Random Pix ...

Here's some random pix ...

This one from when Cyndie and the kids when ice skating on Lake Geneva down by the Riviera.
Here's some pix of the kids playing their new game ... notice that Pepper likes to get into the game too!

It's high flying action, let me tell you!

Here's Emma helping Tim out at the cooling station.

and now the reveal ... Emma's big surprise ...

Yep, she got her ears pierced! I'm not sure what put the idea in her head. We'd talked about it in the past, and she actually went once before with Cyndie and Auntie Laura, but it didn't work out because Cyndie forgot her driver's license. Then she kind of cooled to the idea. But she brought it up to me as something to do on a date. She was all excited, and she wanted it to be a surprise for Mommy. So we went! She did great. I think the worst part was the anticipation for the 3 or 4 minutes right before. I distracted her by letting her pick out some other earings right after.

She got her ears pierce with a emerald stone ... her birthstone.

Adventures

So, this is the "Dad and kids home alone" blog.

Cyndie is off enjoying her "me time/ladies weekend". The kids and I went to swim over at the hotel that the scrapbooking thing is at last night. It's a great set up and Cyndie was having a nice time. The pool was awesome ... pretty warm, big, and we had it all to ourselves. It's been a while since the kids have swum (or should that be swam), so they totally enjoyed themselves too.

On the homefront, the kids favorite passtime the last several days is to put cushions/pillows on the floor and then run around in circles using a combination of the cushions, pillows, and furniture. It's really funny. Yesterday I was wrapping up some work and they were playing ... they even made up rules. You run around in circles. If one of them falls, then they both go back to their starting position. They made a cookie station on the hearth (with cookies up on the mantle), and a cooling station (three bar chairs pushed together under the fan, with two bags of ice to put on their arms). It's really quite humorous to see.

So (of course), the big excitement for the day was to go do Emma's adventure. Let me just say that it was quite a process. Emma is very excited, but I've been sworn to secrecy until Mommy gets home, so I can't reveal yet. Stay tuned to this space for the exciting secret reveal!

Neal's Healthy Living Challenge - Update

Well, it's what, the second week of the challenge? I figure an update is due.

Eat Healthier

• Eat smaller portions (smaller bites, chewing longer, using a smaller plate) - I can't believe what a difference this makes. I feel like I'm eating A LOT less, but not feeling any hungrier. Wow, if I can keep only this part up, I think I'll be much healthier. It's not always easy to remember to do this, but I'd say I'm doing so around 90% of the time. It's strange to be the last person eating at the dinner table most evenings, especially considering Timmy usually takes forever!
  
• Two snacks a day to help manage hunger (morning and afternoon). The snacks must be either fruit or vegetable ... no carbs (a notorious DeVries week spot) - Doing well on this too. I'm really focusing on doing this during the week. I'm less strict on the weekends. So far the three big staples have been broccoli, carrots, and apples.
  
• Drink lots of water - Check.
  
• No snacks after the kids go to bed - Check.
  
• Decaf coffee in the morning (probably unrelated to weight at all, but I have been taking blood pressure medicine, so I don't think I need the caffeine. - Check. Bought six pounds of decaf coffee at Costco last weekend ... should hold me for a while. I feel a difference here too. This was a good thing to add to the list.
  

Live Healthier

• Go to bed at a decent time (hard to measure this one, but it's important) - Eh, not doing so hot on this one, but as you'll see below, I think some of the other changes have overcome this.
  
• Work out four times a week. - Doing pretty well. I think I got in three workouts last week and am on course for four this week.

Overall
I feel like this week I'm noticing an increased energy level. Probably a combination of the pretty healthy eating, and the consistent workouts. It's certainly enough to encourage me that I'm on the right track!

I'd say that I largely passed the test on the "It's an extended family get together weekend and there's going to be lot's of food around" front as well. While I didn't fully stick to the above plan, I did eat less than I probably would have previously, and I didn't totally gorge on all the bad for you foods. I think that's part of the process. I don't want to cut out all the foods I like, but rather be healthier, which means portion control and moderation.

Grade - A-, I think that for my first week plus, I did pretty darn well! Yeah me!

Quick week!

Seems like this week has flown by. I don't know that there's been a whole lot to fill it up particularly, but whatever. Cyndie has been busy this week getting ready for a scrapbooking retreat that she's helping her friend Sheri put on over the weekend. She'll be gone from mid-morning tomorrow until Sunday late afternoon. She always looks forward to going scrapping.*

*I'm totally bumming that I can't find a clip from the New In Town movie about scrapping to put in here!

