Birthday Tidings

Okay better late than never.  Here is a little video clip from Kaz's birthday party.  The boy is three and it happened in the blink of an eye.

The Mrs. just semi-scolded me into doing a better job of keeping this up.  It is really a living scrap book and so I must get back on the horse and start it going again.  More for us than anything but for those still along for the ride you are more than welcome.

Love out.

The Second.

So we celebrated a little second birthday action here for our youngest today.  Scary that.  Our third child is now two.  Combine this with my mom being retirement age as of March and I guess that puts me and the Mrs right in Middle age.  Holey moley.

We had cake a la my Mrs. and everyone enjoyed it.  The cake was cut in two so that we could also get some candle action for my nephew whose birthday was a few weeks ago.  After two trys with the candles everyone was satisfied and we all got to dig in.

Below the son is modelling the backpack he got from his grandma.

His aunt bought him so sandbox toys.  His mother made him a cake, his dad wrote this blog about it. I did also give him a great hug and this is me singing the loudest at his cake ceremony.

That is punk older brother stealing his cousins candle blowing thunder.  There was a do over and the little guy didn't seem to mind doing it up again the second time around.

In other recent news, well lets see.  In a personal accomplishment I broke through the one hundred barrier in a round of golf (96).  One of those things that seemed important until I managed to do it.  I wonder how many times I have to learn the "life is a journey, not a destination" lesson before it sinks in.  Fortunately, I have enjoyed the golf journey so far and hopefully will continue to enjoy it with my family as we wind our way through life.  I think I just need to be mindful of not worrying so much about the destination.  So other than that, there is the upcoming half marathon with the Mrs. next weekend.  Not super trained up but I told her today that if I had to stop at some point she should go on without me.  Will keep you posted.  The daughter is recovering nicely from a gash she gave herself a week ago.  Fairly deep but no stitches. The older boy just had his hair cut.  Previously I think he would have been best described as motley.  Now he definitely has a cute vibe.  I am itching to get my hands on the littlest's locks but we probably have to wait for warmer weather.  Other than that we have made two batches of salsa recently, which totally reminds me of me.  (inside joke, sort of)  Starting to feel like we are winding things down here.  Less than a month till mom arrives.  The daughter brought home the note with the schedule for the last days of school.  (the school year ends in March and then starts again in April).  So yeah spring is in the air and I am loving it.

Love out.

Damn Computers

So my blogging has kind of gone for a shit. There are many contributing factors but the largest is the fact that my computer no longer wishes to recognize my camera. At least most of the time. So this means I have to take the memory card out each time I want to download and get the pics directly off the card. If our camera didn't have to be taped shut because it was dropped within the first few weeks of us having it then that wouldn't be such a hassle. So yeah technology is getting in my way. That and the busy-ness of life. Our house is officially on the market today. With the possibility of people coming to see the place I should have been more motivated to get stuff done today but in the end I wasn't. We are packing books and trying to declutter. I need to find a new source of boxes. All in all I think it is going pretty well.

Here are some candid kid shots. They are pre-dinner. The daughter wasn't feeling up to much. Thus the hide behind the apron.The son was being helpful moving a chair back from his room (fort building) so that we could use it for dinner. Is it just me or does he look way older than he should.So this evenings dinner. Don't try to kid me I know that is what you're really here for. Well I don't plan to send you home disappointed. It was chirashi sushi, coleslaw and shake and bake chicken. Followed by dessert. Man my wife does a great job of looking after us. Huge props to the lady in my life.Why the big dinner you ask? Well we had a second birthday dinner for the littlest one today. Originally we planned to celebrate with some friends but they had something come up and we had some semi-sickies here so it didn't work out for having people over. Just meant more for us in the end. And in the more for us department the middle child managed a new record for chicken drumsticks. Seven. If the youngest ever develops a taste for human food we might be in trouble. Below is the second candle opportunity. The cake was a store bought angel food covered with whipped cream and blueberries. Very nice. The video is of the actual candle blowing out ceremony. Notice why flames and babies don't mix.

Well that is all to report from here. With one day of regular Olympics to go, I am sad, satisfied and kind of looking forward to spending less time in front of the computer. Hope all you Vancouverites have gotten your fix. Love ya.

Our Olympic Experience

Was great, however with the camera in the car there is no photographic proof we were ever there. We saw a hockey game and a medal ceremony. We mingled with the masses downtown on a sunny Friday afternoon. We rode sky train and chatted with some out of towners. It was fun and kind of cool but with the kids in tow it was also a lot of work.

