Tidy Bowl - circa 1972

When this Todd was but a wee toddler, apparently I crawled into our toilet and was enjoying my personal jacuzzi. When finally my mom came to find me, she saw that I was puttering around and enjoying myself in the toilet. Realizing that this was the ultimate Kodak moment, she ran to get the camera. By the time she came back to take the picture, I had crawled out of the potty. In order to not let this moment be lost to history, she proceeded to stuff me back in there and take the picture. In the picture you can see that I was a bit upset to be thrown back in there in such an undignified manner by looking at the crying expression on my face!

Hidden Broccoli - circa 1978

When we were kids, we were playing hide and seek and my little sister, Brooke, who was about three, hid so well we could not find her. We looked for over an hour and then ended up calling the police. The whole neighborhood was out searching a couple of hours in. In the third hour we found her - Asleep under a pile of clothes in the laundry room!

Rascal

In the ongoing battle between father-in-law and son-in-law, FIL struck first. Over Thanksgiving, we stayed at some condos on Lake Coeur d'Alene. It is a beautiful setting, and we had a wonderful time there.

We were there for a week, and I had brought along a bunch of puzzles that I thought we could put together as a family. I started working on one a couple of days before Thanksgiving, and spent a couple of hours each night puzzling away. (Didnt get much help from anyone...) One night, I stayed up until midnight to finish it. I felt quite accomplished and was relishing the completion into the next morning. I had been reading a book in the bedroom, then came out at about 9 a.m. LeAnn's dad apologetically mentioned that someone had bumped the table and the puzzle had been broken apart. Disappointment washed over my face as I looked over to the table and saw a jumbled pile of puzzle pieces. My three children even looked over at me with sad expressions on their faces. I tried to remain stoic and played like it was no big deal, but they could tell I was a bit upset about it. I proceeded to take a shower and came out 15 minutes later. LeAnn's dad quickly told me that the kids had put the puzzle back together again. I look over, and there it is, all complete! He went on to say how it must not have been that difficult as they could finish it in that short of time when it took me four days! As the wheels are churning in my head, I realized that I had been 'played'. The puzzles I brought had five different puzzles in one box. They had all moved the completed puzzle into another room and pulled out one of the other uncompleted ones!
touché
After getting punked like that, I decided I had to get back at FIL! After my family had duped me before, I decided that I needed some cohorts in exacting my revenge. First, we waited until grandpa and grandma left the condos. Then we proceeded to toilet paper grandpas bedroom. We went through a roll pretty quickly, and then realized that we might run out of TP if we used another roll, so ended it there. It was funny to see his reaction when they got home. Since that was a pretty tame prank, I wanted to take it to the next level...
Grandpa has this bottle of super-spicy salsa that he brought along for the trip. It has habaneros, jalapenos, scotch bonnets, all of the super-hot chilies in it. It was a bit much for most salsa eaters. When we stopped at the store that evening, I asked LeAnn to purchase some mild Pace Picante sauce. Begrudgingly, because she knew she would likely be implicated as a partner in my crime, she bought it for me. Upon arriving home, I took FIL's special salsa bottle and removed its contents. This, I replaced with the mild stuff. The kids were so excited to see the show that night because we were having Mexican food and we knew grandpa would break out his 'special salsa'. As dinner preparations were being made, there was a bag of corn chips out on the counter to entice him. He took the bait. He got his salsa (what he thought was his salsa), and took a dip with a chip. We were all watching expectantly to see his reaction. He smacked his lips a couple of times, and looked quite confused. He took another chip, and tried again. His eyebrows scrunched down in consternation as he thought he was going crazy. He must have figured the third time was the charm. He took another bite, and then said: 'Something is wrong with my salsa!' The room erupted in laughter and he finally realized that he had been duped.
Now I just need to watch my back as I know he will be scheming to get me back again. :)

The Flap.

A couple of weeks ago on a Saturday morning, I was down on the couch in my 'lounge pants' reading a book. Jaylin and Austin came down and Jaylin took a look at my pants and noticed that there was a 'hole' in the nether regions. I tried to explain the purpose of that 'hole' in the most refined way that I could. She kind of made the big saucer eyes and said 'that is gross'.
Austin, on the other hand, was quite enraptured by the conversation. I noticed him listening in and told him that he would have the same type of hole in his whitey tighties. He said, 'No, I dont!'. I told him he should take a look. He pulled down his pj's a bit and said 'That part is sewn down'. I then told him he should go check it out in the bathroom. Twenty seconds later, I hear him screaming - IT WORKS! IT WORKS!
I guess I never thought much about teaching him about 'the flap'. So funny that he made it to ten years old before realizing that he could use it. Now, everytime he comes out of the bathroom, he tells me- "I used the flap!"

