Week of the Spiders

Both the South Coast Botanic Garden and the Natural History Museum had spider events. We hooked up with Z's friend Chloe and checked out the Spider Pavilion at Exposition Park. While we were there, we also visited the California Science center and the Air & Space Museum. Having a friend along can make learning fun.

Flying made slime
lovely spiders

At the botanic garden, the kids went to the botanic garden. We actually were there for twice. Once for spiders and once for mice. The kids get to do a craft and hear a story or two. Another of Z's friends attend the gardens lessons. Their parents work at REI, so after we go on a hike together. A fountain of knowledge, the daddy points out lots of cool things. I learn as much as I can, my ears wide open as he explains things to his girls and Z. Yup. More girls. What can I say?! Girls are cool.

sheet web
pretending to film

milkweed
milkweed
making spider web
viewing spiders
watering plants

old fashion water pump fun

gw = grey (or reclaimed) water

raccoon tracks
bubble fun
great road
sprinkler and frien

We also joined Patches for another day of tennis and one of soccer. You'd think with all this exercise I would have lost some weight. Oh well, there's still hope.

Visualize

Z is sitting on the toilet and just thought he'd share with me (I guess in case I didn't know)...

"Mom, when I close my butt, the poop just lets go. Like a knife, it cuts."

The wheels are a turnin'!

I wonder what he would say if I told him about another little boy who thought there was a little man living in his butt with a pair of scissors.

(Kim, I do dares!)

Discoveries

I know I have been lax, so I'm going to make an effort to post at least a weekly update. If I don't, you have my permission to kick my big, flat butt.

I can hardly believe we've only been home 1 week. It seems much longer but in a very good way. It was a week of firsts and a week of discovery.

Saturday, the day after we got back, we went to daddy's working place for their open house. We stayed for a little bit and had some fun. Z and I went on the big slide. It was our first time. We each had a blanket and slid down. Whee! He rode a kiddie roller coaster and had some ice cream. The rest of the weekend was for relaxing, catching up on mail and shopping.

On Monday, we joined Patches and had a tennis lession. Z tended to "batter up" with the racquet. The coaches, Miss Suzanne and her husband did a great job with the kids. Z had some good hits and got some running in when they had relay games. He loves to vroom his engines!

Tuesday was a bit busy. I had an early doctor's appointment. Then I snuck in a trip to Joann's and found some containers for Z's toys. (We moved most of his toys up to his bedroom. His daddy wanted to reclaim the living room. I guess he got tired of stepping on cars and over train tracks. The bins I found are clear, stackable, and easy access.) Superkids gymnastic started again, so we headed off to class. Then we jetted home. I packed a lunch, and we had a picnic and some play time at the park. Next was Z's 5 year old appointment (mentioned briefly in the last post). Everything went well. Z is in the 20-25 percentile. I guess he has genes from my side of the family. I'm hoping he makes it over 5'6". If not, thank goodness he's got that great personality! The doctor just mentioned he needs to work on his one-legged balance. He got to a 8-9 count. They wanted him to get to 10. He does very well with the one-legged hopping, though.

Wednesday was just awesome! One of the Patches' parents arranged for the kids to do a rock climb at REI. The beginning was a bit rocky (sorry, I couldn't resist!). Z made it about half way up before throwing in the towel. The second time, he needed tons of encouragement. Everyone started cheering for him, chanting his name. This kid is hilarious. He told the kids "louder!" I'm glad I was filming that part. With a slight tug of the rope to help him over a difficult area, he was able to make it to the top to ring the bell. He was pretty stoked and eagerly did a few more climbs and lots of bell ringing! I even got a chance to climb! I have to admit, I think I did a great job myself for my first climb. You know I rang that bell!

On Thursday, we went to the South Coast Botanic Garden. They were having a kids session on spiders. The kids got to water the plants, getting the water from an "old" water pump. Then they had a craft making a spider web from string, paper plates, and a spider ring for the center. They also had storytime and got to hear 2 stories. The instructors had some cool spiders to show, and one egg sack had hatched so we saw lots of little spiderlings. Spider webs were also discussed, and we went web hunting. The kids also got to plant a spider plant to take home. After the class, we hooked up with another family from Patches and wandered around the gardens. I love hanging out with other parents. I get some good ideas by watching and listening.

Friday was a day for me to get some errands and housework done. We sent some photo discs to the grandparents and went to Costco. We did some laundry. Daddy had a successful day at work after a long week and 16 hours of overtime, so we celebrated dinner at the Lazy Dog Cafe. If you've never been there, I highly recommend a trip. The hummus trio is great. Daddy does not like hummus, but he loves this. Plus the pita they make is so yummy! You can't go wrong with their burgers. This place knows how to cook the meat so that it stays moist and retains the burger flavor, without getting overpowered by the other ingredients. I had the Bleu Cheese New York for the first time. Oh. My. God. D-e-lish! Hubby totally agreed. He had the Gaucho Flatiron Steak and thought mine was way better. It was.