However the birthday party on Sunday was all good. Nothing quite like your first cake experience. Some siblings were heartily missed but they definitely a get a pass with the "busy" cards they are holding. Hope you like the pics K and J.

Boys Night

Not that we had any special night, it was just the wife was taking the pics and the daughter had already finished. So yeah just us boys.


I think we all look pretty much the same. Da Boys. Well onward and upward. Lets talk about dinner.

We made wraps this evening. There were two types of filling for the wraps. There was a curry tofu filling and a bean and pepper filling. The bean and pepper went better with salsa and guacamole. I had the tofu filling just with rice and cheese. They were gooey and a little sloppy and just great. I had three in total and am now feeling quite full. Although... when the wife offered up the idea of cracking open a bottle of red wine I was in. We also had two bags of chips this evening. Dill pickle for the boy, sea salt for the girl. I had a huge amount of both. Well after the fact, and with me quite oblivious as I was getting my blog up and listening to some "This American Life", the kids talked mom into making another set of "Mug Cakes." These are some crafty little cakes you make in a small mug in the microwave. We had some last night and they were tasty yet a little tough. This evenings fare however was springy, chocolaty and reminded one somewhat of pudding and somewhat of cake.

And the daughter managed to get in the show. You had to know she would.

It was a banner day here. Library, shopping, filling holes with drywall compound, talking to possible realtors, swimming at the pool, renting a wall paper steamer. I cannot be overly critical with the fact that I didn't get a run in. Tomorrow will be here soon enough. Moving to Japan in the Summer is starting to get pretty darn real.

Birthday Wishes.

Well we had a birthday today so we were busy all day with getting ready. It started with some serious stirring as we tried our hand at making a castella. The hand whipping has us promising to get a hand blender by the fall of 2011. We also talked about getting a good mixer. Yes we are planning to seriously settle down. After that was done the kidlets and I went out shopping. We got some prezzies for mom and some fixins for dinner. Upon arriving back home the Mrs. took an afternoon off for herself. Her last directions as she left were to bake the loaves at 325 for 50 minutes starting at 3:15. So at 3:30 I turned the temp gauge to 325 and set the timer for 50 minutes. What I didn't do was turn on the stove. So at 4:20 I looked in the oven to see some seriously deflated loaves. That were still moist. After barking at the kids for turning the oven off I realised I was the bad guy and turned it on. The loaves pictured below would have easily blocked all views of the little shelf behind them if they had been baked properly. It was a body blow for the wife when she returned to these shrunken sad looking loaves. They still taste good but I messed that one up good.

Trying to recover from the bread debacle I had stuffed the pork roast with an apple, celery, onion, garlic, and cilantro stuffing. There were other spices, salt and pepper and bread combs added as well. This was then roasted with yams and onion slices for about 2 hours. It was delicious but really really late. Once again the extra hour for bread put everything behind schedule.
At seven when we finally sat down to eat the kids had already polished off a whole round of brie and crackers. They had also had some sparkling blueberry drink and an "almost" greek salad, perked up with a bunch of cilantro. It was a long eating up and down evening but I think the birthday girl would give it more thumbs up then thumbs down. Although she lives and dies with her bread. Well I have the rest of my life to make it up to her and probably will spend most of it trying. Here is the kids helping me bake bread, stuff a roast and decorate cupcakes while their mother is out for the afternoon.

Having our Cake, Mateys.

Weird I feel like I have used that title before. Today's birthday gang. Thank goodness it was 36 degrees so everyone could enjoy the water slide.The whole family pulled together and we managed to have a pirate birthday party today. And when having a pirate birthday party one must always have a treasure chest full of booty. (no not that kind of booty)
With great cake comes great responsibility. The responsibility to light the candles in a strong breeze. This was almost accomplished at the moment the daughter gave a mighty blow and so we can all rest easy knowing that a proper cake ceremony was completed.

Not in chronological order but there was lots of water sliding and trampolining. The occasional stampede back and forth caused an occasional set of tears but overall everyone seemed to have a good time.We finished off with a present opening and then everyone left with a loot bag. The loot bags were numbered to match up with some buried treasure cards that were buried in the garden under x's and had to be dug up by the guests. I think this may have been a highlight.Okay, now summer can begin.

