Tuesday, March 13, 2007

The Good one?


Dave's grandma is in the hospital, and I wanted to get her something to cheer her up. I called Wendy and Pam and we agreed to get her some PJs and slippers and such...but happy PJ's...you know the kind that make you smile.

In my quest for these PJ's a friend of my (Heather) told me about this cool site.

http://www.pajamagram.com/

It was so cute, but they were a bit pricey for me, especially since I had to ship it. Well, I found these really cute PJ's, some soft slipper socks (with tread so she will not fall) and this cute little suitcase box to put them in. Grandma Sara should be receiving them on Friday! Hope they cheer her up and make her smile, or at least a bit more comfortable.

Well, anyway I was talking to my sister-in-law Wendy, who had previously spoken with the other twin Pam, and they said that I was the "good one". I was floored by this. I have NEVER been the "good one". What are my job responsibilities? Do I have to live up to this title? I don't know what to do...this is foreign territory.

Then I sat back and smiled knowing that this status is only a temporary one. Soon I will do or say something that is not remotely good in nature or even quite mean or wrong...this will do the trick. :) No more expectations for me! In the meantime, I will revel in my newfound title...as brief as it may be. :)

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

The Birthday Bite?



This must be similar to the Christmas Giraffe or something. Well, as you know Caiden turned three yesterday. As I was getting him ready for bed I noticed this huge, red mark on his arm. The picture does not do it justice, so I took a video.

When I asked him what happened, he told me that a kid (couldn't catch the name and even if I had I would not post it anyway) had bitten him. I asked him why and what he did. I asked him if he told a teacher, and he said yes. I asked what the teacher did, and he said that the teacher told the kid "No more biting".

Anyway, I was pretty upset because the teachers never told me anything, and I spoke with them about his day when I picked him up. When I dropped him off today though, I asked what happened, and they had an incident report all filled out. I couldn't get angry when they wrote that they action taken was:
TLC, Ice, and lots and lots of hugs and love. That was just too cute.

He seems to be fine, and I know that kids do these things, but I just wanted to be informed...and have the other parent (of the biter) informed as well.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Caiden turns 3!!!!!




Yesterday was Caiden's birthday and Auntie Pam and Uncle Jake took Caiden and I out to eat. The food was delicious, and the company was even better. I miss going out with them, and it was nice to see each other and just hang out. Caiden was a bit of a pill (probably sugar overload...I had taken cupcakes to Caiden's school for him to share with his friends and classmates, and then as you can see Caiden was not lacking in the sugar department here either). Poor Jake seemed to be working hard to get Caiden to smile and not a smirk, until later in the night. This is where the sugar kicked in. At the conclusion of the night, Caiden was serenading Pam and Jake with his own special song.




At the end of the dinner they gave Caiden a HUGE dessert. Now, I would love to say that I was good and did not eat a bite, unfortunately I believe I was caught red handed (as you can tell in one of these pictures). Oh well, I paid for it. I stepped on the scale this morning and was 2 lbs heavier. Ugh!






Papa Jim and Grammie Sue called during dinner to sing Happy Birthday to Caiden, as did Dave, and Papa Lance and Grandma Susan left a nice message for him wishing him a happy birthday when we got home. Auntie Wendy had called the day before right before we went out to Ruby's for dinner. He had SO MUCH FUN, but I have to say I was glad when he laid down for the night. :)

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Like Father, Like Son - Mowing The Lawn




There are a few reasons for this entry. 1) it is just so stinking cute to see Caiden with his little lawn mower copying Dave and 2) Dave NEVER mows, so I thought I would catch this momentous occasion on film.

I wanted to mow, but couldn't get the lawn mower started, so Dave took over and actually did the mowing. I have to say that I was not just sitting back enjoying the sights (although I did a little of that too). I participated by putting the lawn fertilizer on! Can't you tell...the lawn is now looking green...you know the color lawn is supposed to be. :)



Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Caiden's Birthday Week






Caiden is turning three this week, so we have begun celebrating. On Sunday, the day before Caiden's birthday Dave and I took him out to Ruby's restaurant. He had so much fun. They even came and sang him a happy birthday song and gave him an ice cream sundae…which he graciously shared with Dave and I. Of course since we are on this weight loss kick and are extremely competitive we resisted (we each took one bite, although I think I saw him sneak another...fine with me...more pounds for him, less pounds to lose for me!)

Her are a few pictures. Papa Jim...note the presence of ketchup on his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This is YOUR doing, I assume. Like Grandpa, like grandson! Caiden asked for ketchup, and on his birthday week how could we say no? He ate the whole sandwich...ketchup and all! :)

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Dance Mania...And The Debut of the Michael Chapman Dancers!

