DING 33272.5, AWWWW YEAH

                              

A Baseball Superhero

That's a pretty good summary. Jason had a baseball birthday party. His cake was a cupcake baseball. He got a new Spiderman baseball cap. I suppose the Tractor Supply hat may be shelved. He got a new baseball glove. This one is for a right hander. His old one is for left handers. He switches between them. He got a T-Ball bat. It's wooden. So, for the sake of my TV it's outside only and under supervision. He got a T-Ball ball (soft core). He got bases (thin silicon ones). He really doesn't get them. And every time I tell him to run home, he actually heads for our house. :) We played a baseball game. Jason was really excited. He really enjoyed chasing folks even though he wasn't sure which way he was chasing them.

As far as other gifts, it was all superheroes. He got a Batman suit. It has a mask, shirt, pants and cape. It is to be his Halloween outfit. (Zoë is to be a mermaid.) He got a Batman and an Ironman action figure. He got a nameplate for his door. And, he got a boatload of suckers. That combined with Halloween should have him up for days.

-J

I POOPED IN THE POTTY

Or more precisely,

I POOPED IN THE POTTY!!!

That's great! Just a sec, Jason. Let daddy switch off speakerphone.

May be getting well...

We've been sick. Nothing worthy of posting, although I did twitter a bit about it.

I've become addicted to twitter, which is a bit sad considering how few people I'm connected to, on it.

-J

Like a Couple of Alzheimer Patients

At least I have an excuse. I don’t keep pictures. Sadly, we didn’t think to bring a camera to the circus. The kids loved it. Zoë got to ride an elephant (which at the time was very scary, but afterwards was very cool). Jason got to hold a snake, but didn’t get the memo to look at the camera. Jason got a Polaroid with his thing… So, here you go.



Jason didn't care for the noise. Mainly it was the ringmaster being loud, but it was also very loud when they had 5 motorcycles in the steel ball all at once. Jason really liked watching the elephants from a distance. Zoë liked them at any distance. She said her favorite thing about the circus was the baby elephant. Jason didn't tell us a favorite, but mentioned there was no Mickey Mouse, like on his tape at home.

-J

Julian

I assume I'm spelling that name right. 6lbs 8oz, 19"

Time to retire this...



Seems to be reading backwards anyhow...

2 hours of sleep

I got home at 2am. I got in bed at 3am. Asleep at 3:20am. Awake at 4am. Jason's getting into my bed. 5am, still awake.

"Jason...you have got to go to bed."

"Noooo, it's too scary."

"hmph...please."

"Noooo, it's too scary."

"Uhm, okay can you sleep on the floor here? I'll give you a pillow and blanket."

"Okay."

So, I set it up and fall asleep almost instantly. 5:40am

"Daddy, I can't sleep."

"What? Why?"

"Zoë's kicking me."

"What!?"

I turn on the light and Zoë is under his blanket asleep.

"Uhhh, can you sleep in your bed?"

"Yes."

I set him up with a nightlight...

2 minutes

Dogs barking, Jason crying.

"Dogs are too loud. I'm hungry."

I give him some dry cereal, but he climbs in bed with Bonny. 6:05am ... asleep ... 6:30am ... alarm ...

[QUOTE]
Looks like I picked the wrong day to give up caffeine!!!"
[/QUOTE]

9:30am wake up call

Well, I know we probably should have an earlier wake up time, but nevertheless, 9:30am is probably our normal wake up time.

However, this morning, Zoë came to me at 9:30am and said, "Daddy, I need a nap."

8-|

I said, "Okay honey, you can take nap." However, inside I said, "Oh no... How long have you been up and what have you been doing that you need a nap at 9:30am?

So far, I really only have one answer. We found that she had a tea party this morning. Did she use the fancy toy tea set she got for her birthday? No, she got her dishes out of the china cabinet; including some tiny salt and pepper shakers.

Well, best I can tell nothing was broken. We'll see if we find any other evidence of early morning happenings.

CAKE!!!

