Spare

Kenny and my mom went bowling this afternoon while Luke and I watched.  Kenny loves, loves, loves to bowl.  Unfortunately, his parents do not so he’s lucky his grandparents will take him. 

Notice his score in the 7th frame (frame?  I think that’s right).  Kenny threw a spare with the kid rails up.  Good job, baby!

Here’s a video of Kenny bowling.  It’s not his spare shot but he came pretty close.  We told him that he bowled better when he danced.  The weird thing was that it was true.  So if any of you are bowlers, feel free to try it out :)

And while Kenny and Grandma played, Luke did this all over the bowling alley.  He is getting so good at walking now.  Why did I ever worry?  Also, did you notice that his curls are coming back?

Bribe me

I took Kenny to the dentist today.  I love how giddy with excitement he gets over the 2 toys he gets to pick out when he’s done.  I wish my dentist gave out some type of toy.  Just little things like those car scents or post its (really, I am a firm believer that post its were one of the best things ever made).  Maybe I would go more than once every few years. 

Everything went great at his appointment.  They took his first x-rays and he didn’t have any cavities.

These shoes are made for walking

I finally got Luke into shoes yesterday.  It took a lot of clapping, saying, “yeah shoes” and pointing out the fact that everyone else wears shoes.  He still doesn’t like them when we first put them on but at least he’ll wear them.  One battle down…

Here are some pictures from this morning:

And a video of him walking with Eric:

My gold medalist

Here’s a conversation that went on between my mom and Kenny on Saturday:

My mom:  “Kenny, do you want to go to the Olympics?”

Kenny:  “No.”

My mom:  “Not now.  Do you want to go when you’re older?”

Kenny (without any hesitation):  “No.”

I guess this picture is the closest Kenny will ever get to wearing a gold Olympic medal. 

 

Eric’s swim team had Ian Crocker come to KC last year.  We had this picture of Kenny and Ian (and the medal of course) taken.  Maybe we’ll have to work on Luke and that great throwing arm of his….

40 minutes

Eric and I did the Mayor’s OP 5k Farmstead Stampede (that’s a mouthful, isn’t it?) on Saturday morning with some friends.  I’m a little over halfway through with my Couch to 5k program so it was a great trial run.  I finished in 40 minutes, running 27 minutes and walking 13.  Not bad.  I don’t think I’ll have a problem running the Thanksgiving 5k in 36 minutes, although I have to work on those hills.  There was this huge hill towards the beginning of the run that kicked my Djibouti.  Eric did great.  He finished in 25 minutes and some change.

At check-in, they gave out shirts (we still have to get ours b/c they had run out by the time we got there) and bags to use when you go shopping so you don’t have to use plastic or paper ones.  This was the first time I had ever gotten that at a race.  I thought it was pretty clever.

I’m telling you, he really hates shoes

We took the boys to Stride Rite yesterday (they were having a buy one, get one half price sale) and bought them each some shoes.  Luke hates shoes.  Hates them.  More than I hate feet.  I took this video of him in his shoes.  Sorry, you’ll have to look sideways.  I thought I could take it sideways and then rotate it like you can with pictures but the program won’t let me.  Live and learn:)

I love the part where Eric tells Luke to walk to him and Luke just shakes his head no.

144

I’m officially addicted.  I’m up to 144 now.  I wonder if there’s an Olympic sport for this?

Better question - why can’t I spell Kazhkstan Kazkhstan Kazakstan  that country?

I named:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antarctica, Antigua, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Guam, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Northern Cyprus, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tobago, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad , Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

BTW:  Kenny has had 2 time outs today, had to take a nap and will probably have to go to bed early today.

Time out

This is how it works in our house.  Kenny has this responsibility chart.  His daily responsibilities include stuff like getting dressed, brushing his teeth, making his bed (I help), picking up his toys and not going in time out.  Now, if he has a time out 3 days in a row he loses his Leapster (he plays it in the car) for the remainder of the 3rd day and for the entire 4th day.  He loves his Leapster so this is a big deal.  His frequency of time outs go in waves but for the most part he’ll usually just have a rare one here and there.  I can already tell you that this week is not going to follow that pattern. 

Kenny went in time out on Sunday, right before everyone came over for Eric’s birthday.  I can’t remember what exactly he did but then he got in even more trouble when he started spitting on his floor while in time out. 

Monday wasn’t bad.  We met J.T. and Anne up at the *zoo.  He and J.T. had a blast but he did have a meltdown when he didn’t want to get off a ride.  No biggie though and no time out required.

Tuesday got worse.  He had the biggest sassy little mouth ever.  I couldn’t believe it.  And he was just mean to Luke.  He finally went in time out after he hit Luke in the head with a dinosaur (100% on purpose). 