Pirate Battle

Last Tuesday night, we had a parent vs. kids scrimmage for our soccer team, the Pirates. We played at a lighted field in Federal Way. We were actually on a sand field, which I wasnt too thrilled about initially. It was raining during the whole game, and it turned out the sand was probably easier to play on than the grass fields would have been - not quite as slippery, although the ball would skid pretty well as there wasnt the grass to stop it.
We started out going 7 parents against the 6 boys that were there. The boys were pretty excited to 'give it to us'. They held up pretty well for a while, although the parents team had some pretty good passing going on. I kept yelling at the boys to watch how well their parents were passing the ball around. Gunnar's dad, Bob, is quite athletic and got a couple of good shots in. Soon we were up 3-0. I could tell the boys were getting a bit dejected, so I told them they could pick one of the parents to come over onto their team. The parents ended up voting and sending me over. So, I held down the defense a bit tighter as I was guarding Bob. I started giving the boys more opportunities to get some shots, but the parents were not very compassionate. They were all playing for the win. At that point, I figured I needed to up the ante. I pushed forward a few times and scored a couple of goals. Then one of the boys got one and we were tied 3-3. The parents came back though and Bob scored a header off of a corner kick. We came back down and I scored another to match them. After that, we had been playing for over an hour, so we decided that the next goal would win. I was trying to get one of the boys to get the winning goal and passed a number of them through that were denied good shots. Finally, we came down the middle, and I was trying to direct traffic to get the boys to push through so I could lead them with a pass. Austin saw me pointing and made a good run toward the goal. I sent it through to him and he dribbled past one defender and put it in for the win! He was so excited. It seemed like a bigger deal to him to score against the adults than it did for the multiple goals he would score in his regular games. It was just as fun for me to be able to participate with him and work together to score that winning goal.
I have payed for all of that fun by being in pain for the past week. My knees were not happy at all with all of that action. My 'good knee' is now feeling worse than my surgically repaired one. :( It is probably worse after running against adults as opposed to playing against the 10 year-olds

9 seconds

Austin took the pass from the first kickoff of our game last Saturday, weaved his way through five defenders, and scored our first goal in 9 seconds. It might have been eight even. I use a stopwatch to keep track of how long the boys have been in and then sub them out in 7 minute increments. After he scored so quickly, it might have taken a second for the shock to wear off before I looked down at the stopwatch. It was an incredible play, and so thrilling to see him doing so well.

gassed

A couple of weeks back, after soccer practice, I drove down to Auburn with Austin and Jaylin to deliver a birthday invitation to one of Austin's friends, Conrad, from his soccer team last spring. We stopped by his practice and said hi to him and his dad before heading back home. We were in the Kent valley and my gas light had been on for a while. It is a totally unreliable indicator as it goes on about anytime after I have put over 150 miles on the tank of gas -- when I know that I can get 275 out of a tank. So, usually, I let it ride for a while longer before filling up again. On this particular night, we were at about 250, so I figured I could get back up the hill to the station by our house. I passed one station and had driven not quite a mile when the Malibu started 'gas'ping for gas. I quickly pulled off the main road and gave it a couple of tries to start the engine again before I gave up. It wouldnt have been a big deal had I been by myself, but I had AK and JA with me. I told them we would be going on an adventure back to the gas station. It was about 7:00 at this time, and it was quite cold. I found one blanket in the car and wrapped that around Jaylin. Luckly, I had a jacket as well, and gave that to Austin. They were quite the 'huddled masses' They both did really well on the walk to the station. No complaints at all. It felt like a mile, but on the way back I used an iPhone app that calculates trip distance  #iMapMyRun , and it showed it was just over a half a mile. I told them on the way back, that we were hiking along like the Pioneer children. Hopefully, that is as close as we get to going on a pioneer trek in the cold.

Tight pants

Two days ago, after I changed into my pants after our
workout, I was quite flustered to find that they were feeling a bit tight. This
was a new pair of pants which I hadn’t worn before. I had purchased the same
size I usually get – 38 x 32.  All of the scenarios started running
through my head – did that slice of pie I had for my birthday put me over the
top, are my muscles getting that much bigger… ? I was a bit depressed for the
morning that I seemed to be bulking up. They weren’t uncomfortably tight – like
it hurts when I sit down tight, but it was quite a bummer that day.