Great Party

Well here is one of my brothers in law excitedly hiding behind a beer bottle while the food conscious sister attempts to ignore me with a serious look on her face. Classic. It was an awesome party.
Even this guy was having fun being passed around. It usually went like this. Mom gives him to me so she can get a break and eat something. Some aunt or other comes and gets him from me. Some other aunt takes him. Grand ma gets a turn. By this time he is cranky and they dish him back off to mom. Repeat.
Three cakes but I got the picture of the important one. The dinner consisted of two types of curry, fruit plates, veggie plates, seven layer dip, and a super star lineup for te-maki sushi. I thought it was an excellent team effort and everyone seemed very satisfied. It was also nice to be there with most of my family around. We were without one sis and a bro in law but hey, people have lives people. It will all work out some day. Apparently in July.
With the weekend at an end tt was a full on nine hour saga with lots of baby crying along the way to get back home. We stopped for some play at McDonalds where I was soaked for breakfast and will be much shrewder next time (yes there will be a next time, as they have a playground and it is the right distance from the city to stop for the early morning get your play on rest break). We also stopped at Manning park and donated some of our almost stale bread to the birds and the ground squirrels. I didn't take any pics but the son had it figured out and the rodents were practically crawling all over him to get his bread. Very cute. When we got home it was hot and we were tired. We finally rolled in around 5:00 ish but I didn't get dinner on the table till seven. Here is this evenings feed. Smoked turkey sausage pasta and sauce, with garlic bread and home made guacamole. This is my definition of an easy meal. Mostly because it takes very little inspiration to do well and everyone enjoys it and leaves full. Only problem was the heat it added to the house. Next time will take the wife's advice and have barbecue with salad.

Play then Eat

Well that was the brilliant plan that our dinner guests brought with them this evening. Usually when they come over they arrive for dinner and then the kids have plan time afterwards and everyone is pooped or full and then it gets late and everyone is a little whiney. However, arriving two hours before dinner the kids had a great play day, dinner was made at a leisurely pace and then we ate and everyone went home. Perfect.

Now I did a horrible job of managing the camera this evening and there wouldn't be a single photo were it not for the guests intervening as I was about to dig in to the last pizza. It was kind of a potluck and the guests brought, wings, chips, and a wicked awesome zuchinni chocolate cake. Of course I have pictures of none of these. We added in some pizza and a ceasar salad. It was passable pizza but it definitely wasn't inspired. I don't think I was focussed enough. I was having too much fun hanging out pre dinner to really get in the zone. Everyone else gave the impression of being satisfied so I will have to take them at their word. But I know I can do better.

I did manage to get a post feast picture of the kitchen before I did the dishes. This is of course the state that the kitchen is still in as I write this post. Procrastination is one of the major driving forces behind this blog. Just in case you didn't know.

Oh yeah, we also made bread today. This is the dough after the first rising. Apparently you need to spray it with water if it gets dried out in the rising process. I would never have known. The bread turned out pretty well but of course I didn't take a picture of that either. Having a good day here. We are hoping to make croissants tomorrow. Now that should be interesting. I hope we have enough butter.

The Winter Wonder

So the rest of the family has summer birthdays. We play outside, have a waterslide, drink beer in the sunshine. That is how a summer birthday is celebrated. However, the mom in our family has a winter birthday. Short days, cold nights, snow on the ground, this is the time of year she flips over a new page on her life's calendar. Today was the day and we decided to make her a cake and dinner. Well actually the wife made the cake yesterday. She wanted to try making a sponge cake, apparently it is just flour, eggs and sugar. I thought it turned out very well. The kids and I were tasked with decorations but we could do anything we want. Anything that is as long as we put cream and the frozen fruit that was put out to thaw, in a middle layer. And we weren't supposed to ice it. All the instructions didn't matter as we had a great time covering it with whipped cream and trying out the different icing nozzles with the blue coloured whipped cream. It was really quite delicious but it wasn't so sweet that one was limited to having two slices. The rest of dinner was veggies and dip with some home made french fries. Slow day.

In other news I had a filling taken out and replaced this morning. My mouth is still a little sore. I have no love for the dentist at this moment but overall we are really happy with the service we get here. The kids played outside in the six or seven inches of snow that fell today. Between getting dressed to go outside and getting undressed upon coming back in we must have had over ten clothing changes today. It was a good day. Right now I have to get on rearranging the furniture so we can put up the tree. It is beginning to look a lot like christmas.

This is my son's fighter pose. He had been doing a lot of punching lately and I really feel like I need to go a few rounds with him to teach him a lesson. He better watch his back.