So many of you have asked me how the dancing at work has been going. I thought I would post a little video of some of our dancing highlights. The first part of the video were were voguing. Now vogue is a very serious thing, and one must be very committed to its cause. I took this initiative very seriously, unfortunately I was the one with the camera, so you won't get to see my stellar moves!!

Fortunately for Michael Chapman and his dancers...I DID have the camera and could catch all of their great salsa moves!


Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Caiden Plays Baseball!



Ok, so this was from about 2 weeks ago or so, but here it is nonetheless.

The same day that I dyed my hair, Caiden and Christy played some baseball at my friend Katie's house. It was so cute. He even hit the ball, although it does appear that he does so with his eyes closed. Must be Daddy's boy...he has all the luck on his side. :) Caiden also liked to be the pitcher. He is a very flexible player :P Here are a few pics from the day.



Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Dinner with the Ray's



I apologize for neglecting the blog, however I have been busy. I had every intention of updating the blog, but by the time I got home I was tired and didn't feel like typing and loading pictures. Now, look at me...I have loads of backlogged blog items.

This one was from March 4th. Our friend's Trevor and Angela Ray and their beautiful daughter Katie came over for dinner. We out to Ruby's where the kids had so much fun. Dave was less than excited as the restaurant was out of chicken and skinny fries (both of which he wanted - remember the whole Biggest Loser challenge?). Hehe. He even started sizing up MY meal. (I got the Veggie wich sandwich and a side salad...yes, I was good. I had water for a drink with a lemon wedge.)

Dave on the other hand had to settle for a turkey burger, a salad which he did not touch (as he has that strange aversion to green foods and pretty much anything that resembles healthy, nutritious food) and a lemonade.

Anyway, it was fun to see Trevor and Angela and hang out with them and Katie, and we were finally able to exchange Christmas gifts with the kids. I can't wait to see them again.


Tuesday, March 13, 2007

A Day of Rest and Relaxation - NOT SO FAST!

So this past Friday was to be a very rare occasion. I was actually going to have some alone time. That's right. No David, No Caiden, just me. I was actually pretty excited. I had dreamed up all these wonderful things that I was going to do for the day. Of course all of them revolved around sleep and watching tv and stuff. You know, completely mind numbing activities.

I had had a pretty good day, all was well, with the exception of one of my new hires referring to me as "old". That's right. Me, at the ripe old age of 30...old. Over the hill. ancient. I had told her earlier that day that I was going to be by myself that night, and I was joking with her on how the old fogey's of 30 yrs of age find thrills. I told her that I was going to drive home, change my clothes into comfy clothes, make sure my dentures were bright and shiny and dust off my walker and bust a move. Her response: Don't forget your depends. I told her I would just borrow some from her.

Anyway, I walk out of the office, jump on the freeway, sit in traffic, and then my day of rest and relaxation changes to that of stress and tension. I was on the freeway, and this jeep in front of me slams on the brakes, so of course I slam on mine...unfortunately, my brakes locked. I remember the classes where they tell you to pump your brakes, but it was like 2 seconds...and I didn't pump my brakes. I said a quick prayer hoping that I would stop short of the jeep, but to no avail. I ended up with a jeep hood ornament. Translation: I rear-ended the jeep and my car went under his.

I did the usual get out and exchange information. The guy was from Michigan or Minnesota or somewhere. Anyway, I took a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. The worst part about this whole thing is that I just got a bonus from work, and I was so excited thinking that I could put this extra money to bills, and then crash! Literally...my dreams were shattered. Ok, so I may be a bit melodramatic, but still.

The funny part is that I sent pictures to Dave, and then got out of the car and tried to push down the dents. It worked somewhat. :p At least the Michigan man was nice enough to hand me my license plate.





Monday, March 05, 2007

Dinner with the Pachecos!




Caiden and I went to visit the Pachecos on Saturday, and they were gracious enough to invite us to dinner. Katie's parents came over to her house for dinner, and I hadn't seen them in a while. Katie made a delicious dinner (with the help of Caiden) of Tilapia (white fish), Fettuccini Alfredo, salad, fruit, spanikopitas (Greek food – I LOVE IT!!), chicken, broccoli and a yummy dessert of fresh fruit over shortcake.






The weight loss competition that I am one did not help. Well, I guess it did in a way. Earlier in the day, we were going to watch chick flicks and eat cookies, popcorn, and yummy treats. Because of this wonderful weight loss competition, I forced everyone to go to the store with me so we could purchase Diet Dr. Pepper (Caffeine free at that), and to quench the thirst for something sweet…fruit. That’s right. I forced everyone to eat Kiwi, Papaya, Mango, grapes, and such. I have to say that every time I turned my head, I did catch a glimpse of cookies and ice cream being passed behind my back. Traitors!! 