 

Fast forward to the end of the day – we were planning to go
play some kickball with a bunch of friends at the park. I changed out of those
new ‘make me sad’ pants. On a lark, I figured I would take a look at the size
of them. THEY WERE 36 x 32!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those never would have fit in a
million years before starting with the fitness training/nutrition program I started in July.

I must have grabbed the wrong size off of the rack when I
bought them! (likely they had the wrong size listed on the hanger)

Still not quite comfortable with that size, but they did somewhat
fit. I haven’t worn size 36 in well over 15 years! :)

Tanjyoubi

39 should be a good year. Yesterday had a fun surprise after church. The kids had filled my car with balloons and left a fun Happy Birthday! poster under the windshield wipers. It was so fun to see how excited they were about their surprise. Once we got home, I went off and finished Clive Cussler's 'The Chase' - classic Cussler. Then it was nappy time. The kids have been great at respecting the Sunday afternoon nap and not barging in too often. Although that likely led to Jaylin having too much time on her hands to give herself a self-made haircut . Then LeAnn threw some Steaks on the barby and we had a nice dinner with the family.
After dinner, we had a little party. I am finding out how much of a prankster Autumn is starting to become. She was quite giddy before giving me her gift. I was quite shocked when I opened it to find a 'Ken Barbie' doll inside. Huh!?? She went on to say how I had told her the week previous that the only way I would eat the Barbie Cake that they had made with their Aunt Ashley was if they also made a Ken cake to go along with it. (A good case of my bad jokes coming back to haunt me) She laughed her head off for about 10 minutes. Not sure what I should do with that one.
Jaylin was adorable in making me a tie-pin with the letter 'T' on it, that she had drawn, colored, cut out and attached to a safety pin. She also made a 'T' magnet, which we put on the fridge. So thoughtful and cute.
Austin gave me an awesome poster storyboard with candy bars taped to it. It was so fun and imaginative. I will fill in [the blanks] with the story when I get home today.
LeAnn gave me a cool gift called a 'Chillow' it is a pillow that you put in your pillow case that will help keep your pillow cool at night. My head is like a furnace at night and I always get quite hot. This chillow has you add water inside its plastic casing which is then absorbed into some foam-like material. I tried it out last night and it was literally 'Cool' - almost too much.
It was funny that the birthday wishes are coming in in various methods now-a-days. I got a text from Brandon, an Email from Kelly Jean, a bunch of birthday wishes on Facebook. Mom/Dad, Brian, Brooke, Kelly and Ashley did it the old-fashioned way -- by phone :)
Thank you all for a wonderful birthday!!

Choppa Choppa

Jaylin did it again. When she was four, she found some scissors and whacked out a good chunk of her hair. That was THREE years ago! What possessed her to do it at age 7 1/2, Ill never know. She took a good six or seven inches off of her bangs just in time for school to start.

Skinny Guy

I have been doing a program called Kinetix, which is a fitness/nutritional
program, for the past 6 weeks. We get a personal trainer who helps with weight
training and nutrition. It has really changed up the pace for me and helped me
to make better decisions with food. It has really been paying off as I am down
about 12 pounds and have gained 1 pound of muscle. Today when I walked in for my
training session, my trainer said: ‘Look at you, skinny guy!’ (of course
trainers have to say those type of things, but it was still a good feeling :)) I
think the last time I was called skinny was by LeAnn, back in 1996 – she told me
I was too skinny at that time ;) (I showed her, didnt I! :))

Zapped!

Flash has been giving us grief over the last while as he was constantly sneaking upstairs. We have had a baby gate up for years preventing him from doing so, but were getting quite tired of using it each time up and down the stairs. I removed it a few months ago thinking he would have learned not to go up there…. No dice. He would constantly sneak up at night and make himself comfortable in one of the kids rooms. He wouldnt come near our room because he knew he would get busted. In an effort not to lose this battle, I resorted to getting him a shock collar. (Yes I know the PETA folks will be after me, but oh well) It has been quite effective for a while. He found that if he got too close to the stairs (where we hide the sensor) that he would get a nice shock. The collar even has a little beeper that warns him before he gets too close. Soon he was not even going close to the stairs, and it seemed like it was working. A couple of times he had separation anxiety overload and ran upstairs anyway even though he knew he would be shocked. *shrugs*

So, last Saturday, Autumn gave Flash a bath since we had been out camping and he got quite dirty. She had taken off his collar and left it in the bathroom. I found the shocker part of the collar downstairs and proceeded to walk upstairs with it to put it on the collar. Unfortunately and to my SHOCK, I got a nasty zap in the palm of my hand. I think it scared me more than hurt me though. It almost made me not want to go upstairs anymore!

