100 Hours of Ice

So, what have you done this week?  Did you leave your house?  Did you go to work?  Did you get at least one degree of separation between you and your immediate family?  If so, you're a step ahead of us! 

On Monday night, the weather turned cold and icy, dumping inches of ice all over north Texas.  A historically frigid cold front kept the ice on the ground all week, forcing 4 days of school closures.  That left us cooped up inside for about 100 hours, trying to stay sane.  Here are some highlights of our icy adventure! 

Hour 15: (Tuesday, February 1. Family attitude: FESTIVE) We settled in with some popcorn and hot chocolate and celebrated our "snow day" by watching the original version of Disney's Tron.  Wilson loved the movie the most, admiring the radical special effects from 1982.

Hour 32 (Wednesday, February 2nd.  Family Attitude: COLD AND BORED) It was bored, I mean BOARD game time.  We played some Candy Land DVD, Cranium Cadoo, and a few others.  I think the kids were cheating because they kept winning.  Either they were cheating or my brain was going numb.

Hour 59 (Thursday, February 3rd.  Family Attitude:  BORDERLINE DESPERATE) With most of our sanity already out the window, it was karaoke time!!  We got all gussied up in our costumes, picked some awesomely annoying songs, and went for it!  We recorded all our songs on video, and Wilson edited them together into a movie.  Be on the lookout for our You Tube debut!

Hour 81 (Friday, February 4th.  Family Attitude: 29 DEGREES AND FALLING) On Friday, the ice got covered up by some nice fluffy snow, which is like heaven for Wilson.  He played out in the snow all day long, pausing only for food and bathroom breaks.  Maisy stayed inside all day, letting us know that is was still too cold for her.  Ace spent a solid 15 minutes outside, until he actually touched snow with his hands and quickly and loudly requested immediate entry into the house.

Hour 92 (Friday, February 4th.  Family Attitude: SQUIRRELY)  As a last-ditch effort to save our atrophied muscles, we decided to go for some Just Dance 2 on the Wii.  A few good routines heated us up.  Check out the little pros dancing in their PJ's (by the way, the kids were in PJ's for about 95 of the 100 hours!)

 

Now that we are thawing out, our 100 hours of ice don't seem too bad.  It was nice being able to spend lots of great time with our kids, enjoy some warm fires, and catch up on some house projects.  Let's just hope it was a one-time thing!

Christmas Break

Oh boy, Christmas break was soooo  great! We (the adults) both agree that this was the best break ever, because we were able to actually have some low-key time together as a family.  Our kids are getting so big and are so fun to be with. We feel we are in a wonderful place as a family.

This year we started having some questions about Santa Claus at our house and his authenticity.  A quote from Maisy: "Mom, just tell me if Santa is real or not.  I know that adults know the truth."

Wilson was slightly on the fence as well and it showed in his letter Santa.  He wrote his list as usual and it contained the average desires of an 8 year old boy.  But he saved the best things for his 2nd list on the 2nd page of his letter to Santa.  This is what he wrote:

"These ones are very special to me, they may already be on the list but they still would be very special to me.

Spy gear, whatever would make my mom happy, my own electric guitar and one more thing to give…..snow in Texas. Oh and a super power and my very own garden space. This has been a nice talk Santa. I hope you do visit me this year! I’ve been good!"

He then signed it and left a space for Santa to sign.  I loved this letter because it seemed like he wasn't sure about Santa, but figured hey! I'll just go for it and ask for a super power! 

 

The kids in their new Christmas pajamas.  Thanks Aunt Di!

Kasia went all out on the decorating this year.  Check out the beautiful garland thingie on the mantle.  You might have to click to make the picture bigger so that you can see all the great detailed loveliness.  She put the whole thing together with nothing but inspiration and pipe cleaners.  Awesome.

Maisy's favorite present was a pair of roller skates.  She's doing a great job getting accustomed to the skates.  I'm sure she'll be hitting the roller derby in no time.

And here's a little clip highlighting Maisy's skating skills, along with Wilson's brotherly helping.

Kasia's parents, Sterling and Rena, spent a couple of days with us over the break.  We had a blast with Grammy and Grampy, as always.

That's just Ace being Ace.

We went to Bastrop, TX just before New Year's to celebrate the wedding of Kasia's cousin Kirsten.  While there we were able to snap a photo of 4 generations of women!  L-R: Rena Ming, Judy Eady (Rena's mom), Maisy, Kasia.  It was a very special evening.

Now that we're back into the hustle, bustle, and general craziness of real life, it makes our low-key Christmas break seem even more special.  Only 11 and  1/2 months until we can do it again! 

Ice Skating

During our wonderful Thanksgiving trip to Arkansas, we decided to take advantage of a REAL ice skating rink in downtown Bentonville.  That's right--real ice!  Pretty impressive for an Arizona dad and Texas family that's not used to seeing frozen stuff outside.

Maisy and Wilson both took to the ice like pros.  They started out skating with the assistance of little skating helper thingies (technical term) , but soon were gracefully cruising with no assistance.

Speaking of grace, that is something that I (Brett) completely lack when I have any type of skates attached to my feet.  You can chalk it up to a lack of experience, lack of enthusiasm, or maybe lack of coordination.  I just know that I'm funny on ice.  Kasia, on the other hand, is a cross between Dorothy Hamill and Kristi Yamaguchi.

I was actually starting to improve on the ice toward the end of the night.  I felt like I could get going, keep my balance, and slow down enough to not endanger myself or any 5-year-olds.  So when it was almost time to end, I decided to skate a couple of solo laps to see what those blades could really do. 

I got going faster than I had previously in the evening, and was enjoying the cold wind rush through my hoodie.  I was racing an imaginary Anton Ohno when I realized I was going kind of fast, and I that I really had no idea how to stop.