Birthday Part 2

So we managed to pull off a second wicked party. This was a family affair and we had something for everyone. Children of all ages, 3 to 40 something ish. Fabulous food fun and games. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. To start with there was a cake. This cake was finished last night while I simultaneously played in a free online poker tournament, which I also happened to win. Wife-ola baked the cake and I was in charge of decoration. The problem with the cake was making five cups of fire engine red icing. This was as close as we could get to fire engine red. I think it turned out reasonably. Once again my photography skills leave something to be desired and do not capture the true essence of the cake. It was delicious and fun and we gave out quite a bit of seconds. Which were in turn finished. Good on us. The wife also whipped up a whale of a menu for this afternings affair. There were both pork and chicken shishkabobs. They were wickedly tasty and we will be making them again tomorrow so we can have some. Did not plan out the servings appropriately and didn't realise they would be as big a hit as they were. There was also a big bowl or chirashi sushi which went over well. Some of our guests not only knew what chirashi sushi was but had had it on more than on occasion. Fill in the rest of the gaps were a solid pasta salad. A green bean salad made with some of the last fresh green beans on earth or at least in Grand forks and the requisite chips and dip. Finally there was some watermelon which leads nicely into the next part of the party. We played some games at todays party and they all ended rather abruptly. The popping a balloon by sitting on it went as fast as I have ever seen. Older kids make for quick popping. Then the suika wari (break the watermelon ) actually worked and the second kid out the gate cracked that sucker clean in half. Everyone else had a go with the larger half of the watermelon and we had two more direct strikes. Gotta get a much softer bat next year. Anyways, between trampolining, water sliding, cake eating, present opening and beer drinking (mostly by the dads) we wiled away a Sunday afternoon. Every one had fun and left with either a smile on their face or a loot bag (many had both). Party season is over and now we start mentally readying ourselves for the trip to Japan. Oh, its gonna be good.

You're such a Fairy

Classic SNL line. Matthew broderick is dressed as a baby and these guys are mocking him saying he is such a baby and he keeps agreeing and saying things like, " I know, I still suck my thumb and wet my diaper." I believe it is Phil Hartman who comes in dressed in a tutu for the payoff gag. Anyways, we had a fairy party today. We had eight 5-6 year old girls and 2 pre-school boys out in the backyard for a fairy party. The fairy part of the party mostly consisted of the opening fairy hunt (10 min max) and a bunch of up trading and suspicious deal making because I didn't realise that the one in the long purple dress was evil in the movie so almost no one wanted either of the two of them that I had hidden. Strangely the third evil one I had purchased had lost it's head right out of the box and though crazy glue had put her back together I ended up not needing her because of a non-vitation that I had not been privy to. There were also 3 no shows. One was probably our fault but as for the other two I am stumped. Who doesn't want to go to a six year old girls party. Especially when you yourself are also a six year old girl. Anyways, the grand plan to build fairy houses out of naturally sourced parts (twigs, leaves, bark) which seemed so killer for the last four weeks was so obviously not within the first two sentences of trying to sell it to the group. Especially with this bad boy up and running directly across from the lame piles of leaves and twigs. In a wise move I only tried to sell the fairy houses for another 45 seconds before, in a rare flash of inspiration, getting all the girls to put their dolls on top of their names on the poster I had made. I figured this made a bunch of thats mine this is yours never happen. There were some trades I wondered about but in the end everyone left smiling so I guess it was okay. Back to the wicked water slide. Of the something like 16 hours of daylight today there were 4 that were grey and cloudy and not so hot. The four hours started 30 minutes before the party and ended 30 minutes after the last kid went home. It was 39 freakin degrees five days ago, today it didn't crack 27. Just my luck. So between shivering, sliding, jumping on the trampoline (3 at a time, man do we need a net[ed. This is not a plea to a relative to save the author from his own thriftiness.]) and eating snacks and drinking the cool juice boxes we made it through the first 45 minutes. After that we did some water balloon tossing. The boys were picking them up as fast as the wife could make them and just whipping them against the fence. Ah boys. Then we had the cake. Now what you see here is the back side of the cake. In the picture with the kids you see the whole thing post blow out. However, we didn't take a good cake shot. I still can't figure this one out. What was going through my head that I didn't get a whole cake with fairy looking like she is wearing a dress shot. Mind boggling. Anyways, we wowed the six year old crowd and had a good time making it last night. The best part had to be throwing the little chocolate pieces at the dress to get them to stick in the frosting. After cake we cracked the prezies and then parents started arriving. Phew, 2 months of worry, 4 weeks of planning, 3 days of serious prep, and it was all over in 2 hours. Note to self. Start with sidewalk chalk. That could have been a really fun half hour if organized right. Go straight to the water slide when you get to the backyard. Why leave your ace in the bullpen. Have more than one game activity for the mid party slow down. And plan to have at least 40 minutes for present opening and 15 minutes for cake. If I don't seem to be remembering this next year please remind me. It was a lot of fun. Good thing there are still two days until her actual birthday.