Saturday, I had my first sewing class. Daddy had to go into work, so Z went with him. Z was very excited and dressed like daddy does to go to work. Jeans and a polo shirt. Unfortunately for daddy, daddy needs to concentrate and zone out. Daddy learned that it's nearly impossible to do so with a 5 year old in the room. hee hee. My class went okay. We started making a simple potholder that we made a bias for and had to hand sew. The only problem is the class might get cancelled. We may not have enough students for the class to continue. I'll find out later this week. I hate when my classes get cancelled. I seem to be interested in things that most people aren't. *sigh*

Sunday was laundry and more shopping. I also got to go to my knitting group and the after knitting dinner for one of the ladies. We went to the House of Vege. While the taste was good, some of the textures took some getting used to. Like cubed "chicken" had the consistency of tofu or fish cake. The best dishes were the lettuce cups and the eggplant. Maybe since they weren't trying to be something they weren't, know what I mean? Some of the guests were friends the birthday girl had from work, teachers. Listening to them chat made me so grateful I have the opportunity to homeschool. One of the knitters next to me said if she was pregnant, she'd talk to her husband about moving to avoid raising her kids here. School sounds like a scary place.

Well, that's it for now. Hopefully I'll get some vacation photos up soon. Don't hold your breath.

Anoxia

At Z's 5 year old check up yesterday:

The doctor was listening to his lungs and had Z taking breaths.

The doctor says to Z that he is very good at breathing and asks if Z has been doing it often.

Z replies, "no, not too much."

*His appointment went well. He is in the 20-25 percentile. He is currently 41 inches tall and 38 pounds. Hearing and vision was fine. No anemia. And he even peed in a cup. Had 2 shots and no crying. The brave boy got a Wall-E sticker and a toy mama had stashed away at home for just the right moment.

Wassup!

Where has the time gone?! Florida, of course!

We took a much needed and long overdue family vacation to Orlando. For 2 weeks, we were worry free (except for the threats of Hurricane Hanna and Hurricane Ike).

Going to a state that has seasons means SALE! I'm almost embarassed to say I bought socks and bras. No shoes. No bags. 90% was undies. It was too hard to resist Victoria's Secrets sports bras... $3.99 each! And I found a pair of Easy Spirit house slippers (lovely cushioning) for 50 cents! You know I'm all about the great deals!

But, that's not why we went to Florida, so back to the main topic. We used VRBO (vacation rentals by owner). It was our first time, and we were a bit nervous about not staying at a traditional hotel. We had a 2 bedroom condo at Vista Cay which was a few miles from Walt Disney World. Having a full kitchen was great. Plus, there was a grocery store (Publix) nearby that we frequented.

Z was in love... with "his room." There was a bunk bed and a twin bed. Plus a television with dvd player and a Playstation 2. No games, though, for which I am grateful! The room had a Disney "Cars" theme which was the icing on his cake. He had so much fun climbing to the top bunk (and coming down), but we made him sleep on the bottom. I did not want a trip to a Florida ER to add on my itinerary.

We went to Walt Disney World, Gatorland, Green Meadows, Universal Studios, and Busch Gardens. I would recommend the first three, especially if you have a young child. Of course, if your child is really into animals, then you may want to add Busch Gardens to the list.

Disney World has so much to offer the younger set. Rides they can ride! Z loved the Toy Story rides. He loves Toy story. We finally outgrew our fireman costume. It was our one and only costume and served us well for 3 years! This year Z will be Buzz Lightyear. "To infinity and beyond!"

Of the DW parks, Z enjoyed the Magic Kingdom the most. Although we went during "hurricane season", the weather was bearable and the crowds were down. The few times it actually rained made the temperature nice and cool, and my guys had a blast jumping in puddles and kicking water at each other. We stayed up 2 nights to see the "Wishes" fireworks display. By the end of the trip, I was getting kind of tired of DW. It reminded me of a Vegas casino. You know how you walk through one, and it's all lights and noise? That's DW. Loud. I had my fingers in my ears because I was getting overstimulated (and not in a good way).

Z also enjoyed DW Hollywood Studios. That was where the second Toy Story ride was located. And they had an awesome stunt car show! Z totally loved it! It was exciting and educational since they showed a few of their "movie tricks."

We also enjoyed Epcot. Z liked "the ball" which was a bit of a history tour of technology and communication. At the end, it had a cute personalized show with your faces in it and you could email a picture of yourself "in the future." We visited the other "countries", but the best part was eating at the Japanese restaurant. Mmmmm, real rice! Not cheap but totally worth it. I am now a fan of ponzu. Weird that I have never tried it before. We went twice! Outside was a booth selling shaved ice. We had that both times too. Passed on the funnel cakes.