So, I panicked a little bit and decided to give stopping a try before I hurt somebody.  As I angled my skates and prepared for a tumble, I ended up doing a miraculous double spin move, complete with awkward arm flail and grotesque head gyration.  I happened to do this incredible maneuver right in front of a group of about 30 people waiting to get on the ice. 

Not sure if I had really been noticed, I began to gingerly and slowly make my way toward my family.  I thought all was well and unnoticed until I saw Kasia Yamaguchi doubled over with laughter.  She could not stop recounting and imitating my little adventure to anyone who would listen. 

All in all, it was a great night.  The kids learned to skate, I didn't die, and Kasia now has something to tease me about for the rest of our lives.  Nice.

Yamaguchi, Cousin Olive and Aunt Kressyda

Here's Maisy helping me, I mean me helping Maisy.

Halloween is a Circus

This is Brett typing.  Kasia assumes no responsibility for the content of this blog post.

So, this Halloween Kasia had a great idea.  "Hey everyone," she gushed.  "I have the greatest Halloween idea ever!"  I thought to myself, "Here we go again.  She's going to try to get us to dress up all together as a Halloween theme family."  She then said, "We can all dress up together as a circus!"  I thought to myself, "I know her sooooo well."  So the circus theme was born, and after a little coaxing, everyone was on board, and the plans were set.

Wilson chose to be the motorcycle daredevil (because he saw an awesome helmet at the costume store that he HAD to have), Maisy the tightrope walker (appropriate because of her life's acrobatic balancing act between boys, school, and extracurricular activities.  Yes, she's six years old.) , Me the circus freak (no comment necessary), Kasia the popcorn vendor (because of her vast experience in food services), and Ace the clown (because we already had the perfect pants for that).

Finally, the day of the neighborhood Halloween party arrived, and we made our final preparations.  I got all freaky, Kasia got her pop on, Wilson imagined himself riding through blazing hoops of fire, and Maisy got her face painted and imagined what her boyfriends would think of her costume.  Ace was then jostled awake from his nap, and our perfect theme was about to come crashing down.

Trouble under the big top.  Actual conversation as I remember it:

"Ace, are you ready to be a clown?"

"No. Batman."

"But Ace, we're going to be a circus.  Don't you want to be a clown?"

"No. Batman.  Ace.  Batman.  Now."

"Ace, listen.  We are a circus family.  Batman is not in the circus.  Let's get you into your pants and suspenders."

" (Toddler swear words)"

So, I forced Ace into his clown pants and wrangled him into his suspenders.  Not sure where this came from, but Ace has recently figured out that he can take off the clothes that we put onto him.  So he promptly took off the pants and suspenders and literally THREW THEM AT ME.  At that moment I knew that Batman would be accompanying 4 circus people to the party.

So, we went and had a great time as the freak, the popcorn vendor, the daredevil, the tightrope walker, and Batman.

 The Freak and the Vendor

 The Daredevil and the Tightrope Walker

Batman and Friends (Click photo to see Batman)

Restaurant Review: Hard Eight BBQ

So it's been a while since we've done a restaurant review.  We've got a great one for you this time:  Hard Eight Pit BBQ in Coppell, TX.  We loved it!

We were meeting up with Brett's old college roommate and friend, Chris Wayne, in the Dallas area, and we had heard of the greatness of Hard Eight, so we thought we would give it a try.

The first thing we encountered when we got to Hard Eight was THE PIT.  It is nothing less than a HUGE PIT OF MEAT.  Ooooooh yeah.  It was so hard to decide what to get.  We finally made our decisions and got ready to munch on some good stuff.

As you can see, our BBQ was served to us in the down home good ol' country style.  They slapped some meat on some waxed paper, gave us about a loaf of white bread, a tub of sauce, and let us go at it. Kasia is the loved the ribs, Brett went for the brisket, Wilson devoured the pork and pickles, and Maisy nibbled everything here and there.  Ace, as usual,  ate whatever Daddy was about to eat, snatching the morsels right off Brett's fork.

Some action shots of our little carnivorous family.

So, if you're ever in the Coppell area and you're looking for a feast, hit the pit!  Hard Eight BBQ will give you all the meat you want!

Just me and Ace now

Wilson and Maisy have started school.  They started last week and our summer fun is over.

However, I think everyone is enjoying their new schedule.  Maisy started Kindergarten  and Wilson started 3rd grade.

Of course, we sent Daddy off on his first day too.  This year he didn't lose his voice after the first day like he has on past first days.

That leaves Ace and me and this is what we have been doing: POTTY TRAINING!  He's doing really good with it.  Of course the first thing he asks me when I get him up in the morning is, "Where's Wilson?" and then, "Where's Sissy?"  We do miss brother and sister.

Here's a funny story about the first day of school--unrelated to the "first day," however.  After I sent the two older ones off to school, Ace and I discovered there was a unusually large flying bug in our house.  It would come out of nowhere and dive bomb at our heads and then buzz in our ears.  I'll admit, I did scream a couple of times out of merely being startled which in turn put Ace on edge.   One time it went straight for Ace and he was so frightened.  He ran away saying, "No bug! No bug!"  Then he went right into the office and peed in his brand new Buzz and Woody big boy underwear.  I'd had it with this bug terrorizing us and now I had to clean up pee.  So, I grabbed the Windex and started spraying the bug.  It took more aiming and spraying then I expected, but I did finally annihilate him after he flopped around a little more and buzzed pathetically.  That's a picture of the bug in a pool of Windex.  Ace kept going over to look it and he would say, "All done, bug.  All done."

So, overall the first week was great and everyone is happy and adjusted. Yea!