So I made the cake for Annie's 18th birthday party. It turned out pretty cool, but man was it a pain to actually get it done. Not that the cake itself wasn't fun, but between Zoë's meddling and lack of a sufficient support structure it took ALOT longer than it should have. First, I spent a whole day baking cakes (9 layers total) and getting the decorations that had to have drying time done. The decorations that had to dry included the guitar topper (it actually had to dry, be painted and dry again) So, after I made it, I left it sitting on the island to dry overnight. The next morning we discovered Zoë had found a nifty snack just sitting out waiting for her. Poor guitar :( I immediatly made another and set it to dry somewhere higher. I make my icings. I make my fillings. I split the cakes to be filled. My filling needs some time to thicken up, so I decide to take ten. I go briefly out of sight of the kitchen and when I return there's a chunk of cake missing and a guilty looking, chocolate-handed Zoë running from the room. Well, I'm understandably upset, but Very luckily I had used the leftover cake mix to bake another cake(only enough batter to make it half as tall as the others, but she only ruinedhalf of one of the split cakes) At least I didn't have to go back to the store for more cake stuff. Late that evening, I finish! Hooray! I'm exhausted, the cake is hidden away(from Zoë) and I go to bed. The next morning "Emergency! Emergency!" My beautiful cake, my beautiful, beautiful cake :*( has collapsed. I spent two days making it and the party was the next day. After I get over my fit of dispair, I salvage what I can of the decorations and make a frantic run to the store. At least I had a better idea of exactly what needed to be done and when. I start baking furiously, making icing and filling, coloring fondant, and cutting out new decorations between rotating cake pans. (I was a regular side show) I had an idea of what had caused my cake to colapse and took all precautions to prevent a repeat.(no time to make third cake!) I finished everything i could finish without stacking the layers and hid them away for the night(never underestimate Zoë's ability to get into things!) Luckily, for me, the party wasn't until 5:30pm, so, after I assembled the cake(minus a few final touches to be added on location) ,I even had time to fix some chicken to bring!(potluck) The 50 or so minute car ride was a bit nerve-racking, but I had learned to build a better cake and it survived marvelously. I finished set-up on site and Annie was absolutely thrilled with the final product. I had trouble seeing anything but the imperfections, but then again I had been staring at it and it's twin(now in a heap in my fridge, and destined for Justin's co-workers) for the last 4 days. I'll probably like it more in a week or two when it's not so painful a memory. Despite the trouble producing it, I REALLY AM glad I was able to do this for Annie's birthday. She's such a sweetie and one of my best friend/sisters and she deserved an awesome birthday.
Anyhow, here are some pictures.























AND HERE, SADLY, LIE THE REMAINS OF THE FIRST ATTEMPT, MUCH LOVED AND DEARLY MISSED. MAY CUBICLE WORKERS CARRY YOU ON TO YOUR FINAL RESTING PLACE.

















On another note, heres a cake I made awhile back for my Sifu's birthday, but never got around to posting. Apparently, when someone says that a cake looks professional, I'm not supposed to say "No, I made it", but "Yes, it is. I made it" That's what Justin tells me anyhow.

The symbol on the bottom left is for the stlye I'm studying:Wing-Chun. He also teaches Mantis and Tai-chi.

Mornings

Bonny suggested that Zoë thinks that every morning first thing you do is punish Zoë. It's honestly a little distressing to think that Bonny may be right. The problem is; most mornings Zoë has done something significantly wrong. Today, I found that she had eaten most of a sculpted piece of Annie's birthday cake. Bonny is going to have to remake it from scratch. Also, she painted with the "water" Bonny uses making the cakes. Also she poured gatorade all over the kitchen table and floor. Also, she soaked the wipie warmer sponge in gatorade and glued it to the window of the back door.

I also get to learn that Jason pushed Zoë off the back of the couch yesterday. She wasn't supposed to be there anyhow, but he's not allowed to push.

It's not pleasant to begin your day having long talks about not being bad. And then you have to leave. So, that impression of you is left in their minds all day. You hug them and tell them that you love them, but I wonder on to which event they really latch.

I just found Zoë outside...

Yes. Just. As in 10:44pm.

It's low 70's right now, and I thought it'd be nice to air the house out some. So, I opened some windows. I told them not to touch the windows (screens). I'm working on budget and I hear a crash. I walk into the living room and Jason is running over to one of the windows I have open saying, "You okay Zoë."

Well, Zoë was a bit stunned, but fine. The screen actually hinged. In other words, the top of the screen didn't move. The bottom popped out (when she fell off of the back of the couch, a place she shouldn't be anyhow). Then the bottom swung back into place. So, a very confused and licked (the dogs found her pretty quick) Zoë stood up and there was a barrier to her getting back in.

I doubt she was outside more than 10 seconds before I was there. I assume the crash was her falling out. Especially since I found my phone in the window frame and the handset outside.

-J

Next Time: More tales from the front.

P.S. By there in 10 seconds, I mean there inside. We had a nice little talk through the screen before I went outside and got her.

Creation vs. Evolution

Jason - "Superman flying."
Zoë - "No he's not."
Jason - "He is!"
Zoë - "Does he have wings?"
Jason - "Superman flying!!!"
Zoë - "Look at the picture!"

[whistles]

On the way home tonight Zoë was singing (no words) Good-Night Ladies. (Probably because of an associations Bonny has built up in her mind.)

So, Bonny starts to sing it, with these words:

Good-night babies.
Good-night babies.
Good-night babies.
It's time to take a nap.

Zoë did not take kindly to it, and gave it some thought before she sang the reply.

That's not funny.
That's not funny.
That's not funny.
La la, la la, la.

Btw

Look at the thermometer...

I'll hardly know what to do when it gets full...

Oh yeah, pay off all those others bills.

nighttime, mom and kids back from store

Justin - "Hi Zoë."
Zoë - "Hi daddy, I go to school!!!"
Justin - "You went to school!?!"
Zoë - "Yup, it's what I do."