In the meantime, the kids and I will hang around the house and Emma has a special, exciting, ultra-secret outing planned for us on Saturday. I can't reveal the secret (frankly I'm amazed she hasn't spilled the beans herself), but look forward to a big surprise after the weekend!

The Weekend in Bullets ...

Some quick thoughts regarding the weekend ...

• Hit the slopes with Woods school on Friday. Strange conditions, icy, but not a film of ice, the snow was icy, but not just in a "this is man made snow" kind of way. Made it fast. Also it was pretty hard to see because the sky was so gray. Tim did well. Emma was really hesitant, but got some confidence back at the end of the day.
• Big family meal/Christmas in January Friday afternoon at our place. Good times.
• Had the church youth sleep in our basement that night as there wasn't enough room for them at the inn, er, Covenant Harbor for their Deep Freeze event.
• Took my folks to O' Hare to fly to Cancun for a week early Saturday morning. Man, what a comedy of errors. They over slept, then we had to back track (only a few blocks) to get my dad's passport, then I missed the O' Hare off ramp and we had to drive about 10 minutes out of our way because there were no off ramps for a long way! They made it, and now we have stories to tell ... I imagine they are sitting on a beach at this point in time!
• Spent the day and night at my sister's in Crystal Lake. Timmy had a bit of a meltdown, in large part because of being over tired I think ... he had a long week! Cyndie and I talked about it some last night, and realized that half the battle is staying on top of his mood, and giving him some alone time when he's approaching meltdown. I think we'll be able to handle that better in the future. The big activity for the afternoon and evening was playing Rockband, my brother -in-law's new PS3 game.
• Sunday's excitement was the Vikings putting the hurt into Dallas. It was a great game that we watched with a bunch of friends.
• Emma finally got her girl scout sash, and Cyndie put all the patches on. She's excited to wear that today to her scout meeting.
  

Now it is January 18, which means ... Cyndie's birthday! We all have a busy day today, but Cyndie was able to get some time with a friend in this morning, and we're planning to go out for a meal after girl scouts this afternoon.

Quote of the Day!

"It's hanging from my eyeball."

-Timmy, while eating his french toast this morning. In reference to his fork, which he was holding right next to his eye, while trying to stab a piece of french toast.

"It's going to be pretty hard to get that french toast into your mouth."

-me, after Tim managed to get the piece of french toast, and was attempting to get it to his mouth, while still holding the end of the fork next to his eye.

Sometimes those kids are quite the goofballs.

I think I've been rather sparse on the kid front lately, so I'll devote this post to them. Since we've returned from vacation, we've spent quite a bit of time playing with their Christmas toys, especially Timmy's electric train. The kids like to sit around the track and use the train to carry toys to eachother (they usually want an adult to play with them). Timmy is the Engineer. Emma's played quite a bit with her American Girl doll too.

Nighttime has been a bit of a challenge with the small folk. Emma has had some strange fear thing where she get's in bed and just starts crying and being afraid, but when you ask her what she's afraid of, she says she's not afraid. The first night back (actually, the first night after we'd been here a full day) was when this started. It took us a while to figure out that if we just remind her that we'll come check on her in 15 minutes, she'll settle down right away and go to sleep. Still, it's a bit burdensome to have to go up to her room every 15 minutes. Then last night, I had a meeting, and she put up a big fit about not having been able to kiss me goodnight ... made it a really long night for Cyndie. Sigh. I guess it's a bit of growing pains and being unsettled after having stayed in quite a few places on vacation.

Timmy, on the other hand, has been getting up in the middle of the night and coming into our room and waking us up. He goes right back to sleep, but man, it seems like he picks the time when we are deepest asleep for these visits. Makes for not such a great night's sleep.

Oh well, these things too shall pass!

We're looking forward to seeing cousins this weekend, and an afternoon of skiing on Friday.

Idol is Back baby!

Okay, so I'm not really proud of this, but I am addicted to American Idol. No, not in the "I'm calling in 30 times for each show to vote" kind of way, but in the "I'm fascinated by how bad some of these people are" and "Man, how could that girl have made it through" and "I've got to see who is going to win" kind of way.

So last night was the season premiere for this season. I haven't watched it yet, but that's on the cards for a night coming soon.

In other news, it looks like work is going to pick back up on the craft room again. Cyndie sketched out the desk that she wants me to build, so it's on to the projects again. Here's to hoping that we can get that room finished up in the next couple of months and then move onto a new project (basement home theater? Timmy's room?).