Birthday Cake, made with love

I LOVE ice cream cake, and my wonderful family is making one for me!

First, crush up Nutter Butters...


Add ice cream, and whipped cream...


add sprinkles...


um, spread sprinkles...


write stuff with icing...


And voila! The finished product! I have to say... I LOVE IT!

Rock Band!

An early birthday present was the game Rock Band, which comes with a guitar, microphone, and drumkit.

Taisim started out by dancing with Totoro...	Taipan started jamming on the drums...
Then Taisim picked up the mic...	and then Taipan picked up the guitar...

We haven't decided on a band name yet... any and all suggestions are welcome!

Finger paints!

We decided to get some finger paints out, and oh the fun we had! We started out with sponges...



Then moved on to spoons...


and fingers...


and hands!


In that last shot, Taisim went through 20 spoons by the time we were done. She insisted on scooping out finger paint with each spoon ONCE and only once. What started out as a kit of 8 colors, is now a mish-mash of colors... we'll see what happens next time!

Train-o-Rama!

This past Sunday I wasn't scheduled to close Starbucks, so I had to work during the day. Little did I know that would cost me a trip to Train-o-Rama! :( Karen took the kiddos out there, and, as always, they had a BLAST... I'm going next time!

Papa Carnival Ride 2000

Weather not conducive to going out to the local amusement park to ride carnival rides? Not a problem with the Papa Carnival Ride 2000! Just load your kids up and watch them go up & down & up & down until the ride can't take anymore... only to do it again!

This is beautiful

A friend sent me this tonight - it's a public broadcast to promote breastfeeding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=942FRjAJhxU

I think it's just beautiful. I'd love to see something like this in the US.

Blizzard of '08

So the Blizzard of '08 has arrived, and it's a doozy. Here are some pics so far...

Here's a pic from yesterday, notice the fire hydrant in the background to the left of Taipan's head. And then notice the fire hydrant in the close up. That much snow fell in about a day, and it's still coming down as I type this.



When I ventured out earlier today, this is what greeted me after opening the garage door... about a foot of snow.


There's a park bench buried in between the trees.


Here's our front yard and driveway. Honest

.

Let It Snow

This storm that's hit us here has dumped the most snow on us this season. We're under a Winter Storm Warning until tomorrow, and many cities in the area have declared Snow Emergencies, which means they're only allowing emergency vehicles on the roads. Having been out there earlier on a failed mission to get Starbucks, I can attest to the awful conditions. There was so much snow blowing I was driving in near white-out, and the plows just can't keep up.

As the snow first started, the kids decided they wanted to go out and play.

Ghosts In Our House

As Poltergeist has taught me, it's always good to check any new home for ghosts. We kind of skipped this step with our recent purchase, and discovered that we do indeed have ghosts in this house. While we were looking for our kids who mysteriously disappeared, they showed themselves in Karen's office...



They must have been hungry, since they went towards Karen's fridge...


One even wanted help down the stairs...


After reaching the bottom of the stairs, the apparitions vanished, and our kids appeared. I hope that 'this house is clear.'

Our monster names

Get Your Monster Name

Rhyming time

Right now Taipan is in my office and asking me:

"do you see anything that rhymes with snapple?.... An apple! (pointing to an apple he's eating)"
"do you see anything that rhymes with fish?... Shmish!"
"do you see anything that rhymes with stop (while pointing to a stop sign out the window)?....Schnop!"
"what rhymes with snot? Pop!"

Now it's....
"what words spells pop? as in popcorn and popsnorn"

Water guns & our snowman

I bought a pack of four squirt guns at Target earlier this week, and brought them out last night for bath time. Taisim and I played with them in the bath, while Taipan stood outside the tub and sprayed us. I had told the kids that the water guns were for sinks, tubs & outside.

Fast forward to around 11pm when Yuta came home from work. Taipan showed him the water guns (and how when he carried two around he looked like Jango Fett), and then wanted to "get him!". I suggested we go in the bathroom. Nope, they didn't want that. Taipan said, "Let's go outside."

I figured it'd be a very quick trip out and back in - the kids have not wanted to be outside at all this winter - very cold weather and snow averse. So they got their shoes & jackets on and out we went. Last night was pretty warm, and they were excited about the guns, and would have stayed out there for hours.












And I might have been ok with that if it were earlier and I wasn't worried that their squealing and laughing would disturb our sleeping neighbors, and if I wasn't so cold myself (I was tired, and I tend to get cold easily when I'm tired). They reluctantly came inside, while Yuta and I assured them that we could go outside in the morning.

After Taisim woke up this morning, they wanted to go out again, though not with the guns - they wanted to build a snowman. We had about 6-8 inches of snow last week, and it began melting over the weekend, and most of it is gone now. You can see what was left on the ground this morning, along with our icy snowman.

Watching fish

Taisim likes to climb up on the table to feed and watch the fish.... and pose for a picture with her Papa.

What does Taipan want to be when he grows up?

A Jedi!!

He told us that multiple times last night. We watched a Barney episode at my MIL's about what the kids want to be when they grow up. He was very excited about being a Jedi, and talked about it after we got home too. I told him he could maybe be a Jedi now, but he'd rather wait until he grows up.

Even though I know more about Star Wars now than I did three months ago, I was surprised that the Wikipedia entry for Jedi said that they are known for "observance of a religion founded on something called "The Force" ". I had no idea that religion was part of it at all. I guess I'm not that surprised, but I'd never thought if it that way. I'm curious to do more reading about Jedis now.

Y: I actually think Wikipedia is wrong here.  I'm under the impression that the Jedi Order is more of a philosophical movement vs. religious... much like Taoism isn't considered a religion (at least I don't think it is).  A better source for all info Star Wars is Wookieepedia.

According to Wookieepedia:

The Jedi Order, later known as the Old Jedi Order, was an ancient monastic peacekeeping organization unified by its belief and observance of the Force, specifically the light side. The Jediwere the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic, and became the most famous of the various groups that relied on the Force for their power. Led by a series of Jedi Councils, the Order grew over the millennia despite facing many trials, most often threats from the Sith, wielders of the dark side of the Force.