And here is the result, my lime green Skittles vodka. Off to the freezer it goes....

1 or 2

Tyler's second pair of glasses. He picked these which are more sturdy so I'll keep the others as backup for now.

Woo, Tyler needs a haircut!!

Park Day 1

This week the school will let each grade have a day at the park which is right next to the school. Since there are 7 kindergarten classes, we got the afternoon session where the class enjoys a nice lunch that the parents bring and lots of games. There was bubble play, limbo, ring and bean bag toss and more.

One of the best games that the kids and adults LOVE is bobbing for donuts. Tie a small powdered donut in front of each child and say no hands. Watch the fun!!

It was a great but tiring day. The weather was nice and overcast. Another park day for us is on Friday when the 3rd graders have their day.

Morro Bay

I had a fantastic time in Morro Bay with some of my high school girlfriends. The weather was gorgeous. Future plans for another gathering with more friends and families.

I Can See Clearly Now

My boy got his first pair of eyeglasses. He was reluctant a couple of weeks ago to the whole idea but he put the glasses and was amazed at his now perfect vision.

I explained how he needs to put them back in the case when he wasn't wearing them, thinking he might wear them just to read the board or other long distance vision but no, he puts them on when he wakes up and puts them away right before bed.

Food Frenzy

The other night Hector had a craving for Yoshinoya so he got a large beef bowl and some sesame chicken wings (for me). OMG. The wings are so freaking awesome! I seriously want to know how to make these. Seriously. So last night I asked Hector to bring more home. And that's what I'm having for lunch. I can't even tell you how great they are. Go try some...stat!!!

Summer plans

So this summer Tyler wants to go to camp for 6 days in August. I did something very similar to this when I was 10 years old. It was called Indian village and we slept in tipis. I had a wonderful time there and now that Tyler is old enough, he can spread his wings a little.

Now I'm thinking maybe Josh and I can do a mommy-son trip during this time. I don't want him to feel left out of something super fun. I remembered seeing that the Wild Animal Park does have special sleepover nights. It sounds kinda fun. I can take lots of pictures while he can 'camp' in a tent in the 'wild'.

I'll ask him about that idea and we will go from there...

Waving Lace Socks

I finished these socks this morning and put them on right away. I started these in April to get me in the mood for spring and they kind of lingered for a while (too many projects). I got myself in gear and plowed thru them. With all they May Gray and now June Gloom, blue skies and sunshine have been absent these last 2 weeks. The yarn is appropriately named Smooshy (which is unbelieveably soft and smooshy) by Dream In Color and the colorway is Cool Fire.
They are very cheery and warm which is perfect for the gray, cold weather with some rain and thunder thrown in for good measure.

I am curled up with another pair of socks, planning on building a fire and enjoying the cool weather. It will heat up soon enough...

Coasting

there is really not much to tell you...

1. Hector and I saw the Star Trek movie. I liked it a lot. Great entertaining movie even if you're not a trekkie.
2. gloomy, gloomy weather. I think I saw the sun for about a hour on Sunday.
3. Did little errands. Like reloaded all the China photos onto a flash drive so my mom could view them on her digital frame. This was my second attempt which finally worked.
4. Had to buy a new Bluetooth. My last earpiece I lost or misplaced somewhere and it hadn't turned up in a month. Boo. So I got a LG solar powered car kit and it works great! Of course that means my old one should be popping up soon.
5. Have to take Tyler to the dentist this afternoon to fill a cavity. Eh.
6. want to knit up lots of things but my hands have been empty. maybe later.

Yeah, see how exciting it's been here?