Seriously, so blessed!

This morning, before work, I stopped at the Starbucks store in our building to get a breakfast sandwich. I have a Starbucks ‘Gold Card’ which has stored value on it that I use for purchases. I got my sandwich and then went to get on the elevator to go to my floor. When I was putting my Gold Card back in my wallet, I realized that my Bus pass was not in my wallet! This is an annual pass worth $990. After a panicked search and rifling through my pockets and wallet, it was nowhere to be found. I quickly retraced my steps, looking all around on the floor in the store. I started to feel sick about having to replace it. After a fruitless triple-check through my pockets and wallet, I decided to keep going to my office. While riding the elevator up, I started having that ‘Kurushii toki kamidanomi’ feeling (English translation: In times of need, call on God.) At first, I was having the ‘Why Me?’ whine-fest. I was complaining internally that I have been paying our tithing, I dont need this right now as we are saving up for the Disneyland trip, etc. Then, as I arrived at my floor, and tried to compose my emotions, I said a more thoughtful prayer. I had a calm feeling come over me as I was prompted that I should return down to the store on the first floor and a confirmation that I would find the pass down there. Pushing out the feelings of doubt that I would just be disappointed, I followed the impression. When I got back down there, there were at least 10 people waiting in line for their coffee. I got back in line, waited as patiently as I could for my turn, and finally made it back to the front of the line. There was one more person in front of me. I was still scanning the floor and the area all around when I looked on top of one of the cash registers. There, set to one side was an annual bus pass just sitting there waiting for me. It was for the $2.50 fare that I pay, and I knew it was mine. It was all I could do to resist grabbing it and running off gratefully. I waited my turn and told the barista I had dropped my bus pass. She knew right where it was and quickly handed it to me. I am so thankful to the good Samaritan who turned it in. It would have been so easy to take it and resell it for a lot of money. Its nice to have continued hope in the goodness of mankind. It is also nice to know that the Spirit will guide you in times of need and trials. I know God answers our heartfelt prayers!

Even more Mojo

Last night, after soccer practice, Austin had a recorder concert at his school. He changed out of his soccer gear in the back seat and into his suit. We got there and saw that he was definitely the best-dressed boy in the event. :) There were about 175 kids in the concert from grades 3,4 and 5. The music teacher, Mr. Garcia, has a program called ‘Recorder Karate’. It bases the kids skill level on how difficult the songs are to pass off. I think there are about 10 levels that the kids can pass off. Austin is up to a 1st degree black belt, and played ‘Ode to Joy’  There were only three other kids in the school, (fifth graders) who had passed off a higher level. Austin is so dedicated and determined that he can do anything he sets his mind to.

Austin even got a nice intro from Mr Garcia. He introduced him and told everyone that Austin was amazing as he is the only 3rd grader to have passed off that high of a level. It turned out there were no other kids that had passed off the black belt, so during the concert, Austin ended up playing solo! When he stood up to play, the other kids clapped their hands and people in the audience cheered. He grinned sheepishly, and then began. He played beautifully, and didnt crack under the pressure. We were so proud of him, and he looked so handsome in his suit.

Afterwards, we went to celebrate at Baskin Robbins. It was a wonderful night!

More Mojo

I had taken Austin to ‘Select’ team tryouts for under 10 boys team in Federal Way. This kid is amazing. He excelled against the skilled competition from the league. He really seemed to love playing against and with other boys with great talent. He broke through on a number of plays and scored a bunch of goals in the 3 on 3 scrimmages that they played. He was passing well and hit it off with a number of the other players. Multiple times I could see the coaches taking notes as he made great plays. A few times, the head coach even called out when he made good plays. Austin was a bit nervous as to whether he would make the team. I told him he had nothing to worry about based on what I saw.

Then we got the fees documentation from one of the coaches. It would cost around $1,000 to play for the club! I had a good idea going in that this might be the case, but good grief! They only play with 6 on a side and they are only 9 years old. After passing this information onto LeAnn, and having a discussion with Austin, we felt we could hold off for another year on this. (and save quite a bit of cheddar in the process) He is still getting good growth opportunities now in the mod program that he is playing in. The level of competition is quite good this season, and it has been more challenging for him to get his standard ‘hat trick’ each game. He took the news quite well. I think he was most interested in seeing how he stacked up against the other skilled players his age and found that he was at the top level.