Gatorland had a fun water area. We didn't know about it prior to going. If we had, we would have dressed appropriately. But, we couldn't resist. So we all got soaking wet. That was the best fun! Z did get to touch a year old gator, and we all tried gator nuggets and gator ribs. I'm not a convert. Gator is a bit tough, much like eating way over done chicken. The shows were cute, and you can ride a train around the area. There are some paths that take you into the swamp. I can't imagine living in a swamp. There is something so eerie about it. Although you have a wooden walkway, you are completely alone, surrounded by murky water, trees with spanish moss hanging from its limbs. Spooky.

Green Meadows is a petting farm. Located in Kissimmee, it's something us city folks enjoy, or at least I did. Why? I got to milk a friggin' cow! It was much easier than I thought and totally cool! You go with a guide on a 2 hour walking tour. You learn about the different farm animals and get to try your hand at farm things. Like...I caught a goose! I was stoked! They had the sweetest goats that wanted to be touched and pigs that loved to untie your shoe laces. We got to feed some of the animals. Fun! We rode a train and had a wagon ride. We even saw a water buffalo and a zorse! For your edjamacation, a zorse is a sterile offspring of a zebra stallion and a horse mare.

Since we were in Florida, I figured I had to have key lime pie. It was alright, but not my thing. My sweet tooth had a craving for apple pie... which I had too much of. Ice cream added to my problems and I found myself up 6 pounds after Florida, despite all the walking we did. I enjoy food way too much. Crap. Back to the exercising and eating healthy.

I'll post some photos later. Right now, I need more coffee, and I need to play some games on Facebook.

Why BOYS Rule!

...yesterday, outside...
"Mom, you're lucky I'm a boy!"
...we are cleaning the front steps...
"Why? Because boys are great sweepers?"
"Yeah!"
Give the boy another broom!

What TO wear (or DUH, Mama!)

Z decided he wanted to wear his yellow t-shirt.
He grabbed a pair of shorts to go along.
I had to ask, "Why are you going to wear that?"
Z responded with, "It's Orange day."
Sometimes it takes me a while.
"But that's red."
"Red and yellow makes orange."
Oh.
Okay. Good enough for me.

Say what?!

Sometimes, we don't always say what we mean.

Last night we had dinner at the Lazy Dog Cafe.
As we ended the dessert portion, Z screams, "I need a wheelchair!"
As dad puzzles "wheelchair?"...
Supermom uses her powers of observation and deduction and replies appropriately, "You need a refill?"

Scary isn't it how my mind works?!

Praenomen

Are you bored? Are you wondering what "praenomen" means? Leave your boredom behind! Join me. Come over to the green side.
Play a game. Learn. And donate for free! I'll even let you choose between two games!
Plant a tree
Give Rice

It's only 6:30 am, and I've planted 4 trees today and gave 1600 grains of rice. How about you?
I hope I don 't have to use your praenomen. You know who you are (I hope).
Just do it.

6:54 am donated 4000 grains.

My guys

Z and dadBefore a swim class, we stopped at a hardware store. Z is dressed for the water. Complete with rubber boots.

The New Addition

Congratulate me. Yup, we've got a new addition. It's been tested (by Z) and relegated to the garage (by dad, not me).

Meet our Nascar Tire:

Z's apparently got connections. This tire comes from a Beringer car. I believe it is the #32 driven by Kyle Busch.

Can you tell he loves it?

He insisted it needed cleaning.

The boy only volunteers to clean something if it's got wheels... or is a wheel.

The Remix Bag

Meet the Remix Bag, so named since I took a little of this and a little of that from different things I've done in the past and wove them together to get this. I don't have a pattern per se. You've heard it from me before. I wing. But, here's a brief description.

The Remix Bag
Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Yarn (2 complimenting yarns)
crochet hook E
needle, ribbon, drawstring toggle (and I embellished a smidge with beads)