We had a lot of fun. Caiden blessed our food, and then Brian said a proper grace before our meal. It was so good. I could have eaten everyone’s, but I was a bit stuffed. After all, I had all that Fruit and Diet Dr. Pepper.

Caiden and Daniel and Christy had fun, while we visited. Caiden and Dave (Katie’s dad) shared a few moments, and Caiden even told him how old he was going to be for his upcoming birthday!






We had a lot of fun, and can’t wait to do it again!

Monday, March 05, 2007

A New Look?



Have you ever wanted a new look? Well I have. I do all the time. I finally worked up the courage to dye my hair, and NO ONE NOTICED!!! Ok, so I didn't do anything drastic, but still...I thought SOMEONE would notice.

I went over to my friend Katie's house where she, her daughter (Christy) and friend, Stephanie helped me to transform into...apparently roughly the same color. I had fun, and I hope they did too. We MUST do it again sometime :) Maybe next time I will go Gothic! Now THAT would get some attention!


Caiden enjoyed watching the whole event.

Thank you for all of the work. Here are some pictures of the event.





Monday, March 05, 2007

Is the Power of Positive Thinking A Bit Fishy?




Well, to say work has been tough lately would be the understatement of the year. I would tell you about it, but to be honest I don’t believe there is enough space on this blog, nor do I want to bore you with the details. Needless to say, that the fact that I have begun this new initiative at all is a testament to my “never give up attitude” and the power of positive thinking.

To that end, my co-worker Michael and our two leads, Alisha and Josh have put together a rather “fishy” presentation. No, it’s not something to be suspicious of, and it doesn’t have a bad smell. Rather it is a philosophy based on the Seattle Fish Market’s Fish Philosophy (Pike’s Peak – you know where they toss the fish that you order around at each other). Basically, what it states is that you can have fun in a work environment and still be competitive and get the job done. Novel idea, eh? It’s about choices…the choices we make as individuals and the choices that we make as a team and company.

For instance, you can be having a rather crappy day, but you can make the choice when you walk through the doors at work to take the “cr” out of crappy and replace it with an “h”. (I know it was rather cheesy, but you have to admit, a bit clever too, right? For all you overly tired moms and dads, I just changed the word crappy to happy – loses the effect if it has to be explained, eh?).

Anyway, we (Michael, Josh, Alisha and I) have decided that enough is enough. We are going to infuse a little oxygen and life (in keeping with the fish analogy) into our everyday work environments. In doing so, we have instituted music into our daily routine. Twice a day we will play random music and everyone is to stop and dance and sing (to their heart’s content). It is meant to be fun and shake out the stress. I have to say, I feel a bit goofy and retarded, but after a quick dance I did feel a little less stressed and a little happier. 



Additionally, we bought a couple of blowfish (blue and stuffed – note: actual blowfish were not harmed in the making of this presentation) and have instituted a “Bestow the Blowfish” (thanks to Josh’s clever SAT words) award. In keeping with the theme, if a rep recognizes another person doing a great job, they are to “bestow the blue blowfish” to that person to say…”hey, you are doing a great job and I noticed”. I hope that it becomes a personal mission for each of my employees to receive the blowfish, so they too can feel the utter joy and happiness at bestowing the blowfish. (hehe…I just like saying it. Try it yourself…bestow the blowfish…just rolls off your tongue, doesn’t it).

Additionally, we are reverting back to the days of ol’ – our youthful days when all we did was drink lemonade and play “Go Fish”. In this bit, our leads (Josh and Alisha) get to choose a rep that has displayed a positive attitude throughout the week, or done something exceptional and nominate them to “go fish” for a prize out of our fish bowl that Michael and I purchased.



Anyway, it is a fun project that I hope will continue on for awhile. I am anxious and curious to see what kind of choices that each individual makes, as well as what kind of choices the team(s) makes. To inspire everyone to feel a bit goofy, we all wore metallic wigs in our favorite colors while presenting. I mean, who can really take someone seriously when they have a blow up microphone and metallic wig on. Of course, I have provided pictures so that you can see us in our true glory.

I have even provided a nice little video of some of our dancing moves. Enjoy!!

Monday, March 05, 2007

Handmade Baby Gifts



Well, I never professed to be the most creative and handy of people, as you can see by the above pictures. You can all now see why Dave refuses to let me paint anything in the house, but at least I try. I made the below picture frames for each of my sister's new babies...they should arrive between April and May of this year.

The boy is going to have a planes, trains and automobiles room, and the girl is going to have a Noah's Ark theme.

I felt pretty confident in posting them, because my family never looks at the blog. Hope you all like them. They are one of the many things I am making for Steph's kids.