Fast forward to yesterday. LeAnn got a call from the Select club coach. He told her he was very interested in having Austin play for his team and were very impressed with his skills. I could see Austin beaming in the back seat as LeAnn explained this to me. She told him that we decided to wait for a year, but that he would likely go for it next year. It sounded like the coach was sad about that. He told her that they would still like to invite Austin to some of the clinics and such that they have during the summer. (Likely they are still hopeful that we will change our minds before the fall season…)

Amazing job Austin! It is so fun for us to see your growth and skill in this fun sport.

Best son

I was talking with Austin on the way back from the movies last night. We had gone to see ‘Hotel for Dogs’. It was a fun one! He was asking me what type of games we played during recess when I was in elementary school. I told him we did Red Rover, Football, tag, Kickball, dodgeball, etc. Unfortunately, at his school, they have a ‘no physical contact’ rule, so none of those games are allowed. It is a sad thing how draconian their rules are that they would prevent some of these physical and fun activities. Austin then said: “I wish I had lived back when you were a kid so I could have played those games” . I likely didnt help his wishful thinking as I went on about how fun they were. Then, after a moment of reflection, he said: “Never mind, I wouldnt have wanted to live back then, because then you wouldnt have been my dad—and you are the best dad in the whole world”. That one totally choked me up. I told him how thankful I am that he is my son- that he is the best son in the whole world, I couldnt have been blessed with a better one.

[Reminiscence] The Proposal

February 11th, 1994.

Ahhh. Such a wonderful and stressful day that was. I barely was able to procure the ring before that special night. I had some help from Bryan Lampropoulos, who gave me $100 for the down payment (as my pre-emptive wedding gift) as I was quite the pauper at the time. I remember mom helped me pick it out, so I knew she was on board with me. :)
That night, we had a special dance/date planned at a restaurant that was on a river boat. It seemed like the perfect setting. (It was a girls choice dance her school had and luckily she invited me!) After we finished dinner, I gallantly asked her if she would like to go for a walk around the deck. When I found a private spot, I crouched down and told her I had "a rock" stuck in my shoe. (yes, it was veeeeeeeeeery clever, I know) I proceeded to reach down to pull it out as I got on one knee. After that, everything went blank. LeAnn tells me that I forgot to actually "pop the question", I just opened up the box and showed her the ring. So she made me get down and do it again. This time she said yes! It was the happiest day of my life.

Lion King

Last month, I got to chaperone Jaylin and Austin at the Broadway play, The Lion King. It was amazing. I was in as much awe as the elementary school kids. Definitely the coolest musical that I have ever been to. It was so fun to ride the bus with Jaylin and see this incredible performance.

Sounders vs. Real Salt Lake

Good to get another rivalry going with the brothers in SLC. I was at the game with Austin on Saturday night when I got a text from Brian saying he was watching the game on TV. I told him that we were there and RSL was going DOWN. Then I got a text from Brad, and then Austin wanted to send some text smack to him. Right after Austin sent his message, the Sounders scored their first goal. Brad soon replied back that “Looks like Austin may be right”

We had some great seats 7 rows up right behind the southwest corner flag. Austin was right next to the wall of the Tunnel. It was cool to be right there where the players came out. The crowd was pretty intense- sold out at around 29,000.  (They block off the upper bowl of Qwest field for soccer matches) Everyone was standing up the whole time, so I had to stand up the whole game to be able to see it too. Austin didnt have anyone directly in front of him, so he had a good view and could sit down. It is very cool to have MLS soccer in Seattle. It makes up a bit for the sting of losing the Sonics.

At half time, we got Austin a Sounders FC pennant to hang in his room. I was so glad it didnt rain the whole game. It was pouring for most of the day, so we took ponchos and extra clothes, but never had to use them. It was sweet to get a win and be 2-0 already in the Sounders inaugural season!

Soccer Ninjas first game

We have an excellent team. Although it was pouring rain, freezing cold and the field was a muddy, puddly mess, the boys got off to a great start. Austin scored about 45 seconds into the game. He went on to get another a few minutes later, and we were soon up 5-0 at halftime. The poor kids were freezing cold, but stayed tough. I think we do need to work on their conditioning a bit as they were huffing and puffing after about 10 minutes. By the end of the game, Austin had at least 4 goals, and I had moved him back on defense to give the other team a breather. We ended up winning 13-1. The team was passing well and we have some great players. Should be a fun season!