Base
Chain 62. SC in 2nd CH from hook and in each CH across. CH 1 and turn(turning chain counts as 1 SC).
SC approximately for 10 rows.
From here you are continuing the base following the technique from NO ASSEMBLY REQUIRED MARKET BAG. SC around the entire piece, making sure that the opposing sides have the same number of sc. Follow instructions from NO ASSEMBLY REQUIRED MARKET BAG starting with Row 11. Keep in mind that I am using SC and not HDC and chaining 1 instead of 2. Continue with Row 12.
Next row, SC all around. Change color yarn. You will be weaving in ends as you go. SC around (ending with SL ST for each round) for 4 rows. Switch to primary color. SC 1 row. Now onto the mesh.
**CH 2. Skip one SC space and SC in next.** Repeat ** to end. Mark the starting chain.
Continue for about 8 rows. SL ST to join. Then 2 sc in each 2 chain space around. SL ST to join. SC in each SC for 1 row. Change yarn and SC for 4 rows. Switch yarn and SC around. Repeat process from ** until desired height of bag. SL ST to finish.
Mark on both sides of bag where handles will go. Insert hook and start handles. I did width of 5 SC. SC rows to desired handle length. Attach end with SC.
I found 2 nice ribbons to use as accent and as a drawstring closure. The ribbons were just weaved into the mesh part. I slipped the ends through a drawstring toggle, added beads and tied off ends. Weave in any loose yarn ends.
Hope this was enough of a tutorial to get you through. If you are trying to make this and get stuck...do what I do ...do whatever you want!

Tadpole

Look ma! No floaties!

Want some candy?

I'm old. I'm married.

I've learned to enjoy the simple pleasures in life...

Eye candy.

Free and yummy.

Oh...um...and a great swim teacher.

In Automotive History

1863 - Henry Ford, Automobile manufacturer, is born (d. 1947)

1985 - Saturn announces first plant

1990 - The first Saturn automobile rolls off the assembly line.

2003 - In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line.

2003 – Zorro is born.

Easy come

You can demolish a house and give it an Extreme Makeover but stupid is as stupid does. And that's all I have to say about that.

We love the Oldies

Old Toons
You know how one thing leads to another? Well, we started off the morning doing "paperwork." Z did a dot-to-dot of Dino from the Flintstones. Of course he had no clue who the Flintstones were much less Dino... Thank goodness for YouTube!

Soon we found ourselves in front of the screen watching the intro to 2 Flintstones episodes. Which made me think. How cool are the Flintstones to a 4 going on 5 (in one day!) year old kid! It's got dinosaurs, construction, foot pedaled cars and one really strong kid that likes to bam.

The right bar on the screen gave me more ideas.

I clicked on shows I remembered: Speed Buggy, Speed Racer, Captain Caveman, and the Jetson's. Anyone remember these gems? I watched his face light up as he watched George jet around in space, the awe when his vehicle turned into a briefcase.

Now, I realize the content may not be appropriate for all the little ones. Hey, that's what parents are for! But, the one thing the old toons offer are stimulating imagination and lots of laughs. And, they fit the interest of little boys.

It would be nice to see these in reruns... on regular television. I think kids get enough of the real world.

Old Tunes
I introduced my son to songs from the past. He has latched on to one with the intensity of a croc in a death roll. He calls it "Peter of the Pack."

He insisted it was "Peter" and not "Leader."

Catchy tune, cool motorcycle engine roars, and a terrible crash. What's not to love?!

How about the repeat function on your car cd? Thank goodness for short car rides!

Yesterday I found a tape cassette of the song so he could listen to it in his room on his Fisher Price cassette player. Just before bed, he began to sing along for the first time. I can't begin to tell you how cute it is to see him singing

"My folks were always putting him down (down down)

They said he came from the wrong side of town

(Whatcha mean when you say that he came from the wrong side of
town?)

They told me he was bad

But I knew he was sad

That's why I fell for the leader of the pack."

Sometimes men are from Venus

My husband is from Mars. At least that far out there. I strongly suspect he is from a plutoid. Most times he baffles me and we've gotten into some weird power struggles. But every once in a while, I see a glimmer of hope.

This weekend, he said the magic words. You know, those words, the kind that gets a girl's heart racing and the blood pumping. I'm starting to think, maybe he does understand me a little.

Guys, try this one:

"Do you want to go to Michaels?"

By the way, this only works if you've ever seen your significant other knit, crochet, hot glue, stamp, bake or sew.

Three Guesses

Guess what my husband did this weekend?
Guess what I did after?
Guess who had the most fun?

Answers to these questions can be found below:

We have a new toilet.

Lots of boxes

View from rooftop

The first visitor (or peeping pup)

The King and boxes for the throne equals his new castle.

Moms rock!

Adventures in San Pedro

There's a lot to see and do. You just need to search and make time.

We finally went to San Pedro. Our first stop was Ports 'O Call where we could walk along and look at boats as well as visit the Los Angeles Maritime Museum and see the Fire Boat #2. So much great history and learning to be found here. I loved it! I had two wishes:
One: The Trolley running on a Thursday. (I was a day early!)
Two: Z would stop asking to go to a car museum (we came to look at boats, dern it!)

This is a bird I saw that I thought was cool. I found out from people at the Aquarium that it was an adult Black Crowned Night Heron.

And things that Z found really cool are things that didn't have admission prices... like watching the construction crew and feeding the sea birds.