Yesterday took the cake.  We met the Tobens at *Science City.  Kenny and Becca were digging for dinosaur bones and Kenny hit Becca in the hand with a shovel and made her cry (and Kenny is not a hitter).  I wouldn’t let him dig for any more dinosaur bones after that.  Meltdown #1.  Then at lunch he wouldn’t give Luke a crayon.  THEN he started sassing.  After a final warning to give one to Luke, he chucked 2 of them across the restaurant.  That was the last straw.  Quiet time was not even an option after that.  He had to take a nap.  Surprisingly, he did go to sleep pretty fast.  He was a little bit better after that but there was still a little sass going on. 

I’m not trying to be pessimistic but I have a feeling that today won’t be any different. 

Kenny, please prove me wrong.  I would love for you to do that.

(*I don’t have any pictures from the zoo or Science City.  I forgot to bring my camera to the zoo.  I brought my camera to Science City but left the memory card sitting in the computer.)

Note to self

Note to self:  Do not buy another blow-up pool.  I think it lasted maybe 2 weeks.  At least we had this old one in the attic.  With a few pieces of duct tape, we were in business again (we’re all about class here).

Dumb blond day

Today has been one of those days.  Eric worked a midnight shift last night so I thought I’d try to get the boys out of the house this morning so he could sleep better.  I’ve been wanting a deck storage box b/c Mac eats everything that he can get his paws on.  I’m not kidding.  He went from my tree to toys to bushes to covers.  It’s driving me nuts.  I found a deck box that I wanted at Wal-Mart but the closest store that had it in stock was 13 miles away by The Legends.  And when I say by The Legends, it wasn’t next to The Legends, it was probably 5 minutes away.  First I couldn’t find the store (and I’m good with directions), then I needed gas and then the boys were hungry for lunch.  It was one of those trips where you want to give up and just go home but you’ve already spent so much time on it that you want to find it so the day doesn’t feel like a complete loss.  I found it and my deck box.  Unfortunately, the deck box wouldn’t fit in my Jeep even if I sawed it in half.  I loaded the boys back into the car and drove home while the deck box is still at the store.  If I had just looked at the dimensions of the box on-line, I could have saved myself the hassle.  (Insert big sigh here.)

On a positive note:  When I filled my car up, the gas was only $3.13 a gallon.  Nice.  $3.73.  See, I’m having a dumb blond day.  I somehow missed the top part of the 7 when I was filling up.  Is it Wednesday yet?

How many countries can you name in 5 minutes?

Watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics made me want to do this quiz again.  133.  Not bad but not my best ever.  The most I ever did was 139.  I thought it was 143 but I’m either giving myself way too much credit or I didn’t record it.  I guess I need to start working on this again.  

 I Named:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antarctica, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Cook Islands, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guam, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Northern Cyprus, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Somalia, South Africa, South Georgia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad , Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

I forgot:

Antigua, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Bosnia, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Costa Rica, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Moldova, Montenegro, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Oman, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Swaziland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Pridnestrovie, Somaliland, South Ossetia, Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Mayotte, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Clipperton Island, Bouvet Island, Niue, Tokelau, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Anguilla, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, Wake Island, Macau, Faroe Islands, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Reunion, Aland, Svalbard, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha, Kosovo, Western Sahara, Australian Antarctic Territory, Ross Dependency, Peter I Island, Queen Maud Land, British Antarctic Territory

400 relay

I know Eric posted about the men’s Olympic 4×100 freestyle swimming relay but it was so amazing that I had to do it too.  Let me set the scene.  The French team (or Frenchies according to the US team) had made a comment about how they were going to smash the Americans.  Here’s a little note to the French, when you make comments like that, it fires everyone up.  So, the relay started and the French and Americans were pretty close the entire race.  The final swimmer for the French team is the world record holder for the 100 free.  Let me repeat, the world record holder.  There was no way we were going to beat them unless the U.S. was ahead when the final swimmers dove in.  We weren’t.  The French team was ahead.  BUT somehow Lezak managed to catch up and win it for our team at the last second.  It was amazing.  The best part was the teams reaction.  They were celebrating and all but dancing on the pool deck.  Phelps now has 2 of his possible 8 gold medals.  He owes Lezak if he makes his goal.  Once again, that was amazing!

Luke’s 1st Royals game

My dad was able to get us free tickets (and parking) to the Royals game today.  We had great seats which were 8 rows up from 3rd base.  Luke made it until the bottom of the 6th and then it was time to go.  It was beautiful out but a little hot. 

Luke and I in our awesome seats

Kenny

Luke and Kenny

Kenny’s favorite part of the game, eating a chocolate malt with Eric and Luke

Me and Kenny (with chocolate malt on his teeth)

Eric’s mom and my family came over for cake after dinner.  Here’s Eric blowing out his candles:

Happy birthday again!

I ran my 20 minute run today and it went great.  I was by no means fast.  I started out a little faster then a 12 minute mile and by the end I was closer to a 13:30 to 14.  But I did it!  I wonder if I burned off at least half of that piece of cake that I ate?

Happy birthday Eric!

Today is Eric’s 29th birthday.  He’s one year and 3 months younger than I am and he loves to tease me about that.  We’re going to celebrate by eating breakfast with his mom and sister Amanda and then head out to Kauffman Stadium for a Royals game (thanks for the tickets dad).  We’ll end the night by having both sides of the family over for cake and ice cream.  Happy birthday honey! 

Nude beach

(I some how posted this as a page instead of a post this morning.  Oops.)

Okay, this is the first commercial that has made me laugh in a while.  Eric and I were both giggling after we saw it. 

Already? Really?

I went to the grocery store yesterday and they were putting out Halloween candy.  They’re not the only ones.  Gymboree already has their costumes on-line and I received a magazine yesterday with the costumes on the cover.  Do they usually start this early?  I was thinking it usually started around September. 

The boys are already set for Halloween.  I bought Kenny a dragon costume and Luke a dog costume from PB Kids last year when they were on sale.  One less thing on my list of to dos.

Couch to 5k update

I’m on my 9th week of running (which is week 5 of the program) and my running finally feels good.  I just did my second run of the week, which was a 5 minute warm up walk, 8 minute run, 5 minute walk, 8 minute run and finally a 5 minute cool down walk.  I know that’s not a long to people who run all the time but when you haven’t seriously run in 2 years, it is. 

I somehow tweaked my left ankle 2 weeks ago.  I’m not exactly sure when it happened but one of the streets that I like to run on has been under construction (technically closed) so chances are it happened there.  I took last week off b/c it was really stiff.  I was worried that I might need to rest it a little more but taking that one week off seemed to do the trick. 

My next and final run for this week is a 5 minute warm up walk, 20 minute run and then a final 5 minute cool down walk.  I’m not worried about it (I may change my mind after I’ve actually done it).  I really think it will be easier than week 4 of the program.  There was so much walk, run, walk, run, walk, run that it was hard to do the final segment of running.  The fact that it felt like it was 500 degrees out didn’t help either. 

The one thing that I do need to add to my running are some hills.  The path I run right now has 2 hills and they’re at the beginning and end of my workout so I’m walking at both points.  The Sprint Thanksgiving Day run has 3 hills, none of which are very big, but I know it will really hurt me, and my time, if I don’t get a little bit of practice on them.  I’m not looking for a personal best at the run.  I have no expectations I know it’s not going to happen, but I’d like to do it in 36 minutes like I did at my first 5k.  I am NOT fast.  I’m running around a 12 minute mile at this point so I’d need to hold a slightly faster pace then that at the race to hit my goal time.  I guess I’ve got a lot of work to do but at least the running feels good at this point.

This has absolutely nothing to do with running:  I took the boys to see the Steamboat Arabia today.  It’s a steamboat that sunk near KC while making a trip from St. Louis to Iowa in the mid 1800s.  A group of 5 guys figured out where it was (under a cornfield) and dug it and the artifacts up and put it all in a museum.  One of those actual men came to say hi to everyone after the movie part of the tour and asked if anyone had been there before.  Kenny stuck his hand up and said, “I haven’t.”  The man thought Kenny had said that he had been there and said so.  Kenny looked at him and yelled (yes, my child is a yeller), “No, I said I haven’t been here.”  It was cute and everybody laughed.  Expect Kenny to now talk to you about steamboats for the next week.

Big boring

Kenny’s new phrase is big boring.  As in, this game is big boring.   

I’ve also begun calling him 60-40 b/c for a while everything that had to do with time was 60-40. 

Me:  “What time is it Kenny?”

Kenny:  “Uh, maybe like 60 40.”

I’ve now put learning time on our to do list, although I have to admit that it is kind of nice that he can’t read what time it is.  It’s so nice right now when, let’s say, it’s 12:48 and they’re both crabby, to say that it’s 1:00 (nap time/quiet time).  On second thought, maybe I’ll wait a little longer….

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ERIC’S COUSIN RACHEL!!

The polls are closed

Nothing is official until August 11th BUT it looks like both Eric and I will be the Precinct Committee Man/Woman for our ward and district.  I didn’t have anyone running against me (whew!) but Eric did and it looks like he won by 6 votes.  He really wanted this so I’m glad it worked out!

I found the unofficial results on-line.  I deleted all last names and our city/precinct info.

CM  R R       Total Number of Precincts   1   Precincts Reporting   1 100.0 % Total Votes   154   Times Blank Voted   32   Times Over Voted   0   ERIC R 80 51.95% E J R 74 48.05% Write-in Votes   0 0.00%

CW  R R       Total Number of Precincts   1   Precincts Reporting   1 100.0 % Total Votes   133   Times Blank Voted   53   Times Over Voted   0   SUZANNE R 131 98.50% Write-in Votes   2 1.50%

Copycat

I love this video that Eric took.  It’s the first one where Luke doesn’t seem like a baby to me.  My baby is growing up.  Anyways, they had just watched one of those funny video shows on t.v. where a majority of the clips show men getting hit in their *ahem* guy parts by either a child swinging a bat or after falling off a tightrope.  Kenny decided to copy them and hit himself and then fall on the ground.  Luke decided to follow suit and fall on the ground with him.